Unum Leave Administration - Request & Claim Processing

UVA HR is moving the administration of family medical leave and military leave to an outside partner firm called Unum effective January 1, 2020. This affects all employees - faculty, staff, professional research staff, and team members throughout the University in the Academic Division, the College at Wise, and the Medical Center.   Paid Parental leave will also be managed by Unum for Academic Division and Medical Center staff only. For faculty and professional research staff, parental leave and sabbatical will remain with UVA HR. Personal and education leave will also remain with UVA HR for all employees. See your position category below for details. For those on the ORP retirement plan, disability will shift from The Standard to Unum for new short-term disability and long-term disability claims. For those on the VRS retirement plan, disability claims will remain with The Reed Group.  Please note - there are NO changes to leave benefits, the only difference is you will submit leave requests directly to Unum instead of to UVA HR. 

Recording - Unum Medical Center Manager Training

Changes by Position Type

Open your position category below to see what types of leave are now processed through Unum, and what types are still processed through UVA HR / Workday. 

  • Faculty & PRS

    AS OF JANUARY 2020 

    Leave Type:                             Administered by:

    Family Medical (FML)              Unum (change)

    Military                                     Unum (change)

    Paid Parental (PPL)                 UVA HR

    Sabbatical                                UVA HR

    Educational                              UVA HR

    Personal                                   UVA HR

     

    DISABILITY

    Leave Type:                           Administered by:

    ORP                                       Unum (changing from The Standard)

    VRS                                       The Reed Group

  • Staff

    AS OF JANUARY 2020 

    Leave Type:                             Administered by:

    Family Medical (FML)              Unum (change)

    Paid Parental (PPL)                Unum (change)

    Military                                     Unum (change)

    Educational                              UVA HR

    Personal                                   UVA HR

     

    DISABILITY

    Leave Type:                           Administered by:

    ORP                                       Unum (changing from The Standard)

    VRS                                       The Reed Group

  • Medical Center

    AS OF JANUARY 2020 

    Leave Type:                             Administered by:

    Family Medical (FML)              Unum (change)

    Paid Parental (PPL)                Unum (change)

    Military                                     Unum (change)

    Educational                              UVA HR

    Personal                                   UVA HR

     

    DISABILITY

    Leave Type:                           Administered by:

    MCRP & VRS                         Unum (staying the same)

     

Why a New Partnership

  • Using one vendor to manage multiple leave types - FML, disability, parental and military, delivers a more efficient and harmonized service enhancing the experience for UVA community members. 
  • Unum’s secure web services allows employees to access and make changes to open claims, as well as view updates, available letters and documents.
  • A Leave Administration Assessment conducted by an outside third party (Willis Towers Watson) in April 2018 concluded that manual administrative processes and leave tracking do not allow UVA to have complete accounting of costs and implications for absence benefits.
  • Using a firm specializing in benefits compliance and leave processing mitigates the University’s compliance risk with federal laws, and guidelines.
  • Unum already has a relationship with the University Medical Center and has a proven track record of high customer service satisfaction.

Claims Process Prior to January 1, 2020

Leave - All employees with a current FML approval will not need to recertify but will need to report any FML time taken to Unum beginning January 1.  Employees should continue to follow their department’s call-out procedure and managers should continue to enter intermittent FML hours taken in Workday or Kronos.

Disability - Academic Division faculty and staff in the ORP who are, or will be, out on an approved disability claim prior to January 1, 2020 will continue to work with The Standard for the duration of their claim.  New claims with an anticipated disability date of January 1 or later will need to be filed with Unum. 

 

How to Submit Leave Requests as of January 1, 2020

  1. Step 1

    Faculty, staff, PRS and MC team members should speak with their supervisors about a leave request.

  2. Step 2

    Follow instructions for LEAVE request processing on the Paid Leave webpage on the HR website. 

  1. Step 3

    Follow instructions for DISABILITY claims processing on the Disability Benefits webpage on the HR website. 

  2. Step 4

    For questions about the leave and disability processes, contact AskHR@virginia.edu, or 434-243-3344. 

Manager Training

UVA HR and Unum are providing in-person information and training sessions to Medical Center and Facilities Management managers and supervisors. 

  • Training Dates & Locations

    UVA HR and Unum are providing in-person information and training sessions to Medical Center and Facilities Management managers and supervisors to explain the details of the partnership, and how the new leave request and approval process will work with Unum so that you may better assist your team members. This is an excellent opportunity to meet personally with Unum representatives, learn and ask questions.

    We welcome your attendance at any of the sessions below. There will be a 45-minute presentation then Q&A. No need to register in advance.

    Medical Center Manager Training
    December 12 – Education Resource Center (ERC), Room B
    7:30am – 9:00am
    9:30am – 11:00am – This session will also be live-streamed to the HR website, and recorded for further viewing for Medical Center team members.

    Medical Center Manager Training
    December 13 – Battle Building, Conference Rooms 1201 and 1205
    8:30am – 10:00am
    2:00pm - 3:30pm

    Facilities Management Manager Training
    December 13 – West Complex, Conference Room G032
    11:00am – 12:30pm

    Facilities Management Manager Training
    December 17 - FM Complex on Alderman, Lunchroom
    8:30am - 10:00am