CONTENTS

Background Check / 11
Cafeteria Plan / 8
Certificate Upgrades / 2
Dependent Care Expense Reimbursement / 8
Direct Deposit / 7
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) / 10
Garnishments / 8
Health Insurance / 4
Income Taxes / 3
Insurance and Annuities / 7
Jury Duty / 11
Leave Forms / 11
Leave Requests / 10
Life Insurance (Pre-Retirement Death Benefit) / 7
Maternity Leave / 10
Medical Expense Reimbursement / 8
Medical Leave / 10
Military Leave / 10
Open Enrollment Period / 5
Payday / 2
Payroll Cut-off / 3
Personal Leave Days / 10
Personnel Folder Requirements / 11
Professional Dues / 7
Retirement / 5
Sample Direct Deposit Authorization Form / 14
Sample Experience Verification Form / 12
Sample Leave Form / 16
Sample Sick Leave Bank Membership Application / 15
Sample W-4 and A-4 Employee’s Withholding Form / 13
Sick Leave / 9
Sick Leave Bank / 9
Sick Leave Conversion Chart / 6
Support Employee Salaries / 2
T.B. Tine Test / 11
Tax Sheltered Annuity (RSA-1) / 8
Teacher Salaries / 2
Unpaid Leave / 11
Vacation / 10
Verification of Experience / 2
W-2 Wage and Tax Statement / 9

Revised June 2011
ENTERPRISE CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION

PERSONNEL HANDBOOK

Payroll

Teacher Salaries

Teacher salaries are based on a state matrix determined by the Alabama legislature. Matrix salary is based on highest degree held, number of days worked, and total years of experience. Teacher pay is based on the highest degree recognized by the Alabama Department of Education regardless of whether or not it results in a higher ranked teacher certificate. Typical 9-month teachers will work a total of 187 days based on the current school calendar. Contract days vary for certain positions as approved by the Board. Total years experience refers to certified teaching experience. Years worked in support positions such as an aide or bus driver will not count towards years of experience on the salary matrix. Partial years will be counted based on the actual number of days worked.

Certificate Upgrades: Teachers must notify the Superintendent’s office and Payroll office immediately if they are receiving a higher degree or upgrading their teaching certificate. An official transcript should be sent to the payroll office as soon as possible in order to receive the pay upgrade.

Note: Teachers will not be paid for years of experience that are not verified.

Verification of Experience

Certified experience outside the Enterprise City Board of Education must be verified in writing with any and all former employers. Years of experience will be counted for teaching in any public school system (in or out of Alabama) and Department of Defense schools. Private school teaching experience will not be counted for the purpose of teacher salary.

A sample verification of experience form is located on page 12.

Support Employee Salaries

Support employee salaries are based on a Board approved salary schedule on file in the Superintendent’s office.

Payday – Payday is the last working day of the month. The last working day of the month refers to the last working day for 240 day / 12-month employees. All employees are paid based on 12 months. For example, 9 month (187 day) employees receive their first paycheck September 30 and the final paycheck August 31. To determine your monthly salary, divide your contract salary by 12.

Exception: Please note: New hire employees will receive a total of 13 equal checks during their first year with Enterprise City Board of Education. If new hire employees are rehired in the following year, they will switch to 12 checks.

Paychecks/stubs are delivered to each school the morning of payday. Direct deposits are guaranteed to be in the bank by 8 a.m. on payday. During the summer months paychecks/stubs will be mailed to employees at their home address. Please make sure the payroll office has your correct address before you leave for the summer!

Payroll Cut-off – Changes to your payroll deductions must be submitted in writing no later than the 10th of any month. (The cafeteria plan can only be changed during open enrollment.)

Payroll Deductions

Income Taxes

Employee payroll checks are subject to federal and state income tax withholdings and social security and Medicare tax withholdings. The Enterprise City Board of Education matches all social security and Medicare tax withholdings.

