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L oyo l a U n i v e r s i t y H e a lt h Sys t e mHuman Resources Benefits UpdateEmployee EditionNew Time-Off ProgramsTo Begin Jan. 1, 2014Please note: Clinical Faculty and residents are notaffected by this change but will retain long-term disabilitybenefits through Hartford Insurance.This newsletter will share information about our plan toadopt the Trinity Health (TH) paid-time-off (PTO) program.On an ongoing basis, we review Loyola University HealthSystem’s programs for paid time-off and disability benefitsto ensure that we meet the needs of our employees andthe organization. We believe that quality of life is importantfor our employees and that it is vital for our physical, mentaland spiritual health to take scheduled time away from work.Taking care of ourselves by taking time off will make usbetter able to care for our patients and to help support ourpatient safety initiatives. These new benefits, combinedwith our existing benefit programs, support these valuesand will continue to provide a competitive total rewardsprogram for all employees.Why are we making this change?RewardChanges within the PTO and disability plans will ensurethat LUHS’ total rewards program is consistent withbenefit programs offered at other hospitals in Chicago.The change will also increase employee flexibility to movewithin Trinity Health locations.Total rewards encompasses those attributes of anorganization that employees value, which includesboth tangible and intangible benefits, such as such ascompensation, group benefits, retirement, recognitionand engagement/culture.The following chart illustrates LUHS’ progress towardsproviding employees with a more comprehensiveTotal Rewards package that is at or is slightly betterthan the market.LUMCGMHLUHS FY14At or slightly above marketAt or slightly above marketAt or slightly above marketMedical BenefitSlightly below marketSignificantly above marketAt or slightly above marketDental BenefitSlightly below marketSlightly below marketAt or slightly above marketSignificantly above marketSlightly below marketAbove marketAt marketPTO – At or slightly above marketFreeezing sick time–above marketHolidaySignificantly above marketAt marketAt marketShort-term disabilitySignificantly below marketBelow marketAt or slightly above marketLong-term disabilityAt marketAt marketAt marketRetirementAt marketSlightly above marketAt or slightly above marketSignificantly above marketAt marketNo ChangeCompensation–average rate of payVacation/Personal daySickTuitionLoyolaMedicine.org1
Changes at a Glance: What’s New?PTO and the enhanced short-term disability planwill replace vacation, personal and sick time hours –Regular full-time and part-time employees hired to workat least 20 hours per week are eligible to earn PTO. Youwill earn/accrue PTO time based on your “hours worked”including any down-staffed hours during “low census”hours. PTO programs have become the industry standardat Chicago-area hospitals. In the most recent benefitssurvey from the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council(MCHC), 80 percent of 65 hospitals surveyed offeredPTO instead of traditional vacation, sick, personal daybanks. See “How Does Paid Time Off (PTO) Work?”for more detail on how PTO works on page 2.2Short-term disability benefits significantlyimproved – Employees will be eligible for short-termdisability on the first day of the month following 30 daysof service beginning January 2014. (The former eligibilityrequirement was one year of service at LUMC and threeyears of service at GMH) For short-term disability benefits,the waiting period for eligibility has been reduced to 14calendar days (previously 45 days at LUMC and 30 daysat GMH). Starting January 1, 2014, these benefits also willbe offered to part-time employees who are classified as.50 FTE or greater. Details about these plans are availablein “How Will LUHS’ Disability Plans Change?” on page 5.Holidays for 2014 – In addition to six standard holidays– New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, LaborDay, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day – full-time 1.0FTE employees will receive one floating holiday to usewith supervisor approval. This plan will standardize therecognized holidays between the two LUHS campuses(LUMC and GMH) and is consistent with those offered atthe majority of hospitals in the Chicago metropolitan areathat still offer holidays as a separate bank of time. This planwill eliminate Good Friday, the day after Thanksgiving andChristmas Eve as standard holidays on the LUMC campus.You can read more about holiday benefits in “How areHoliday Benefits Changing?” on page 4.Sick Time Banks – Accrued sick time will be frozenas of December 28, 2013, but will remain available foremployees. Changes to this benefit is described furtherin “What Happens to Accrued Sick Time?” on page 4.Please read this newsletter and plan to attend an employeemeeting to learn more about these changes.Funeral leave and jury duty remainseparate from PTO.How Does Paid Time Off(PTO) Work?We want all of our employees to take scheduled time awayfrom work. Taking time away from work allows you to relax,recharge and refocus. Each individual is different in how heor she may want to use PTO but it’s important to both youand to LUHS that you take some time to care for yourselfso we can better care for our patients. Patient safety isimportant and our employees play a critical role in assuringthat safety.PTO is used for vacation periods, time to go to doctor’sappointments and for other personal needs. PTO also isused for sick days in the period before your short-termdisability benefits begin (unless you have accrued time inyour frozen sick time bank as detailed in “What Happensto Accrued Sick Time?” on page 4).How does PTO accrue? U nder the new plan, you will earn/accrue PTO timebased on your “hours worked” including any downstaffed paid hours during “low-census” hours. Y ou will not earn/accrue PTO time when you usePTO hours or for hours off on a holiday. Y ou will not earn/accrue PTO hours when you usehours from your frozen sick bank. PTO hours also willnot be earned during an FMLA leave period or duringtime periods when you are receiving short-or long-termdisability benefits. P TO is pro-rated for those with less than one yearof service.The rate at which you accrue PTO is based on your years ofservice with the health system. New employees have accessto accrued PTO time after three months of employment.It is important to note that because PTO accrues based onhours worked, the amount of PTO accrued each pay periodis likely to vary from one pay period to another.New PTO bank maximums are established at 1½ years’accrual. Setting the PTO bank maximum at 1½ years’ accrualis consistent with most hospitals in the Chicago area.
