Eligibility and Enrolling

You are eligible to enroll for and participate in the MPTN Disability program if:

you are employed by an MPTN division that participates in the applicable plan.
you are a regular full-time team member actively at work.
you are a regular part-time team member actively at work.
you have been employed continuously for 90 days.

If your regularly scheduled work week or your average hours worked per week changes, your eligibility to participate in MPTN benefits may change. The plan does not include coverage for temporary or seasonal team members, nor does it cover team members who work less than the required minimum hours per week.

If you are not eligible for benefits but later change to an eligible status — for example, if you change from a seasonal to a full-time team member — you must be employed continuously for 90 days in the new status before you become eligible for benefits. If you enroll for benefits, in most cases coverage begins on the first of the month following the day you complete 90 days of service in the new status.

When Coverage Begins

If you are eligible, your coverage will begin on the first day of the month after you complete 90 days of employment at MPTN, if you are actively at work on that day. If you are not actively at work because you are absent from work due to injury, illness or temporary leave of absence on the date your coverage would normally begin, your coverage will begin on the date you return to active employment.

For example, if you complete 90 days of service on August 20, your coverage will begin on September 1.

Changing Coverage

You can apply for coverage at annual enrollment or within 30 days of a qualified change in status. (See the Rules and Regulations section for more information on qualified changes in status.) If you do not increase your coverage within 30 days of a qualified status change, you will not be able to increase coverage until the next annual enrollment.

To make a change, you must notify Human Resources.

A change in coverage that is made during annual enrollment will be effective as of the following January 1. If you change your coverage within 30 days from the date of a qualified change in status, the new coverage will generally be effective on the first of the month following 30 days from the qualified event.

Pre-Existing Conditions

The full amount of the benefit will not be paid for disabilities resulting from a pre-existing condition.

The pre-existing condition exclusion applies only to the 12-month period following your effective date of coverage or increase in coverage.

Paying for Coverage

When you pay for buy-up coverages with after-tax dollars, you do not reduce your federal taxable income now. However, if you receive any buy-up disability benefits, you will not have to pay federal income tax on the buy-up portion of your disability benefits.

If you are a highly tipped team member, you must have a positive paycheck (a paycheck that still has a positive balance) to be able to make contributions for disability insurance coverage. If you have a negative paycheck, Human Resources will track the contributions owed, and their total value will be deducted from the next future positive paycheck(s) until your outstanding contribution balance is zero.

Contributions When Not on Payroll

If you are eligible to continue STD or LTD coverage when you are not an active team member (for example, while you are on an unpaid leave), or if you have a negative paycheck you can make weekly or monthly payments for your benefit elections directly to payroll. If payment is not made, your weekly contributions will go into arrears and will be deducted from your weekly pay check until all arrears are caught up.

Please note that you are not required to pay premiums for any LTD buy-up coverage you elected while you are receiving benefits under the LTD Plan. However, you are required to pay premiums for STD coverage, even if you are collecting STD benefits.

When Coverage Ends

Your disability coverage under the disability plans —ends on the earliest of the following dates:

the date the policy or plan is canceled,
the date you are no longer eligible,
the last day of the period for which you made any required contributions for the buy-up options, or
the day you end your employment, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, except in cases of covered layoffs or authorized leaves of absence.