414–Payroll/Benefits/Hours of Work

POLICY 414

ADOPTED: September, 2002

Revised: December 2002, July 2003, July 2004, June 7, 2005, May 27, 2008, July 1, 2015,

April 26, 2017, April 23, 2019, October 24, 2023, and November 28, 2023.

414      PAYROLL/BENEFITS/HOURS OF WORK

(A) FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES: Various benefits have various definitions of Full-time Employees. It is understood, that if not defined otherwise in this policy, full-time employees are those who hold a position which is regularly scheduled to work 2080 hours per year.

(B) PART-TIME EMPLOYEES & PRO-RATED BENEFIT FORMULA: Unless otherwise stated in this policy, employees regularly scheduled by NWSC to work less than 30 hours per week for 180 days continuous assignment from July 1 to June 30 do not qualify for pro-rated benefits. Employees who are regularly scheduled by NWSC to work less than 2080 hours and who qualify for benefits will use the following formulas to determine the benefit rate:

Hours per day worked x days worked / by 2080 = % of Benefit.

  (Any and all references to benefit days within this policy represents an 8 hour work day)

NWSC High Deductible Group Insurance Premium/VEBA and Life Insurance             contributions as well as Personal Leave benefits are exceptions.  In the case of NWSC            High Deductible Group Insurance, employees assigned to work a minimum of 180 eight hour days of the year are deemed qualified for full annual NWSC High Deductible      Group Insurance/VEBA contributions. NWSC High Deductible Health Insurance/VEBA Group Plan contributions are deemed the NWSC Group Health Insurance Plan.

(C) WAGES AND SALARIES: All forms of employee compensation are subject to equal employment opportunity laws and the pay equity provision of the NWSC.

All forms of employee compensation will be determined and approved by NWSC Governing Board. Compensation includes salary, honorariums, severance fees and NWSC contributions to fringe benefits.  NWSC may adjust individual employee salaries when it deems necessary. NWSC will annually review all employee compensation and make any salary adjustments it deems necessary, prior to July 1st of each year.

(D) PAYROLL CHECKS: Paychecks are automatically deposited to the employees chosen bank account on the 15th and the end of the month. If the 15th occurs on a Saturday or Sunday, the Friday preceding it will be payday.  The end of the month paycheck will be auto deposited the same way (i.e. on the last day of the month, or if the last day is a Saturday or Sunday on the Friday preceding the end of the month).  The employee will supply banking information at the time payroll is set up.  It is also the employee’s responsibility to let payroll know if they have changed accounts, banks, etc.

 (E) PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS: Whenever deductions must be made from any employee’s salary for days missed in excess of allowances under sick leave policy, short term leaves of absence or other reasons, deductions for the certified staff will be based on:

1. Annual salary divided by number of base days contracted for that fiscal year times the number of unpaid days.
2. For those on extended employment when the unpaid day(s) occurs, deductions will be made based on the rate of pay they are receiving at the time for the extended employment.
3. For non-licensed employees, the deduction will be the amount they would have earned had they worked during that period.
4. This section does not grant any employees the right to take unpaid days. Such days are subject to the pre-approval of the Director, which may be granted or denied at the Directors discretion.

(F) WORKDAY / OFFICE HOURS / SWITCHBOARD HOURS: Clerical, hourly and other support staff will follow 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with half hour lunch breaks or a one hour lunch break starting at 7:30 a.m. or working until 5 p.m. It is understood that the full work week is (40) forty hours.  The customer entrance area will always be attended during these hours.  Any request for earlier summer schedules will require written pre-approval from the Director.  Variance consideration, upon approval, will be noted on the Employee Agreement letter.  Professional staff will typically follow these basic office hours to the extent their travel and schedules allow.

(G) COMPENSATION TIME AND OVERTIME:  No overtime work will be scheduled for wage and hour employees.  In the event that an hourly support staff employee must work overtime, they need to have pre-approval from the Director. Only hourly support staff are eligible for compensation time.  Any qualifying compensation time must be claimed with–in the same weekly pay period.

