Crouse Benefits for Union Employees

The majority of these positions are considered union, but there are exceptions. Your Human Resources recruiter can verify your status as a union or non-union employee. Crouse Hospital employees who hold union positions are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU, Local 1199, United Healthcare Workers East).

Some examples of union positions include:

• Nursing
  • Registered Nurse
  • Nurse Assistant
  • Nurse Practitioner
• Nutritional Services
• Environmental Services
• Maintenance/Engineering
• Admitting
• Patient Billing/Accounts
• Department Secretaries
• Health Unit Coordinators
• Medical Imaging
• Cardiac Care
• Biomedical
• Materials Management
• Patient Transport
• Respiratory Therapy
• Health Information Management/Coding
• Surgical Technicians

Medical Insurance

For new employees, benefits are available the first of the month following 30 days of employment if signed up for within ten days of orientation. Employees can add or modify health benefit elections during the hospital’s annual open enrollment period. To view a list of preferred providers, see the How to Find a Crouse Domestic Network Provider link below or contact our health insurance administrator, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield at 1-855-737-0760.

Union Medical Insurance Plan Comparisons

Union Insurance Rate Chart 2024

Union Medical Insurance Plan

Union Select Plan Summary of Benefits

How to Find a Crouse Domestic Network Provider

Creditable Coverage Disclosure for 2024

Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Summary of Material Modification

CAA Transparency

Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Core

Hospital Discount

Employees receive a 25% discount on their gross bill for inpatient and outpatient services performed at Crouse Hospital. This discount is applied toward an employee’s cost after the employee’s insurance company has paid its portion of the bill. This discount extends to services provided for employees and dependents residing in the same household.

Dental Insurance
Employees are offered a choice of dental plans. For new employees, dental benefits are available the first of the month following 30 days of employment if signed up for within ten days of orientation. Employees can add or modify dental benefit elections during the hospital’s annual open enrollment period.

To compare the benefits of the dental plans offered by Excellus and the Service Employee Benefit Fund, see the link below.

Union Dental Plan Comparison

Union Insurance Rate Chart 2024

The Service Employees Benefit Fund contact information and provider list may be obtained through SEBF or by phone at 315-218-6513.

Vision Coverage

Employees are offered a choice of vision plans. For new employees, vision benefits are available the first of the month following 30 days of employment if signed up for within ten days of orientation. Employees can add or modify vision benefit elections during the hospital’s annual open enrollment period.

To compare the employee contribution rates offered by Davis Vision and the Service Employee Benefit Fund, see the link below.

Union Vision Plan Comparison

Union Insurance Rate Chart 2024

For Davis Vision Benefit Plan information, visit Davis Vision or call 1-800-999-5431.

The Service Employees Benefit Fund contact information, benefit plan information and provider list may be obtained through SEBF or by phone at 315-218-6513.

Allowable Benefit Changes
After the initial sign up period for new hires, employees may make changes in their coverage in the hospital-sponsored medical, dental, and flexible spending plans during the hospital’s designated enrollment periods. In addition, employees may be allowed to make certain benefit changes as a result of experiencing a change in family status, including

• Marriage
• Divorce
• Separation
• Death
• Birth/Adoption
• Spouse/Dependent loss of coverage

Notification of a qualifying event must be made within 30 days of experiencing the event. Proof of qualifying event will be required.

Onsite Employee Pharmacy
Crouse Hospital’s Employee Pharmacy is conveniently located on the basement level of the Memorial unit. Purchases can be made with cash, check, credit card or through payroll deduction. Employees who do not participate in hospital medical coverage may purchase prescriptions at hospital cost.

Employee Health Office
Crouse Hospital’s onsite Employee Health Office provides quality care for employees, while also promoting occupational health and safety.

Services include:

• Evaluation of work injuries, including exposures to blood-borne pathogens
• Annual Flu vaccines
• RTW (Return To Work) clearance
• Evaluation and treatment of minor illnesses
• Ergonomic referrals

Simply Well
Wellness activities

• Weight Watchers
• Blood pressure monitoring
• Walking club
• Tennis club
• Pilates
• Zumba
• Mindful Living and Stress Reduction Course

Holidays: RN/LPN/Technical
Upon completion of the 90-day probationary period, full-time employees are eligible for six paid holidays (or the equivalent of 48 hours) including New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.

Full-time employees are eligible for six floating holidays (prorated for new and terminating staff). Twenty-four (24) hours of the floating holiday time must be taken by the pay period end date closest to (but before) June 30 but by the last pay period of the year (prorated for new employees and terminating employees).

