Insurance
What are the different health plan options to elect from?
Standard Plan, Savings Plan and Tricare Supplement Plan.
What are the two mandatory retirement options offered by PEBA?
(*Bus Drivers can opt out)
State Optional Retirement Plan and SC Retirement System Pension Plan.
(*There are other voluntary retirement plans that you may choose to elect, such as a 401K, 457 or 403b.)
If you have funds on file with the retirement system, you must continue to contribute.
If you are absent due to illness, should you enter your leave under your personal leave account to save your sick leave?
No. Leave should be entered true to cause.
You must enter sick leave under sick.
What products does Ward Services offer to current employees?
Ward Services offers voluntary supplemental products.
The products offered are Trustmark Short term disability, Trustmark Universal/Whole life and a Allstate Cancer plan.
When will insurance coverage be effective after you are hired?
Insurance coverage is effective the first of the month after you are hired.
If you begin on the first of the month, then your effective date for coverage is that day.
For example: If you are a 190 day employee, your hire date is 8/8/22 so your coverage will begin on 9/1.
If you are a 200 day employee, your hire date is 8/1 so your insurance coverage will be on 8/1.
What are the two different dental coverage options?
Dental and Dental Plus.
**Dental Plus is a supplement to the basic Dental Plan. Dental can only be changed during odd years during open enrollment.**
What is the difference between the SCRS and SC ORP retirement plans?
SCRS - Defined Plan based on your years of service, average final compensation and Benefit multiplier.
ORP - Defined contribution plan in which your retirement is based on the balance of your account when you retire.
True or False. If you exhaust your sick leave days, Infinite Visions will pull the leave from the remaining days in your personal leave account to cover your absences.
True.
240 day employees leave will pull from vacation when sick and personal leave is exhausted.
True or False. You can elect a voluntary supplemental product through Ward Services any time during the year.
True.
To elect products, please contact Ward Services at (800) 673 - 6472.
What does PEBA Stand for?
Public Employee Benefit Authority.
True or False. If you elect health insurance coverage or optional life insurance, you can have access to MetLife Advantages to assist with your will preparation.
True.
When you elect to enroll in the State ORP Plan, you must select one of four vendors to invest in. What are the four vendors?
AIG, Empower (formerly Mass Mutual), TIAA and Voya
What steps do you take if there is a medical leave situation for yourself or a family member?
Reach out to the benefits department by email or phone call to advise the dates you need to be absent.
Benefits will send a request for medical leave form that you and your principal/supervisor will sign to acknowledge the date that you have shared with the school that you need to be absent. This form will be returned to Benefits.
Benefits will also be requesting a medical back up statement and a release to return to work when you are cleared. If you are in a long term medical situation the US Labor form will need to be completed. Our Benefits team will review any disability plans you may have.
True or False. The Voluntary Supplemental products offered by Ward Services are the same as the products offered by PEBA.
False.
Ward services voluntary supplemental products offered are different than PEBA's products, but Ward Services products enhance the total state benefits offered.
For example, PEBA offers long term disability, but does not offer short term disability. However, you can elect the short term disability with Ward Services which may be beneficial if you are in the family planning stages, for example.
How many vacation days do 240 day employees receive each year?
10 vacation days.
(*Please note you can not carry anymore than 20 days in your vacation account. If you do not use your days granted from the previous year before 7/1, then you will lose them when you are granted additional days.)
For example if you have 11 days in at the end of the school year, then you would need to use 1 day before 7/1 when the next 10 days are front loaded to your account. Please remember you must accrue these days before you use them.
True or False. If you are a transfer from another state agency or school district, you can elect new elections before open enrollment.
False. You must wait until a qualifying event or during open enrollment.
How many days from your hire date do you have to make your mandatory retirement election before you are defaulted into the SCRS plan?
30 days.
(*Please note the sooner you make this election, the better as payroll deductions are taken 2 weeks in advance.)
Is the sick bank available for all current employees to use?
Please understand it is your responsibility to review the leave board policies.
You must contribute a day to the sick bank to be eligible to request to use the sick bank. It can only be used in the case of a catastrophic event, in which you have been out for 20 consecutive days, exhausting all other leave.
True or False. If you have any Colonial Life voluntary supplemental products, then we can not assist you with setting up these deductions.
False.
If you are a transfer from another state agency and already have Colonial short term, cancer or life deductions, please advise as we may be able to assist.
Can you elect to change any PEBA insurance coverage annually during open enrollment?
Dental coverage can only be updated every other year during odd years.
So transfers you will have to keep your current dental coverage until January 2024 and new hires will keep their elections until January 2024.
Changes can be made during open enrollment in October 2023 and will be effective January 1, 2024.
What is a qualifying event that allows you, as an eligible employee, to enroll in or drop coverage for yourself or eligible family members outside of an open enrollment period?
You can make changes using MyBenefits if you have a special eligibility situation, such as adding a newborn, marriage, divorce or adoption.
*MyBenefits will display the documentation required for each change. The required documents can be uploaded through MyBenefits within 31 days of the event.
To make a change through our Benefits Department you will need to contact Trent Shealy/Debbie Rennhack.
If you do not make this change within 31 days of the qualifying event, then you will have to wait until open enrollment to make any changes.
What percent is deducted from your paycheck into your mandatory retirement plan? Which of these plans does the District match 5%?
9 % is deducted and District Five matches 5% to ORP.
If your position requires a substitute, which system would you enter in your absence(s) and make a request for a substitute?
It will be entered into Frontline.
(*You will receive your Frontline login and pin number onsite from your leave clerk. If you do not require a substitute, you will enter your leave directly into Employee Access/Portal.)
What are the products offered by PEBA?
Optional Life, Dependent Life-Spouse, Dependent Life-Child and Supplemental Long Term Disability.
What is one of the best places to find more information on PEBA Insurance and Retirement?
PEBA's Website: https://www.peba.sc.gov/ .
Navigating your Benefits Link (https://www.peba.sc.gov/nyb) on the PEBA website is a great starting point.
Please register and create an account with PEBA Insurance's MyBenefits portal and PEBA Retirement's MemberAccess portal.