Disability income protection company Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) revealed on Wednesday that COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of short-term disability for US workers and the the top cause of disability for the US manufacturing workers in 2020 based on internal data .

In 2020, the company paid USD6.2bn in benefits in the US and helped over 900 companies manage more than 100 leave laws, including leave related to the Family Medical and Leave and state legislation. It handled over a million short-term disability claims and leave requests due to spike in volumes to the pandemic, as well as the growing need for financial protection and leave management assistance.

Behavioral health, which includes mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, substance use disorder, stress and resiliency management, represents 6% of total claims and rank as the fifth-leading cause of disability, added the company.

Based on the Unum research, the top causes of short-term disability in 2020 were Pregnancy (25%), Injury (10%), COVID-19 (10%), Joint disorders (7%) and behavioral health (6%).