(H) OFFICE CLOSING NOTIFICATION: OFFICE CLOSING NOTIFICATION: Notification to the public of the Northwest Service Cooperative office being closed due to weather or other emergency conditions will be announced on radio stations~

Thief River Falls: KTRF (1230 AM 681-1230) and KKAQ (1460 AM 681-1460)

Bemidji: KB101 (444-1500)

Crookston:  KROX/1260 (281-1140)

Roseau: KJ102 (463-3360)

A Program Coordinator or Program Assistants will inform the radio stations once the Program Coordinator or Director determines that a NWSC scheduled member event will be canceled due to weather or other emergency situation.  For closing procedures of the office operations of the NWSC due to weather or other emergency conditions; the Director or a designated Program Manager will make that determination.  The Director reserves the right to close the NWSC office on an as needed basis.  In other circumstances, if the NWSC office is open to the public and an employee in unable or feels threatened due to the possibility of possible poor weather conditions, the employee will be allowed to claim personal or vacation time for these absences.

(I) PAID HOLIDAYS: The NWSC has identified the following 11 days as holidays where the office will be deemed closed: Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, The       Friday following Thanksgiving, December 24, December 25, December 31, January 1,       The Friday before Easter, Memorial Day, and Juneteenth.

If any holiday should fall on a SUNDAY, the following Monday shall be a recognized holiday. For example, if December 25th falls on a Sunday – the employee will have the Monday following the 25th off.  If any holiday should fall on a SATURDAY, the preceding Friday shall be a holiday. For example, if Independence Day, July 4th, falls on a Saturday – the employee will have the Friday immediately prior to the holiday or July 3rd.  In the event, both holidays are on the weekend, both the previous Friday and following Monday will be deemed holidays. Qualifying employees that have less than a 260 day contract will be entitled to holidays that fall within their contract period.  If a holiday falls on a scheduled day off, no substitutions will be allowed.

(J) VACATIONS AND SCHEDULE:  Full Time employees shall earn vacation time on a fiscal year basis. (July 1st thru June 30th). Time is pro-rated depending on when employment begins. Vacation is paid out monthly. Example: Employee starts 7/1, 11 days = 88 hours / 12 months = 7.33 hours
accrued each month.

FISCAL YEAR           DAYS EARNED        FISCAL YEAR            DAYS EARNED

1st Year                             11                          6th Year                            16

2nd                               12                                7th                                17

3rd                                13                                8th                               18

4th                                14                                9th                               19

5th                                15                              10th                               20

After 10 years, one additional vacation day will be earned after each two fiscal years of employment, to a maximum of 25 days per year  (i.e. during an employee’s 13th fiscal year, the employee will earn one additional day for a total of 21 days.) One Vacation Benefit Day represents 8 Hours.

A written request for the use of vacation time shall be submitted to the Business Manager in a reasonable time before the anticipated vacation.  The Business Manager may approve or deny use of vacation time based on workload and the availability of other staff to cover the employee’s duties.

The maximum amount of carry-over vacation days from one employment year to the next (July 1 through June 30) will be one hundred sixty (160) hours.

In the event an employee leaves employment, in good standing, and wishes to be compensated for his/her qualifying unclaimed vacation days, the maximum hours  eligible for said claim will be one hundred sixty (160) hours.

[See Policy 414 VEBA, Topic X Section 5.]

(K) SICK DAYS: Employees are eligible for one day (8) hours of sick leave for each month of employment.  Sick leave will be pro-rated at the set formula in Section B for part time employees who qualify for benefits. New employees may borrow against their first year of accumulated sick leave.  Sick leave can accumulate to one hundred and twenty days (960) hours.  The number of sick days each employee has accumulated is listed on the employee paycheck.  Sick leave can be used for personal illness or the illness of an immediate family member.  An immediate family member is the spouse or children of the employee, or member of immediate household.  Consistent with Minnesota Statute 181.940, subd. 4, “child” means an individual under 18 years of age or an individual under age 20 who is still attending secondary school.  Certification of illness signed by the employee’s physician may be required by NWSC.  An employee returning after an extended illness may be required to undergo a physical and/or psychiatric examination.  The Executive Director may require such an examination after consultation with the employee’s supervisor.