Years of ServicePTO Accrual Rateper Hour Worked*(example of 1.0 FTE employee)Bank Maximum Hours(1.5x Full-Time employee)Less than 1 year0.068/hr up to 16 days/yrUp to 192 hours (24 days)1 to 4 years0.081/hr up to 19 days/yr228 hours (28.5 days)5 to 9 years0.095/hr up to 22 days/yr264 hours (33 days)10 to 14 years0.110/hr up to 25 days/yr300 hours (37.5 days)15 or more years0.124/hr up to 28 days/yr336 hours (42 days)* PTO is accrued on hours worked and/or Low Census timeUnused PTO hours stay in your PTO Bank until you usethem. Your PTO Bank maximum is shown in the chart above.At any point during the year when your PTO Bank reachesthe maximum, PTO accrual will stop until you use PTO hours.As with our current vacation/ personal time program, PTO,time should be scheduled in advance with your supervisor’sapproval, following your department’s procedures. If usingPTO for illnesses lasting fewer than 14 days, you mustalso follow your department’s normal call-in procedures.Also, as with our current vacation time plan, any PTO timeremaining in your bank when you leave employment withthe health system is paid at termination.Here’s an example of how the PTO Bankmaximum works. S usan is a 1.0 full time employee with 12 years ofservice and she takes 4 weeks of vacation each year. S he works 1,864 hours per year (2080 hours – 56holiday hours – 160 PTO hours 1864 regular hours)which means she accrues 205 PTO hours each year(1,864 x 0.110 205). S ince she is a 1.0 full-time employee, her PTO Bankmaximum is 300 hours. Susan’s hours go into her PTOBank as she accrues them, and she can use her PTOhours throughout the year. The system tracks the numberof hours in her PTO Bank, and if her Bank reaches300 hours, Susan’s PTO accrual automatically stops. S he will need to start using her PTO in order to beginaccruing PTO hours again. For example, if Susantakes a week of vacation and lowers her PTO Bankby 40 hours, her PTO accruals will begin again untilshe reaches the 300-hour PTO Bank maximum. I f Susan has 60 hours of vacation time converted toPTO time in December 2013, she will begin her bankwith 60 PTO hours and additional PTO hours willaccrue based upon her hours worked until shereaches the 300-hour PTO Bank maximum.What Happens to myAccrued Vacation Time?Vacation time will continue to accrue through December28, 2013, and will be recorded on your January 3, 2014,pay check stub. You are encouraged to check your vacationaccrual balances using Lawson’s employee self-serviceapplications (personal information section) and to keep arecord of these year-end balances for future reference.Your current vacation accrual will end as of December 28,2013, and your new PTO accrual, as listed above,will begin on December 29, 2013. You will not loseany accrued vacation time.3
We are initiating communication prior to the change toallow you to manage any accrued vacation time above thenew PTO bank maximums. You may use accrued vacationtime through December 28, 2013. Any remaining accruedvacation time above the new PTO bank maximums, as ofDecember 28, 2013, will be paid out in your January 17,2014, pay check.LUHS HOLIDAYS 2014New Year’s Day (Wednesday, January 1)You’ll have a choice to makeMemorial Day (Monday, May 26)Employees can request vacation hours over the nextfew months to ensure their accrued vacation will be lessthan the new PTO bank maximum. That way, new PTOaccruals will begin immediately in the pay period that startsDecember 29, 2013, and ends January 11, 2014.Independence Day (Friday, July 4)ORPlus one floating holiday to be scheduledat an employee’s discretion with supervisoryapprovalYou may elect to receive a lump sum payout of accruedvacation time above the new PTO maximum. The employeemay then request some time off in January/February toreduce accrued PTO below the new bank maximum. UsingPTO hours early in 2014 will allow additional accrual timeinto the new PTO banks.4The majority of Chicago-area hospitals provide sevenholidays for their employees, as reported in the January2013 MCHC Benefits Survey.You are encouraged to evaluate your current accruedvacation time, any planned vacation time for the durationof 2013 and the pros and cons of accepting a lump-sumpayout of some of your accrued vacation time.How are Holiday BenefitsChanging?Holidays will be separate from PTO and are maintainedin a separate bank. Full-time 1.0 FTE employees anddesignated nursing programs are eligible for holidaybenefits. Holidays will be available for employees to use 60days before or