Section 50.50. Eligibility for LTDI benefits.

  Any participant in the Wisconsin retirement system is entitled to LTDI benefits if all of the following requirements are met:

(1)   Participating employee.

(a) The claimant is a participating employee or deemed to be a participating employee under par. (c) .

(b) A participating employee may file an application for LTDI benefits as if the last day worked were the last day paid, provided the employer certifies that the employee's date of termination of employment is being extended past the last day worked due to a payment for accumulated sick leave, vacation, compensatory time, or payment of worker's compensation temporary disability benefits.

(c) A claimant who terminated employment with an employer prior to applying for LTDI benefits is deemed to be a participating employee for purposes of this subsection if all of the following apply:

1. The termination of active service for the participating employer was due to a medically determinable impairment.

2. The claimant is not employed by any employer as defined in s. 40.02 (28) , Stats.

3. Excluding earnings from the claimant's last participating employer, the claimant has not received aggregate earnings, wages, salary and other earned income in any 12 consecutive calendar months beginning with the first of the month following the date the claimant last rendered services to the participating employer exceeding the annual dollar amount determined under s. ETF 50.32 (3) that is in effect at the end of the 12 consecutive calendar month period.

(2)   Service qualifications.

(a) Minimum period of employment. An employee must first qualify as a participating employee to be eligible for benefits under this subchapter. Notwithstanding s. 40.22 (6) , Stats., or sub. (1) , no employee who terminates employment with an employer after a period of less than 30 calendar days is eligible for benefits under this subchapter.

(b) Minimum creditable service. Except as provided in par. (c) , the claimant must have earned at least 0.33 years of creditable current service or prior service, or both, in each of at least 5 calendar years not including any calendar year preceding by more than 7 calendar years the year in which the claim for LTDI benefits is received by the department. Service credit purchased under s. 40.285 (2) (a) , Stats., may be counted towards this requirement only if the service itself was rendered during the calendar year of the application or the preceding 7 calendar years. For this purpose, the service credit purchased under s. 40.285 (2) (a) , Stats., shall be allocated to the specific year or years as the forfeited service was originally credited. Purchase of forfeited service may not qualify a person under this paragraph if the person would not have qualified had no service been forfeited. Creditable military service granted under s. 40.02 (15) (a) , Stats., or the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act is counted towards this requirement as if the employee had been employed by a participating employer during the period of service. Creditable military service granted under s. 40.02 (15) (c) , Stats., does not satisfy this requirement.

(c) Creditable service; previous disability annuity. For purposes of par. (b) only, if a claimant was previously receiving a disability annuity under s. 40.63 , Stats., which was terminated, or LTDI benefits which were terminated for reasons other than fraud, misrepresentation, error, mistake or failure to provide required information, the claimant is deemed to have received creditable service for any month or portion of a month for which the terminated disability annuity or LTDI benefit was paid.

(d) Waiver for work-related disability. The minimum creditable service requirement of par. (b) is waived if the claimant meets both of the following qualifications:

1. The claimant's medically determinable impairment is a result of employment as a participating employee for an employer.

2. The claimant last rendered services as an employee to a participating employer not more than 2 years prior to the date the claim for LTDI benefits is received by the department.

(3)   Totally and permanently disabled. The claimant is totally and permanently disabled and suffered the medically determinable impairment associated with the disability in the time period during which the claimant was a participating employee.

(4)   No earnings payable. The claimant is not entitled to any earnings from any participating employer. In this subsection and sub. (5) , "earnings" does not include bonus compensation to which the employee is entitled under s. 25.156 (7) (a) , 1997 Stats.

(5)   Employer statement.

(a) The department receives a statement from the employer certifying the information required under s. ETF 50.48 (3) (b) and certifying that the employer has paid to the employee all earnings to which the employee is entitled, and that one of the following applies:

1. The employee is on a leave of absence and is not expected to resume active service and, as a consequence, the employee is not entitled to any further earnings from the employer.

2. The employee's participating employment has been terminated and, as a consequence, the employee is not entitled to any further earnings from the employer.

(b) The requirement of par. (a) is not met if the employer certifies the employee was not terminated or not on leave of absence or because the employee's termination or leave of absence was for a reason other than a medical issue.

(6)   Physician certifications. Except as provided in s. ETF 50.48 (6) (a) 2. , the department has received certifications in writing from at least 2 licensed and practicing physicians approved or appointed by the department that the employee is disabled as described in sub. (3) or, for a protective occupation participant who meets the requirements of s. ETF 50.58 (1) (a) , disabled as described in s. ETF 50.58 (1) (a) 3.

History: Emerg. cr. eff. 10-15-92; cr. Register, May, 1993, No. 449 , eff. 6-1-93; am. (1) (c) 3., Register, September, 2000, No. 537 , eff. 10-1-00; correction in (4) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register November 2002 No. 563 ; CR 02-057 : am. (5) (a) (intro.) and 2., cons. and am. (5) (b) (intro.) and 1., Register November 2002 No. 563 , eff. 12-1-02; CR 07-062 : am. (2) (b) Register June 2008 No. 630 , eff. 7-1-08; CR 14-055 : am. (1) (c) 2., (5) (b) Register May 2015 No. 713 , eff. 6-1-15.

Note

The use of purchased service credit to meet this requirement for creditable service in certain annual earnings periods is an express exception to the general rule of s. ETF 20.17 (1) (d) 4. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 For claimant who is a protective occupation participant, see alternative degree of disability in s. ETF 50.58 (1) (a) . Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Section 25.156, Stats., was repealed by 1999 Wis. Act 9 , but the compensation allowed by that section is still potentially payable. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1