Employees who work on a traditional holiday or reduced staffing day, will be paid time-and one-half for the hours worked (including shift or weekend differential) plus regular pay for the number of hours worked on the normal shift. Employees who work both the traditional holiday and the reduced staffing day will be paid the holiday premium for the traditional holiday only.

Holidays: Service, Maintenance and Clerical
Upon completion of the 90-day probationary period, full-time employees are eligible for seven paid holidays (or the equivalent of 56 hours) including New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.

Full-time employees are eligible for five floating holidays (prorated for new and terminating staff). Twenty-four (24) hours of the floating holiday time must be taken by the pay period end date closest to (but before) June 30 and sixteen (16) hours after June 30 but by the last pay period of the year (prorated for new employees and terminating employees).

Employees who work on a traditional holiday or reduced staffing day, will be paid time-and one-half for the hours worked (including shift or weekend differential) plus regular pay for the number of hours worked on the normal shift. Employees who work both the traditional holiday and the reduced staffing day will be paid the holiday premium for the traditional holiday only.

Vacation
Full-time and part-time employees are eligible to use accrued vacation time after one year of service and accruals are based on hours worked. Part-time employees are eligible for prorated vacation benefits based on hours worked. Full-time employees accrue vacation in the following manner:

RN/LPN/Technical

Service, Maintenance and Clerical

Maximum accrual is twice the annual benefit.

Sick Time
After 90 days, employees earn up to eight hours of sick time for every 173.33 hours worked to a maximum annual benefit of 96 hours. Employees can accumulate up to a maximum of 480 hours of sick leave.

Personal Time: RN/LPN/Technical/SMC
Upon completion of the probationary period, full and part-time employees begin to accrue personal time at a rate of eight hours for every 693.33 hours worked to a maximum of 24 hours in any rolling 12-month period. Employees can accumulate up to a maximum of 48 hours of personal time.

Bereavement Leave
Full-time and part-time employees may take up to three days for the death of an immediate family member. An additional two days of paid or unpaid time may be taken in the event of the death of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, parent or child.

Military Leave
Full-time employees only who are in the National Guard or Reserves are paid the difference between their base-rate wages and their military pay for mandatory annual military reserve training duty.

Jury Duty
Upon completion of the probationary period, full-time employees only are paid their full base-rate salary to serve as jurors to a maximum of 10 scheduled workdays per year. Part-time employees will be paid on a pro-rated basis.

Group Term Life Insurance
Full-time employees receive life insurance benefits that equal three times their annual salary, depending on the salary, to a maximum of $100,000. The group term life insurance benefit is provided by the hospital at no cost to the employee. The life insurance benefit is reduced by 8% of coverage for each year between ages 65 and 71. The part-time benefit is $3500 with no reduction schedule.

Union Life Insurance Plan Full Time
Union Life Insurance Plan Part Time

Union Accelerated Death Benefit
Accelerated Benefit Form
Accelerated Death Benefit NYS Amendment
FT Union Life Insurance Policy
PT Union Life Insurance Policy

Supplemental Life Insurance
Additional whole life insurance is available for full-time and part-time employees, their spouses, dependent children or grandchildren at attractive group rates.

Union Farmington Supplemental Life
Union Symetra Supplement Life

Short-Term Disability

Disability leave is available after four weeks of employment. The income protection plan, as mandated by New York State disability law, is a 26-week benefit and is calculated as half of the average of the employee’s prior eight weeks of gross earnings to a maximum of $170 per week. Employees contribute 60 cents per week for this disability insurance.

Supplemental Disability
A voluntary short term disability plan can be purchased through the Service Employees Benefit Fund or Farmington. The benefit provides additional protection for non-work related illness, injury or surgery. Additional short and long-term term disability insurance is available to purchase for full-time and part-time employees.

Union Farmington Supplemental Disability

At time of hire or during an open enrollment period an employee may enroll in the Service Employees Benefit Fund Short Term Disability Plan. Contact SEBF via their website or by phone at 315-218-6513.

Tuition Assistance
Tuition reimbursement for union employees is available through the SEIU 1199 Training and Upgrading Fund. You may contact the Training and Upgrading Fund at 315-424-1743.

To be eligible for benefits through the fund, an employee must:

• Be An SEIU union member
• Be A regular employee, either full or part-time
• Be working at least 24 hours per week
• Effective 6/1/23 must have completed at least 90 days of service

Tuition Discounts for Crouse Union Employees

Learn More About SEIU Tuition Assistance

RN to BSN Tuition Cost Comparison

Continuing Education
Additional information about continuing education benefits can be obtained by contacting the SEIU Fund. There is also access to free CEU credits through Crouse Hospital’s Library Services.

