Sedgwick short-term disability pay typically replaces 40 to 80 percent of your pre-disability base wages, follows a waiting period of around seven days before the first payment, and in most employer plans is delivered through your regular payroll on your normal pay dates. Sedgwick administers the claim; it does not set the dollar amount. Every number that matters — the percentage, the weekly cap, the waiting period, the duration — comes from the plan your employer bought or built.
How Much You Actually Get
Your weekly benefit is a percentage of your pre-disability base pay. The specific percentage is written into your employer’s plan document. Most land between 40 and 80 percent of regular wages.1Nick Ortiz Law. Sedgwick
Some plans pay more at the start and less later. DuPont’s plan, for example, pays 100 percent of base salary for the first eight weeks and then 70 percent for up to 26 weeks.2DuPont Benefits. Disability Many plans also cap the weekly or monthly dollar amount, so a high earner can end up with less than the headline percentage suggests once the cap is applied.1Nick Ortiz Law. Sedgwick
Base pay is the usual starting point for the calculation. Overtime, bonuses, and commissions are often excluded unless your plan specifically includes them. Pull your summary plan description or ask HR for the exact definition your plan uses.
Is the Money Taxable?
That depends on who paid the premium. If your employer paid the full cost, the benefits count as taxable income. If you paid the entire premium yourself with after-tax dollars, the benefits are tax-free. When costs are shared, the portion tied to the employer’s contribution is taxable.3IRS. Life Insurance and Disability Insurance Proceeds Premiums paid through a cafeteria plan on a pre-tax basis are treated as employer-paid, which makes the full benefit taxable.
If your benefits are taxable, you can submit IRS Form W-4S to have federal income tax withheld, or make quarterly estimated payments on Form 1040-ES.3IRS. Life Insurance and Disability Insurance Proceeds
The Waiting Period Before Your First Check
Nearly every short-term disability plan has a waiting period, sometimes called an elimination period, between the day you become disabled and the day benefits start. Seven calendar days is the most common setup in Sedgwick-administered plans, with pay beginning on day eight.4Leidos. Disability Benefits Some plans use 14 days. Across the industry the range runs from 7 to 30 days.
There are a few ways the wait can shrink or disappear. The Leidos plan waives the seven-day waiting period entirely if you are hospitalized. If you cut your hours by 25 percent or more for medical reasons without stopping work altogether, those reduced days can count toward the waiting period.4Leidos. Disability Benefits If you return to work and then go out again for the same condition within 31 days, you generally do not serve a new waiting period.
How Payments Reach You, and When
In most employer plans, short-term disability pay runs through your company’s normal payroll system. The money hits on your regular pay dates, through the same direct deposit account you already use. Republic Services describes its STD benefits as paid “on your regularly scheduled pay dates and in the same manner as your regular pay.”5Republic Services Benefits. Short and Long Term Disability Leidos uses the same approach, routing benefits through payroll.4Leidos. Disability Benefits
Not every arrangement works that way. When Sedgwick handles workers’ compensation temporary disability payments for University of California employees, it issues checks every two weeks on its own schedule, separate from the university’s payroll cycle.6University of California. Workers Comp Disability Benefits Supplemental Wages The Arizona State Retirement System’s Sedgwick-administered benefits are paid monthly, with the option of direct deposit or paper check.7ASRS. Sedgwick Direct Deposit Form Check your plan documents or ask HR which setup applies to you.
If you are working reduced hours instead of being fully off, expect a delay of one pay period before you see a partial benefit. The amount is prorated, and the combined total of wages plus disability pay cannot exceed your regular pre-disability weekly pay.4Leidos. Disability Benefits
Tracking Payments in mySedgwick
The mySedgwick portal is open around the clock and is the simplest way to see where things stand. You can check claim status, view recent and upcoming payment history, upload documents, update return-to-work dates, and message your claims team securely.8Sedgwick. Help With My Claim Email or text notifications can be turned on so a payment or a request for information doesn’t slip past you.