after the recognized holiday. Under the newplan, you will receive seven paid, eight-hour holidays. Sixof these holidays will be fixed and one will be designatedas a floating day that you can use when you choose withsupervisory approval. The floating holiday gives us theopportunity to recognize the diversity and personal needsof all LUHS employees.Pay for working on a holiday will remain the same. TheHuman Resources Holiday policy will be updated anddistributed this fall.Labor Day (Monday, September 1)Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 27)Christmas Day (Thursday, December 25)Employees will still be able to use remaining 2013 holidaysthrough the time allowed by current LUMC or GMH policy(60 days following the recognized holiday). Beginning in2014, we will have one common holiday policyWhat Happens to AccruedSick Time?The amount of sick time that you have as of December 28,2013, will be frozen and banked so that you can still accessit as follows: Y ou may continue to use your frozen sick time for yourown illness, this includes intermittent FMLA, beginningDecember 29, 2013, provided you have used a totalof three (3) days of PTO for illness (based on FTE)in the previous rolling 12-month period. If the rolling12-month period expands into 2013, sick days will becounted to satisfy the (3) PTO sick time requirement.If you have not used 3 days of PTO for illness, the first3-consecutive or non-consecutive days off will bededucted from your PTO time. I f you do not have a frozen bank of sick time hours,you will use accrued PTO hours for illness. If you areeligible for Short-Term Disability, you can access thatbenefit on the 15th consecutive day of your illness.(See article on page 5.)
W ith the implementation of the new accruals into thePTO banks and the improved short-term disabilitybenefits, you will not accrue any additional time intoyour bank of frozen sick time.STD Plan and approved by The Hartford. This representsa significant improvement over the current short-termdisability benefit (previously a 30-day waiting period atGMH and 45-day waiting period at LUMC). M edical certification will continue to be required forextended illnesses according to the attendance andleave of absence policies and the requirements for theshort-term and long-term disability plans.The first three days of the 14-day waiting period for STDwill be deducted from your current PTO bank, unlessyou have used a total of three (3) days of PTO for illness(based on FTE) in the previous rolling 12-month period,after that, you must access your frozen sick time, ifapplicable. If you do not have frozen sick time, you mayuse your PTO time for the 14-day waiting period or gounpaid. You must use your frozen sick days, if applicable,before you can start STD payments. E mployees hired between September 29, 2013,and December 28, 2013, must complete 90 days ofemployment before they are eligible to access frozensick time as described above.Both LUMC and GMH have had a sick time benefitwith sick bank accrual maximums greater than otherhospitals in the Chicago area. However, neither hospitaloffered a competitive short-term disability benefit. Mosthospitals have transitioned to a PTO plan combinedwith an enhanced short-term disability benefit to provideemployees with a common benefit. See the “How WillLUHS’ Disability Plans Change?” on page 5 to learn more.How Will LUHS’ DisabilityPlans Change?The disability plans provide you with income if youare unable to work due to a non-work-related injuryor illness. LUHS provides both short- and long-termdisability benefits.The Short-Term Disability (STD) Plan benefit is changingand is being enhanced. The enhanced short-term disabilityplan design will apply to approved claims that result in alast day at work occurring on or after January 1, 2014.Employees currently on disability or whose last day at workis before January 1, 2014, will continue to receive benefitsbased on the existing short-term disability plan design.When approved for short-term disability pay, you willreceive 50 percent of your base pay for up to six months.STD payments will start after you have been unable towork for 14 consecutive calendar days due to a non-workrelated illness, injury or maternity leave as defined by theThe Hartford has become the new administrator for ourshort-term and long-term disability plans. The Hartford willreview disability applications for short-term and long-termdisability, approve benefit payments for eligible disabilitiesand determine how