Blast Off! Paid Time Off Program Changes

Transcription

1 Blast Off! Paid Time Off Program Changes Look inside for details! PTO Program 2 Resting and Recharging is Essential 2 Overview of What s Changing 3 Moving from Two Buckets to One Balance 3 Earning PTO Hours 3 Selling Your PTO Hours 4 PTO Payouts 5 Changes to Other Benefit Plans 5 Questions? 6 Look for this icon throughout the brochure and refer to the personalized letter included with your packet to help you understand the changes.

2 PTO Program Very recently, as part of our MARS update, we communicated that we were taking a deeper look at many of our HR programs and policies to make sure they are: Market competitive Being managed efficiently and effectively, and Maintaining consistency across Houston Methodist. As a result, we ve made a few changes and enhancements to our current Paid Time Off (PTO) program. The changes modernize the program and incorporate your Standard Hours, the hours you are typically scheduled to work in a week. You will accrue PTO based on your years of service, Standard Hours and PTO Category. What are Standard Hours? Standard Hours are the number of hours you are typically scheduled to work in a week. See the personalized letter enclosed with this brochure for your Standard Hours as determined by your manager. Current FTE Status New MARS Weekly Standard Hours Benefits Eligible Employees with Standard Hours of 20 per week or more who are not classified as temporary or PRN 0.1, 0.0 <20 Not Benefits Eligible Resting and Recharging is Essential Houston Methodist recognizes the need for all of our employees to rest and recharge outside of work and to take care of life s unexpected events when they arise. Taking time off is an important part of bringing balance to your work and family life. That s why we offer a comprehensive and competitive PTO program. It s important to save some of your PTO hours for a rainy day so you have the paid time off available that you need, when you need it for life s unforeseeable events. The PTO changes described in this brochure are effective July 28,

3 Overview of What s Changing The chart below gives you a snapshot of the PTO program changes. Your PTO Buckets How you earn PTO What s changing Your minimum PTO Balance when selling or donating PTO How you sell your PTO The maximum PTO hours payable upon termination or loss of benefits eligibility With the new PROGRAM, you will Take time off and sell PTO hours all from one PTO Balance. Accrue PTO hours based on your Standard Hours instead of your FTE Status. Standard Hours of 36 or greater per week are the equivalent to the previous 1.0 FTE schedule. Retain a minimum PTO Balance of at least 80 hours after each PTO Sell payout. Enjoy four opportunities to sell your PTO hours. Still be paid out PTO when you leave Houston Methodist or become benefits ineligible, but your maximum hours for payout are no longer determined by FTE status. Payout limits will only be based upon PTO Category and years of service. Payout limits are not impacted by your Standard Hours. The following pages explain the changes in more detail. Use the personalized letter included with this brochure to help you understand the new program. Moving from Two Buckets to One Balance In the past, you had two PTO buckets, the PTO Bank and PTO Accrued. You needed to take PTO from the PTO Bank first, limiting your options. And, you could only sell PTO hours from one bucket PTO Accrued. We ve simplified things by combining your two PTO buckets into one PTO Balance. Going forward, when you take time off and sell hours, it will all come from one balance. This makes it easier to keep track of and manage your PTO hours. However, PTO hours sold at 100% of your base rate must still come from hours you have earned in that calendar year. 3 Examples: Earning PTO Hours In the past, you earned PTO hours for every two weeks you worked based on your FTE status, PTO Category and years of service. Going forward, your PTO hours continue to accrue (build up) bi-weekly, but the amount you accrue is based on your scheduled Standard Hours instead of FTE status, as well as your PTO Category and years of service. See your personalized letter included with this brochure for your Standard Hours and your PTO Category. Employees who were previously 1.0 FTEs, and now have 36 or greater as their Standard Hours per week will have no change to their PTO Accruals due to Standard Hours. See the enclosed PTO Accrual Schedule for your accrual rate based on Standard Hours, along with the PTO Schedule for Holiday and Bereavement Leave. Sue is an RN with 10 years of service at Houston Methodist who had an FTE status of 0.5. Her PTO is now based on 24 Standard Hours, which is the number of hours she is typically scheduled to work in a week. Sue will earn an additional 19 hours of PTO each year with the change to PTO Accruals. Old Accrual Based on FTE Status New Accrual Based on Standard Hours Difference Bi-Weekly Annual Bi-Weekly Annual Bi-Weekly Annual Jane is a PCA with one year of service at Houston Methodist who had an FTE status of 1.0. Her PTO is now based on 32 Standard Hours, which is the number of hours she is typically scheduled to work in a week. Jane will earn 24 fewer hours of PTO each year with the change to PTO Accruals Old Accrual Based on FTE Status New Accrual Based on Standard Hours Difference Bi-Weekly Annual Bi-Weekly Annual Bi-Weekly Annual (0.93) (24.00)