Tuition Assistance for Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse Hospital
Full or partial reimbursement is available for employees, their spouses, and any dependent children in the Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse Hosptial. Benefits and eligibility are based on the employee’s number of years of service on a full-or part-time basis.

Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts
Employees may elect to contribute up to $3,200 each calendar year to the Health Care Flexible Spending Account to be used for out-of-pocket medical, dental, and vision expenses. Expenses that are reimbursed through the Health Care Flexible Spending Account are not subject to federal or New York State income tax or Social Security tax (FICA). Any health expenses (except premium payments) that are deductible for federal income tax purposes and cannot be paid under any health insurance plan are eligible for reimbursement.

Internal Revenue Service Publication 502 lists these eligible expenses. Any money left in your Health Care Flexible Spending Account following the end of any calendar year cannot be returned to the employee or carried over to meet the following year’s expenses. IRS regulations stipulate that remaining balances must be forfeited. However, claims for expenses that are incurred during the previous calendar year can be submitted until March 31 of the following year.

Examples of eligible expenses include, but are not limited to:

• Items not covered by your medical dental and vision insurance, such as deductibles, co-insurance amounts, excess over reasonable and customary charges, excess over scheduled or annual maximums, routine physicals, immunizations, and over the counter drugs.
• Vision expenses, including exams, prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses and Seeing Eye dogs.
• Hearing expenses, including exams and hearing aids.
• Mental health or substance abuse treatment provided by a licensed practitioner.

Flexible Spending Account Overview

How Your FSA Supports Healthy Living

Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
Employees may elect to contribute up to $5,000 each calendar year to the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account.

Expenses that are reimbursed through the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account are not subject to federal or New York State income tax or FICA tax. The Dependent Care Reimbursement Account can only provide reimbursement for dependent care expenses incurred so that employees (and their spouses, if applicable) can work, look for work, or attend school full-time. Employees may also use the account to pay for dependent care expenses incurred while they work if their spouse is disabled. Any money left in either the Health Care Reimbursement Account or the Dependent Care Account following the end of any calendar year cannot be returned to the employee or carried over to meet the following year’s expenses. IRS regulations stipulate that remaining balances must be forfeited. However, claims for expenses that are incurred during any calendar year can be submitted until March 31 of the following year.

Eligible dependents include: dependent children under the age of 12, a disabled spouse or another disabled dependent and elderly parents who are physically or mentally unable to care for themselves. However, to be reimbursed through the Plan an employee must claim a personal exemption for the dependent(s) for federal income tax purposes.

The dependent care expenses that can be reimbursed through a Dependent Care Reimbursement Account are the same as those eligible for the federal dependent care tax credit. Qualified dependent care expenses cannot be applied to both the reimbursement account and tax credits. Examples of eligible expenses include payments to: day care centers, nursery schools, personal babysitters, live-in help (whose primary function is dependent care) and elder care providers. Payments to the employee’s own child age 19 or younger or to any other dependent they claim for tax purposes are not eligible expenses whose.

Transportation Reimbursement Account
Each calendar year, employees may elect to contribute up to $315 for parking and $315 for mass transit to a Transportation Reimbursement Account. Amounts allowable are increased annually by indexing the original amounts stated under Code Section 132.

Expenses that are reimbursed (expenses for gasoline are not reimbursed) through a Transportation Reimbursement Account are not subject to federal or New York State income tax or FICA tax.

Qualified expenses include parking facilities not sponsored by Crouse Hospital and any pass, token, fare card, voucher or similar item entitling you to use mass transit to commute to work.

Employees of Crouse Hospital have the opportunity to contribute a portion of their income, subject to tax code limits, to a 401(k) Plan. Contributions to the 401(k) Plan, as well as interest accumulating are tax deferred—employees do not pay federal income tax on 401(k) savings until they receive benefits.

Automatic Enrollment
New employees will have 4 percent of their pay automatically withheld from their paychecks and will have 30 days from the date of hire to either cancel or increase their contribution amount. After completing one year of service, defined as working at least 1,000 hours in a calendar year, you will be eligible for a 3.5% hospital contribution in your 401(k) Plan. There is a 3-year vesting requirement under the plan for hospital contributions. To discuss retirement options and to learn about the plan features, please contact Human Resources at 315-470-7521.

Automatic Escalate
Following one (1) year of participation in the plan, the contribution will automatically increase by 1% on the 1st of January following completion of one (1) year. The contribution will increase by 1% each supplemental year up to a maximum of 8%.

Union 401k Enrollment Instructions

Shift Differentials
Hourly union employees are paid shift differentials, which are calculated as a percentage of the base hourly rate.