long payments should continue. TheHartford is a leader in customer service and also will helpour employees return to work when medically appropriate.New hires will be eligible for short-term disability benefitson the 1st of the month following 30 days of service.Previously an employee was required to have one year ofservice at LUMC and three years of service at GMH tobe eligible for short-term disability. In addition, effectiveJanuary 1, 2014, benefits are offered to part-timeemployees whose FTE is .50 or greater.The Long-Term Disability (LTD) Plan will offer twocoverage options B ase LTD: LUHS pays the total cost of this coverage,which provides 50 percent of your base pay, and B uy-Up LTD: You can choose to purchase this higherlevel of coverage of 66-2/3 percent of your base pay.(The LTD buy-up option will be offered as a benefitduring the 2014 LUMC and GMH’s annual openenrolment period.)Employees will receive LTD payments for eligibledisabilities that last longer than six months. The Hartforddetermines the eligibility and duration for LTD paymentsbased on the LTD Plan rules.5
What You Need to DoYour PTO plan is scheduled to change effective with thepay period beginning December 29, 2013, and the paycheck of January 17, 2014. As you consider your personalneeds and evaluate your current vacation bank, you willneed to plan on how you will use your time. Please workwith your supervisor to schedule time away from work ifyou will have accrued vacation time over the new PTOmaximum of 1½ years’ accrual.Please Note: Accrued vacation over the new PTO bankmaximums as of December 29, 2013, will be paid to theemployee on the January 17, 2014, pay check. You willreceive additional information in the next couple of months.When You’ll Hear MoreThis newsletter is intended to give you a high-leveloverview of the coming changes. Plan to attend one of thefollowing meetings to hear more detail and to get answersto your specific questions about these changes.6Thank you for your continued efforts in providing highquality care and fulfilling our Mission to our community.Our success has always reflected our ability to servetogether while responding to a changing environment. Weappreciate your efforts and support.If you have any questions, please contact theBenefits Hotline, (708) 216-9401.LUMC EMPLOYEE INFORMATION MEETINGSDateWhat7:30-8:30 a.m.Monday, Sept 9Employee Information Meeting,SSOM, Tobin Hall, Room 1903-4 p.m.Tuesday, Sept 10Employee Information Meeting,SSOM, Room 16010-11 a.m.Wednesday, Sept 11Employee Information Meeting,SSOM, Room 1607:30-8:30 a.m.Wednesday, Sept 13Employee Information Meeting,SSOM, Tobin Hall, Room 1906-7 p.m.Monday, Sept. 16Employee Information Meeting,SSOM, Tobin Hall, Room 19012-1 p.m.Thursday, Sept. 19Employee Information Meeting,SSOM, Room 1607:30-8:30 a.m.Monday, Sept. 20Employee Information Meeting,SSOM, Tobin Hall, Room 190GMH EMPLOYEE INFORMATION MEETINGSDateWhat1:00-2:00 p.m.Monday, Sept 9Employee Information Meeting,POB Room F & G5:30-6:30 p.m.Tuesday, Sept 10Employee Information Meeting,POB Room F & G1:00-2:00 p.m.Wednesday, Sept 11Employee Information Meeting,POB Room F & G10:00-11:00 a.m.Wednesday, Sept 16Employee Information Meeting,POB Room F & G7:30-8:30 a.m.Tuesday, Sept. 17Employee Information Meeting,POB Room E & F5:30-6:30 p.m.Wednesday, Sept 18Employee Information Meeting,POB Room C & DDISCLAIMER: The information provided in this Announcement Letter is designed to assist you with understanding your plans under theLoyola University Medical Center and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital employee benefits program. It is only an overview; it is not intended tobe a comprehensive description of your benefit plan design(s). The summary plan descriptions and official plan documents cover theseplans in more detail, and should be referred to with inquiries on what services are covered by the plan. Whenever there is a discrepancybetween printed materials, the official plan documents will prevail. Loyola retains the right to make changes to or terminate its benefitplans at any time. 2013 Loyola University Health System. All rights reserved. August 2013 20130521-03LoyolaMedicine.org
accrual balances using Lawson's employee self-service applications (personal information section) and to keep a record of these year-end balances for future reference. Your current vacation accrual will end as of December 28, 2013, and your new PTO accrual, as listed above, will begin on December 29, 2013. You will not lose