Federal income taxes are withheld based on the filing status and number of exemptions claimed by each employee on form W-4 – Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. State income taxes are withheld based on the filing status and number of exemptions claimed by each employee on form A-4 – Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate. Employees can request that additional dollar amounts be withheld each pay period on the forms W-4 and A-4.

Please check your paycheck stub each month to make sure the appropriate amount of income tax is being withheld. Employees may change filing status and/or exemptions claimed at any time during the year by completing a new form W-4 or A-4 and submitting the forms to the payroll office. All payroll changes must be received by the 10th of the month to be reflected on that month’s payroll. Changes received after the 10th will be made in the following month.

A sample form W-4 is located on page 13 and a sample A-4 is located on page 14.

Health Insurance

The Public Education Employee’s Health Insurance Program (PEEHIP) provides for the following health insurance plans:

Hospital/Medical Blue Cross Blue Shield

Hospital/Medical Supplemental* Blue Cross Blue Shield

Optional Coverages:

Hospital Indemnity Southland National

Cancer Southland National

Dental Southland National

Vision Care Southland National

*The supplemental Hospital/Medical plan will cover most deductibles, co-payments, and coinsurance not covered by the primary plan provided by another employer.

Eligible employees may participate in any of the plans listed above under the guidelines established by the program. Terms and conditions of the plans are available on the PEEHIP website at www.rsa-al.gov

Employees desiring to be insured must secure the necessary application forms from the Payroll office or the PEEHIP website and return all completed forms to the Payroll office. Completed application forms will serve as authorization for payroll deduction.

The Board will pay the state allocated amount each month towards the purchase of insurance for each employee who earns an allocation. An employee must work at least half the working days in any month to earn the allocation for that month. PEEHIP has a 3-in-1 rule that allows employees to earn 1 summer month allocation for each 3 months worked during the school year. Employees who begin work after the beginning of the school year may not earn allocations for the summer months. If an employee does not earn his/her allocation for any reason, the employee can continue coverage through COBRA.

Premiums as of October 1, 2011:

HOSPITAL/MEDICAL COVERAGE:

Blue Cross Blue Shield Single Coverage $ 15.00

Family Coverage $177.00

OPTIONAL COVERAGES:

Hospital Indemnity Single or Family $ 38.00

Cancer Single or Family $ 38.00

Dental Single Coverage $ 38.00

Family Coverage $ 45.00

Vision Care Single or Family $ 38.00

** Premiums are set by PEEHIP, not the Enterprise City Board of Education

If an employee does not want hospital/medical coverage, his/her allocation is enough to cover the cost of all four optional coverages or the hospital/medical supplemental. The employee would pay no premium in this case.

Important phone numbers – PEEHIP 1-877-517-0020

Blue Cross 1-800-327-3994

Southland National 1-800-476-0677

Hospital/Medical application forms and insurance claim forms are available in the Payroll office or on the PEEHIP website at www.rsa.state.al.us

Optional coverage application forms and claim forms are available in the payroll office or on the Southland National website at www.southlandnationalpeehip.com

Open Enrollment – Health insurance and other cafeteria plan items can only be changed once a year during open enrollment. Changes must be submitted by August 31st and will be effective as of October 1st. You can come to the Payroll office anytime during the summer to make changes that will be effective as of October 1.

Retirement

All Board employees must participate in the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Alabama, a defined benefit plan qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Currently, 5% of each employee’s wages will be withheld (before income taxes) and remitted to TRS. The Board will match with a % set by TRS. For October 2010 through September 2011, the Board match was 12.51%. Effective October 1, 2011 the employee portion withheld will be 7.25% and the board match will be 10%. Benefits vest after 10 years of service.

Employees may retire:

·  At age 60 with 10 or more years of creditable service, or

·  At any age with 25 or more years of creditable service

TRS members may convert unused accrued sick leave to service credit at retirement. The service credit may be applied toward meeting the minimum service requirement for service retirement eligibility.