Call Time Pay
Call time pay is $6.00 per hour. If called into work, union employees must work a minimum of four hours at the regular pay rate, plus applicable shift differential. Registered Nurses, Technologist and Technicians assigned to the following departments will receive twelve dollars ($12.00) per hour payment for the designated scheduled hours:

• Cath Lab
• Interventional Radiology
• Interventional Radiology Neuro
• WSC Surgical Suite
•  PACU
•  Anesthesia
•  Endoscopy
•  MRI
• Ultrasound
• Nuclear Medicine
• Echocardiography

Overtime Pay
Hourly employees will be paid time-and-one-half of their regular hourly pay rate for all hours worked in excess of eight, ten or 12-hour shifts or 40 hours per week (or the normal full-time schedule for other than eight-hour shifts). Overtime pay is received in the next paycheck.

Pay Period
Employees are paid every other Monday. The amount paid includes all hours worked during the two weeks prior to the preceding week, beginning on a Sunday and ending on a Saturday.

Shift Options

Full-time employees typically work 40 hours per week. In addition to the usual eight-hour shifts, other shift options are available for employees, based on departmental needs, as follows:

• Two 12-hour shifts, plus two eight-hour shifts
• Three 12-hours shifts, plus one four-hour shift
• Four 10-hour shifts
• Three 12-hour shifts (PF)

Direct Deposit
Direct deposit is available at a number of local banks and credit unions. Direct deposit can be made to more than one bank account. Click here to obtain a direct deposit form.

Crouse Hospital Credit Union
The Crouse Hospital Federal Credit Union offers many services, including savings, loans, draft checking and holiday clubs. They also organize quarterly out-of-town, overnight sightseeing bus trips.

Optional Voluntary Benefits
Employees can purchase auto, homeowner and pet insurance at discounted rates through Liberty Mutual.  Call Liberty Mutual for a quote at 315-233-9518.  Employees can also purchase supplemental life, disability, critical illness and group legal coverage at discounted rates through the Farmington Company.  Call Farmington for a quote at 1-800-621-0067.  Payroll deductions are available for these benefit options.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
HelpPeople, the hospital’s employee assistance program, provides free, confidential assistance and counseling for a wide range of personal issues to employees and their dependents. Free shuttle service is provided from the hospital to HelpPeople during regular business hours

Helping Our Own
Monetary assistance and loans are available for employees facing certain hardships. Please contact Human Resources at 315-470-7521 for details.

Parking
Parking and shuttle bus service is available at Crouse Hospital sponsored parking lots. Employees may pay for parking through payroll deduction and can elect to have the deduction withdrawn on a pre-tax basis.

Cafeteria Discount
Employees receive a discount on all items sold at the Clocktower Café. Payroll deduction is available for all purchases. Employees working on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas receive a free meal on those days.

Employee Health Office
Crouse Hospital’s onsite Employee Health Office provides quality care for employees, while also promoting occupational health and safety.

Services include:

• Evaluation of work injuries, including exposures to blood borne pathogens
• Annual Flu vaccines
• RTW (Return To Work) clearance
• Evaluation and treatment of minor illnesses
• Ergonomic referrals

Simply Well
Wellness activities:

• Weight Watchers
• Blood pressure monitoring
• Walking club
• Tennis club
• Pilates
• Zumba
• Mindful Living and Stress Reduction Course

Employee Recognition Program
Recognizing team members for a job well done is tightly woven into the Crouse culture. Employees are recognized all year long for going “above and beyond” with the Simply the Best awards program. During employee recognition week each May, employees who’ve reached milestone years of employment service are acknowledged. A festive picnic is also held for all employees to celebrate the hospital’s teamwork and accomplishments.

When do I select my benefit plans?
A benefits presentation will be provided during Hospital orientation and you will select your benefits plan during hospital orientation.

How do I find a list of Crouse affiliated providers for my health plan?
How to Find a Crouse Domestic Network Provider

How can I find out about what my insurance covers?
Click here to access insurance coverage information.

If I am a new employee, how soon will I receive my insurance cards?
Generally, Excellus will mail the insurance cards within 10 days from the date the coverage is effective.  If your coverage is effective Oct. 1, you should have your Excellus cards no later than Oct. 10.  If you have any issues, please contact Human Resources at extension 17521.

When will my coverage begin?
Union benefits begin the first of the month following the completion of 30 days.

Health Benefits, Flexible Spending, Life Insurance, Retirement and 401k
Michelle Murphy – 315-470-2301

Disability, Family Medical Leave Act, Paid Family Leave Act, Workers’ Compensation
Tracey Tortorello – 315-470-2986

SEIU 1199 Training & Upgrading Fund
Lisa Warren – 315-295-1854