Staff Benefits

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the full benefit package, including medical, vision, dental, life insurance, and retirement, the staff member must work a minimum of 24 hours per week. These benefits are not available to temporary employees hired to work on an “as needed” basis for a limited duration or for a specific project.

All Seattle Academy leaves comply with local, state, and federal leave laws. In the event of any inconsistency between this Employee Handbook and the requirements of local, state, or federal statutes, the law will govern. The school pays for Social Security and Medicare, State Unemployment insurance, Worker's Compensation insurance, and sick leave according to all relevant federal, state, and local laws. Employees with questions about benefits or leaves should contact Human Resources.

Medical - The school pays 100% of the medical premium for all employees who work at least 60% part-time. Coverage begins on the first day of the month following or coincident with the date of hire and ends at the end of the month of termination of employment. Coverage for eligible dependents is available through payroll deduction.

Dental - The school pays 100% of the dental premium for all employees who work at least 60% part time. Coverage begins on the first day of the month following or coincident with the date of hire and ends at the end of the month of termination of employment. Coverage for eligible dependents is available through payroll deduction.

COBRA - COBRA stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. It gives employees the right to pay premiums for and keep the group health insurance that they would otherwise lose after they reduce their work hours or leave employment. Seattle Academy provides each eligible employee with a written description of their COBRA rights when the employee becomes eligible for coverage under the Seattle Academy health insurance plan. Under COBRA, the employee, or beneficiary, pays the full cost of coverage.

Retirement - The school contributes an amount equal to 8% of the employee's salary to a self-directed 403(b) retirement plan for eligible employees.
The plan also allows employee tax-deferred contributions through payroll deduction. All eligible employees may make voluntary tax-deferred contributions to the 403(b) Retirement Plan to the full extent allowed by IRS code. Employees who are not eligible include non-resident aliens, student employees, and employees who would limit their tax-deferred contributions to less than $200 per year.

Employees should read the Summary Plan Description, available from Human Resources and posted on the Faculty & Staff Portal, for eligibility requirements and complete plan information.

Life Insurance - The school pays 100% of the life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance premium for all employees who work at least 60% part-time. The life insurance benefit is term insurance of $50,000.

Coverage begins on the first of the month following or coincident with the date of hire and ends at the end of the month of termination of employment. The beneficiary of the plan is designated by the employee.

Long-Term Disability Insurance - Each employee who works at least 60% part-time pays for 100% of their own long-term disability insurance through payroll deduction. The long-term disability benefit is 60% of covered monthly earnings not to exceed the maximum monthly benefit of $6,000, following an elimination period of 90 days.

OPTIONAL BENEFITS

Flexible Benefits Plan - The school makes available to all eligible employees a flexible benefits plan under IRS Code Section 125. Arrangements to participate in the plan are made through Human Resources. The school uses an outside administrator to handle claims. Under this plan, an employee can elect to reduce their salary at the beginning of the plan year (September 1st) in order to cover costs associated with medical, dental or dependent care that are not paid through insurance. The advantage of participation in this plan is that eligible costs are paid using tax-free dollars.
Life Insurance - In addition to the school-sponsored life insurance policy described above, an employee may purchase through payroll deduction additional life insurance.

Long-term Care Insurance – Within the first thirty-one (31) days of employment, an employee may purchase group long term care insurance through payroll deduction. Please obtain a certificate booklet from Human Resources for complete information.

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF LEAVES

PERSONNEL CYCLE

Seattle Academy’s fiscal year and personnel cycle, for the purpose of accruing sick, personal, and vacation time, runs from July 1st to June 30th of the following year. This structure is necessary to facilitate administrative oversight of the academic year.

ACCRUAL OF SICK, PERSONAL and VACATION TIME

Administrative staff who are hired at some time other than July 1 will begin to accrue sick, personal, and vacation time immediately following employment.

HOLIDAYS

Paid holidays for administrative staff, both exempt and nonexempt, are listed below.

