SUMMARY OF LEE COUNTY BENEFITS (Applies to full-time personnel in permanent positions) MEDICAL INSURANCE The County will provide basic coverage for the employee on a PPO type plan at no cost. The coverage is carried through BCBS of North Carolina. There is a $20 copay for in-network Primary Care Physician visits and a $40 copay for specialist visits and an individual plan deductable of $500. Prescription drugs at participating pharmacies cost $10 for generic, $25 for preferred brand name, $40 for brand drugs and 75% coinsurance for specialty brand drugs, and the hospital copay is $500 per admission and then 20% of charges with an individual out-of-pocket maximum of $3,000. Cost for family coverage under this plan is $586.24 per month. All of these premiums are on the “Cafeteria Plan," that makes it a pretax deduction which would save the employee approximately 25% to 30% of the cost in lowered Federal, State and FICA taxes. LIFE INSURANCEThe County provides a $15,000 life insurance policy on the employee at no cost. Additional life insurance on the employee is available in $10,000 increments up to $100,000. The premium is $2.40 per $10,000 benefit and is eligible to be pretaxed. A $5,000 benefit is available for dependents. The premium is $1.85 per month regardless of the number of eligible dependents. Dependent life insurance premiums cannot be pretaxed.
OTHER INSURANCEThe County provides employees the opportunity to enroll in the following types of plans: cancer, accident, intensive care, vision, disability and dental plans. However, the County does not contribute any amount to these plans.
RETIREE HEALTH INSURANCE Currently Lee County has a plan to provide continuing health insurance to certain qualified retirees at no cost. In order to qualify for this benefit the following requirements must be met: 1) Employee must retire from Lee County service with a benefit from the NC Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System. 2) Employee must be age 55 or older and have 20 years of creditable service with the Retirement System, or the employee can be any age with 30 years of creditable service with the Retirement System. 3) Employee must have at least 15 years of continuous Lee County employment immediately preceding retirement. 4) In the event that an employee sustains as on-the-job injury, as defined by the NC Workers' Compensation Act, which qualifies him/her for disability retirement under the provisions of the NC Local Governmental Employees Retirement System, said employee will be considered as qualifying for the retiree health coverage as long as he/she has a minimum of 15 years of continuous Lee County service immediately preceding termination of employment. Said employee will be given the retiree health coverage benefit upon application for disability retirement with the understanding that a determination by the Medical Review Board that the employee does not qualify for disability retirement under the provisions of the NC Local Governmental Employees Retirement System will cause the employee's coverage to be terminated immediately. If the above criteria are met, the retiring employee will be provided with an individual policy until he/she becomes covered by Medicare. Once the retiree becomes covered by Medicare, the type of retiree benefit offered will depend upon the County’s insurance carrier at the time. The retiree will either be offered a Medicare supplement policy, or, if Medicare supplements are not available from the current insurance carrier, the retiree will continue to be provided with an individual policy which will pay secondary to their Medicare coverage. If at any time the County chooses to make available more than one plan, the plan that will be provided free will be the same plan that is provided free to active employees. If a retiree chooses to elect a more expensive plan, he/she will be responsible for paying the difference in cost between the premium amount allowed for the base plan and the applicable premium charged for the more expensive plan. NOTE: Coverage will be forfeited if the retiree moves out of the Group Health Plan service area. Also, no employee who is terminated involuntarily will be eligible for this benefit other than those qualifying under the on-the-job related disability situation listed in #4 above.
FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS
Lee County employees have the option of having money deducted from their paychecks on a pretax basis for both dependent care and for allowable unreimbursed medical expenses. This program is available only at open enrollment during the Spring. HOLIDAYSNew Years Day
Martin Luther King’s Birthday
Good Friday
Memorial Day
4th of July
Labor Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving (2 days)
Christmas (2 or 3 days) ANNUAL LEAVE 0 - 4 years - 10.50 hours per month 5 - 9 years - 12.50 hours per month 10 - 14 years - 14.50 hours per month 15 - 19 years - 16.50 hours per month 20+ years - 18.50 hours per month Annual leave can accumulate throughout the calendar year; however, no more than 240 hours can be carried forward to the next calendar year and no more than 240 hours will be paid upon termination from employment. Any excess over 240 hours at the end of the calendar year will be transferred to sick leave. SICK LEAVE8 hours per month - no maximum accumulation. At retirement unused sick leave will be credited as service time at a rate of one month for each 20 days of unused sick leave. COMPENSATORY TIMENo pay for overtime—comp time is given for overtime worked. Comp time is earned at time and one-half for non-exempt employees. Comp time balances of nonexempt employees are paid upon termination. PAY PERIODEmployees are paid every other Friday, and is based on 26 pay-periods per year. Employees are paid for actual time worked each pay period. RETIREMENTEach employee serves a 6 month introductory period – then, with satisfactory performance, he/she is designated as a “regular” employee and 6% of his/her monthly gross income is deducted each pay period for retirement. This is a “pretax” deduction. Lee County contributes a percentage as well. You are fully vested in the plan after 5 years of service. After being a contributing member of the system for 12 months, there is a death benefit equal to the last 12 months of salary, but not less than $25,000 and not to exceed $50,000. This is in addition to the $10,000 life insurance which is discussed above. www.treasurer.state.nc.us/estimator/caltest1.asp TRAVELTravel is reimbursed at the allowable federal rate for using your own vehicle for work purposes. This does not include home to work commuting mileage. LONGEVITY PAY 5 - 10 years 2% of annual salary 10 - 15 years 3% of annual salary 15 - 20 years 4% of annual salary 20 - 25 years 5% of annual salary 25+ years 6% of annual salary This is paid in a lump sum in November, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. DEFERRED COMPENSATIONLee County has two voluntary deferred compensation plans which employees are allowed to participate in. Our 401(k) plan is administered through Prudential and we have a 457 plan, more commonly known as Nationwide Retirement Solutions, which is administered through the National Association of Counties. NC General Statute 143-166.50 (e) requires the County to contribute a 401(k) contribution in an amount equal to 5% of the annual salary for all sworn and certified Law Enforcement Officers. Lee County has also elected to make a 401(k) contribution equal to 5% of the annual salary for regular non-law enforcement employees once they complete their introductory period and become contributing members of the Retirement System. These employer contributions are made regardless of whether the employee makes any voluntary contribution to the plan. www.nc401k.prudential.com www.nrsforu.com CREDIT UNIONThe County cooperates with the NC Local Governmental Employees’ Credit Union by allowing payroll deductions to be set up with the Credit Union for savings deposits, loan payments, etc.. The initial cost for joining the Credit Union is $30. Five dollars ($5) of this amount is a non-refundable fee. The remaining $25 is used to open the employee’s savings account. Members must maintain a minimum balance of $25 at all times. Arrangements for joining the Credit Union or for payroll deduction must be made at the Credit Union office. The Sanford branch of the Credit Union is located at 1002 Spring Lane. The telephone number for that branch is 774-8851. www.ncsecu.org DIRECT DEPOSITDirect deposit of employee payroll checks is mandatory with Lee County and available at any bank. The first time an employee receives a paycheck, he/she will receive a regular check while account information is being verified with the bank. All pay days following, employees' paychecks are wired to the bank and the employee will receive a direct deposit advice showing the amount of wages and the deductions withheld. All direct deposit advices are electronic and emailed to the employee. Direct deposit funds will be in the employee's account and available for use on the morning of pay day. SNR ExpressBy special arrangement with SNR Express, Lee County employees are allowed to have monthly membership charges deducted from their payroll checks. SNR Express does not charge any initial membership fee to join. They also agree to give County employees 20% off membership fees for using payroll deduction to pay each month.
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