Category: Employment Policies and Procedures

The College provides two voluntary benefit plans for employees.  The Family Legal Plan provides for services such as creating a will, traffic violations, home purchase, civil suits, document review, and attorney consultations.  Identity Theft Shield provides for Credit Report Analysis and Monitoring, Identity Theft Restoration, and protection against crimes and unauthorized credit use in your name.

The College provides access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which is currently through an outside organization called Ulliance.  Ulliance provides confidential assistance to employees and family members to help resolve any concerns that may affect the employee’s personal or work life.  Services are provided for such concerns as family and children problems, marital and relationship conflicts, stress or other emotional difficulties, grief and loss issues, and alcohol or other drug use.  Ulliance also provides assistance with legal issues, financial concerns, elder care referrals, and child care resources.  Ulliance’s role is to guide the employee and family members in finding whatever type of assistance is needed, either by providing that service directly, or connecting with an organization that can help.  Ulliance is an outside vendor under contract to the College.  The College pays for the services of Ulliance, up to limits set forth in its agreement with Ulliance.  However, individuals providing services for Ulliance do not work for the College, and the College disclaims any liability related to the provision of services by Ulliance or any other EAP provider with whom the College may contract.

This insurance provides a continuation of a certain portion of your salary in the event you lose your job through no cause of your own.  If your employment is terminated, you may be eligible to receive unemployment compensation from the state. If it is your choice to leave CCS, generally you will not be eligible for benefits.  If your termination was the choice of CCS, you may be entitled to receive unemployment benefits, depending on the circumstances.

Full-time employees are eligible to participate in the group life insurance plan on the first of the month following thirty days employment.  CCS pays 100% of the premium.  The amount of the insurance is two times the employees’ annual salary, rounded to the next highest thousand.  The same amount of coverage is applied to accidental death and dismemberment coverage.  Employees have optional supplemental life insurance and dependent life insurance plans available.

CCS carries insurance that covers employees if they are sued as a result of actions taken within the scope of their duties at CCS.  This insurance provides for the cost of legal defense as well as financial settlements.  The total amount of coverage per claim is $5,000,000.  The aggregate coverage for a single year is also $5,000,000. 

Scope of duties for an administrative staff member would include anything reasonably expected in the course of their administrative duties and any assigned tasks by CCS.  This coverage includes defense costs as well.  This coverage would not apply in those cases where an employee has actually committed an unlawful act, as such acts are generally not insurable.

Workers compensation insurance is designed to cover all occupational injuries and illnesses.  It is paid by the College and is effective from your first day of work.  Workers compensation insurance provides benefits that may apply as a result of a work-related illness or injury.  These benefit payments may cover expenses incurred for medical care, replacement of a portion of your income lost as a result of disability, and lump-sum payments to beneficiaries in case of death.

If you are injured while you are at work, or become ill as a result of your job, you must report this to your supervisor immediately.  In all cases of work related injury or illness, no matter how minor, an Accident/Injury Report form must be completed and forwarded to the Office of Human Resources.  This record-keeping is required by OSHA and MIOSHA.

The short-term disability (STD) benefit provided by CCS is a payroll practice plan providing income replacement for eligible employees unable to work due to a non-work-related illness/ injury or pregnancy and/or childbirth. STD is governed by the applicable Program Document.

Eligibility

A regular, full-time, active employee who has completed six months (180 days) of continuous employment and who is unable to work due to a covered non-work-related illness/ injury or pregnancy/childbirth is eligible. An employee receiving worker’s compensation or disability pay under any state or federal plan is ineligible for this benefit. To be eligible for the STD disability benefits, the employee must not engage in outside employment. Part-time employees are not eligible. For purposes of this benefit, regular, full-time employees are Maintenance/Environmental employees who are scheduled to be actively at work at least 40 hours a week and other administrative staff who are scheduled to be actively at work at least 35 hours each week.

Medical Certification

Employees should notify Human Resources 30 days prior to leave, if known ahead of time, or immediately upon learning of the need for leave if the need for leave is not known 30 days prior to the leave. Human Resources will provide the employee with a short-term disability application form and a medical certification form. The employee’s healthcare provider must complete the medical certification that includes the start and expected end date of the disability and other medical facts. This application and medical certification must be submitted to the third-party administrator, which will review the employee’s eligibility and the STD certification and make a determination on benefit qualification as defined in the Program Document. Exclusions and limitations are described in the Program Document and apply. Periodic medical certification may be required for the continuation of benefits. Failure to provide the requested certification will result in the discontinuation of the STD benefits.

