December 22, 2014
This is a reminder that, effective Jan.1, 2015, the General Time Bank (GTB) will be replaced with Personal Time and Vacation Time. Also, the Extended Illness Bank (EIB) is being renamed Short Term Disability (STD) to better reflect the purpose of this benefit.
On January 1:
- Your unused GTB hours at the end of the year will be transferred to Vacation Time.
- Your Personal Time will start at zero hours.
- You will begin accruing Personal Time and Vacation Time the first pay period in January.
If the transfer of GTB hours puts you over the maximum Vacation Time allowance, you will be paid for all hours over the maximum at your base rate of pay. In addition, you will not be permitted to accrue Vacation Time until your balance falls below the maximum allowance.
In order to lower your GTB balance and avoid losing accrued Vacation Time, you may sell up to 80 hours of Vacation Time on the first pay period in January. In order to comply with IRS regulations related to the sale of vacation hours, you must complete a Vacation Sell Back form and send it to payroll in the year prior to the distribution date (no later than Dec.30).
Note: The sell back form can be found on the main/home page of HRCentral under Forms > Company Forms > Vacation Sell Back.
Your Personal Time will start at zero hours and you will begin accruing hours the first pay period in January 2015. The amount of hours you accrue each pay period is based on your paid hours. You will always use your accrued Personal Time before you use your Vacation Time, if hours have accrued in your personal time bank.
- Personal Time can be used to schedule any approved absence events, such as vacation, overstaffed days off, to care for a sick child or the first 16 hours of your own illness.
- Upon separation from the organization, accrued Personal Time will not be paid out.
- You are required to follow the current approved policies to schedule time off for Personal Time.
Note: Time from your GTB/vacation bank will not be transferred to your Personal Time bank. Any GTB/vacation hours in excess of the new maximums will be paid out the first pay period in January 2015.
Aslo, a reminder that the Extended Illness Bank (EIB) is being renamed Short Term Disability (STD) to better reflect the purpose of this benefit. Other than changing the name, the administration of STD will work the same as EIB. Under most circumstances, team members who need time off for their own illness will be paid for the first 16 hours from Personal Time and/or Vacation Time; then STD hours will be used to cover additional time off after the first 16 hours, if needed.
STD will freeze temporarily when you change to an Optional Status.
Earlier in the year the policy changes for EIB (now STD) were announced. Beginning June 1, 2014, team members who move from a full-time or part-time position to an optional position will have their EIB hours frozen for a period of 6 months. This means you will retain your EIB hours for 6 months, but may not use them. If you continue in an optional position for more than 6 months your EIB time will be forfeited. If you move to a part-time or full-time status position before the 6 month time period is reached, your EIB hours will be reinstated (or unfrozen). Employees who moved to an optional position prior to June 1, 2014 and currently have frozen EIB hours will also forfeit their frozen EIB hours if they remained in an optional position after Nov. 30, 2014.
If you have questions, contact the HR Benefits Center at 513 569 5950.
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