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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2277 - Amending Resolution No. 2260 and adopting revisions to the personnel rules of the City of Marysville, health and welfare benefits - employee wellnessCITY OF MARYSVILLE Marysville, Washington RESOLUTION NO. ;l.J."1t A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MARYVILLE AMENDING RESOLUTION NUMBER 2260, AND ADOPTING REVISIONS TO THE PERSONNEL RULES OF THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE, HEALTH AND WELFARE BENEFITS ­ EMPLOYEE WELLNESS. WHEREAS, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2260 on May 11, 2009 revising the Personnel Rules of the City of Marysville; WHEREAS, the Personnel Rules, Health and Welfare Benefits -Employee Well ness policy, attached hereto as Exhibit A, should be updated to detail current practices and; WHEREAS, the Personnel Rules, Health and Benefits -Employee Well ness policy, attached hereto as Exhibit A, should be updated to comply with the newly revised AWC WeliCity Award Application process; BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE AS FOLLOWS: 1. Resolution No. 2260 is hereby amended as follows: 2. That the Health and Welfare Benefits -Employee Well ness section in the Personnel Rules of the City of Marysville is hereby adopted as set forth in attached Exhibit A and is incorporated by this reference. I fA PASSED by the City Council and APROVED by the Mayor the I day of January, 2010. ATTEST: c~{1fP APPROVED AS TO FORM: kJ~w.J) City Attorney Exhibit A HEALTH AND WELFARE BENEFITS OVERVIEW OF HEALTH AND WELFARE BENEFITS The City of Marysville offers various health and welfare benefits for its regular full-and part­ time employees. Many benefits are prorated for part-time employees and/or they are required to share more of the cost. There may be other benefits provided that are required by state or federal statute, including workers' compensation and unemployment compensation, which are not described below; these benefits may be provided to temporary employees as well as regular employees. Contact the Human Resources staff for information about these benefits. Benefits available to eligible employees may include health insurance, retirement plan, deferred compensation, employee assistance program, flexible spending accounts, and optional employee-paid supplemental insurance. Many ofthese benefits are provided at the City's discretion, and the City reserves the right to make changes to or discontinue them at any time. Detailed plan documents describing these benefits are distributed to employees at orientation, when plans change, in response to employees' questions, and as otherwise required by law. Employees are responsible for notifying the Human Resources office of status changes that might affect their eligibility for benefits, or that of their spouse or dependents, including births, adoptions, marriages, legal separations, divorces, and dependents' 19th birthdays. Some insurance and retirement plans require employees to designate a beneficiary(ies) for employees' death benefits. This designation must be made in writing in a form acceptable to the insurance company or retirement plan. Employees are responsible for maintaining the proper beneficiary designation and notifying, in writing, the Human Resources office of any changes in status affecting eligibility or designations. Following is a summary of some of these health and welfare benefits. This is only an overview of the plans; contact the Human Resources staff for detailed information. Official benefits plans' documents take precedence over all other sources of information, written or verbal. CITY OF MARYSVILLE PERSONNEL POLICIES PAGE 25 Health Insurance Regular full-time employees may have a choice of health insurance plans offered; typically, health insurance includes medical, dental, and vision coverage. There may be an annual open enrollment period when a different health insurance plan may be selected or a spouse or dependents may be added to employees' health insurance coverage. If an employee's spouse and/or dependents have medical insurance coverage through another employer's insurance plan, the employee may be eligible for the City's dual coverage medical insurance incentive program. Regular part-time employees may be eligible for medical and dental coverage; however, they are not eligible for vision coverage. Their spouses and dependents are not eligible for health insurance coverage. Retirement Plan Regular full-and part-time employees participate in a Washington State-sponsored retirement plan; part-time employees receive prorated service credit based on usual hours worked. Casual and temporary employees are typically ineligible to participate in Washington State retirement plans unless they meet the eligibility requirements of the plans. Deferred Compensation Plans The City may offer a choice of deferred compensation plans. Employees may enroll in a plan at any time during the year, and change their monthly contributions per plan regulations. Employee Assistance Program The employee assistance program provides short-term, confidential counseling specifically designed to assist employees and their families in handling personal and work-related problems. The City's program, provided by the Association of Washington Cities, makes seeking assistance very easy. Flexible Spending Accounts Employees may pay for qualified dependent care and/or medical expenses with pretax dollars through flexible spending accounts. Employees forfeit any unused balance in the flexible spending account at the end of the plan year. