ARTICLE III

SECTION A
125 FLEXIBLE BENEFIT PLAN CONTRIBUTION

  1. The City shall make a monthly contribution to each eligible member of the unit to be used toward the § 125 Flexible Benefit Plan. These funds shall only be used for qualified benefits as provided for in 26 USCS § 125. An administrative fee will be charged to employees who elect the out-of-pocket medical expense reimbursement. All excess benefit dollars shall be added to each employee's taxable earnings. Discussion of new flexible benefits to be covered like Long Term Care and other possible options.

    1. Insurance Committee - The BCEA reserves the right, during the term of this agreement, to call for the establishment of a union/management committee to meet and confer to explore alternatives to current, and/or new insurance plans. The committee will convene within thirty (30) calendar days of the BCEA's written request to the City to establish said committee.

  2. All employees must enroll in one of the PERS health program plans, unless they:
    1. Submit to the City both proof of health coverage, and

    2. Sign a health insurance waiver.

    3. Employees who fail to complete both requirements shall not be allowed to utilize their § 125 Flexible Benefit Plan contributions for any other eligible plans.

    4. Employees who meet both requirements shall be allowed to utilize their § 125 Flexible Benefit Plan contributions for any of the other qualified benefits as provided for in 26 USCS § 125.

  3. The definition of eligible employee for this article shall be as follows:
    1. Employees who regularly work 30 to 40 hours a week are defined as full-time employees.

    2. Employees who regularly work 20 to less than 30 hours a week are defined as part-time employees.

  4. For purposes of this section, employees that were hired for less than forty (40) hours a week shall have their actual hours worked audited June 30th of each calendar year. This audit shall cover the previous twelve (12) month period of July Ist to June 30th Affected employees will be notified of the result of this audit at least three working days prior to the annual health fair: New employees will be audited every six months. The City will provide the BCEA Quarterly Reports of the Part-Time Hours of Work and Benefit Status. Such audits shall be used to adjust the employee's fringe benefit status compared to their original hiring condition. This adjustment will be effective for the twelve (12) month period beginning January 1st through December 31st of the following year. In addition, the parties agree that in order to comply with the current PERS contract, this section will not be applicable to the part-time classifications of Crossing Guard, Library Page, or Messenger-Bill Deliverer. However, these three classifications will continue to be audited for the purpose of adjusting floating holidays (Article V, Section B.8.c) and personal leave time. (Article VII, Section G.5) Furthermore part-time employees that have a permanent change in established work hours (added or deleted) shall, upon certification of the Department Head and processing of a PAF indicating such change, move immediately into the appropriate fringe benefit status level.