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Home My WebLink AboutBoard of Commissioners - Minutes - 09/16/1999• MINUTES OF THE OTTER TAIL COUNTY LABOR/MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OTTER TAIL COUNTY COURTHOUSE COMMISSIONERS' ROOM -FLOOR 1-B Thursday, September 16, 1999 1:00 p.m. Call to Order Larry Krohn called the meeting to order at 1 :08 p.m. Attendance: Excused Absence: Brooks Andersen, Al Anderson, Sharon Bjork, Pauline Fitch, Sandi Gundberg, Mike Hanan, David Hauser, Dave Jennen, Cheryl Jones, Larry Krohn, Malcolm Lee, Lane Magnusson, Wendy Metcalf, Michele Petterson, Bud Pierce, Virginia1 Partmann, Vicki Schwanke, Dennis Soderstrom, Rick Sytsma. Jack Dawkins, Joanne Derby, Chuck Kitzman, Mick McCormick, Kathy Ouren, Cheri Schultz, Todd Smedstad, Doug Walvatne, Gary Waskosky, Rick West. .nexcused Absence: Leon Anderson, Steve Andrews, Lori Morrell. Review of Problem Solving Process and/or Norms of Behavior Larry Krohn posted the Problem Solving Process chart and the Norms of Behavior for review. Review of Minutes Committee members approved as presented the minutes of August 19, 1999. Review of Agenda Committee members approved as presented the agenda of September 16, 1999. Discussion Items Benefit Overview Kathy Domholt gave an overview of the benefits currently available to the Otter Tail County employees that could interact with a sick leave donation program/policy. She presented some facts on the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Long Term Disability (LTD) as follows: Family Medical Leave (FMLA) ■ FMLA is a Federal Law. ■ FMLA is an unpaid leave with a maximum length of 12 weeks per calendar year. ' • To be eligible, an employee must have worked for Otter Tail County for one year and worked at least 1,250 hours during the year preceding the start of the leave. Q • FMLA provides job protection and in some cases, preserves health insurance. • FMLA is generally used concurrently with sick or vacation time. • There are circumstances where an employee would qualify for FMLA but not for sick leave because the eligibility criteria is different for FMLA versus use of sick leave in your personnel policy. Long Term Disability • To be eligible, an employee must work at least 30 hours per weft)k. • The Elimination Period or Qualification Period is 3 months or ellld of salary continuance. During this 3 month period, an employee might exhaust his/her sick time and vacation time. A Donation of SickNacation Policy would be beneficial. • Monthly Benefit: 60% of gross earnings to a maximum of $5,000 per month. • Integration: Plan coordinates with Social Security and other income benefits you might receive which is true of most LTD plans that are offered. • Disability Definition: If you cannot perform essential duties of your occupation, coverage for 24 months. After this period, if you are prevented from performing the essential duties of any occupation. • LTD is for catastrophic circumstances, not intended to be a salary replacement, rather to aid in the continuation of insurance benefits for the employee. • An illness in the family other than an illness of the employee is not covered under LTD. The applications of FMLA and LTD depend on each individual situation. 0 Kathy Domholt provided a handout identifying situations when employees could benefit from a Donated Sick Leave Policy. Cobra is a Federal Law giving employees the right to continue insurance for 18 months after termination of employment, at the expense of the employee. Sick Leave Donation Issues brought up for discussion regarding a sick leave donation policy: • Abuse of the sick leave donation policy. • Application used to determine if an individual is eligible to receive donated sick leave. • Donate sick leave versus donate vacation time. • Cost to the County. • Donate to a pool versus donate to an individual. • Voluntary donation. • Limit to the amount donated by an individual. • Limit to the amount an individual can receive. • Name of donor and recipient made public. • Grievance not allowed. a After lengthy discussion, the Labor/Management Committee came