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Income Replacement During a Leave

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When you go on leave, there are several ways to keep some or all of your normal income.

Disability Insurance Payments

Disability insurance payments can provide partial income replacement. Review the types of disability insurance and associated eligibility requirements:

Salary Continuation

For most leaves, you also have the option for Stanford salary continuation, using your available leave accruals. These include:

  • Sick time (can only be used if you or one of your family members is sick)
  • Paid time off (PTO)
  • Floating holiday
  • Vacation

Read more about these accruals in Paid Time Off

Example of Income Replacement

Let’s say you need to take a medical leave of absence for yourself. You will be required to apply for Voluntary Disability Insurance (or Short-Term Disability if you live outside of California). If disability leave is approved, you will start receiving disability payments after a seven-calendar-day waiting period. You can also use paid time off accruals to supplement the disability insurance payments so that you receive 100% of your base pay. This is called salary continuation.

Unpaid Leave

If you don’t have accruals or don’t wish to supplement your disability benefits, you have the option to take leave without pay. If you choose this option, you will be placed on unpaid leave at Stanford; however, your disability benefits may still continue for as long as you meet the guidelines of the plan.

Review Steps for Taking Leave