Wage Insurance (Disability Insurance)
Enrollment
The City of Madison offers optional Disability Income Continuation Insurance (also known as Wage Insurance or Short/Long-Term Disability Insurance) to permanent employees. Wage insurance plans are an individual contract between the employee and the insurance provider. The City may pay a percentage of the premium, up to 100%, based on an employee's use of sick leave.
- Note: Because Wage Insurance is not administered by the City, medical certification received by the Wage Insurance provider is not automatically received by the City. You must submit medical certification to the City to qualify for Family & Medical Leave, as well as any other benefits provided by the City.
New employees may sign up upon starting employment with the City by completing a Wage Insurance Enrollment Form and submitting to Human Resources within 31 calendar days of hire. If an employee does not enroll in wage insurance during this initial 31-day period, the only way to enroll in wage insurance in the future is to obtain approval via the medical underwriting process. Qualifying events do not apply to wage insurance.
Wage insurance covers non-work-related injuries and illnesses preventing the employee from working. Employees are insured up to 65% of their regular salary, and must use all available sick leave before being eligible to receive benefits from the program.
Cancelling Coverage
Wage insurance coverage can be cancelled at any time. If coverage is cancelled, re-enrollment requires approval via medical underwriting, as outlined above.
Medical Underwriting
If approval via medical underwriting is required, please contact Human Resources for more information. If you decide to pursue underwriting, Human Resources will provide you with an Evidence of Insurability (EOI) Application to begin the process. Please note that the Hartford (our insurer) reserves the right to approve or deny all underwriting requests.
Benefit Plans
The insurance pays short and long-term benefits. Employees are eligible to receive short-term benefits for up to three years as long as the employee is totally unable to perform their job functions. Following the three years of short term benefits, long-term benefits are available until the employee’s normal retirement date. Under this policy, the normal retirement date is age 65 for employees other than police officers and firefighters.
Premiums
The total monthly wage insurance premium is determined by a combination of an employee's regular bi-weekly wages and the employee's number of days of accrued sick leave available at the time of the employee's annual wage insurance review. The employer and employee contributions to wage insurance premium are determined by the net sick leave days accrued by the employee during the annual tracking period. Employees who maintain 100+ or 120+ accumulated sick days, depending upon compensation group, may not have to contribute to the wage insurance premium, regardless of the amount of sick leave used in the tracking year. Questions about how an employee's premium share was or will be calculated should be directed to Central Payroll. Where this information conflicts with Central Payroll procedures, Central Payroll procedures will prevail.
| Sick Leave Used*, *** (Days) | Net Sick Leave Accrued**, *** (Days) | Employee Pays (% of Premium)*** |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00 – 3.00 | 10.00 - 13.00 | 0% (Employer pays 100%) |
| 3.01 – 4.00 | 9.00 - 9.99 | 20% (Employer pays 80%) |
| 4.01 – 5.00 | 8.00 - 8.99 | 40% (Employer pays 60%) |
| 5.01 – 6.00 | 7.00 - 7.99 | 60% (Employer pays 40%) |
| 6.01 – 7.00 | 6.00 - 6.99 | 80% (Employer pays 20%) |
| 7.01+ | 0 - 5.99 | 100% (Employer pays 0%) |
* For Metro Transit employees, sick leave accrued and used from 07/24/2022 - 07/22/2023 were used to calculate the 2023-2024 premiums/percentages. These rates went into effect on 2023 payroll #19 (paycheck issued 09/15/2023). For all other City employees, sick leave accrued and used from 09/04/2022 - 09/02/2023 will be used to calculate the 2023-2024 premiums/percentages. These rates will go into effect on 2023 payroll #22 (paycheck issued 10/27/2023).
For Metro employees, sick leave accrued and used from 07/23/2023 - 07/20/2024 will be used to calculate the 2024-2025 premiums/percentages. These rates will go into effect on 2024 payroll #20 (paycheck issued 09/27/2024). For all other City employees, sick leave accrued and used from 09/03/2023 - 08/31/2024 will be used to calculate the 2024-2025 premiums percentages. These rates will go into effect on 2024 payroll #22 (paycheck issued 10/24/2024).
** Both sick leave used and sick leave accrued during the annual tracking period are considered in determining the employee share of wage insurance premium. Net sick leave accrued is calculated by subtracting sick leave used during the annual tracking period from sick leave accrued during the annual tracking period. The number of days of net sick leave accrued during the annual tracking period determines the percentage of the total premium that will be paid by the employee and employer during the 12-month period following the annual review.
*** With the exception of employees in compensation groups 11, 23, 41, and 42, employees with 100 or more days of accrued (earned and unused) sick leave will receive a 100% employer contribution to wage insurance premium regardless of the number of sick days used in the annual tracking period. Teamsters, MPPOA, & MCAA represented employees (compensation groups 11,23,41, and 42) need to have 120 or more days of accrued (earned and unused) sick leave to receive the 100% employer contribution to wage insurance premium if they used more than 3.00 days of sick leave during the annual tracking period.
More Information
How to File a Claim
Enrollment/Change Form
Income Continuation Insurance Handout
Your Benefit Plan, Short-Term Disability and Long-Term Disability
Wage Insurance Taxation Overview
ERISA Claim Procedures for Claims Filed on or after April 1,2018