Q. What can prevent my receiving disability benefits?

A. Benefits can stop entirely or they can be reduced if you do not meet the Plan's requirements.

When you are disqualified from receiving STD or LTD benefits

You are not eligible for benefits if you become disabled while you are absent for disciplinary reasons, without permission, or after you have been continuously absent for more than 30 days for any reason other than disability. 

In addition, there are also some causes of disability which may disqualify you from receiving benefits. These include:

• The use of narcotics or intoxicants
• An unlawful act.
• Willful intent to injure yourself or another person, except in self defense
• If you are disabled while employed on an outside job
• In the case of an industrial disability, lack of due care for the safety of yourself or others or lack of compliance with company safety regulations.

The determination as to whether you are disqualified from receiving STD and LTD benefits is made by your employer and is retroactive to the date of disability.

When STD benefits stop

In addition to requirements shown in the Eligibility and enrollment section, short-term disability benefits stop if:

• You exhaust your schedule of benefits,
• You return to work,
• Your employment is terminated, or
• You die.

When LTD benefits stop

Generally, long-term disability benefit payments stop immediately for any period in which:

• You do not obtain proper medical care and follow instructions as to treatment.
• When asked, you do not give the Claims Administrator a certificate from the physician who is caring for you.
• You do not submit to medical examinations if requested by the Claims Administrator.
• You fail to cooperate in an appeal of a denial of your application for disability under the U.S. Social Security Act.
• You do not keep the Claims Administrator advised of your location while disabled.
• You do not take any other steps as required by the Claims Administrator, including submitting any requested information (e.g., forms, medical releases).

Once these requirements are met, benefits may be reinstated prospectively.

Long-term disability benefits will stop and not be reinstated if:

• You fail to meet the requirements for continued benefits under the benefits continuation test, or
• You do not report non-rehabilitative wages (income earned for work other than in conjunction with a rehabilitation program).

In addition, if you are a retiree and fail to report non-rehabilitative wages, there is no six-month transition benefit.

LTD death benefit guaranteed payments

If at the time of death, you are a retiree receiving an LTD benefit and less than 60 full monthly installments of the LTD benefit had become payable to you, monthly installments equal to the guaranteed amount shall be paid to your beneficiary until the month for which the 60th full monthly installment amount of the LTD benefit would have been paid if you had not died.

If at the time of death, you are a covered employee with 15 or more years of benefit service, the Plan provides 60 monthly installment payments beginning with the month following that in which the death occurs.

Determining the guaranteed payment amount

The amount of the benefit is 50% of your last monthly benefit pay less the monthly amount of your pension benefit under the ExxonMobil Pension Plan (including the pre-Social Security pension), regardless of whether or not the pension benefit has commenced, calculated as follows:

• The pension benefit shall be calculated without taking into account any offsetting pensions (as defined in the ExxonMobil Pension Plan)
• If the person dies as a covered employee, the pension benefit shall be calculated as if the person were a retiree at death;
• The monthly amount of the pension benefit shall be based on the normal form amount as defined in the ExxonMobil Pension Plan, reduced, if applicable, for the person's age at the time of death.

If you die before age 50, early commencement factors shall be extended at your age at death based on the same rate of reduction as set out in the ExxonMobil Pension Plan.

Recipient of guarantee payments

Surviving designated beneficiary

If there is a surviving designated beneficiary, the beneficiary or beneficiaries in the order of distribution specified on the beneficiary designation form receive the guarantee amount. Upon the death of the last surviving designated beneficiary, that beneficiary's estate receives the remaining installment payments.

No surviving designated beneficiary

If there is no surviving designated beneficiary, the guarantee amount shall be paid to the first of the following groups that has at least one member that survives the deceased:

• Your spouse.
• Your children who are born prior to your date of death. In this event, the benefit will be divided equally among the children who survive you as well as the children who die before you leaving children of their own who survive you. In the case of your child dying before you, leaving children of his or her own who survive you, such child's share shall be divided equally among his or her surviving children.
• Your parents. In this event, the benefit will be divided equally between the parents who survive you.
• Your brothers and sisters. In this event, the benefit will be divided equally among the brothers and sisters who survive you as well as the brothers and sisters who die before you leaving children of their own who survive you. In the case of a brother or sister who dies before you leaving children of his or her own who survive you, such brother or sister's share shall be divided equally among his or her surviving children.
• Your executors or administrators.

Your spouse shall include only someone who is your legal spouse under United States federal law, and your child, parent, brother, or sister shall include only someone who is your legitimate blood relative or whose relationship with you was established by virtue of a legal adoption.

Special rule for estates

When an estate is to receive the installment payments, the net present value of the payments shall be paid in a lump sum. The interest rate used in calculating net present value shall be the prevailing prime rate in effect on the date of the retiree's or designated beneficiary's death as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Designating beneficiary

You may at any time designate a beneficiary, or revoke a former designation, to the extent permitted by regulations of the Administrator-Benefits. Contact ExxonMobil Benefits Service Center for information on how to designate a beneficiary.