Benefits for Full-time Employees

This summary is provided by the Office of Human Resources for information only. It does not supersede or supplant anything published by the state of North Carolina or any official Southwestern Community College publication. Please refer to plan documents for detailed information.

Health Insurance
There are three different plans available under the State Health Plan: NC SmartChoice Basic Plan, NC SmartChoice Standard Plan, and NC SmartChoice Plus Plan. Under two of the three plans, the employee only premium (for full-time employees) is paid by the college. Employee/spouse, employee/child(ren), and employee/family premiums can be paid on a pre-tax basis through payroll deduction. The State Health Plan is self-insured and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina is the claims administrator.
» http://statehealthplan.state.nc.us/
» premiums

Dental Insurance
Optional dental coverage is available through payroll deduction on a pretax basis for the full-time employee, spouse and dependents.
» premiums     
» See Dental Plans available

Life Insurance
The College provides life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment on the full-time employee with a $50,000 benefit. Additional life insurance is available at the employee's expense through several underwriters.

Supplemental Insurance Options
As an option to full-time employees, several underwriters offer supplemental insurance through the cafeteria plan. These include cancer, accident, sickness and disability coverages. Flexible spending accounts for medical expenses and dependent care are also available. These premiums may be pre-taxed through payroll deduction. An annual open-enrollment period is held when changes, additions, or deletions may be made.

Short-term Disability
Provided through the Retirement System, a full-time employee is covered after one year of employment. If the employee becomes disabled for longer than the 60-day elimination period, he or she may be eligible for the short-term disability benefit of 50% of the monthly salary up to a maximum of $3,000 per month. Short-term disability benefits are subject to FICA for the first six months and are payable for up to one year. Refer to long term disability.

Long-term Disability
Also provided through the Retirement System, a full-time employee is covered after five years as a contributing member. If the employee becomes disabled for longer than one year, the plan benefit is 65% of salary (up to $3,900) per month during the first 36 months of disability. After 36 months, the benefit may be reduced based on Social Security.

Long-Term Care Insurance
http://statehealthplan.state.nc.us/long-term-care.html

Retirement System
Full-time employees must contribute 6% of their salary toward retirement. This is a defined benefit plan based upon a formula. The formula calculates the average of the employee's four highest consecutive years of compensation, years of state service and a factor determined by the General Assembly. Examples are given in the booklet.

After one year of contributing service, if the employee dies while in active service, there is a death benefit equal to 12-months salary with a minimum of $25,000 and a maximum of $50,000.

A refund of contributions is available if employment is terminated or if the employee dies.

Longevity Pay
Longevity pay is provided for full-time employees for aggregate qualifying service to the state of North Carolina according to the following schedule:

Longevity payments are paid during the anniversary month as provided by the state legislature.

Sick Leave
Full-time employees earn sick leave at a rate of 8 hours each month for a total of 96 hours (12 days) per year. Full-time contracts for less than 12 months are pro-rated accordingly.

Sick leave may be used for illness or medical-related appointments for the employee or an immediate family member.

Sick leave is cumulative indefinitely and accrued sick leave may be credited toward state service for retirement purposes.

» See Sick Leave Policy 4.33 - SCC Policies and Procedures Manual

Personal Leave
Employees may use up to 24 hours of accrued sick leave as personal leave during the fiscal year.

Vacation Leave
Full-time staff earn vacation leave based on aggregate state service. Full-time curriculum faculty do not accrue vacation leave, but are provided semester breaks.

Vacation leave is cumulative to a maximum of 240 hours as of June 30, at which time the excess is converted to sick leave.

Jury Duty
The employee is entitled to leave with pay for serving on a jury and may also receive compensation for this civic service.

Child Involvement Leave
The purpose of child involvement leave is to promote employees' involvement in the education of youth and to promote employees' assistance to schools. Full-time employees may take up to eight hours of paid leave each calendar year.

Wellness/Exercise Participation Program
This program was established to encourage employees to participate in a regularly scheduled, organized exercise or fitness activity or to participate in an unstructured fitness activity, either on campus or at an off-campus center.
» SCC Walking Trail Home Page

Holidays
The College calendar identifies the observed paid holidays for the year.
» see College Calendar

NC's National College Savings Program - "529" College Savings Plan, offers North Carolinians a wide new range of investment options as they save for college. The savings options are managed by separate investment managers and should offer an investment approach for just about anyone's investment goals and risk tolerance. more info

State Employees' Credit Union
Many benefits are available including financing, savings options, checking accounts, ATM access and direct payroll deposit.
» http://www.ncsecu.org/

College Credit
Full-time employees may take one course per semester free of tuition/registration fee at any North Carolina community college.

Educational Leave
Paid and unpaid educational leave may be available to qualifying employees. Up to 480 hours of paid leave may be granted to allow an employee to further his/her education.

Employee Assistance Program
Confidential and professional assessment and referral are available to help resolve personal and family problems. Employees and family members (residing in the same household) may receive telephone or face to face sessions (initial visits are free of charge). For information or confidential assistance, call 828.399.0134 and identify yourself as an employee of Southwestern Community College.