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) COBRA provides certain former employees, retirees, spouses, former spouses, and dependent children the right to temporary continuation of health insurance coverage at group rates. This coverage is only available when it is lost due to a qualifying event, such as reduction in working hours, termination of employment, divorce, or death. Employees, spouses, and dependents covered by the City's health insurance plans will be notified, when applicable, of the opportunity to continue their health care coverage under COBRA. CITY OF MARYSVILLE PERSONNEL POLICIES PAGE 26 Other Insurance Benefits Employees may be able to purchase disability insurance through a vendor at group rates. They may also be able to purchase optional insurance plans such as life, accident, or cancer insurance. Employees of the Police Department, excluding the Records Division, may be eligible for employer-paid long-term disability insurance. DUAL COVERAGE MEDICAL INSURANCE INCENTIVE The City recognizes the need for innovative cost sharing between itself and its employees for medical insurance benefits. The dual coverage medical insurance incentive program is a voluntary incentive program in which employees remove spouses and dependents who have health insurance coverage under another employer's group policy from the City's medical insurance plan. Under this program, the medical insurance premium that the City would have paid on the employee's behalf for the eligible dependents will be split between the City and the employee. The City benefits from a 50% cost savings. The employee receives the other 50% cost savings in his or her paycheck as taxable wages. The incentive amount is capped at one spouse and two children. When both husband and wife are regular City employees, only one spouse may receive the dual insurance coverage incentive benefit. All employees are required to retain their own health insurance coverage through the City's plans. Employees may chose to remove dependents with dual coverage from the City's medical insurance plan at any time. Employees must sign a waiver certifying that removed dependents have other medical insurance coverage prior to removal from the City's insurance plan. This waiver includes acknowledgement that proof of continuous, comprehensive medical coverage is required to re-enroll eligible dependents in the City's medical insurance plan. Eligible dependents can be re-enrolled in the City's plan only during the annual open enrollment period, except that an otherwise eligible dependent who loses his or her non-City medical coverage during the year may re-enroll in the City's medical plan on the 1st day of the month following his or her loss of medical insurance coverage. The dual insurance incentive benefit is limited to medical coverage only. Dental and vision coverage will remain in effect for all eligible employees and dependents. The City of Marysville retains the right to revoke, modify, or cancel this policy at any time. CiTY OF MARYSVILLE PERSONNEL POLICIES PAGE 27 EMPLOYEE WELLNESS The City of Marysville recognizes that health of City employees directly affects their ability to provide high quality, efficient services to City residents. The employee well ness program is designed to provide information and activities to City employees and their family members to encourage health and safety in the work place. All City employees and family members who are eligible for City medical benefits may voluntarily participate in the employee wellness program. A Wellness Committee, including employee representatives from different departments, labor unions, management, and the general employee population, oversees the well ness program and specifically performs the following duties. • Serves as a liaison between the well ness program, the Safety Committee, the Employee Recognition and Appreciation Committee, City departments, and employees. • Represents the well ness-related interests, needs, and opinions of employees. • Assists in identifying and reducing potential program barriers and strengthening support for the wellness program. • Assists in promoting the wellness program. The Wellness Committee will meet at least once a month during regular business hours and committee members may work on wellness activities during work hours as their normal job duties allow. Membership on the committee is voluntary and members may serve for an indefinite period of time. Participation in some well ness programs such as health screenings and the benefit fair is allowed during work hours. The Chief Administrative Officer may allow employee's additional time during work hours for well ness activities and programs provided work demands are appropriately met. Wellness program activities may include a wide variety of health, educational, and fitness activities, such as those listed below. • Behavior change programs, such as nutritional counseling and information, stress reduction, smoking cessation, weight management, relaxation, and self esteem. • Motivational programs, such as interdepartmental and employee group challenges and tuition rebates for successful weight loss and smoking cessation. • Informational and awareness programs such as flyers, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards, brown bag lunch sessions, wellness seminars, workshops, and classes. CITY OF MARYSVILLE PERSONNEL POLICIES PAGE 28 The wellness program is funded in the budget for the human resources programs, and all City expenditures for employee wellness activities must come from funds appropriated in the current budget. Some wellness activities may be offered to employees at the cost of the program, at a City-subsidized price, or free. Costs of certain programs may be covered by the City's medical plan, and the Wellness Committee may apply for grants provided by the Association of Washington Cities. Purchases and all other related accounting activities must comply with applicable City procedures for City-funded activities. Confidentiality is important in all health education activities. Because the Wellness Committee may offer programs about potentially sensitive issues, the transactions and interactions regarding personal and medical information that take place in the City's wellness programs will be confidential and will be respected as such. Employee participation is on a voluntary basis and will be respected. CiTY OF MARYSVILLE PERSONNEL POLICIES PAGE 29 PLEASE REFER TO RESOLUTION NO. 2260