The following chart is used by TRS to convert accumulated sick leave days to months of service credit upon service retirement:

SICK LEAVE CONVERSION CHART
Accumulated / Months of Service / Accumulated / Months of Service
Sick Leave Days / Credit / Sick Leave Days / Credit
0-7 / 0 / 218-232 / 15
8-22 / 1 / 233-247 / 16
23-37 / 2 / 248-262 / 17
38-52 / 3 / 236-277 / 18
53-67 / 4 / 278-292 / 19
68-82 / 5 / 293-307 / 20
83-97 / 6 / 308-322 / 21
98-112 / 7 / 323-337 / 22
113-127 / 8 / 338-352 / 23
128-142 / 9 / 353-367 / 24
143-157 / 10 / 368-382 / 25
158-172 / 11 / 383-397 / 26
173-187 / 12 / 398-412 / 27
188-202 / 13 / 413-427 / 28
203-217 / 14 / 428-442 / 29

Retirement Benefit Formula:

Retirement benefits are calculated as follows:

Average Final Salary x Years and Months of Service Credit x TRS Benefit Factor

(best 3 of last 10 years) (.020125)

Employees who leave the TRS system before they have vested may leave their contributions in the system for up to 5 years. Employees may withdraw their contributions, subject to IRS penalties and taxes or roll the money into an IRA or other tax deferred account.

Teacher’s Retirement System Life Insurance / Pre-Retirement Death Benefit

Teacher’s Retirement System provides a $15,000 term life insurance policy on all active members. Teacher’s Retirement System also provides a Pre-Retirement Death Benefit to employees. The Pre-Retirement Death Benefit is the amount of the employee’s annual salary for the previous scholastic year. If a member dies while actively employed, the member’s beneficiary may receive: member’s contributions plus interest earned, member’s annual salary for previous scholastic year, $15,000, and may receive payment for accrued sick leave. (No life insurance coverage is provided to retired members).

Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 79 requires each employer to report imputed premiums on the cost of group term life insurance provided directly or indirectly to their employees to the extent that it exceeds $50,000. The imputed premiums are taxable for Federal and Alabama Income tax purposes and subject to Medicare and Social Security tax (subject to the Social Security wage limits). The calculation of taxable income on imputed premiums is based on the Pre-Retirement Death Benefit (previous scholastic year salary), the $15,000 group term life insurance and the employee’s age. The previous scholastic year salary plus the $15,000 life insurance must exceed $50,000 before any amount is taxable. All employees whose previous scholastic year salary equals $35,000 or more will have taxable income on imputed premiums for this free insurance. This taxable income will appear on the employee’s paycheck as a fringe benefit. The taxable income will also appear on the member’s W-2.

Other Payroll Deductions

·  Direct Deposit – All employees are eligible to have their paycheck directly deposited. Direct Deposits are guaranteed to be in the bank by 8:00 a.m. on payday. Employees who wish to start direct deposit should submit a voided check and a Direct Deposit Notification form to the payroll office. Direct deposit may be started, stopped, or changed at any time during the year. Employees with direct deposit will receive a pay stub instead of a check each month. Direct deposit to a savings account is also available.

**Please Note - The first payroll after signing up for direct deposit will be a mandatory test file. During the test payroll, the employee will receive a regular paper paycheck.

A sample Direct Deposit Authorization form is located on page 15.

·  Professional Dues – Professional dues for certain organizations may be deducted from the payroll on a monthly basis when requested and authorized by the employee.

·  Insurance and Annuities – A variety of insurance and savings plans are available through payroll deduction. Representatives from these companies will contact employees directly.

·  Tax Sheltered Annuity – The Teacher’s Retirement System also has a tax sheltered annuity available to education employees. This plan is called RSA-1. Contributions to this program are sheltered from both federal and state income tax. Information booklets and application forms are available for this program in the Payroll office or online at www.rsa-al.gov.