EMERGENCY SICK LEAVE REQUEST: An employee who has exhausted all sick, personal and vacation leave and is in need of additional sick days due to a medical emergency, may request additional sick leave from other employees.  The confidential request should be made to the Executive Director and the NWSC Board will make the final approval of the granting of days.

The additional sick leave would be made available from the voluntary and confidential transfers of sick leave from other employees who are willing to donate days.  The voluntary transfer of sick leave will be deducted from the total days accumulated by the donor employee.  The maximum number of days that can be transferred by a donor employee is 10 days for any specific request and in any given fiscal year.  Donated days will be prorated in accordance with salary differences between the donor and the recipient.  If approval is given by the NWSC board and the number of days requested are available from other employees, the request will be granted up to the days in the request or the days accumulated, whichever is lesser.

Once the additional sick leave has been granted and the medical emergency has ended or the granted days have been used, this request will be considered complete.  If there are unused donated days remaining, the days will be given back to the donors as proportionally as possible.  No days will be carried over for future requests.

(L) FUNERAL / BEREAVEMENT LEAVE: Employees eligible for sick leave may utilize up to five days (40) hours per occurrence as bereavement leave in the event of a death in the immediate family and such leave shall be deducted from the annual allotment of sick leave. Immediate family for this purpose is defined as spouse, child, grandchildren, grandparent, brother/sister, parent, in-laws and others living in the same household.

(M) LEAVE OF ABSENCE: An employee may be granted, at the board’s discretion, a leave of absence, with/without pay or other benefits, for a period of up to one year at the discretion of the Governing Board.  A written request should be submitted to the Director Ninety (90) days before the proposed date of leave.

(N) PERSONAL DAYS: Up to two days, (16) hours, per year may be granted for personal leave of qualifying employees.   This leave cannot accumulate from year to year.   Personal leave is time for attending to matters that cannot be taken care of before or after an employee’s normal working hours.  Personal leave may be used in 1-hour time units.  Employees under 1924 hours will be pro-rated.

(O) JURY DUTY: Each citizen has the responsibility to serve as a juror when called.  Any employee summoned for jury duty will be excused from work.  When first notified of being selected as a possible juror, employee must notify supervisor of the notice so that they will know the time period during which he/she may be called to serve.  When called for a particular jury, employee must notify the supervisor immediately so arrangements can be made and work will be interrupted as minimally as possible.  Employees are expected to return to work after being excused from jury duty for the day.  Any regular employee who receives payment for services should present the check to the payroll department.  Employees will receive regular paychecks while serving jury duty.

(P) MILITARY LEAVE: Any regular employee actively working who is required to attend training or report for active duty will be granted unpaid military leave.

(Q) RETIREMENT FUNDS: Teachers shall supply all certificates, such as TRA, Social Security, etc., required for payroll, and deductions will be made according to law.

All other employees are subject to Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) requirements.  Deductions will be made from payroll checks each pay period.

(R) COLLEGE CREDIT: With pre-approval by the Executive Director, Program Coordinators may get 50% of college tuition and fees reimbursed with a cap of $500 per year if schooling pertains to their job, and the employee receives a grade of B or higher or a passing grade in a pass/fail class.  Classes are to be taken on non-work days or evenings (personal/vacation days may be used). Unpaid work hour college leave requests require NWSC Board consideration

(S) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION: Any employee who is injured in the line of duty shall receive such compensation and expenses as are prescribed by the workers’ compensation law of the State of Minnesota. All injuries sustained, no matter how trivial they appear to be, must be reported to the Site Supervisor.  If the supervisor is unavailable, the Director is to be contacted within twenty four hours of the time of the accident. The Executive Director’s office will report the accident to the insurance company as per law.

(T) NWSC GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE:

1. Current Employees: An employee is eligible to participate in NWSC’s HD/VEBA  Group Health Insurance plan if the employee:
   • meets the terms specified by the insurance carrier; and
   • is regularly scheduled to work at least 30 hours per week.
   • Insurance will start on first day of employment.
2. Past Employees; may continue to participate in NWSC’s HD/VEBA Group Health Insurance under conditions of state and federal laws or contract conditions.
3. Contributions; See the High Deductible/VEBA Group Plan topic.

