All permanent full-time and part-time employees working 17 1/2 hours or more per week. Temporary/substitute employees are not eligible for insurance benefits.
Eligible dependents include:
Children are eligible to be covered until the last day of the month they turn 26.
The age limit does not apply to the initial enrollment or maintaining enrollment of an unmarried child who cannot support themself due to mental illness or physical incapacity that began before the child reached the age limit. Coverage may be obtained for the child who is beyond the age limit at the initial enrollment if you provide proof of handicap and dependence at the time of enrollment.
Employees may make changes to their insurance during the open enrollment period, which occurs in the spring of each year. Changes become effective on July 1. In addition, employees who have a qualifying life event, at any time during the year, have 30 days from the date of the event to make changes to their insurance. Qualifying live events include, but are not limited to, marriage, divorce, birth, death, loss of coverage, or gaining new coverage. Contact the Benefits and Compensation Department for more information at [email protected].
Employees must submit benefits enrollment within 30 days of their date-of-hire. The effective date of health insurance for new employees is the first of the month following your first 30 days of employment. For example, if your hire date is August 12, you would be eligible for benefits to begin on October 1. New employees must complete their enrollment for health, dental, and vision coverage through the Employee Self Service system.
Anthem has an online directory of doctors. You may access this through the Anthem website. Use the link to "Find Care", for basic search use "PWSC". Kaiser Permanente physicians can be viewed at KP.org
Yes, PWCS offers two dental programs – the Delta Dental High option and the Delta Dental Standard option – and Vision Service Plan insurance that are completely separate policies. A comparison of the two plans is available on the PWCS Launchpad (requires PWCS login).
Delta Dental has an online directory of dentists. You may access this through the Delta Dental website.
Use the Find a Doctor on VSP.com.
The Flexible Spending Accounts are a plan that was established by PWCS under the regulations and guidelines of the IRS Regulation Code 125 and Code 129. The benefit of this program is to save money on a pretax basis to pay for eligible expenses, therefore reducing your taxable income. This program has two components: the Health Flexible Spending Account and the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account. The plan year for this program is from July 1 through June 30. P&A Group, a third-party provider, administers the program for Prince William County Public Schools.
All full-time employees.
Plan Contributions are not subject to state, federal, social security, or Medicare taxes.
Yes. All VRS Hybrid employees are automatically enrolled in short-term and long-term disability insurance with The Standard Insurance Company through their membership in the Hybrid plan. All other full-time employees, in VRS plan 1 or plan 2, may apply for our voluntary Long-Term Disability coverage through The Standard Insurance Company. Employees have 30 days from their initial full-time date of hire to submit the Standard Enrollment Application (PDF). Those that apply after this initial 30-day enrollment period must complete Standard's Medical History Form (PDF) and be approved for coverage. The Medical forms should be mailed directly to Standard at the address listed at the top of the form. The cost of this benefit is determined by the employee's age and annual salary. Click here for the LTD cost calculator.
Standard LTD provides up to 60% of a participant's pre-disability salary, after the participant has been continuously disabled for 180 days (6 months), and remains disabled. If an employee became disabled before age 62, the LTD benefits may continue during the disability until age 65. For more information about this plan, select "Insurance Plans," and then select "Standard LTD Insurance."
An employee may participate in a retirement plan with Lincoln Financial:
All employees hired after January 1, 2014, are enrolled in the VRS Hybrid Plan and are eligible to make voluntary contributions, up to 4% of salary, into a 457 account with the Hybrid Plan.
Employees may set aside pre-tax dollars into a 403(b) retirement account or after-tax dollars in a Roth 403(b) account. The county offers a match on the first 2% of contributions, up to $3,614 per calendar year, based on the following schedule. Once you have completed:
Matching contributions are always pre-tax.
Enrollments into the 403(b)or 457 plan with Lincoln Financial must be done either through www.LincolnFinancial.com, via telephone 1-800-234-3500, or by working with a Lincoln Financial Retirement Consultant.
You may make changes as often as necessary. There are no open enrollment periods for the 403(b) or 457 programs. You may enroll, stop, or modify your contribution percentages. You may also change your investment fund choices at any time. These changes must be made either through www.LincolnFinancial.com or via telephone at 1-800-234-3500.
Updates to your salary deferrals for contributions to our retirement plans need to be made either from the Lincoln Financial Group website or via telephone at 1-800-234-3500.
The Lincoln Representatives can help you determine your contribution percentage, asset allocation mix based on your risk tolerance and investment horizon, and assist with transfers and rollovers. They can also answer questions about your retirement plan benefits, distributions, hardships, and loan provisions.
