Disability insurance

Iron Mountain pays the full cost of short-term (STD) and long-term (LTD) disability insurance benefits for eligible Mountaineers to help protect your financial wellbeing and provide a source of income when you cannot work due to a qualified illness or injury.

Preparing for medical leave, maternity leave, or parental leave requires planning.  Taking a leave of absence includes several key steps to ensure a smooth transition and to maintain compliance with company policies and insurance requirements. 

Eligibility: Regular full-time Mountaineers scheduled to work 30 or more hours per week

• Disability coverage

  	Short-Term Disability	Long-Term Disability
  When it Pays	When you become unable to work because of a qualified illness or injury and you meet eligibility requirements.* Benefits for an illness begin on the eighth calendar day after you become totally disabled. Benefits for an accident begin on the same day you become totally disabled.	When you can't work due to a qualified illness or injury lasting more than 26 weeks.
  How Much it Pays	Weeks 1–8: 100% of base pay (your base rate of compensation not including commissions, overtime or premium pay, bonuses or any other additional compensation). Short-term disability beyond 8 weeks pays 66.7% of base pay. *Family and Medical Leave Act leave runs concurrently with any time taken under STD. Also, depending on your location, you may be eligible for state benefits. Your Iron Mountain benefits will coordinate with the benefits paid out by the state. STD pays benefits for non-occupational illness and injury only.	60% of annual base pay until no longer disabled or reaching Social Security normal retirement age. Maximum benefit: $15,000 per month.

• How to apply for benefits

  File your claim as soon as you’re aware that you’ll be disabled for seven or more calendar days.

  Submit Your Claim: You can initiate your claim at lincolnfinancial.com (Company Code: IronMountain).  Contact 800-213-1532 for clarification on the process, required forms, information, and deadlines. 

  • You may receive a response from LFG with a claim approval, request for additional documentation or a denial.  

  • If you receive a request for additional information regarding your claim, respond promptly to LFG.  Status updates regarding your claim are visible on the LFG portal, or you will receive a phone call and/or letter with status updates (based on your communication preferences).

  Follow Up: Keep track of your claim status and respond to any additional requests for information.

  • LFG may require additional medical documentation to extend your leave beyond the initial approval date.

• Planning for Your Leave

  1. Consult with Your Healthcare Provider: Have your provider complete the Disability Attending Physician Statement: The form is on lincolnfinancial.com under Forms > Disability. Be sure that the details of your condition are included on the form.  

  Clarify Time Off: Ensure your healthcare provider specifies the expected duration of your leave and any work restrictions.

  2. Notify Your People Leader:

  Provide Advance Notice: Inform your People Leader within at least 30 days of your leave start date, unless it’s an emergency.  Note: employees are not required to provide a specific reason for their leave, other than the type of leave they are applying for. 

  3. Discuss work responsibilities with your people leader. 

  4. Understand Financial Implications

  Check Payment Details: Verify the percentage of your salary covered under STD or other paid leave benefits and whether there’s a waiting period before payments begin.

  Plan Your Budget: Adjust your budget to accommodate any changes in income or expenses during the leave period. Helpful resources and tips are available to help on imfinancialwellbeing.com/budget.

• Continuation of Benefits While On Leave

  Expect to be directly billed for benefit premiums: Upon approval of disability or a paid leave, you are able to continue the health and welfare benefits you are enrolled in prior to your leave.  You will be billed by the Iron Mountain Benefits Center (powered by bswift).  The billing notice will provide details of the payment options available to continue your benefits during your leave.  

  • Medical, Dental and Vision: will be directly billed through bswift

  • Supplemental, Spousal and Child Life Insurance: will be directly billed through bswift.

  • Voluntary benefits: Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity, Accident, Legal and ID Protection are directly billed with your other benefits. 

  • Health Savings (HSA), Flexible Savings (FSA) and Dependent Care FSA:  Deductions will stop while on leave and recalculate upon return to work. This means you will pay the same annual amount, however the deduction may be higher due to being on leave. 

  • Home & Auto and Pet Insurance:  Provider will issue a direct bill to you.

  Understand how disability or other paid leaves affect your 401(k): Contributions, employer match and any loan payments will continue if you receive pay from Iron Mountain payroll. They will not be applied to payments you receive from LFG under short-term or long-term disability or other paid leaves. 

  • If you have an outstanding loan, you may suspend your loan repayments while on leave for up to one year. Interest will continue to accrue during this time. Upon your return to work, the amount of your loan and interest will be re-amortized and your per pay period amount will be increased so that your loan is repaid by the original loan repayment date.

  You may continue to make loan repayments directly to Fidelity while you are on leave through the NetBenefits website. If you need assistance, contact the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Center at 800-835-5095, Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. to midnight ET.

• Prepare for your Return to Work

  • Discuss Accommodations: If needed, work with LFG and your healthcare provider to determine if reasonable accommodations are needed for your return.  If so, this may require an interactive process involving conversations between you, LFG, your leadership team, and Iron Mountain HR to determine if you are able to be accommodated.

  • Return to Work: Plan with your People Leader and communicate to them when you will return to work.

  • Report your Return to Work to Lincoln Financial Group: Upon return to work, confirm with LFG so they will know to stop your payments.  If payments continue from LFG upon your return to work, you will be liable to pay them back. 

  Being organized and proactive can help minimize stress and ensure that you can focus on your health during your leave.