(U) NWSC GROUP LIFE INSURANCE: The NWSC will provide and pay the premium for a group term life insurance policy, for qualifying employees, in the amount of up to $50,000.  The coverage is subject to conditions as defined by the group insurance policy.

(V) NWSC LONG TERM DISABILITY INSURANCE: The employee will pay the full     cost of the premiums for the NWSC’s LTD insurance for the amount of the proposed      policy.  This insurance will have a sixty (60) calendar day qualification period.

(W) CONTRACT DISCLAIMER: This policy contains information pertaining to your employment with NWSC. Please note that the information contained in this policy may be changed by NWSC from time to time.  Nothing in this policy established any form of contract between you and NWSC, nor does anything in this policy alter your at-will employment relationship with NWSC in the same sense that you can resign your employment with NWSC at any time for any reason or no reason at all, so can NWSC terminate your employment at any time for any reason or no reason at all, consistent with the concept of at-will employment.  Please note, however, that this statement of at-will employment does not apply to employees covered by the Continuing Contract Law (Minn. Stat, 122A.40) or qualified veterans of the armed services.

(X) RETIREE VEBA PLAN:  Governing Board References 6/4/02, 8/6/02, 5/6/03, 7/6/04,            and or this Policy as follows;

1. Introduction: In order to help eligible employees pay for medical expenses in retirement. The Northwest Service Cooperative, “Employer”, has adopted the Postretirement Health Care Savings Arrangement.  This arrangement provides for individual medical reimbursement accounts funded with employer contributions.  If eligible for this benefit, the employee, the spouse of the employee, and the dependents of the qualifying employee may draw on this account after retirement/separation of employment for tax-free reimbursement of qualifying medical expenses.  Financial contribution, by the employer, into employee accounts, will be held in trust. The Postretirement Health Care Savings Arrangement is made available through the Minnesota Service Cooperatives VEBA Plan and Trust (the “VEBA”).  It is intended that     this arrangement constitutes a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association under Section 501(c) (9) of the Internal Revenue Code.  A detailed description of this arrangement is provided in the VEBA Plan Summary.

2. Eligibility: Subject to the exclusions below, the following groups of employees are         eligible to receive employer contributions to their individual accounts:

1. Eligible Employees:

Qualifying Employees in the classifications described below:

1)  Administrative, Clerical, Finance, and Program Support Staff

2)  Teachers, Program Coordinators, and Managers

3)  Executive Director

2. Excludable Employees:

Excluded Employees in the classifications described below:

1)   Employees who have not completed two (2) years of service prior to the plan year in which the employee retires/terminates employment or otherwise become eligible for employer postretirement  contributions.

2)  Part-time Employees: Employees whose customary weekly employment is for less than thirty (30) hours.

Seasonal Employees: Employees whose customary annual employment is less than nine (9) months.

Employees eligible to participate are automatically enrolled in the Postretirement Health Care Savings Arrangement or the sooner of the qualifying Employees retirement/qualifying date or the date that the Employer makes a contribution to  the individual account.

3. Retirement: Subject to the age and service requirements for eligibility, if any, the  Employees “retirement date” shall be the earlier of the following:

1.      The Employee termination of employment via resignation or other;
2.      “Retirement” as that term may be defined under other policies or Employee benefit plans of Employer;
3.      The date you become totally disabled; or
4.      The date the Employee commences a medical leave of absence as determined by other policies or Employee benefit plans of the Employer.

4. Source of Funding: The Postretirement Health Care Savings Arrangement is funded entirely with employer contributions.             

5. Employer Contributions: For Employee eligible to participate in the Postretirement Health Care Arrangement, the Employer will make contributions to the VEBA accounts as follows;

1. Unused Paid Vacation; within sixty (60) days of the effective date of retirement, the Employer shall contribute one hundred percent (100 %) of the amount of qualifying Employee unused paid vacation, if any.  Under this arrangement, qualifying Employees will not be eligible to receive this amount in the form of taxable cash compensation.
2. Severance Pay; within sixty (60) days of the effective date of retirement, the Employer shall contribute one hundred percent (100%) of the amount of any qualifying Employee severance pay, if any. Under this arrangement, qualifying Employees will not be eligible to receive this amount in the form of taxable cash compensation.

