Only Available For Participants of the OLDC-OCA Insurance Fund

This benefit is taxable. If you do not complete and submit tax withholding form with the disability form, state and federal taxes will be withheld from your Short Term Disability benefits at a standard withholding of single with Zero Allowances. You can contact the Benefits Office to get federal and state tax forms mailed to you, if interested. Forms are also available online. 

Once the Ohio Laborers Benefits office is in receipt of the disability form and the information is verified with your doctor, your payments may begin. For disabilities related to sickness, there is a one week waiting period before the benefit will start. There is not a waiting period for accidents. Short Term disability check are mailed every Friday.

If your disability lasts 13 weeks or longer, you will be required to complete a disability continuance form. The continuance form is used to make sure your return to work date has not changed. The form is mailed with weekly check prior to your thirteenth week of disability. Like the initial blue form, both you and your doctor must complete a portion of the form. If the continuance form is not returned to the Ohio Laborers Benefits office by week 13, your benefits will be suspended until receipt.

In addition to the monetary benefit, you may be entitled to disability credit hours (DCH) from the OLDC-OCA Insurance Fund and the LDC&C Pension Fund of Ohio. The Insurance Fund grants 4 DCH per day up to a maximum of 500 hours per disability. This may extend your insurance eligibility even though you are unable to work. The Pension Fund grants 40 DCH per week up to 2,000 DCH or 2 pension credits in a lifetime. If you have already worked 1,000 hours in the year of the disability, no DCH will be granted. If you have worked less than 1,000 hours in the year of the disability, DCH may be granted to get you to 1,000 hours in that year. There are no filing time limits associated with pension DCH.

No benefit is provided for loss caused by or resulting from:

1. Declared war or undeclared war or any act of war;
2. The use of amphetamine, barbiturate, hallucinogen, narcotic, or other drug, except when prescribed by a physician and used in accordance with his or her direction.
3. Injury or Sickness arising out of or in the course of occupation or employment for compensation, profit or gain, and which is compensable under any Workers’ Compensation or Occupational Disease Act or Law (if you have a work related disability and are denied benefits from a workers’ compensation program, you may still be eligible for a Short Term Disability benefit);
4. Disability while receiving pension benefits. However, if the disability occurs prior to the pension effective date, such benefits will continue to be payable for that period of disability, subject to the maximum Benefit Period;
5. Self-inflicted injury while sane or insane;
6. Participation in felony attempted or committed assault (intentional or unintentional);
7. Injuries or Sickness caused in a motor vehicle accident if the Covered Individual was operating the vehicle while intoxicated (had a blood alcohol level that exceeded the legal limit of the jurisdiction in which the accident occurred or no breathalyzer exam was performed or the person refused to submit to a requested breathalyzer or blood test) or was under the influence of illegal drugs; unless the injuries arise as a result of a physical or mental health condition.

* Successive disabilities restriction: If you are disabled at multiple times from the same or related condition, the Fund will treat all of the periods of disability as one period, unless you return to active employment for four consecutive weeks (160 hours) between the periods of disability.