CCS or the third-party administrator has the discretion to require an independent medical examination as a condition for receiving or continuing short-term disability benefits.

Benefit Payment

The amount of the short-term disability benefit is calculated on the employee’s base wage/salary at the time of claim initiation at the following percentage payment schedule.

Waiting period: 7^th day of illness/injury (calendar days)

Employees will be required to use accrued PTO during the waiting period prior to disability benefits beginning, and should no accrued PTO be available, the waiting period will be unpaid.

		Percent of Pay
Length of Employment	PTO required	100%	90%	80%	70%
Less than 180 days		n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
180 days to 2 years	Waiting period	n/a	n/a	12 weeks	13 weeks
2 years to < 5 years	Waiting period	6 weeks	n/a	7 weeks	12 weeks
5 years or more	Waiting period	12 weeks	13 weeks	n/a	n/a

The short-term disability benefit may be paid for up to a maximum of 26 weeks, which includes the waiting period. Although the claims must be submitted to the third-party administrator for review and approval, upon approval payments will be made by CCS on regularly scheduled pay dates and will be taxable income.

If an employee has a serious health condition and is eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the employee may be simultaneously entitled to up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave under the FMLA and income benefits under this short-term disability plan.

Employees will continue to be maintained on CCS’s health plan while receiving STD benefits, and the employee portion of the premiums will be deducted from the employee’s STD payments.

Return to Work

The employee must return to work (with or without accommodation) as soon as permitted by his or her healthcare provider and must submit a fitness for duty clearance to the Human Resources Director prior to returning. The Human Resources office will confirm an employee’s actual return to work date with the employee and supervisor.

Should an employee’s medical condition prevent them from returning to work after 26 weeks, the employee may be eligible for income replacement benefits under the Long-Term Disability Plan.

Temporary Recovery

If an employee who has returned to work after receiving STD benefits is unable to work for the same cause(s) for which STD benefits were approved within 90 days of returning to work, this will be considered a temporary recovery. This means that the second period of disability will be considered part of the prior claim, and STD benefits will be limited to a total of 26 weeks for the successive periods of disability. Where another period of disability for the same reason occurs after the employee has been back at work for 90 days, that will be considered a new claim rather than a temporary recovery.

Please note that the STD benefits are income replacement, and the STD policy does not guarantee a job for any particular period of time. An employee’s right to job continuation is governed by CCS’s leave policies.

CCS expressly reserves the right to amend or terminate the short-term disability policy at any time in its sole discretion. This statement is a brief description of the current short-term disability benefits offered. In any instances in which this document and the program document conflict, the program document language, and not this description, will control.

The Employee Reimbursement Account enables you to pay a portion of your Uninsured Health Care and Dependent Care expenses with pretax dollars.  Prior to the beginning of each plan year, you will have the opportunity to elect to fund your Reimbursement Account for the coming year.  The amount that you select will be deducted from your gross salary through automatic payroll deductions.  Then, during the plan year, you may submit claims to the Administrator to reimburse yourself for health care expenses and/or dependent care expenses incurred during the plan year that were not reimbursed by your insurance plans.

Medical, dental and vision insurance are available to all full-time employees on the first of the month following thirty days of employment.  Employees may from time to time have a choice of plans and are required to pay a portion of the premium. Refer to individual plan summaries from the Office of Human Resources for details.  The employee will have his/her contribution deducted on a pre-tax basis.

In certain instances, federal law requires availability of continued coverage where coverage under the group plan would otherwise end.  In compliance with the federal COBRA program, CCS offers employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary extension of health coverage at group rates with the employee paying the full cost of coverage plus a 2% administrative fee.

Employees of CCS are covered by Social Security.  As provided by law, CCS pays one half of your total Social Security taxes, and the other half is paid by you through withholding from your paycheck.  In addition to providing you with retirement, Social Security may provide disability pay, burial benefits, and monthly survivor benefits for your spouse and minor children if you qualify.