Health Benefits During Medical/Pregnancy Disability Leave. When an employee exhausts all but forty (40) hours of sick leave and goes on medical or pregnancy disability leave without pay, the County will make its normal contribution to the employee’s medical, dental, vision care, life insurance and LTD benefits for a period not to exceed thirteen (13) pay periods per disability. Beginning with the fourteenth (14th) pay period, the employee will be entitled to continue benefits coverage through COBRA Continuation of Coverage and is responsible for making a timely election and paying COBRA premiums by the due date. Prior to the exhaustion of the thirteenth (13th) pay period, the County will provide reasonable advance notice of the employee’s obligations regarding the opportunity to continue employee-paid benefits.
Health Benefits During Medical/Pregnancy Disability Leave. When an employee exhausts all but forty (40) hours of sick leave and goes on medical or pregnancy disability leave without pay, the County will make its normal contribution to the employee’s medical, dental, vision care, life insurance and LTD benefits for a period not to exceed thirteen (13) pay periods per disability. Beginning with the fourteenth (14th) pay period, the employee will be entitled to continue benefits coverage through COBRA Continuation of Coverage and is responsible for making a timely election and paying COBRA premiums by the due date. Prior to the exhaustion of the thirteenth (13th) pay period, the County will provide reasonable advance notice of the employee’s obligations regarding the opportunity to continue employee-paid benefits. An employee who returns to work from medical or pregnancy disability leave without pay prior to the exhaustion of the thirteen (13) pay periods of entitlement under this Section 10.6 shall not have the thirteen (13) pay period entitlement reduced for any pay period in which the employee is in paid status for at least fifty percent (50%) of the employee’s allocated full time equivalent as specified in this Section 10.6. If the employee returns to medical or pregnancy disability leave without pay for the same condition, the thirteen (13) pay period time frame will continue where it left off and will be reduced only for those pay periods when the employee’s paid status hours fall below fifty percent (50%) of the allocated full-time equivalent. The County’s thirteen (13) pay period Medical Leave without pay benefit entitlement shall run concurrently with Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), California Family Rights Act (CFRA), and California Pregnancy Disability Leave (CPDL). The employee’s entitlement to employee paid benefits continuation under COBRA begins when the employee is no longer eligible for a County contribution toward medical benefits. When the employee returns to fifty percent (50%) allocated full time equivalent in paid status, eligibility for a County contribution toward health benefits is regained. Benefit coverage begins the first of the following month.
