GROUP INSURANCE PLAN
At present, the University pays a portion of the premium for its available group health and dental insurance program for full-time employees and their dependents. If you choose to participate in the plan, you may choose to have premium amounts deducted, pre-tax, from your pay. Benefits become effective on the first day of the month following or coinciding with your date of employment. For comprehensive details please refer to the group insurance booklet. At present, our group insurance plan includes:
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
Unemployment Insurance will provide weekly benefits to you if you become unemployed through no fault of your own or due to circumstances described in the law. It is the responsibility of the former employee to file for this benefit. Employers in Ohio fund this program entirely. The University makes required contributions to the program.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
The University participates in the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation Fund to cover the cost of a work-related injuries or illnesses. The law prescribes specific benefits which vary depending on the circumstances of each case. Benefits may include paying for your related medical treatment and reimbursing you for income lost while recovering. Accident/Injury reporting forms are available in the Human Resources Department, and we will help you file a claim for benefits.
No matter how insignificant an on-the-job injury may seem when it occurs, notify your supervisor and the Human Resources Department immediately. You should report all injuries before leaving work on the day of the injury. This report is required by law and protects your legal rights.
FLEXIBLE BENEFITS PLAN
The University has a flexible benefit, or "cafeteria" plan that allows eligible employees use of pretax dollars to pay for selected benefits. For example, the plan enables eligible employees to convert their premium health care contributions from an after-tax expense to a pretax expense. Contact the Human Resources Department for complete details of this plan.
DEPENDENT CARE AND UNREIMBURSED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PLAN
This program is set up in accordance with IRS Code Section 129 and permits plan participants to establish a pretax fund to pay for certain unreimbursed medical or dependent care expenses.
CHILD CARE OPPORTUNITIES
The University supports its employees with families by assisting them with part of the cost of child care at the Mercy Medical Center Day Care facility. Right now the University has reserved 13 spots in the facility which are available to our employees on a first come first served basis. Please contact the Human Resources Department for additional information on this benefit.
RETIREMENT PLANNING
TIAA-CREF RETIREMENT PLAN
The University makes this voluntary plan available to help employees supplement their retirement income. Upon completing one year of employment, eligible employees can defer a portion of their earnings on a pretax basis to this plan allowed by Section 403 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code. At present, the University is also contributing a percentage of the participating employees' base salary to their retirement account. The plan document is available in the Human Resources Department. Upon retirement, various payout options are available and may be discussed in detail directly with TIAA-CREF toll-free 1-800-842-2252.
SUPPLEMENTAL RETIREMENT ANNUITIES
The Internal Revenue Service permits individuals who participate in 403(b) retirement plans to also contract with independent insurers to purchase supplemental retirement annuity plans. The University permits TIAA-CREF plan participants to purchase such annuity plans at their own cost and discretion, but may from time to time limit the number of providers from which participants can choose.
RELOCATION EXPENSE POLICY
The university financially assists new faculty and administrative staff members in relocating to Clark County by providing the following options:
Option A. The greater of either a lump-sum payment of $800 for in-state relocations and $1,200 for out-of-state relocations, or
Option B. 50 percent of the actual expenses incurred (up to a maximum of $4,000) in moving furniture and household items. Items such as the transportation of the individual(s) and his or her family, meals and lodging en route are not covered.
In recognition of diverse personal circumstances, the lump-sum payment is intended to help a new employee offset moving expenses or other miscellaneous relocation expenses such as utility hookups or driver's license registration. Under the latter option, receipts must be submitted, and items such as the transportation of the individual(s) and his or her family, meals and lodging en route are not covered.
New faculty and administrative staff who are awarded a full-time, regular position and are moving to within (45) forty-five miles from Wittenberg, are eligible for this benefit.
To claim reimbursement for relocation expenses, the individual should submit a Relocation Request for Payment Form to the Human Resources Department. All applicable income and employment taxes will be deducted from the payment, and the payment will be reported as taxable wages on the annual Form W-2. For tax purposes, the employee should retain documentation of actual moving expenses.
TUITION REMISSION
Wittenberg University provides a tuition remission and scholarship plan for full-time personnel, their spouses and children in accordance with the Tuition Remission Policy, which is printed in the Appendix.
LEAVES OF ABSENCE
PAID SICK LEAVE
(Revised January 20, 1998)
Faculty are entitled to two months paid sick leave immediately upon entering active service and accrue one month, defined as 24 days, of paid sick leave for each year worked thereafter up to a maximum of six months. The Long Term Disability Insurance Program, where applicable, will provide payments where covered illnesses extend beyond six months.
When an illness or injury results in the absence of six or more days or requires frequent intermittent absences, employees may be asked to obtain a physician's statement explaining the nature of the health condition and an evaluation of the employees' ability to resume their essential job functions.
The amount of sick leave benefit that you will receive will be reduced by the amount of any payments made to you for the same illness or injury under the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act.
The University's sick leave provisions are generous and are intended to provide for you during periods of illness. Sick leave is not an entitlement and is not earned wages; therefore, upon resignation, layoff, termination, or retirement you will not receive payment for accumulated sick leave.
LONG TERM DISABILITY
The Long Term Disability Insurance Program, where applicable, will provide payments where covered illnesses extend beyond six months. Other faculty will substitute as required when absences occur due to such illnesses.
MATERNITY LEAVE
(Revised, Fall 2005)
This policy is meant to supplement Wittenberg's Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy. Faculty teaching responsibilities and the relation of leaves to tenure eligibiltiy justify supplemental provision to the general policy for childbirth and adoption leaves for for faculty members. Although this policy is meant to supplement your FMLA leave benefit, it should be noted that the leaves of absences set forth in this policy--both paid and unpaid- run concurrently with the FMLA benefit.