6. Administrative Fee: Administrative fees allocable to the individual accounts of            former employees, including retirees, shall be paid from individual accounts.      Administrative fees shall be paid from individual accounts of all participants in the event      the VEBA Plan is terminated.

7.   Impact on Other Arrangements:  This policy supersedes and revokes all previous policies on this matter, including, to the extent applicable, other written or oral statements of policy and procedure that address the payment of accumulated vacation pay or other welfare benefits available per classification.  The policies and procedures outlined herein are not intended to create any contractual rights or duties, and will be applied at Employer’s discretion.  Although contributions made to Employee accounts in the Postretirement Health Care Savings Arrangement are irrevocable, the Employer may amend or terminate its contribution policy at any time.  Also, “at-will” employment status of NWSC Employees is not altered by any statement in this policy.

8. Retirees continuing under any NWSC contract benefit arrangements: Any   employee receiving a post retirement insurance benefit contribution will be deemed an         active participant not a retiree for the purposes of the NWSC HD/VEBA group insurance and health care savings account contributions.

V. ACTIVE VEBA PLAN: Governing Board References 6/4/02, 8/6/02, 5/6/03, 6/3/03, 5/4/04, 7/6/04, and or this Policy as follows;

1.   Introduction: Northwest Service Cooperative (“Employer”) has adopted the Health           Reimbursement Arrangement for Active Employees.  Each year, the Employer will    contribute a fixed amount to an account established in the Employee’s name. The Employer will also make available a major medical health plan with relatively higher deductibles, co-pays and/or co-insurance than was offered prior to FY-03. These benefits are intended to complement one another.  Used appropriately, they will provide Employees the opportunity to maximize the value of long-term health coverage.

The Health Reimbursement Arrangement for Active Employees is made available through the Minnesota Service Cooperatives VEBA Plan and Trust (the “VEBA”).  It is intended that this arrangement constitute a Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association under Section 501(c)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code.  A detailed description of this arrangement is provided in the VEBA Plan Summary.

2. Eligibility: Subject to the exclusions below, the following groups of employees are eligible to receive employer contributions to their individual accounts:                                                  

a. Eligible Employees:

Employees in the classifications described below;

1)  Administrative, Clerical, Finance, and Program Support Staff

2)  Teachers, Program Coordinators, and Managers

3)  Executive Director

b. Excludable Employees:

Employees in the classifications described below;

1)  Part-time Employees: Employees whose customary weekly  employment is for less than thirty (30) hours.

2)  Seasonal Employees: Employees whose customary annual employment  is less than nine (9) months.

3. Source of Funding: The Health Reimbursement Arrangement for Active Employees is funded entirely with Employer contributions.

4. Employer Contributions: For qualifying Employees who are eligible to participate,            the Employer will make a monthly contribution to individual VEBA accounts under the           Health Reimbursement Arrangement for Active Employees in accordance with the       following schedule:

The NWSC will contribute $200.00 per month into each eligible

Employees’ VEBA account that elects single or family coverage

under the NWSC HD/VEBA Group Health plan described herein.

5. Group Health Plan and Contributions: The Employer shall also make available the group health plan described as Blue Cross High Deductible Plan # 830 as follows:

With respect to qualifying Employees, the Employer/NWSC shall contribute the cost, not to exceed the following limitations, towards the monthly premium cost for the NWSC    high deductible group health single or family coverage;

The premium cost above $725 per month, if any, will be paid at a

rate of 25% of any premium above $725, being the responsibility of

the Employee, towards the single or family premium NWSC HD Group

Plan #830, with the remaining premium amount being paid by the Employer.

6. Administrative Fee: Administrative fees allocable to individual accounts of active employees shall be paid by the Employer.  Administrative fees allocable to the individual accounts of former employees, including retirees, shall be paid from individual accounts.  Administrative fees shall be paid from individual accounts of all participants in the event the VEBA Plan is terminated.