Holiday/Number of Paid Days
MLK Day/1
President’s Day/1
Memorial Day/1
Juneteenth/1
*Independence Day (4th of July)/1
Labor Day/1
Yom Kippur Observed only if on a M-F
Rosh Hashanah Observed only if on a M-F
Veterans Day Observed only if on a M-F
Thanksgiving Day & Day After Thanksgiving/2
*Christmas Eve & Christmas Day/2
*New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day 2

*If this holiday is on a weekend, the weekday prior or weekday after will be observed as the holiday. (Example: 4th of July is on Saturday. SAAS will close and observe the holiday on Friday. 4th of July is on Sunday. SAAS will close and observe the holiday on Monday.)
The total number of paid holidays will not be fewer than eleven in a year and will not generally exceed fourteen in a year. Teacher in-service days and winter, spring, and summer breaks are considered working days for administration and staff. Time taken off during these time frames will be deducted from the appropriate leave bank. The Head of School may award additional holidays at their discretion.

LEAVES

SICK LEAVE

Sick leave for full-time administrative staff is accrued at the rate of 8 hours per month worked. Sick leave may not be used until it has been accrued. Part-time staff accrue sick leave on a prorated basis. Unused sick leave cannot be converted to cash at any time during or at the end of employment nor can it be used to accumulate hours for overtime pay.

At the end of the school year, the unused sick leave will be transferred as described under the Short-Term Disability benefit.

SHORT-TERM DISABILITY

Employees may carry forward unused sick leave to the next and subsequent years and accumulate up to twenty (20) days. These accumulated sick days may be used to cover absences due to longer term illnesses, disabilities or eligible uses under City of Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance. Medical verification may be required, and unused or accumulated sick days may not be converted to cash at any time.

PERSONAL LEAVE

Personal leave for full-time administrative staff is accrued at the rate of 8 hours for every six months worked, to a maximum of 16 hours or 2 days per year. Part-time staff accrue personal leave on a prorated basis.

Personal leave is taken at the employee’s discretion with prior approval of the employee’s supervisor. Unused personal leave cannot be converted to cash at any time or accumulated to earn overtime pay, nor can it be accrued to use in future personnel cycles.

Unpaid personal leave may be granted on a case-by-case basis at the Head of School’s discretion.

PROFESSIONAL LEAVE

Professional leave is not allotted to administrative staff. Staff members are paid for attending training sessions and conferences, as approved by their supervisors, as part of their regular work time. To engage in professional endeavors not related to school business, the staff member would need to take personal or vacation time.

VACATION LEAVE (updated July 2020)

Vacation times must be coordinated and approved in advance by each employee’s supervisor. Any unused vacation time accrued in one fiscal year may be carried over into the next fiscal year. Any accrued vacation time remaining unused after being carried over for one year will be extinguished and unavailable for further carryover or use and will not be paid out. Employees may be paid for accrued but unused vacation not to exceed one fiscal year allotment upon termination of employment with the school.

All staff employees are strongly encouraged, or even required, depending on the department, to take vacation time during the summer or during breaks when school is not in session.

A guideline for vacation allotment is shown below. Part-time staff accrue vacation days on a prorated basis.

Length of Service Paid Vacation Days per Year
1 to 2 years 10
3 to 5 years 12
6 to 10 years 15
11 to 15 years 18
16 or more years 20

BEREAVEMENT

An employee who needs to take time off due to the death of an immediate family member should notify their supervisor immediately. Bereavement leave will be granted unless there are unusual operational or staffing needs. The Head of School may grant additional paid bereavement leave.

Paid bereavement leave is granted according to the following schedule:

Employees are allowed five (5) days of paid leave in the event of the death of a spouse, domestic partner, children (biological, adopted, foster or stepchild), parents, guardian, sibling, grandchildren, grandparents, or spouse’s parents.
Employees are allowed three (3) days of paid leave in the event of death of the employee’s aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or sibling-in-law.

JURY DUTY

Jury Duty leave will be granted to employees as required by law. Upon receipt of notification from the court of an obligation to serve on a jury, the employee must notify their supervisor and provide a copy of the jury summons. The school will pay regular full-time and part-time employees for time off for jury duty up to two (2) weeks’ pay. Temporary or seasonal employees will not be paid for time off to serve on a jury.

RIGHT TO DISCONTINUE BENEFITS

Seattle Academy reserves the right to discontinue any/all employee benefits at its discretion.