CrossCountry Mortgage understands that there will be times when an employee is required to take a formal leave of absence, whether due to an illness, injury, pregnancy, or/or to become a full-time caregiver for a family member. The leave of absence options will vary from employee to employee, and the time provided will depend on the employee’s leave reason(s).
CrossCountry Mortgage provides an employer-paid Short-Term Disability (STD) plan available for all full-time employees through our leave of absence provider, Unum. The STD plan does not provide job protection but can provide employees with weekly paid benefits for their covered disability. The STD plan has a 14-day elimination period, meaning this is the number of days that must pass between an employee’s first day of a covered disability and the day they can begin to receive their weekly disability benefit. On the 15th day, the employee will receive 60% of their weekly earnings with a maximum of up to $2,000 per week, payable up to 11 weeks. The duration of an employee’s leave will vary depending on the medical certifications provided to Unum.
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When utilizing the STD plan for maternity leave, the weekly disability benefit is made available for up to 6 weeks for both normal and C-section deliveries. The total of 6 weeks includes the 14-day elimination period. If additional time off is needed due to pre- or post-pregnancy complications, the standard six weeks can be extended with medical certification.
In addition to the STD plan, eligible employees may qualify for the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks for eligible family and medical reasons, including time to bond with a newborn. Eligible employees must have completed 12 months of continuous employment and working 1,250 hours with CCM to qualify for this job-protected, unpaid leave. Depending on the employee’s medical situation, FMLA can be taken on a continuous or intermittent schedule. When returning to work, unless an employee is granted an extension of their leave, failure to return on the day after the expiration of the FMLA leave will be considered a voluntary termination.
Per company policy, while on a leave of absence, all corporate and branch-affiliated employees are required to utilize and exhaust available Paid Time Off (PTO), Paid Sick Leave (PSL), and Floating Holiday hours at the start of their leave. If an employee falls under the accrual-based PTO or PSL policy, then the employee will not accrue additional hours while on leave. Once returned, the employee will resume the accrual rates applicable to their years of service and state law.
It is standard protocol that when an employee initiates a formal leave of absence, all CCM systems access will be temporarily disabled. Suppose an employee is on leave due to illness or injury. In that case, the employee must provide Human Resources with a medical release before returning to work. Without a medical release, the employee cannot resume regular duty until one is provided to Human Resources.
While on a leave of absence, employees who are currently enrolled in benefits such as medical, dental, vision, or voluntary coverages through Anthem BCBS, Kaiser, HMSA, and Unum those plans will remain active with no interruption to coverages. Please be mindful that once an employee stops receiving a paycheck from CCM, any bi-weekly premiums that go unpaid will begin to accrue in the background with our internal Payroll Department. Once a return-to-work date has been established and an employee re-enters the workforce from their medical or family leave, those premiums will be owed.
HR recommends that employees contact Payroll at [email protected] on their first scheduled day to review their benefit accrual balances. Payroll can work with the employee to set up a payment plan if needed. If a payment plan is not set up, employees can expect their accrual balances to be taken from their first paycheck.
Suppose an employee is on a leave of absence for maternity leave. In that case, they can update and add their newborn to their existing benefits as a qualified life event. Once the baby is born, the employee will have a 30-day window from the life event to make the necessary changes or additions. Employees will need to contact [email protected] with proof of the life event (for example documentation from the hospital, an SSN card, birth certificate) to add your newborn.
To initiate a formal leave of absence or file a disability claim, employees will first need to contact our leave of absence provider, Unum, which handles our STD and FMLA leaves. The Unum Total Leave Employee Education Flyer details the leave initiation process. Unum will provide employees with all their available leave options, including any Federal or state-specific leave that they would be eligible for.
To file a Leave Request under FMLA and an STD Claim, Unum can be contacted by phone or via their website:
- Phone: 866-868-6737 (8:00 am to 5:00 pm EST)
- https://portal.unum.com
Once the employee initiates their leave by contacting Unum, they will receive a leave packet that requires completion by the employee and their medical provider. This packet must then be returned directly to Unum. Keep in mind that employees will be provided with a minimum of 15 days from the date the leave is requested to complete and return their certifications to Unum. Failure to complete and return the certifications in a timely manner may result in the employee’s claim being delayed or denied.
Please note that if the employee resides and works in the states below, the employee may be eligible for additional leave benefits through the state. The Human Resources Department has a designated team that handles CCM’s leave of absence process and can provide employees with further information about the applicable state leave benefits.
- California
- State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL)
- Connecticut
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)
- Hawaii
- Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI)
- Massachusetts
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)
- New Jersey
- Temporary Disability Benefits (TDB) and Family Leave Insurance (FLI)
- New York
- Disability Benefits Law (DBL) and Paid Family Leave (PFL)
- Rhode Island
- Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI)
- Washington
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)
- Washington D.C.
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)
We encourage employees to contact Human Resources at [email protected] with questions or to discuss an upcoming leave of absence.
