Think about Your Income Protection and Time-Off Needs

Sometimes we can plan time off, such as vacation or family leave. Other times something happens unexpectedly, like an injury or a death in the family. OU Health provides basic life insurance and short-term disability benefits at no cost to eligible employees. Paid-time off (PTO) is available to eligible employees immediately upon hire.

During Open Enrollment, you may elect additional life and/or disability insurance at low group rates, to supplement the coverage OU Health provides. There’s also an option to cash in part of your unused PTO balance (subject to a maximum of 40 hours), if eligible. Learn more here:

What OU Health Provides

OU Health pays the full cost of:

  • Basic life insurance equal to 1.5* times your base annual salary (Coverage reductions begin at age 65.)
  • Basic accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance equal to 1.5* times your base annual salary.
  • Short-term disability insurance that continues to pay all or a part of your salary for up to 26 weeks when you can’t work due to a covered illness or disability. (Benefit can only begin after you have completed 90 days of employment.) See the chart below for details.
*Two (2) times annual salary for Director level and above.
Note: Starting on Jan. 1, 2025, Physicians’ short-term disability plan will also follow the schedule shown in the following chart.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE

OU Health offers several types of leave. Here are highlights of some key policies. (All policies are available in PolicyTech on the The Hub.)

Paid Family Leave: You can take up to six weeks of paid time away from work to care for an eligible family member with a serious health condition or to bond with a newly born/placed child. Benefits-eligible full- and part-time employees with at least one year of service are eligible to take family leave. (Note: Physicians move to this family leave program on Jan. 1, 2025.)

Bereavement Leave: You can take up to five paid days away from work in the event of the death of an immediate family member and up to three days for an extended family member.

Paid Volunteer Time: You can take up to four hours of paid time away from work each year to
volunteer in the community.

PAID TIME OFF (PTO)*

PTO is another resource to help you manage your time away from work. Staff employees below Director level earn PTO throughout the year based on hours worked. The PTO accrual schedule is not changing for 2025:

*PTO plans are subject to the applicable Human Resources policies, available in PolicyTech on The Hub.

Option to Cash In Up to 40 Hours of PTO

During Open Enrollment only, you can elect to “sell” (cash in) up to 40 hours of PTO if you meet both of these rules:

  • You have at least 40 hours in your PTO balance on the date of your election.
  • At least 40 hours remain in your PTO balance immediately after your election.

Payment of your eligible “sold” PTO hours will automatically be included in your paycheck dated Oct. 31, 2025. The payment will be based on 100% of your hourly pay rate as of Oct. 31, 2025 (or your hourly equivalent if you are a salaried employee).

Your Options to Elect Supplemental Insurance

OU Health offers supplemental employee and dependent life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) and disability insurance options so you can elect more financial protection to “supplement” the basic life, AD&D and short-term disability coverage you receive from OU Health. You may need to provide Evidence of Insurability (EOI) to the insurance company.

You pay for supplemental insurance through convenient after-tax paycheck deductions. When you go to Workday to enroll, you will see what options are available and your cost per paycheck.

If you want to add or drop supplemental coverage, you must act during the Open Enrollment period. During the year, you can only make changes if you have a qualifying life event. (See Mid-Year Election Changes for more details.)

Supplemental Employee Life Insurance
Full-time employees may elect coverage equal to one, two, three, four or five times your base annual salary subject to certain limitations. (Part-time employees may buy a $15,000 flat amount of coverage.)

Dependent Life Insurance
You may elect life insurance for your:

  • Spouse with a benefit up to 50% of your employee life insurance amount. (If your spouse is age 70 or older, the maximum coverage is $10,000 for full-time employees and $7,500 for part-time employees.)
  • Child(ren) with a benefit up to $10,000. (Part-time employees can elect up to $5,000. For full-time employees only, if the child is six months or younger, the benefit is limited to $5,000.)

Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance (AD&D)
You may elect coverage equal to one, two, three, four or five times your base annual salary. You receive from 50% to 100% of your coverage amount, depending on the type of loss. AD&D benefits are paid if you become seriously injured or physically disabled. AD&D benefits are paid in addition to any life insurance benefit.

Long-Term Disability Insurance
Full-time employees may elect long-term disability (LTD) insurance of 50%, 60% or 66-2⁄3% of base annual salary.* LTD benefit payments begin 180 days after the date you became disabled. The maximum monthly LTD payment is $20,000.

*Part-time employees are not eligible to elect LTD insurance. Executives receive company-paid LTD insurance coverage equal to 66 ⅔% of base salary, subject to a monthly maximum of $25,000 in 2025.

Be sure to name your beneficiaries!

When you visit Workday to enroll, be sure you’ve selected a beneficiary for all of your insurance policies.

Your Enrollment Checklist

*If you do not act by Nov. 18, 2024, your 2024 benefits will roll over to 2025; except you must enroll by Nov. 18 if you want to contribute to a flexible spending account in 2025 and/or have coverage in accident, critical illness and/or hospital indemnity insurance for 2025.

Be sure to name your beneficiaries!

When you visit Workday to enroll, be sure you’ve selected a beneficiary for all of your insurance policies.