2022 - 2023 Benefits Guide

LEAVE

Personal Leave

Full-time employees accrue personal leave monthly. Accruals are not earned for the first month of employment unless the employees start date falls on the 1st. Up to 320 hours of unused personal leave may be carried over from one year to the next. New hires are not eligible to use personal leave within the first six (6) months from their date of hire. Please refer to the Holiday Leaves and Absences Policy for more information. The table to the right reflects the hours awarded based on years of service. Leave is awarded on the last day of the month. Leave cannot be taken in advance of being earned. PERSONAL LEAVE AWARDS Years of Service Hours Per Month <5Years 10 Hours 5 Years 12 Hours 10+ Years 15 Hours

Sick Leave

All regular, full-time employees accrue 8 hours of sick leave monthly. Employees who begin employment after the 1st of the month from date of hire will not accrue leave for that month. Up to 480 hours of unused sick leave maybe carried over from one year to the next. Please refer to the Holiday Leaves and Absences Policy for more information. Leave is awarded on the last day of the month. Leave cannot be taken in advance of being earned.

Sick Leave Pool

Employees may voluntarily contribute eight or more hours of accrued sick leave to the SL pool to be used by other employees who have exhausted all their own accrued leave due to a catastrophic illness or injury. Employees must be employed by the EAA for at least one year to be eligible to participate in the pool. An employee having at least 120 hours of accrued sick leave may voluntarily contribute once per year up to 20% of accrued sick leave to the Pool. Employees with sick leave hours more than 480 hours at the end of the calendar year will have their hours converted into real dollars and placed in a 401a Money Purchase Plan. These contributions will be made by the beginning of each year into an account in your name for the exclusive benefit of you and your beneficiaries. The value of the account is based on the contributions made and the investment performance you select over time. No taxes are due, including on earnings, until you make withdrawals. When you leave employment, you are eligible to withdraw money from your account as your see fit, but you are not required to take payments until after age 72. You have the flexibility to take money as needed, including the ability to have payments automatically deposited to your bank account every month. Payments are generally subject to taxes and an IRS-imposes 10% early withdrawal penalty to payments taken prior to age 59½. 401a Money Purchase Plan

RETIREMENT

Texas County & District Retirement Systems (TCDRS)

All EAA employees are automatically enrolled with Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS). Participation into this program is mandatory and employees may not choose to opt out. TCDRS is a savings-based plan. Members save for their own retirement over the length of their careers. Benefits are based on the final employee savings balance and employer matching. 7% each employee’s paycheck is deposited into their TCDRS account on a biweekly basis. Employees may not contribute additional funds to this account. The employee’s savings grow at an annual, compounded rate of 7%.

38