7.   Impact on Other Arrangements: This policy supersedes and revokes all previous policies on this matter, including, to the extent applicable, other written or oral statements of policy and procedure that address other welfare benefits available per classification.  The policies and procedures outlined herein are not intended to create any contractual rights or duties, and will be applied at Employer’s discretion.  Although contributions made to Employee accounts in the Health Reimbursement Arrangement for Active Employees are irrevocable, the Employer may amend or terminate its contributions policy at any time. Also, any “at-will” employment status of NWSC Employees is not altered by any statement in this policy.

Z. HIGH DEDUCTIBLE HEALTH PLAN/HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT            

1.  Introduction:  Effective July 1, 2008, the Northwest Service Coop shall make         available a high deductible major medical group health plan that qualifies as a high     deductible health plan under Section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code.  The HDHP is    described in summary in Attachment 1.

The HDHP shall be available to all qualified employees and eligible retirees who elect to participate in said plan.  With respect to qualifying employees and eligible retirees, Employer shall contribute an amount as determined in Article Y,5 of this policy.

Deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums under the HDHP are indexed for inflation, and will increase on annual basis under a predetermined formula.

2. Health Savings Accounts: Employer shall designate a custodian to receive contributions to health savings accounts (“HSA’s), as defined in Section 223 of the Code.  Qualified employees who enroll in the HDHP, and who are otherwise eligible to contribute to an HSA, may contribute and receive employer contributions to an HSA through the Employer’s cafeteria plan under Section 125 of the Code.   The Employer is only required to forward contributions to the HSA custodian designated in Attachment 2.

The decision to establish an HSA with the custodian selected by Employer is completely voluntary.  Employer may not: (i) limit the ability of employees to move funds to another HSA beyond restrictions imposed by the Code; (ii) impose conditions on utilization of HSA funds beyond those permitted under the Code; (iii) make or influence the investment decisions with respect to funds contributed to an HSA; (iv) represent that the HSA is part of an employee welfare benefit plan established or maintained by the employer; or (v) receive any payment or compensation in connection with the HSA.

To facilitate the timely establishment of HSAs and ensure that medical expenses incurred after the Effective Date are eligible for reimbursement, Employer may establish and contribute to HSAs as of the Effective Date for all qualifying bargaining members  who enroll in the HDHP and who indicate their intent to participate in the HSA arrangement.  No funds shall be distributed from an HSA, however, until employees complete, sign, and return an enrollment application and HSA custodial agreement, and such agreement is approved by the HSA custodian.

The Employer is not responsible for determining any individual’s eligibility or continued eligibility to contribute to an HSA.

3. Contributions:

Subd. 1.  Employer Contributions:  Employer will make contributions to the HSAs of eligible, qualifying bargaining unit members [and eligible retirees] in accordance with the following schedule:

$200.00 per month for each qualified employee who elects single or family coverage under the HDHP; and the current premium of the VEBA plan minus the current premium of the High deductible Plan shall also be contributed monthly.

The Employer is entitled to rely on any statement by the qualifying bargaining unit members [or eligible retiree] that they are eligible for an HSA.  However, the Employer shall not make or forward any contribution to an HSA if the Employer has actual knowledge that that the qualifying bargaining unit members [or eligible retiree] is not eligible to contribute to an HSA.

The contribution will be made on a monthly basis over the HDHP plan year.

All contributions to an individual’s HSA shall cease on the date he or she becomes ineligible to receive contributions to an HSA for any reason.

Payment of Administrative Fee:  Administrative fees allocable to individual HSAs of active employees who are participants in the HDHP shall be paid from the HSA.  Administrative fees allocable to individual HSAs of active employees who have accrued a balance in their HSAs but are not longer eligible to contribute to the HSA shall be paid:  from the HSA.  Administrative fees allocable to the individual HSAs of former employees shall be paid from the HSA.  Administrative fees allocable to HSAs of retirees shall be paid from the HSA.   If Employer Contributions cease, administrative fees shall be paid from the HSA.

