Agenda - Council - 12/10/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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SECTION 4 BENEFITS 4.1 Group Insurance To be eligible for group health, dental, or life insurance benefits with the City, employees must be regular employees scheduled to work at least 30 hours per week. The City provides a contribution toward health insurance, single dental insurance and basic life insurance for full-time employees, as approved annually by the City Council. Members of the City Council are eligible for group health insurance in the City's group health insurance plan without affecting their total compensation from the City. The City will also continue to provide basic life insurance for employees participating in PERA's Phased Retirement program, as permitted by the insurance carrier. Employees wishing to remain on the City benefits, as permitted by the insurance carrier, may do so at their own cost based on the Minnesota Statute 471.61: "A unit of local government must allow a former employee and the employee's dependents to continue to participate indefinitely in the employer -sponsored hospital, medical, and dental insurance group that the employee participated in immediately before retirement, under the conditions set by state law". In accordance with federal health care reform laws and regulations, the City will offer health insurance benefits to eligible employees and their dependents that work on average, or are expected to work, 30 or more hours per week or the equivalent of 130 hours or more per month. In order to comply with health care reform law and avoid penalties, part-time employees will be scheduled based on business needs and in manner that ensures positions retain the intended part-time status. 4.2 Long Term Disability ("LTD") Mandatory LTD: Long-term disability is a mandatory, employee -paid benefit, provided to sworn police personnel and other full-time, non -union employees. Voluntary LTD: Long-term disability is available to other employee groups as a voluntary employee -paid benefit. Terms of Coverage: The terms of long-term disability coverage, including the benefit calculation formula and the waiting period before eligibility, are established by the City. 4.3 Public Employment Retirement Association ("PERA") Almost all City employees in the State of Minnesota are covered by a public pension system known as PERA, to which both the City and employees contribute. For specific information on annual contribution rates, employees should contact Human Resources. Vesting time varies depending on membership eligibility date, and the pension is portable among public employers throughout the state. Being vested allows employees to qualify for benefits at the minimum allowable age. Both the City and the employee contribute a percentage of the employee's eligible gross salary to PERA. However, Minnesota law provides that some income received by an employee are not 161Page