4 Selling Your PTO Hours We re continuing to offer an excellent PTO Sell opportunity, far above market standards, and we ve even added more sell opportunities! Now, you have four opportunities to sell PTO hours throughout the year.* Sell Election Opportunity Hours Type Maximum Hours You Can Sell Sell Rate Payout Date February/March of current year Open Enrollment of prior year Open Enrollment of prior year Any PTO hours 40 75% Only PTO accrued in the year of sell (what you have earned that calendar year) Only PTO accrued in the year of sell (what you have earned that calendar year) % % Payroll before HISD spring break Payroll before Memorial Day Payroll before Thanksgiving November/December of current year Any PTO hours 40 75% Payroll before Christmas Holidays * You must have at least one year of service to be eligible to sell hours, and you must retain a minimum PTO Balance of at least 80 hours after each PTO Sell payout. Examples: Bob is an RN at Houston Methodist and his hourly base rate is $30. He accrues 192 hours of PTO per year, and has a total of 235 hours in his PTO Balance. During Open Enrollment, Bob elects to sell 40 hours in May 2014 and PTO Sell Formula 60 hours in November Hours Sold x Hourly Base In February 2014, he elects to sell 40 hours in March Rate x Sell Rate = In November 2014, he elects to sell 15 hours in December Gross PTO Sell Payout Date Sell Rate Hourly Base Rate at Time of Sell Hours Sold Gross PTO Sell March 75% $30 40 $ May 100% $30 40 $1, November 100% $30 60 $1, December 75% $30 15 $ New! Maintain a Minimum Balance When Selling or Donating PTO You never know what s around the corner. That s why it s important to manage your PTO Balance for life s unexpected events. Going forward, you can only sell or donate PTO down to a minimum balance of 80 hours giving you the cushion you need if unexpected circumstances arise. Donating Your PTO The new minimum balance of 80 hours is the only change to our Leave Sharing Policy as part of our Employees Helping Employees Program. You may continue to donate your PTO hours (down to a balance of 80) to help employees who incur a life-altering catastrophic emergency. Guidelines and applicant and donor forms are available on mymethodistbenefits.com or from your HR Department. 4

5 PTO Payouts If you work at Houston Methodist for at least one year, you get paid for the remaining hours in your PTO Balance (up to the payout maximum) when you terminate employment or become benefits ineligible. See the formula below: Your hourly base rate x Your PTO Balance hours (up to the payout maximum) = Your PTO payout Houston Methodist will determine your PTO hours payout maximum based upon your years of service and PTO Category. If you have questions about your PTO Category, see the personalized letter included with this brochure. The chart below details the maximum PTO hours payout amounts. Although there is a reduction for employees with less than 4 years of service, this change impacts less than 50 employees across the system. See the PTO Accrual Rates included with this packet for more information. Years of Service Maximum PTO Payout on Termination of Employment PTO Category A PTO Category B PTO Category C OLD new OLD new OLD new (Hired After 5/7/2000) 9+ (Hired Before 5/7/2000) Example: Amelia worked at Houston Methodist for three years accruing PTO under PTO Category B. After that time, her family decides to move home back east. At the time of her termination, Amelia has a PTO Balance of 294 hours. Amelia makes $20 an hour. Amelia s hourly base rate x Her PTO Balance (up to the payout max) = Amelia s PTO payout $20 x 294 = $5,880 Changes to Other Benefit Plans Long-Term Disability, Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance Your weekly Standard Hours are used to determine your base salary for the calculation of your Long-Term Disability, Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) benefit. Outlined below are specifics on what has been modified and how your paycheck may be affected. Plan Modification Paycheck Long-Term Disability Basic Life and AD&D Optional Employee Life and Voluntary AD&D Using Standard Hours allows us to accurately record and calculate these benefits within MARS based on hours you are typically scheduled to work in a week. Your benefit amount can change based on increases and decreases to your weekly Standard Hours. No affect. Benefit is paid entirely by Houston Methodist. While the benefit is paid entirely by Houston Methodist, if your Standard Hours were changed for MARS Go Live, your imputed life insurance tax could change, too. If your Standard Hours were changed for MARS Go Live, then the premium amount may differ from your prior paycheck. MARS Is More Accurate You might see a small change to your cost for Optional Employee Life and Voluntary AD&D coverage because MARS can calculate the deduction using more decimal places. On average, this could change your bi-weekly cost by 15 cents. 5

6 Important Contact Information If you have questions, please refer to the material included with this packet (if applicable) or view the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on mymethodistbenefits.com. If you still have questions, see the contact information below. Benefits Questions? Contact HR Benefits at or or contact your local HR Department using the information below: Houston Methodist Hospital, Physician Organization and Research Institute Phone: Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital Phone: Houston Methodist West Hospital Phone: Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital Phone: Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital Phone: Other Questions? For questions about your Standard Hours, contact your manager. Houston Methodist reserves the right to add, delete, or change any of the benefit programs at any time.