16_1. Health Insurance and Life Insurance Benefits
A. The Village will contribute toward the cost of a Village approved Health Benefit Package. Any coverage beyond such costs will be paid by the employee through payroll deduction.
B. The Health Benefit Package provided by the Village shall be made available to all full-time, non-temporary employees and their families, which shall include medical and life insurance and options for dental and vision insurance. The Village reserves the right to change providers. Information regarding these benefits will be provided initially during new employee orientation, annually for renewal during open enrollment and at other appropriate times as determined by the Village.
C. New employees must complete all insurance forms and return them to the Human Resources Department. Employees are entitled to this coverage thirty (30) days from the date of employment to be effective on the first day of the following month.
16-2. Cafeteria Plan
A. The Village offers a Section 125 Cafeteria Plan for full-time employees to direct pre-tax dollars for reimbursement of qualifying expenses. This allows employees to set aside dollars from their salary for expenses such as:
medical expenses not reimbursed by insurance;
dependent care.
B. In addition, under the Cafeteria Plan, employees who enroll in one of the approved Village medical, dental and vision plans and who make contributions for coverage under the plan(s) may elect to have any out of pocket medical, dental and vision insurance premiums deducted from their salary before income taxes.
Participation in the plan will reduce an employee’s income taxes and Social Security tax by reducing his/her taxable salary. Information on the plan will provided during new employee orientation and annually during open enrollment.
16-3. Social Security
All employees shall have Social Security taxes deducted from their salaries. Such amount deducted shall be matched by the Village in accordance with the currently prevailing Federal tax laws.
16-4. Employee Pension Fund - 401a
A. In order to encourage tenure and loyalty in employment, and to provide employees with some form of financial security upon termination of their services, the Village has a retirement plan for all employees.
B. Each full time employee who is at least 18 years of age shall be eligible to enroll in the retirement plan upon the completion of one (1) year of service with the Village. After one year of service, the Village will put 5% of the employee’s gross earnings into the 401a plan. The employee has the opportunity to also contribute up to 5% as well. The Village will match 100% of the funds the employee contributes.
C. Enrollment forms are available in the Human Resources Department or the payroll/finance department. The Village’s Pension Administrator, in conjunction with the Village Pension Board, will provide educational materials and information about the plan to all employees.
16-5. Deferred Compensation
The Village offers a Section 457 Deferred Compensation Plan which allows full-time employees to save for retirement without paying Federal Withholding Taxes. Any contributions from an employee’s salary to the plan will be non-taxed, except Social Security and Medicare. Interested employees can obtain enrollment forms and information regarding the products for participation at any time in the Human Resources Department or from payroll/finance.
16-6. Workers’ Compensation
A. As required by Florida Statutes, all Village employees are covered under Florida Workers’ Compensation Law.
B. Employees sustaining work related injuries shall notify their immediate supervisor or department head as soon as possible after the injury and no later than the end of the workday. The supervisor or department head shall notify the Human Resources Department as soon as possible after the accident or injury. The supervisor or department head must complete a Village Accident/Incident Report and return it to the Human Resources Department within 24 hours of the date of injury. All workers’ compensation forms are available from the Human Resources Department. Failure on the part of the employee to report an injury before the end of the workday may jeopardize the claim for Workers’ Compensation.
C. Employees injured on the job who are unable to return to work on the day of injury shall be paid for that day. For any subsequent days of absence from work due such work related injury, the employee shall be entitled only to the amount allowed under workers’ compensation laws. Employees may elect to use accrued personal leave, compensatory time or banked sick leave to receive up to 100% of their salary.
D. Benefits provided by Workers’ Compensation Law:
1. Payment for all medical costs related to the employee's injury or illness.
2. Payment of reasonable transportation costs to and from the doctor’s office. Employees may request such costs directly through the Village’s Workers’ Compensation Carrier; however, such costs shall not be paid by the Village.
3. Payment of a percentage of wages lost if the employee is permanently impaired or if the employee's disability causes him/her to miss more than seven (7) days of work.
E. Employees will not receive overtime as a result of reporting an injury and receiving medical treatment on the date of injury, or for any other related appointments.
F. Workers’ Compensation will be coordinated through the Human Resources Department. If an employee under Workers’ Compensation as a result of a work-related injury or illness is unable to return to his/her regularly assigned and/or essential job duties due to work restrictions, the Village shall make effort to provide reasonable accommodation commensurate with job availability and the employee’s abilities with such restrictions. Such cases shall be reviewed and determined by the Village Manager.
G. Employees injured or involved in on the job accidents/injuries shall abide by the “Drug Free Workplace” policies and procedures.
16-7. Direct Deposit
Employees may have their regular biweekly paychecks deposited directly into a particular checking or savings account. Authorization forms are available in the Human Resources Department or online at www.royalpalmbeach.com, human resource department, forms.
16-8. Retiree
A retiree is anyone who separates from Village employment with at least 25 years of full time creditable service or anyone who is at least 59 ½ years old and ten (10) consecutive years of full time service with the Village. In addition, all former Mayors, Village Council members who have served at least three (3) full terms are considered retirees of the Village. All retirees are eligible to purchase health, dental, vision and/or life insurance benefits from the Village at the same rates as current employees.
16-9. COBRA
COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budge Reconciliation Act of 1986) is the acronym used to describe the benefit of a continuation of benefits once an employee separates service from their employer. Once a person has separated employment, the Village is required to inform the ex-employee of their rights regarding continuing their medical, dental, and vision insurance. The Village has a plan administrator who sends out paperwork to all eligible terminated employees informing them of their rights.
In general terms, benefits such as those mentioned can continue for a specified period of time, but the cost of the benefit will no longer be supplemented by the Village and there will be an additional 2% maintenance cost added as well. Employees are sent forms and must make an election that is time sensitive of whether or not to continue with their present medical benefits.
COBRA coverage is not required to be offered to employees who become covered under the medical insurance available to them through their new employer. If a waiting period exists with the new employer, ex Village employees may take COBRA coverage for the waiting period, then cancel it once their new coverage starts.
Under certain other circumstances, such as divorce, death or separation, COBRA may be offered to the spouse or children of employees. For more details on COBRA coverage, please see the Human Resources office.
16-10. Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
The Village contracts with an outside vendor which provides our employees an EAP, employee assistance program. This program is offered to all employees at no cost to the employee. Various seminars, workshops and counseling are available. For more information, please contact the Human Resources Department.
16-11. Third Party Vendors
The Village has allowed certain third party vendors to make presentations to the employees. Such benefits are not paid for by the Village, but payroll deductions are allowed and encouraged. The Village has no financial vested interest in these companies or their products. Enrollment is purely voluntary, and all dealings with the vendor are to be done privately. The Village will not be responsible for claims, suits, or customer service issues with the vendors. Issues such as premium payments will be addressed and brought to the attention of the Human Resource or payroll/finance department.
Third Party Vendors include, but can change at any time; Aflac, Conseco, Pre-paid Legal, Palm Beach Credit Union, and Reliance Standard.
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