The Lincoln Representatives are assigned by work location. View Lincoln Retirement Consultant contact information. We also have a Lincoln Retirement Consultant available at the Kelly Leadership Center on Wednesdays for appointments. Contact Jill Argueta in the Office of Benefits and Retirement Services at [email protected] to schedule an appointment.
Traditional 403(b) participants who are 59 1/2 or employees who have severed employment with PWCS are eligible for a distribution. Roth 403(b) participants must have severed employment to be eligible for a distribution.
PWCS 403(b) Plan allows pretax and/or after-tax (Roth) contributions. Participants in PWCS 403(b) Plans are eligible to receive employer matching contributions after one year of employment.
PWCS 457 Plan only allows pretax contributions with no matching contributions.
Participants in the Traditional pretax 403(b) Plan can apply for loans and/or hardship distributions, provided that they meet the necessary requirements, and they may also take in-service withdrawals after age 59 1/2. Roth 403(b) and 457 Plan participants may not take a loan, hardship distribution, or in-service withdrawals. However, 457 participants will not have a 10% penalty for taking distribution of the plan after separation of service, regardless of age.
You can elect a beneficiary by phone at 1-800-234-3500 or on the Lincoln Financial website.
Full-time employees receive two times their salary in life insurance, at no cost to them. In the event the employee passes away in an accident, this coverage doubles to four times their salary. PWCS pays 100% of the cost of this coverage.
Full-time employees who begin employment with PWCS on or after January 1, 2014, with no service credit in VRS, are members of the VRS Hybrid Plan. Additional information is available at www.varetire.org.
All full-time employees are fully vested after five years of service.
Employees may be eligible to purchase years of public service by completing the VRS Application for Purchase of Prior Service Credit (PDF).
If you did not take a withdrawal on the funds, no paperwork is necessary. VRS tracks the service credits based on your Social Security number. Additional service credit will be applied to what you already have with VRS. If, however, you cashed out of your VRS retirement and are interested in purchasing the service credit back, you may do so by completing the VRS Application for Purchase of Prior Service Credit (PDF).
Tuition Reimbursement eligibility is based on your license type. You must enroll in a course at a college or university for university credits (not Continuing Education credits or recertification points). You must maintain employment with PWCS for at least 12 months from the date of your reimbursement, or funds will be retracted from you through payroll deduction. Reimbursement is not available for administrators or employees holding a five-year license who are not currently working in a classroom instructional position.
If you are currently working in a classroom instructional position and hold a five-year teaching license, you qualify for the PWCS Tuition Reimbursement Program for a maximum of $800 per fiscal year.
If you hold a provisional license in a core course subject (Regular K-6 education, English, Math, Reading, Language Arts, Science, Civics or Government, Economics, Art and Music or History and Geography), you qualify for the Every Student Succeeds Act Grant (ESSA), for a maximum of $400 per course for up to three courses, for a maximum of $1,200 per fiscal year.
If you hold a provisional license in a non-core course or special education subject, you qualify for the PWCS Tuition Reimbursement Program for a maximum of $800 per fiscal year.
If you are a Teacher Assistant or a classified employee enrolled in a state-approved teacher education program, you qualify for the PWCS Tuition Reimbursement Program for a maximum of $350 per fiscal year.
Please note that your course must be directly related to your current teaching position. Contact Jill Argueta in the Benefits and Compensation Department for more information at [email protected] or 703-791-8927.
Employees may transfer up to 60 days of sick leave from an accredited private, parochial, or public school. We will also accept sick leave transfers from Prince William County municipalities (local city and governmental agencies/police dept., etc.). Employees interested must complete the Transfer Sick Leave form (PDF).
Short-term disability and long-term disability:
There are several types of leave without pay, such as Family Medical Leave, Parental Leave, Military Leave, Medical Leave, Professional Leave, and Educational Leave. If an employee is anticipating a leave without pay situation, they are urged to contact the Leave Specialist in Human Resources for detailed information regarding pay, eligibility, length of time off, etc. Contact Benefits at [email protected] or 703-791-8568 for specific questions.
You can elect to either transfer sick leave to another school district, if applicable, or be paid out at a rate of 10% of your per diem for every day of earned unused sick leave. Any earned and unused annual leave is eligible to be paid out at your full per diem rate. You may elect to have your leave paid out in cash or rolled into a Lincoln Financial retirement account - 403(b) or 457. You must complete the request forms found in your Exit Packet (PDF) within 60 days. To roll into your retirement account, the forms must be received 30 days before your last check and must be signed by a Lincoln Financial retirement consultant.