September 02, 2010

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In 2007, Benton County had 81,428 people; its population grew by 1091 from 2006 to 2007.

Benton County Human Resources – Employment Benefits

Benton County recognizes the importance of providing its employees with benefit packages that are both thorough and flexible. Benton County prides itself on the range of benefits options it provides to employees. List below are the benefit options offered to Benton County employees.

Employment Benefits

Benton County's benefit plan year: August 1, 2010- July 31, 2011

Benefit Open Enrollment Period: This is the period when benefited employees can make changes (or terminations) to their benefits. Changes made during the benefit open enrollment period will go into effect at the state of the following benefit plan year, August 1.

Benefit Eligibility: New employees hired into a benefit eligible position (regular full-time, regular part-time, seasonal full-time, seasonal part-time, limited duration full-time, limited duration part-time) and their dependents are eligible for benefit coverage starting on the first calendar day of the month following hire (unless the employee is actually hired on the first calendar day of the month, in which case he or she is eligible for immediate coverage).

Part-time employees whose FTE is .5 or greater shall have the County's share of Health and Welfare costs prorated in direct proportion to their position's established FTE. Employees with less than .5 FTE are not eligible for benefit coverage.

Benefits available to County employees from their date of hire include: medical, dental, basic term life, accidental death and dismemberment (AD & D), long-term Disability (LTD), and the employee assistance program (EAP).

*These summaries are not a benefit contract. Benefit contracts and other legal documents govern the administration of the plans summarized on the Benton County Employee Benefit pages. The respective plan documents, applicable labor agreements, insured plan contracts, and state and federal law govern the actual benefits. If your job class and/or position status changes during the benefit plan year, eligibility for you and your eligible dependents may change or end.

Voluntary benefits available to some employee upon completion of six months of service include: supplemental life insurance, deferred compensation, flexible spending account, and supplemental insurance (AFLAC).

Benefit Enrollment for New Hires

Initial Enrollment Period: The initial enrollment period is the 31-day period beginning on the date a person is first eligible for enrollment in the County's medical and dental plans. Everyone who becomes eligible for coverage has an initial enrollment period.

Late Enrollment: An otherwise eligible employee or dependent that does not enroll during the initial enrollment period is a "late enrollee:. A late enrollee may enroll in medical and dental coverage by submitting an enrollment application during an open enrollment period just prior to the start of the next benefit plan year. When an employee enrolls during the open enrollment period, enrollment becomes effective on the policy's anniversary date.

Making Changes to Benefits

Unless an employee experiences a qualifying event, employees cannot make changes (or terminations) to the benefits elected until the next open enrollment period. A qualifying event includes: marriage, divorce, legal separation, domestic partnership, employment status change, birth or adoption of a child, change in child's dependent status, death of a spouse, child or other dependent, commencement or termination of adoption proceedings, change in spouse's benefits or employment status.

If you experience a qualifying event, you have 31 days from the date of the qualifying event to make changes to your benefits. If you miss the 31 day period, you'll need to wait until the next open enrollment period to make changes to your benefits. Changes made during the open enrollment period will be effective the start of the new benefit plan year.

Adding Dependents

Employees can add dependents to their coverage at hire, during the annual benefit open enrollment period or if they experience a qualifying event (above).

Domestic Partnership

If you would like to add a domestic partner to your coverage, fill-out and return the Affidavit of Domestic Partnership (PDF) to Human Resources with the appropriate benefit enrollment forms. Please keep in mind, in addition to your monthly premium rates increasing, Federal and Sate tax law mandates that employees pay taxes on all domestic partner benefits. If you are eligible to register your domestic partnership with the Benton County Clerk in the form of a "Declaration of Domestic Partnership", state taxes will not apply.

If you are terminating a domestic partnership, please fill-out and return the Statement of Termination of Domestic Partnership (PDF) to Human Resources with the appropriate benefit enrollment forms. Please note, if you submitted a Affidavit of Domestic Partnership, you can terminate the domestic partnership with a Statement of Termination of Domestic Partnership (above). This does not apply if you registered a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with your county clerks office. For information on terminating a Declaration of Domestic Partnership, contact your county clerks office.

Waiver of Coverage (insurance refusal)

If you wish to waive medical and/or dental insurance, complete the County Insurance Refusal Form and turn the form in with your other benefit selection forms. Because the County's medical plan is an all inclusive group plan, you can only waive medical coverage if you're covered under another group plan (i.e., covered by a spouse or domestic partners employer group plan). Please remember to attach a copy of your other group medical plan ID card to the County Insurance Refusal Form. If waiving medical coverage, you'll also need to complete the PacificSource Waiver of Coverage Form.

Benefit Rates

2010-11

COBRA

Early Retiree

Benefit Retirement/Separation Checklist

The Pre-Retirement and Separation checklist page contains important information for employees getting ready to retire from the County or employees separating from the County