to group consensus to proceed in Axploring a donation of sick leave/vacation lime program. A subcommittee was formed to develop a ~raft policy to present at the next meeting. Subcommittee: Lane Magnusson Dave Jennen Mike Hanan Rick Sytsma Michele Petterson Kathy Domholt agreed to be available as a resource for the subcommittee. Adjournment At 2:45 p.m., Co-Chairman, Larry Krohn declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County Labor/Management Committee adjourned until 1 :00 p.m. on October 21, 1999. Mp • Otter Tail County Labor/Management Meeting September 16 1999 Situations When Employees Could Benefit from a Donated Sick Leave Bank Policy When an employee is on intermittent leave and exhausts all accumulated sick and/or vacation leave, a Donated Sick Leave Bank may be a vehicle to keep insurance "in place" without the employee having to pay the insurance premiums if they drop below 75% of active employment. In the case of an employee's catastrophic illness/injury, to qualify for long term disability, there is a 90-day elimination period that must be met before the employee is eligible. Donated sick leave could be used if that employee didn't have enough accumulated leave to carry through for the full 90-days. Long term disability pays 60% of gross income and coordinates with other disability plans such as social security, PERA disability, etc. If an individual was in a catastrophic situation and he/she could benefit by receiving 100% of their salary for a longer period of time, it would be helpful to the individual even though long term disability payments would be delayed. Employees that work less than 30 hours per week do not qualify for long term disability and obviously don't accumulate as much sick and/or vacation leave as full time employees. A • catastrophic illness or injury could still be devastating to the family. Employees that experience several surgeries within a short time frame could benefit. Employees that experience a catastrophic illness/injury who haven't worked for the county very long and may not have accumulated sick and vacation leave to use. The county does not have a short term disability plan. Situations where it may take a long time for Social Security disability, PERA disability, and/or long term disability and other potential benefit payers to gather information, coordinate benefits, subrogate benefits, etc. Donated sick leave could help bridge the gap. If an employee has an immediate family member that has a catastrophic illness/injury (particularly a child or spouse) after accumulated sick and vacation leave is exhausted and care is still required, a donated sick leave bank would be helpful. LABOR/MANACEMENT COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE/SICN IN CHECK SHEET MEETINC DATE: Attgust 19, 1999 ~/4,,,.ea I& • Brooks Andersen Al Anderson....:J~ .. ~dt~...L ________ _ Leon Anderson, ___________ _ Steve Andrews, ___________ _ Sharon Bjork ____ -.;_c....:·~-------- Jack Dawkins,_~e_,xi.:,,..\(e..!0.c::.,'.S=~<:-:...._ _____ _ Joanne Derby __ ____._f_x'.i,._G"-"i0=:5-=-e.=-J _____ _ Pauline Fitch __ ....1PL.--"&=--------- .sandi Gundberg,_-=§---'fj--::..:_ _______ _ Cheryl Jones, ___ ~=->L,=-· _______ _ ~ Chuck Kitzman, _ __,E""----Xi:....:..::cC::"'U::..:::S:::...0_J _____ _ Larry Krohn, ____ .L.----'--'/(~------- ~alcolm Lee._-----'"Jif::::.Ll--'--A_,_~-=Z' _____ _ Lane Magnusson_--=--,L_,..:...M ______ _ Mick McCormick,_ ... e-"X'l"'G"'""'V"'----=S--=(:J...:::J ____ _ l,~ Wendy Metcalf_....J.'=~'-1-'"----'--------- Lori Morrell. ___________ _ Kathy ouren, __ .,_eg"--'-'-c=-.11/5''--=-_ei_tY _____ _ Michele Petterson_27-"-· ...,_'IJ..-6-j} _____ _ • Bud Pierce. __ ~8,~~-------- Virginia Partmann_~_._-.,.'/£....,_ ______ _ Cheri Schultz. __ __::E'c:..K::...C::.,V::__~_l::l_~ ____ _ Vicki Schwanke __ ½J-'<C.,;b(J'-"''--'------- Todd smedstad _ __,,e""'i<-'--=-C.=U-"'SC.:e'-"JJ"-'----- Denn is Soderstrom }).s Rick sytsma. __ P$ _________ _ Doug Walvatne._--'e,x;;""--=-ci""i:.o<"'-'-'J=-------- Gary waskosky, ---'c'-><-'-'-'=C.::.:dS=-=-_~cP _____ _ Rick West. _ __,C,~~'-'-,..@"-"'-~---'j)=----------