GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Who contributes to the Salary Indemnity Fund?
   Effective 2015–16, each teacher contributes 1.67% of salary earned. Of that, 0.46% supports the short-term portion of the plan and 1.21% supports the long-term portion.

   All teachers must contribute to the short-term portion of the plan. However, if a teacher has reached factor 88, 64 years of age, or is in receipt of a registered pension, she/he may withdraw from the long-term portion of the plan.

2. Who is eligible to collect benefits from these plans?
   Under the short-term portion of the plan, a teacher may receive benefits from the plan, beginning the day after the last day of paid work or sick leave, if the teacher is prevented, by illness or injury, from performing her/his normal employment duties. A teacher may receive short-term disability benefits for 120 days.

   Once into long-term disability, a teacher may receive benefits for up to one year, being disabled from her/his own “occupation.” After that first year, the teacher must be suffering from a mental or physical disability that prevents the teacher from performing the duties of any gainful employment, and is designated as being disabled from “any occupations.”

3. Who pays the benefits?
   Short-term claims are adjudicated and paid by the BC Teachers’ Federation, while long-term claims are adjudicated and paid by Great-West Life. However, this is not an insured plan. Both short-term and long-term benefits are paid directly from members’ Salary Indemnity Plan fees.
4. How long can a teacher remain on benefits?
   Once a teacher has been in receipt of benefits for 90 days, a medical specialist must support the claim. A teacher can continue to receive benefits from the plan so long as the on-going medical supports the claim.
5. How many people are currently receiving benefits?
   There are approximately 2,364 teachers currently receiving short-term or long-term benefits from the plan.
6. How do we know if we have enough money to pay these claims?
   The Plan is subject to an actuarial evaluation each year. As a result, we always know the status of the funding of the plan and the Salary Indemnity Plan fee is reviewed annually.
7. Could the plan run out of money and not be able to pay benefits to teachers currently on claim?
   As of June 30, 2015, the fund has a surplus of approximately $98 million. There is sufficient money set aside to pay the benefits to all teachers who are currently on claim. The fund is invested and managed professionally, in accordance with BCTF policy, and the BCTF Finance Committee oversees the investment managers each quarter. The fund is diversified, and invested conservatively.

For more information, see the Salary Indemnity Plan Regulations.