Who Is Eligible for Coverage

If you are an active, regular full-time employee scheduled to work at least 30 hours per week, a faculty employee holding a regular rank appointment who is receiving wages for Social Security purposes, or a faculty employee holding other than a regular rank appointment and classified as a full-time member of the faculty, who is receiving wages for Social Security purposes, you are eligible to participate in the Duke Disability Program as of the first day of the month after the completion of three years of full-time continuous service with Duke. However, If you had an employer-provided (employer-paid) long term disability plan within 90 days of full-time employment to Duke, you may participate in the Duke Disability Program as of the first day of the month after your hire date (waiving the normal three-year waiting period). You can request that your immediate previous employer complete the Duke Disability Program - Request for Service Requirement Waiver form. Waiver requests must be received in the Benefits Office within 90 days of your date of hire. See further details below under Proof of Prior Coverage (LTD Waiver Option).

Duke employees holding a full time, active, Private Diagnostic Clinic faculty position and receiving compensation from Duke immediately prior to July 1, 2023, whose date of disability begins on or after July 1, 2023 are no longer excluded from eligibility to participate in the program. 

Effective the later of July 1, 2023 or the transition date, Duke’s employer-provided long term disability program is modified as follows:

Who is Not Eligible?

  • Temporary employees,
  • Non-faculty employees working less than 30 hours per week,
  • Faculty who are not full-time,
  • Employees covered for other monthly disability income coverage provided by Duke,
  • House Staff Officers*, and
  • Employees who reside outside of the United States.

*Eligible House Staff receive long term disability coverage through the House Staff Long Term Disability Program; they are not eligible to participate in the disability programs described here.

Proof of Prior Coverage (LTD Waiver Option)

If you had an employer-provided (employer-paid) long term disability plan within 90 days of full-time employment to Duke, you may participate in the Duke Disability Program as of the first day of the month after your hire date (waiving the normal three-year waiting period). You can request that your immediate previous employer completes the Duke Disability Program - Request for Service Requirement Waiver form. Waiver requests must be received in the Benefits Office within 90 days of your date of hire.

Alternately, proof of prior group LTD coverage may be submitted on your past employer's letterhead or business email and the statement of prior participation should also include the termination date of the disability coverage. Waiver requests should be emailed to hr@duke.edu or faxed to the attention of our disability analyst at (919) 681-8774 within 90 days of your hire date.

It is your responsibility to provide proof of prior employer-provided (employer-paid) long term disability coverage and to confirm receipt of proof by Duke Benefits Office within 90 days after your date of hire.

An individual (non-group) LTD disability plan does not qualify for LTD waiver consideration.