Medical Leave Resource Page

As soon as employees become aware they are, or an eligible individual in their care is, (or will become) temporarily disabled for any medical reason, the employee must promptly advise his or her supervisor in writing of the reason for taking a leave and the anticipated commencement date. A doctor's certificate specifying the expected duration of the time away from work is required. A formal family or medical leave of absence begins on the 31st day following the last day of work. Human Resources must be notified of any medical leaves that will exceed 30 days in duration.

Medical leaves of absence, without pay, are available to eligible employees for the period they are disabled from work up to a maximum of six (6) months from the last day of active work. Employees may use accrued sick, vacation, or donated sick leave benefits during the period they are disabled from work in coordination with State Disability Insurance (SDI). Eligible Family leaves of absence, without pay, are available to eligible employees up to a maximum of twelve (12) weeks from the last day of active work. Employees may use accrued sick, vacation, or donated sick leave benefits during the period of leave in coordination with Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits. For the duration of a medical or family leave, the employee's benefits coverage under any group health plan will be maintained and continued at the level and under the conditions such benefits would have been provided if the employee remained actively and continuously employed through the maximum duration allowed. Holiday pay will apply and vacation and sick time will continue to accrue for the first 30 calendar days of a family or medical leave.

Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)¹

An eligible employee who has a serious health condition that prevents performance of his or her job functions may also request for a medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act policy. Provided that the total medical and family leave period does not exceed 12 workweeks as specified in the FMLA policy, the employee will, upon return to work, be restored to his or her same position (when possible), or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment. You may complete an online FMLA request form here. 

HR Benefits Administrator
Human Resources
Pepperdine University
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90263
310-506-4397 - office
310-506-4839 - fax
benefits@pepperdine.edu 

Concurrent Leaves

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the University designates all paid and/or unpaid leaves due to reasons that are eligible under the FMLA to run concurrently with, and be counted against, an employee's FMLA entitlement provided the employee qualifies for FMLA.  Also, to the extent permitted by California law, the leave will also run concurrently with and be counted against, an employee's California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave entitlements.

Pay While on Medical Leave and State Disability Insurance (SDI)

State Disability Insurance (SDI) benefits are coordinated with the University's sick pay plan to maximize the benefits available to eligible employees. Employees are to file for State Disability Insurance benefits as soon as they are eligible and report the payments received to Human Resources. This notification to Human Resources is extremely important in order to accurately coordinate SDI and sick pay plan benefits. Disability benefit claims are administered by the state of California's Employment Development Department (EDD) through the State Disability Insurance (SDI) program. You must serve a seven-day waiting period before state disability benefits are paid by the state of California (the seven day waiting period does not apply to Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits). These first seven days may be paid from your sick, vacation, or donated sick time accrued at the University.  If you do not have sick, vacation, or donated sick time, you will be unpaid by Pepperdine University during these seven days.

On the eighth day of disability, the state of California will begin its payment of benefits (PFL benefits begin immediately). The state pays up to 60-70% of your gross weekly salary, with a maximum benefit of $1,620/week for 2023. The difference in an employee's gross weekly salary may be paid by your sick, vacation, or donated sick time. If you do not have sick, vacation, or donated sick time, you will only receive SDI payment benefits (up to the maximum of $1,620) from the State of California.

For help navigating to the claim form or help with understanding your leave benefits, schedule an appointment with a Benefits representative in Human Resources.

The claim form is in three parts:

1. You will need to complete the "Claim Statement of Employee" section. Question 18 should be answered: Other: "accrued leave LESS SDI".
2. You or your eligible family member's physician will need to complete the "Physician's Certificate." 
3. You will also need to complete the "HIPAA Authorization."

Upon completion, please make copies for your records and submit your forms to:

Employment Development Department
Disability Insurance
PO Box 513096
Los Angeles, CA 90051-1096

As soon as you receive the NOTICE OF COMPUTATION in the US mail or email from the Employment Development Department (EDD) of the state of California, you must provide a copy to an HR Benefits representative in Human Resources. This notice will be used to coordinate how much sick or vacation time can be paid to you by the University during your leave. This process is called the coordination of benefits (coordination between the state and the employer benefits). Please be aware that the coordination of benefits may result in significant reductions in future payroll checks. Employees should be conservative in regard to spending SDI checks until the actual payroll adjustments have been made by the University. You will be notified by Human Resources when the adjustments are made.

¹To qualify for a family or medical leave, an employee must have at least 12 months of employment with the University. In addition, the employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours (an average of about 24 hours per week) during the prior 12 month period and employed at a worksite where the University has 50 or more employees within 75 miles.