WASHINGTON RESEARCH LIBRARY CONSORTIUM
BENEFITS SUMMARY
FY 24
(July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024)
As of the above date, WRLC provides the following benefits for all full-time regular employees. All benefits are subject to the conditions of each plan. Plan booklets will provide complete details of coverage and exclusions. These benefits are subject to change from time to time.
Health insurance
From date of hire, medical, hospital, pharmacy benefits, and dental coverage are provided through CareFirst Blue Choice HMO. WRLC participates in a high deductible health plan and expects to contribute 100% of the participant’s deductible, $1,600 for single and $3,200 for other than single. WRLC will fund 50% of the deductible on July 1 and the remaining balance will be funded evenly over the next eleven (11) months. Employees hired during the fiscal year will receive a prorated portion of the deductible based on the number of months remaining in the fiscal year. WRLC will fund 50% of the prorated amount in the first month and the remaining balance over the remaining months in the fiscal year. WRLC pays 80% of the monthly premium for single coverage of the employee. For employees electing coverage other than single, WRLC will pay 65% of the monthly premium. The remaining 20% and 35% respectively, may be paid through pre-tax salary reduction.
Beginning in FY 16 the medical premium calculation by CareFirst changed from an average age of the group to the actual age of each participant. Attached is the total premium for health insurance only. Locate your age and you will see the premium. If others are to be covered locate their age and add them all together for the total premium.
Beginning in FY 20: Because the WRLC has 19 employees (or less), Medicare encourages employees to sign up for at least Part A and strongly recommends Parts B, C and/or D, otherwise lifetime penalties could be incurred by the employee. After much discussion with at least six health care insurance and Medicare experts with One Digital and HealthPlanOne, our health coverage brokers, as well as the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) in Maryland, it seems the best course of
action is for employees 65 and older to sign up for Medicare.
If a WRLC employee enrolls in Medicare Parts A, B, C and/or D when they reach 65, the WRLC will reimburse the employee for verified, Medicare-related insurance expenses up to but not exceeding what the WRLC would have paid under the current health care plan in place. This will ensure that WRLC employees enrolled in Medicare receive an equivalent financial benefit from the WRLC to those employees covered by the employer-provided health insurance benefit. The WRLC will not pay out more to employees covered by Medicare than would be covered by the current WRLC health care plan.
Dental and Vision
The Total Premiums for Dental and Vision are attached. WRLC will pay 80% of the total premium for individual coverage and WRLC will pay 65% of the total premium for all other coverage.
Life insurance
From date of hire, fully paid coverage by WRLC equal to the employee's annual salary to a maximum of $100,000, plus an additional $15,000 of life coverage is provided and fully paid by WRLC.
Short Term disability
From the date of hire, the employee is eligible for short-term disability coverage, fully paid by WRLC. If the employee becomes disabled, the plan begins to pay benefits after a 15 day waiting period. The plan pays the employee 60% of the weekly salary, up to a maximum of $1,500 per week, up to 11 weeks.
Long-term disability insurance
The plan begins to provide benefits 90 days after the employee becomes disabled. The plan pays 60% of the employee’s monthly salary, up to a monthly maximum of $5,000, continuing to the normal Social Security retirement age.
Retirement
To be eligible to participate in the WRLC retirement program, you must complete six months of continuous service and be 21 years of age or older.
WRLC makes a minimum contribution of 5% of the employee's salary and also matches whatever the employee contributes, up to an additional 5%.
Vacation leave
Regular full-time employees are entitled to 105 hours of vacation leave (15 days) per year, accrued monthly at the rate of 8.75 hours, beginning on the date of hire. After 2 years of service as a full-time employee, you are entitled to 140 hours of vacation leave (20 days) each year, accrued monthly at the rate of 11.67 hours.
Regular part-time employees are entitled to 0.05 hours for each hour worked, beginning on the date of hire.
Unused hours will remain in the employee’s vacation leave account until they are used, up to a maximum balance of 245 hours. If the employee’s balance reaches the maximum allowed (245 hours), leave accrual will cease until the employee uses paid leave hours and the accrual drops below the limit.
Upon termination of employment, the departing staff member will be paid his or her accrued unused paid leave up to 245 hours.
Personal hours
The WRLC provides full-time employees 14 personal hours per fiscal year upon completion of the probationary period. Personal hours must be taken within each fiscal year, and cannot be carried over to the next fiscal year.
Medical leave
Medical leave begins to accrue at the time of hire. Unused medical leave will not be paid to employees while they are employed or upon termination. Regular full-time employees will accrue medical leave at the rate of 7 hours per month up to a maximum accumulation of 630 hours (90 days). Regular part-time employees will accrue medical leave at the rate of 1 hour for every 20 hours worked with the maximum accumulation pro-rated on the same basis.
Holidays
The WRLC celebrates the following paid holidays for full and part-time employees:
• New Year's Day (January 1)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (third Monday in January)
• Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day (July 4)
• Labor Day (first Monday in September)
• Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November)
• Day after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Eve (December 24)
• Christmas (December 25)
• The week between Christmas and New Years
• New Year’s Eve (December 31)
A recognized holiday that falls on a Saturday will be observed on the preceding Friday, a holiday that falls on a Sunday will be observed on the following Monday.
Work Schedules
The standard work week is 35 hours. An unpaid 30-minute meal period is expected to be included when defining the work schedules (i.e., the starting and ending times must result in 7.5 hours per day for a five-day work week.)
The WRLC supports alternate work arrangements for staff whose responsibilities can be accomplished outside of the WRLC office and/or outside a traditional work schedule, so long as the WRLC’s work requirements can be met effectively. The responsible Director must justify these work arrangements. Participation in alternate work arrangements is a privilege and not a right, and will only be granted to eligible employees in eligible positions.