[This is a sample of one section found in the Employee Handbook]

Company Benefits

Medical Insurance

After completion of your introductory period all regular full-time employees are eligible for coverage by the Office’s group medical plan, if the Office maintains one for its employees. Temporary, introductory, and part-time employees are not eligible for these medical benefits. Eligibility requirements and further information concerning insurance benefits are described in the Summary Plan Description or an equivalent document which will be furnished to you.

You should verify your eligibility for coverage before undergoing treatment in order to ensure that the treatment is covered. To verify your insurance coverage for medical treatment or problems, or if you need claim forms, contact your supervisor.

You must tell your supervisor if your address changes, if you get married or divorced, or if the number of your dependent’s changes. This Office reserves the right to change, amend, or discontinue the benefits it offers to its employees at any time and without further notice. The Office’s right to make these changes is not limited by your length of service, or by your reliance on the availability of these benefits in deciding whether to accept, continue, or retire from employment with this Office.

Paid Leave

Everyone needs time off from work, and this Office offers eligible employees paid vacations, personal holidays, and sick leave. Time off is paid on the basis of your base hourly rate, excluding premiums and overtime compensation, if any. Temporary employees are not entitled to time off with pay.

Vacations/Paid Time Off (PTO)

After completion of the introductory period, regular, full-time employees accrue vacation days on a monthly basis according to the following schedule (checked boxes only):

• From completion of introductory period through three years of continuous service..........................................5 days/year
• From the beginning of the fourth year of continuous service through the tenth year of continuous service..........10 days/year
• Eleventh year of continuous service and thereafter......................................................................................15 days/year

Regular part-time employees regularly scheduled to work 20 or more hours per week accrue vacation on a pro-rata basis. Employees regularly scheduled to work less than 20 hours per week do not earn vacation time. No vacation days accrue during the introductory period.

Vacation and PTO do not roll over from year to year. If, for instance, you are eligible for 5 days per year but only use 4 days the first year you will not have 6 days available the following year. You will have 5 days because days do not carry over. You will not accrue additional days beyond the maximum based on the table above. 

You are strongly encouraged to take your vacation within the year after you earn it because you may accrue a maximum of one year’s unused vacation. Once you have accrued one year’s vacation time, no additional vacation time will accrue until you have used some of it and reduced the number of available days below the previous year’s level. You may not receive pay instead of vacation except when leaving employment with the Office.

You may not take vacation before you earn it unless you obtain permission of your supervisor. If you become ill during your vacation, you will not be able to count those vacation days as sick days. However, your supervisor may reschedule your vacation, at his or her sole discretion.

If you are on vacation on an official Office holiday and you would have otherwise been scheduled to work that day the day will count as the holiday and not as a vacation day taken.

The scheduling of your vacation is based on the Office’s operational needs and the requests for vacation and leaves of absence of other employees. You must give your supervisor at least 30 days’ advance notice before you take your vacation. All vacation requests must be approved in advance by your supervisor. If there is a conflict in requests for time off, the person requesting the time off first will be given preference.

Holidays

This Office provides the following paid holidays each year (checked holiday’s only):

• ‘  New Year’s Day
• ‘  Martin Luther King Day
• ‘  Presidents’ Day
• ‘  Memorial Day
• ‘  Independence Day
• ‘  Labor Day
• ‘  Thanksgiving Day
• ‘  Christmas Eve, after 4:00 p.m.
• ‘  Christmas Day
• ‘  New Year’s Eve, after 4:00 p.m.

Both full-time and part-time employees are eligible for this benefit. Employees are paid the number of hours they would have been regularly scheduled to work on the day in question. To receive holiday pay, the employee must work either the scheduled workdays before or after the holiday. Temporary and introductory employees are not eligible for paid holidays.

Holiday pay for nonexempt employees consists of two components, the employee’s straight time hourly rate plus compensation for all hours normally worked.

When a holiday falls on a Saturday, it will be observed the preceding Friday. When it falls on a Sunday, it will be observed the following Monday. Holidays that fall during a scheduled vacation do not count as a vacation day used if you would have otherwise been scheduled to work that day.

Personal Holidays

As a regular, full-time employee, you receive annually one personal paid holiday. Your personal paid holiday may be used as you wish to observe a religious holiday, your birthday, or to take care of a personal commitment. You may take this time off at any time during the year with approval in advance from your supervisor.

Sick Leave

Employees accrue sick leave on a monthly basis at a rate of one-half day for each month of service, up to a total of five (5) days per year for regular employees and three (3) per year for part-time employees. Your sick leave is not carried forward from one year to the next, and you will not be paid for unused sick leave. If applicable law provides for greater sick leave benefits the legal benefits will be provided.

If you are sick you should call your supervisor within one hour of the beginning of your shift and let him/her know you are using a sick day, or you may not receive sick pay for that day. If you miss work because of sickness, we may ask you to do one or more of the following:

• Provide a doctor’s certificate as a condition to receiving sick leave pay;
• Undergo a physical examination to determine your fitness for duty, at the Office’s expense, by a physician selected by the Office;
• Obtain a doctor’s certificate that you can safely perform all the essential functions of your position, with or without reasonable accommodation, before you are allowed to return to work.

If you are hospitalized or out sick for more than seven calendar days for an injury or illness that is not work-related, you should apply for State Disability Insurance (SDI) benefits. Your supervisor can assist you in obtaining the form needed to apply for SDI.

Sick leave can be used in increments of one-half day. You may use your sick leave only if you or an immediate family member (parent, spouse, or child) are sick, injured, for your medical and dental appointments, or for the brief illnesses or medical and dental appointments of your children, parents, or your present spouse or significant other. Abuse of the Office’s sick leave policy may lead to discharge from employment. You may also use sick leave for the avoidance of illness.