This policy is meant as a guideline and any questions regarding the terms of this policy or its application should be directed to the Provost and to the University's Human Resources Department.
PAID LEAVES OF ABSENCE
Paid leave for childbirth or adoption at Wittenberg is an eight-week period that reduces accrued sick leave on a day for day basis. If the University employs both parents, only one parent may take advantage of the paid leave benefit for each birth or adoption (multiple births or multiple child adoptions are considered one event under this policy). This benefit is available only to faculty member who is on medical leave following childbirth or is the sole caretaker of his or her dependent child from Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and the leave of absence must be intiated no later than two months after the birth or adoption. In cases of adoption, this benefit is only available for adopted children who are six years old or younger at the time of the adoption.
PRE-LEAVE NOTICE
The faculty member must consult with the Provost and the department chair for the purpose of arranging for a leave under this policy and determining her or his responsibilities. Prior to the consultation with the department chair and the Provost and as early as possible, the faculty member should submit a written request for leave to the Provost and the Human Resources Department. The request should include the expected date of delivery of adoption, if either is the basis for the leave reqeust, and the desired duration of the leave of absence.
The failure to timely notify the Univestiy for a need for leave and its expectd duration may result in the denial of a leave made pursuant to this policy.
RELEASE FROM TEACHING DUTIES
Course development, scholarship, and other professioanl expectations on faculty extend throughout the calendar year. Therefore, release from teaching duties for an entrie semester is a benefit available to any eligible faculty member under the relevant provisions of this adoption and childbirth policy. To avoid excessive disruption to student learning, the University reserves the right to release the faculty member from all teaching duties for an entire semester if more than three weeks of that semester coincide with the eight-week paid leave associated with the birth of adoptioin. Depending on the circumstances however, there may be instances in which the faculty member will be expected to teach until the due date or adoption date and the department expected to make arrangements for the remaining classes. For the weeks of the semester not part of a leave of absense, the faculty member will continue with other duties (e.g., duties related to directing an academic program and committee work) as determined in consultation with the Provost and the department chair.
Under the current semester system (a semester begins with the first day of classes and ends on the last day of exams or Commencement), there are two intervals ('windows') during which part of an eight-week leave will not concide with more than three weeks in either semester: one toword the end of the fall semester and another from the last three weeks of the spring semester, through the middle of the summer, five weeks before the start of the fall semester. Professional time lost because of the occurence of more than five of the eight weeks of paid childbirth or adoption leave within either of the two windows will be compensated by release from all teaching duties for one semester in the academic year immediately following the birth or adoption. During the semester with release from teaching the faculty member will continue with other duties (e.g. duties related to directing and academic program and committee work), as determined in consultation with the Provost and the department chair.
MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION
Should the pregnant faculty member be unable to fulfill her faculty responsibilities satisfactorily before her intended date of departure, the University may reqeust her to provide verification from her physician. In addition, as with all medical leaves, a birth mother must be approved by her physician to return to work. Finally short-term, infrequent absences for illness due to pregnancy are charged to accumulated sick leave; in these cases, the faculty member should arrange for her classes to continue her work.
OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT
Faculty released from teaching may not accept employment elsewhere or at Wittenberg during the semester with release from her/his regular teching responsibilties without written persmission from the Provost.
OTHER PAID LEAVES
Requests for an intermittent or reduced-schedule leave will be considered on a case-by-case basis. A faculty member should consult with the department chair and the Provost in order to determine a mutally acceptable leave plan and then should submit a request, in writing, to the Provost, with a copy to the Human Resources Department.
UNPAID ADOPTION AND CHILDBIRTH LEAVES
For faculty members, leave without pay is available for one semester or for an academic year, immediately following the birth or adoption, and runs concurrently with the FMLA benefit. During an unpaid leave all benefit payments continue at the prevailing University/employee premium rate. The individual should arrange with the Human Resources Departement to pay the employee portion for the monthly health care contribution. Payments to a retirement plan cease during unpaid leaves.
TENURE CONSIDERATIONS
If a faculty member qualifies for a paid or unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) or Wittenberg FMLA policy guidelines, he or she is entitled to stop the tenure clock (extend the probationary period), with or without taking a full or partial leave of absence. The tenure clock may be stopped for up to one year for each event and no more than twice during the probationary period. This policy is based on qualification"for FMLA leave rather than accepetance of paid or unpaid leave. Qualification for FMLA leave and a change in the tenure clock will be evaluated on a cas-by-case basis in consultation with the Provost and Human Resources Department (Approved April 2004)
Anyone on a probationary appointment who receives an unpaid childbirth or adoption leave for the academic year will not have the year count as service toward tenrue. The Provost should state this stipulation explicitly in writing to the indivdual at the time of notification of the grant of the leave.
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE
If there is a death in your immediate family, you may take up to three consecutive working days to handle family affairs and attend the funeral. We provide one (1) additional working day for required travel beyond a 250-mile radius. For this policy, "immediate family" is defined as current spouse, children, parent, grandparents, brothers, sisters, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparents-in-law, grandchildren, aunt, uncle, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, legal guardian, nieces or nephews.
MILITARY SERVICE
Federal and state law provides protected leave in relation to military service. Information respecting military leave rights and responsibilities, including employee notice and paperwork requirements, may be obtained by inquiring at the Human Resources Department.
COURT DUTY
The University views court duty as a civil responsibility. To be eligible for court leave, you must have been subpoenaed by a court for jury duty or to appear as a witness.
If you need to appear in court on matters pertaining to your own personal interests such as child custody, divorce, traffic violations, felony charges, civil suits, etc., such time should be scheduled so it does not interfere with your classroom responsibilities.
Please advise your department chair promptly after receiving notification to appear and present the summons to the Human Resources Department.
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