The university offers certain health & welfare benefits to part-time faculty and staff who work an equivalent of at least half time as defined by the terms of these guidelines. The cost of the plan will be partially subsidized by the university and available to faculty and staff who meet the eligibility defined in the Procedures section of this policy. The benefit plans offered to benefits-eligible part-time employees are: Blue Cross Blue Shield BlueEdge Consumer Driven Health Plan medical coverage with a Health Savings Account, dental coverage, vision coverage, flexible spending accounts, and the pre-tax transportation program.
Eligibility:
As a general rule, eligibility for part-time faculty and part-time staff employees is determined by looking back at the hours of service the employee earns during a 12-month period. If the employee earns the minimum hours (described below) during the 12-month period, the employee is eligible to elect coverage under the health and welfare benefit options for a subsequent 12 months.
Initial Eligibility:
For newly-hired part-time employees, the Office of Human Resources reviews an employee’s hours of service credited during his or her first 12 months of employment to determine the employee’s eligibility. The procedures outlined below also apply to newly-hired temporary part-time staff employees who are hired into positions that will last six months or less and that require the temporary part-time employee to work less than 30 hours per week.
- Part-time faculty members must be credited with the hours equivalent to a teaching load of at least six 4-credit hour courses (at least four courses for the Law School) during the initial 12 months of employment.
- Part-time staff employees must be credited with at least 1,000 hours of service during the initial 12 months of employment.
A part-time employee who is initially determined to be eligible for health and welfare benefits will be notified and will have 31 days to enroll in benefits. If a part-time employee elects health and welfare benefit coverage, the initial election will be effective for the 12-month period immediately following the determination of eligibility.
Note: If a part-time staff is hired into a position in which he or she is reasonably expected, as of his or her date of hire, to work 30 or more hours each week, the employee will be eligible to enroll in the health and welfare benefit options for coverage effective in the month following the employee’s date of hire.
Learn more about part-time employee benefits. See guidelines and procedures.