4. Coordination with other Coverage:

Subd. 1.  General Rule:  No contributions will be made to HSAs of employees who have health coverage other than coverage under a HDHP (“Disqualifying Coverage”).  For this purpose, Disqualifying Coverage includes coverage under (1) a general health flexible spending arrangement (a “health FSA”) that is part of a cafeteria plan under Section 125 of the Code and that is made available through the Employer or through the employer of a spouse or dependent, (2) coverage under a group health plan that is not an HDHP, including coverage made available through the Employer or through the employer of a spouse or dependent, (3) coverage under a health reimbursement arrangement (an “HRA”), including coverage through the Minnesota Service Cooperative VEBA Plan (the “VEBA”), whether offered through the Employer or through the employer of a spouse or dependent, and coverage under Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, CHAMPUS, or any other health plan that is not a HDHP.  No contributions will be made to HSAs of individuals who can be claimed as a dependent on a tax return (other than as a spouse).

Subd. 2.  Coordination with [HRA/VEBA]. If a qualifying bargaining member participates in [an HRA/the VEBA], and if he or she wishes to enroll in the HDHP and make or receive contributions to an HSA, then prior to the beginning of the [HRA/VEBA] plan year, the individual shall elect a coverage option under the [HRA/VEBA] that limits payment or reimbursement from the [HRA/VEBA] to vision care, dental care, preventive care (as defined in Code section 223(c)) or eligible health expenses incurred after he or she satisfies the applicable minimum deductible for self-only or family coverage described in Code Section 223(c), as adjusted for changes in cost-of-living under Code Section 223(g) (“Limited Purpose Coverage”).

Subd. 3.  Coordination with Health FSA. If a qualifying bargaining member participates in a health FSA of the Employer, and if he or she wishes to enroll in the HDHP and make or receive contributions to an HSA, then prior to the beginning of the health FSA plan year, the individual shall decline coverage under the health FSA for the plan year, or shall elect Limited Purpose Coverage under the health FSA for that year.

If a qualifying bargaining member is covered by a general purpose health FSA with a grace period that extends beyond the last day of the health FSA plan year, and the individual has a positive balance in his or her health FSA on the last day of the health FSA plan year, he or she is not eligible to contribute or receive contributions to an HSA until the first month following expiration of the grace period.

Subd. 4.  Ordering Rule.  If a qualifying bargaining member is enrolled in Limited Purpose Coverage under a health FSA, [and if the Employer so provides in the plan document of [an HRA/the VEBA], medical expenses that are eligible for reimbursement under the Limited Purpose Coverage option of the health FSA shall be paid from the health FSA first, before any amount is payable from the [HRA/VEBA] [or] HSA, until the individual’s health FSA account is exhausted.

If a qualifying bargaining member is enrolled in Limited Purpose Coverage under [an HRA/the VEBA], and has exhausted any coverage in his or her health FSA, medical expenses that are eligible for reimbursement from [the HRA/the VEBA] shall be paid from [the HRA/the VEBA] (subject to Limited Purpose Coverage) until the individual’s account in [the HRA/the VEBA] is exhausted; medical expenses that are not eligible for reimbursement from [the HRA/the VEBA], including medical expenses that remain after [the HRA/the VEBA] has been exhausted, shall be reimbursed from the HSA.]

If a qualifying bargaining member [or eligible retiree] is enrolled in Limited Purpose Coverage under [an HRA/the VEBA], and has exhausted any coverage in his or her health FSA, the employee may submit for reimbursement of medical expenses from [the HRA/the VEBA] (subject to Limited Purpose Coverage) or from the HSA.]

(AA) MEDICARE ELIGIBLE: If the spouse of a current employee with family     coverage reaches the age of 65 the current employee must select single coverage and the            Northwest Service Coop will pay for 80% of the basic Medicare coverage,      excluding        Medicare part D, for the spouse, as long as the current employee is     eligible for health insurance.

(BB) EMPLOYEES: See Policy Manual Series 500 for topics such as Weapons on NWSC    property, etc.

Minn. Stat.. Ch 363 (Minnesota Human Rights Act)

29 U.S.C. – 621 et. Seq. (Age Discrimination in Employment Act)

29 U.S.C. – 2615 (Family and Medical Leave Act)

38 U.S,C. – 4301 et. seq. (Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act)

38 U.S.C. – 4211 et. seq.  (Vietnam Reemployment Rights Act)

42 U.S.C. – 2000e et. seq. (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act)

42 U.S.C. – 12101 et. seq. (Americans with Disabilities Act)