How Long the Payments Last
Most short-term plans pay benefits for 13 to 26 weeks, with the exact ceiling set by your plan. If you are still unable to work when STD ends, the next step is typically long-term disability, if your employer offers it. Under DuPont’s plan, Sedgwick automatically refers the claimant to The Hartford to open the LTD application; LTD there pays 60 percent of base salary up to $15,000 per month and can run for years.2DuPont Benefits. Disability
Automatic LTD handoff is not universal. SSM Health’s plan documents note that both STD and LTD coverage end on the date an employee moves to unpaid, non-benefit-eligible status, though LTD eligibility is determined based on benefit status as of the date the disability began.9SSM Health. Benefit Resources Long Term Disability Transition A gap in income between the last STD check and the first LTD check is possible, so it is worth asking about the transition timeline well before STD runs out.
What Delays or Stops Your Pay
The single most common cause of delayed payments, according to plan documents, is a treating physician failing to return requested forms on time. Benefits require certification from a doctor based on objective medical evidence, and medical records generally must reach Sedgwick within 30 days of the initial claim packet or within 30 days of the disability date, whichever is later.4Leidos. Disability Benefits If your disability lasts longer than first estimated, your doctor will need to return an extension form Sedgwick sends. Staying on top of your doctor’s office is the most useful thing you can do while a claim is pending.
Claims filed more than 60 days after the disability began risk denial outright.4Leidos. Disability Benefits
Why Sedgwick Denies Claims
Common reasons for denial include insufficient medical documentation, failure to meet the plan’s specific definition of “disabled,” pre-existing condition exclusions, missing medical records, and errors in employer paperwork.8Sedgwick. Help With My Claim Sedgwick evaluates claims by looking at functional restrictions and limitations, not just the diagnosis. The records need to show how the condition actually prevents you from doing your job.
Sedgwick frequently uses peer reviews, where a physician it retains looks at your records on paper without examining you. Federal courts have at times questioned the reliability of this approach, particularly for conditions like chronic pain that are hard to confirm from records alone.10Debofsky Law. Court Finds Denial Arbitrary and Capricious
Appealing a Denial
For employer plans governed by ERISA (the federal law covering most employer-sponsored benefits), you have 180 days from receipt of the denial letter to file an administrative appeal. Sedgwick generally has 45 days to respond, with a possible 45-day extension.8Sedgwick. Help With My Claim For non-ERISA plans, deadlines are often much shorter, sometimes 30, 60, or 90 days. The denial letter spells out which applies.
The administrative appeal is usually your last chance to add evidence. If a lawsuit comes later, the judge typically only reviews what was already in the file. A strong appeal pairs updated medical records and current test results with detailed physician statements tying your condition to the specific physical or cognitive tasks your job requires, plus a written argument that walks through each reason given in the denial letter.
Offsets and Overpayments
Most plans reduce your benefit by what you receive from certain other sources, including Social Security disability, workers’ compensation, and state disability programs. If the plan paid you full benefits while a Social Security application was pending and Social Security later issues a retroactive lump sum, the plan can declare an overpayment for the overlapping period and ask for the money back.
Recovery can take the form of a lump-sum demand, a reduction of future monthly benefits, or in some cases a suspension of payments. Under the Supreme Court’s decision in Montanile v. Board of Trustees (2016), a plan may be unable to reach your general assets if you already spent the Social Security back pay on ordinary living expenses before you received the overpayment notice. Federal law also prohibits insurers from garnishing Social Security benefits directly. If you get an overpayment notice, ask for an itemized calculation, compare it against your Social Security award letter, and confirm that any attorney fees you paid to win the Social Security award were credited against the amount Sedgwick says you owe.
If You Work in a State With Its Own Disability Program
California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and Puerto Rico require employers to provide short-term disability coverage through state-run or state-approved programs. If you work in one of these places, you may need to file a separate claim with the state program on top of any employer plan Sedgwick administers.4Leidos. Disability Benefits
State programs run on their own math. New Jersey’s Temporary Disability Insurance program pays 85 percent of average weekly wages up to $1,119 per week in 2026, with a seven-day waiting period.11New Jersey Department of Labor. TDI FAQ If your employer offers a state-approved private plan, you generally cannot also collect from the state plan. State disability programs do not provide job protection on their own; that comes from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.