FY 2021 - 2022

BENEFIT SUMMARY ATTACHMENT

VVWRA participates in the State of California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) retirement program. Current qualifying members of CalPERS currently receive 2.5% at 55, with VVWRA payment of employer and employee contributions of 12.539% and employee contribution of 5%. New members of CalPERS currently receive 2.0% at 62, with employee payment of employee contribution of 6.25% and employer contribution of 6.533%. Please refer to PERS Retirements Benefits Booklet for details. The VVWRA also contracts with PERS for the 1959 Survivor Benefits which provides that upon an employee's death, a monthly allowance will continue to eligible survivors. VVWRA pays a portion (see above) of the retirement contribution (which includes both the employer and employee share of retirement). (Please refer to PERS Retirements Benefits Booklet for details).

VVWRA Health Benefits

VVWRA currently contributes $1,100.00 per month total for each employee for the following benefits:

• Employee can request how the $1,100.00 medical/dental/vision allowance will be distributed.

Medical: Cost Varies for PERS Program(see attachment) (PERS Program) (Optional)

Principal DentalPOS $51.98 $131.63 (Required Participation in dental/vision) (cost for employee) (cost for family)

Principal DentalEPO $25.92 $60.45 (Required Participation in dental/vision) (cost for employee) (cost for family)

MES Vision $10.49 $24.75 (Required Participation in dental/vision) (cost for employee) (cost for family)

VVWRA participates in the State PERS medical program which currently offers up to 4 different medical plans to employees in this area. Monthly premiums vary from $463.87 to $935.57 for individual coverage and from $1,206.66 to $2,244.76 for individual plus family coverage. Each employee is allowed to choose the plan best suited for him/her, and there is an open enrollment period each year during which time the employee may change plans or add/delete family members (dependents are covered up to the age of 26 contingent upon "dependent status").

PERS does not require 100% participation nor do they allow two members of the same family to be "double" covered by PERS.

CalPERS 2.5%@55

"Classic employees" (those who have been previous members of CalPERS) will receive 2.5@55% , however, in order to qualify members cannot have been out of CalPERS system for more than six months.

CalPERS 2%@62 

New members that have never been in the CalPERS system will receive 2%@62. Service retirement is a lifetime benefit. To be eligible for a service retirement, in most cases you must be at least age 50 and have five years of service credit, this usually applies to classic employees. New members will need to refer to their CalPERS retirement handbook. When you retire, your lifetime retirement benefit is calculated using a formula that includes using your years of service credit, age at retirement, and final compensation.

CalPERS 457 Deferred Compensation Program

The Deferred Compensation Program allows an employee to contribute monies to a tax-deferred account until monies are withdrawn at a later date as specified in the plan. An employee may also elect to have a portion (as allowable by regulations) of his/her regular wages deducted from his/her paycheck and put into this program. If an employee shows proof of coverage under another medical plan, monies remaining after all dental/vision/life has been paid can be applied to the Deferred Compensation Program. This program is similar to PERS retirement in that monies cannot be withdrawn except upon termination of employment, retirement, extreme hardship or emergency (with penalty), or death.

Flexible Health Spending Accounts

A vehicle for tax savings, the flexible health spending account is a nontaxable or pretax benefit offered by VVWRA under the IRS Tax Code Section 125. A holding account for a pre-determined payroll deduction is created as a means of paying for qualified out-of-pocket expenses with pretax dollars. Eligible expenses include co-pays, deductibles, prescriptions, over the counter medications and much more. This service also includes Dependent Day Care which allows you to pay for day care expenses for children under the age of 12 with pre-tax dollars.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

This service allows you to access helpful information and powerful emotional health and work-life tools over the phone and online. EAP is available any time to help with emotional health issues 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Services include, marriage, family and relationship issues, stress and anxiety, depression, grief and loss, anger management, domestic violence, alcohol and drug dependency and other emotional issues

Educational Benefits

As many educational programs benefit both the employee and the employer, the VVWRA reimburses an employee for pre-approved coursework related to the employee’s job. VVWRA will reimburse an employee 100% of books and tuition for classes based on charged costs at CSUSB on a quarter system. An employee who attends a community college may be paid in full since the charges are less at a community college level. An employee who attends a private college may only be reimbursed for what CSUSB is charging and the balance is the employee’s responsibility. 

Vacation, Sick Leave and Holidays

As indicated below, VVWRA employees currently receive 13 paid holidays, 10-25 days paid vacation (number of days depends on years of service), and 88 hours annual sick leave.

Life Insurance, Short Term and Long Term Disability

Life Insurance, Short Term and Long Term Disability Life insurance is two and a half times the annual salary up to $300,000, which also includes accidental death and dismemberment. VVWRA provides this benefit at no cost to the employees

Vacation Accruals

*(accrued on a pro-rata semi-monthly basis)

Sick Leave

Irrespective of length of service, each employee accrues 3.38 hours per pay period, (88 hours annually). Paid sick leave may not be taken during the first month of service. 

Holidays

FIXED HOLIDAYS: Employees appointed to full-time regular positions are currently entitled to the following holidays:

• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Day After Thanksgiving
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• New Years Eve
• New Years Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• Presidents Day
• Memorial Day
• Floating Holiday 

Supervisory Leave

The General Manager, and other unclassified personnel specifically paid in their salaries for work in excess of the normal work day may be granted reasonable time off for their personal affairs in lieu of compensatory time off or overtime pay. Reasonable time off is defined as less than the "overtime" worked and shall be subject to the sole discretion of the General Manager or by policies adopted by the Commission.

Miscellaneous

The agency provides tools and uniforms for O&M personnel and also contributes $250 per employee annually for steel-toed safety shoes/boots. In addition, safety prescription glasses are paid for in full.

The above is a summary of employee benefits, please refer to VVWRA Rules and Regulations and appropriate Health Benefits manuals for more detailed information.