Human Resources

Employee briefings (Overview of the information below) will be held on:

• Tuesday, June 18th 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
• Monday, June 24th 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Webinar access can be found on the Employee Benefits site on PWConnects.

 

FMLA Program Enhancement & Parental and Medical Leave Program Added

• We are enhancing our Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits by adding six weeks of paid Parental and Medical leave to run concurrently with FMLA time.
• Coverage will also be expanded to allow couples who both work for the county to independently have the full FMLA benefit of 12 weeks for the purpose of bonding with a newborn or following the adoption or placement of a child, limited only by the time taken for other FMLA qualifying reasons.

More information about the Family and Medical Leave Act and Parental and Medical Leave can be found on the PWConnects site, under the Leave Procedure (available after July 1, 2024, in the updated procedure).

 

Anthem Update

Updates to the county's Anthem plan include coverage of infertility treatments and "out-of-network" ground ambulance coverage to better meet employee needs. 

More information about Anthem benefits through the County can be found on this section of PWConnects.

 

Retiree Health Insurance Credit

As part of the FY25 Budget, the Board increased the retiree health insurance credit benefit for retirements effective July 1, 2024, and after, from $5.50 x years of service to $6.50 x years of service (maxed at 30 years), which will also support our employees and attract and retain talent. 

More information about Retiree Health Insurance and the Retiree Health Insurance Credit can be found on PWConnects.

 

SECURE ACT 2.0 Updates

• In a further effort to support our employees, we are aligning our retirement plans with the federal legislation under Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act 2.0 so that qualifying penalty-free withdrawals are now available for birth or adoption, as well as for victims of domestic violence.
• We have also updated our County 457 retirement plan to allow changes without waiting until the first of the following month. 

Please contact our vendor Empower Retirement directly for more information.

www.empowermyretirement.com

800-701-8255 General Customer Service
866-360-1192 Rollovers/Emergency Withdrawals

 

SECURE ACT 2.0 and VRS Hybrid Employees

Hybrid members will see a change in how the Defined Contribution (401/457) portion of their plan is deducted.

• Deductions/contributions will change to each payroll period, 26 pays per year instead of 24. Deductions/contributions beginning with the July pay checks will be slightly lower, however deductions occur in every paycheck.
  • Deductions/contributions will continue to be based on the same eligible pay types (called “creditable compensation for VRS”).
  • Deductions/contributions will be based on earnings each pay period instead of an annualized salary divided over 24 pays.
  • Employees with base schedule fluctuations may see slight changes in paychecks with greater or smaller base pay.

For more information about the VRS Hybrid Retirement Plan visit https://www.varetirement.org/hybrid.html

 

Compensation Updates

Several investments were made in employee compensation, including pay plan adjustments that increase employee pay, an increase in the shift differential rate, and an increase in the maximum compensatory time leave balance.

General DBM Pay Plan and employee wage adjustment July 1, 2024

• Entire plan moves up 2.5%
• 2.5% adjustment will be applied to all full-time (FT), part-time benefitted (PB), part-time not-benefitted (PN), and seasonal (SE) employees effective 6/22/24, the first day of the pay period
• To be eligible, employees must have an effective start in a FT, PB, PN, or SE position prior to 7/1/24

ADC Pay Plan and employee wage adjustment July 1, 2024

• Entire plan moves up 1.25%
• 1.25% adjustment will be applied effective 6/22/24

Sheriff Pay Plan and employee wage adjustment July 1, 2024

• Entire plan moves up 5.72%
• 5.72% adjustment will be applied effective 6/22/24

Fire Pay Plan and employee wage updates first full pay period following July 1, 2024

• Entire plan moves up 1.25%
• 1.25% adjustment will be applied effective 7/6/24

Other Compensation Items

• Increase in the shift differential rate for eligible employees from $1 to $1.50
• Increase in the maximum compensatory time leave balance from 80 to 120 hours.