AARP SmartBrief
Best Employers Program Honorees
Scottsdale Healthcare
Winning years: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003
Industry: Hospitals/Healthcare
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
URL: www.SHC.org
Highlights of 2007 Winning Strategies
Scottsdale Healthcare's "Seasonal Leave Program" allows mature employees who are nearing retirement but not ready to stop working to work full- or part-time for six months and then take a six-month leave with full medical, dental, life, and disability benefits paid by the employer.
Additional Policies and Practices:
- Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: To its full- and part-time employees, Scottsdale Healthcare offers these learning and development programs: tuition reimbursement, in-house classroom training, on-line training, certification classes, and an on-line mentoring program. Part-time employees must work at least 16 hours a week to be eligible for the tuition reimbursement program and at least 8 hours a week to be eligible for the certification classes. In the past 12 months, 100% of Scottsdale Healthcare employees participated in at least one of these training opportunities with an average of 12 hours spent in training. All employees receive an annual performance appraisal and personal development plan, which guides them on education/development needs. In this past year, Scottsdale Healthcare added free concierge/personal assistance services, critical illness insurance, and employee discounts on computers/electronics with the option to pay via payroll deduction. In addition, the number of on site degree programs was increased to include Master's level, and Scottsdale Healthcare University expanded its space to increase on site student enrollment by nearly 50%. Examples of accommodations made for employees with special needs include: lowering desks for those in wheelchairs, providing special headsets for hearing-impaired, providing special keyboards for those with wrist injury, providing special chairs for those with weak backs/back injuries, and job transfers.
- Benefits/Health: Full- and part-time employees (working 16+ hrs/week) receive individual and family medical coverage, individual and family prescription drug coverage, individual and family vision and dental insurance, and individual and family long-term care insurance. Short- and long-term disability is offered to those working at least 30 hours a week. Scottsdale Healthcare offers an FSA plan to employees to assist with out-of-pocket health care costs.
- Benefits/Financial: Scottsdale Healthcare offers a 403(b) retirement savings plan to its full- and part-time employees. Employees may invest in lifecycle funds, and employees 50+ can make catch-up contributions. Employees receive financial planning information from the financial services firm that administers their 403(b). The provider has an interactive website where employees can enter their financial positions and the system indicates how to meet retirement goals. Scottsdale Healthcare offers short-term time off without pay and long-term leaves of absence without pay to allow for caregiving. The family leave of absence program provides up to 24 months to care for children, spouse, parents, and parents-in-law and also provides medical and dental coverage for the first 12 months of leave. Full- and part-time employees are offered these wellness programs: flu shots, health screenings, health risk appraisals, smoking cessation programs, health club discounts, physical activity/exercise programs, weight loss programs, stress management training, and reimbursement for company-provided wellness sessions/classes. Seventy-four percent of Scottsdale Healthcare employees have utilized at least one of these wellness benefits in the past 12 months. Full- and part-time employees are also offered these dependent care benefits: referral services to assist with childcare and eldercare, and backup care for childcare and eldercare. The organization also plans to open this year a new on-site childcare center.
- Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: These alternative work arrangements are offered to full- and part-time employees: flex-time, compressed work schedules, job sharing, telecommuting, and a formal phased retirement program. Full-time employees are eligible to move to part-time work on a permanent and temporary basis.
- Opportunities for Retirees: Retirees are offered temporary work assignments, volunteer services, and full- and part-time work.
- Age of Workforce: Twenty-eight percent of Scottsdale Healthcare employees are 50+. The average tenure of employees age 50+ is 11 years.
Scottsdale Healthcare's Seasonal Leave Program allows employees nearing retirement to work full- or part-time for six months of the year and take six months off during the remainder of the year. Employees in this program receive full medical, dental, life, and disability benefits at no personal expense. Twenty-seven percent of the hospital's employees are age 50+.
Other Benefits:
- Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: The hospital offers the following learning and development programs to its full- and part-time employees: tuition reimbursement (25% used past 12 months), in-house classroom training (100% used past 12 months, on-line training (100% used past 12 months), and certification classes (40% used past 12 months). Employees must work at least 16 hours per week to be eligible for the tuition reimbursement program. Long-service anniversaries are celebrated with announcements, parties, and awards. In the past three years, Scottsdale Healthcare added the following benefit improvements due to employee requests: increased offerings to three medical plans, including an HRA and two different prescription plans, and increased the number of on-site degree programs to include a master's level program.
- Benefits/Health: Full- and part-time employees (working at least 16 hrs/week) receive individual and family medical coverage, individual and family prescription drug coverage, individual and family vision insurance, individual and family dental insurance, and individual and family long-term care insurance. Employees working at least 30 hours per week receive short and long-term disability. Forty-one percent of employees are enrolled in the individual medical plan, 39% in the individual prescription drug plan, 46% in the employee and family medical plan, 48% in the employee and family prescription drug plan, 31% in the individual vision plan, 28% in the employee and family vision plan, 39% in the individual dental plan, 47% in the employee and family dental plan, 1% in the individual long-term care plan, 68% in the short-term disability plan, and 56% in the long-term disability plan. The hospital offers a health flexible spending account.
- Benefits/Financial: The hospital offers a 403(b) retirement savings plan to its full and part-time employees. The hospital matches the first 4% at 100% for the 403(b) plan. The hospital offers referral services to assist with child care (30% used in past 12 months) and elder care (1% used in past 12 months), and back-up care for child care (5% used in past 12 months) and elder care (1% used in past 12 months). The following wellness programs are offered to full- and part-time employees: annual wellness fair, flu shots, health screenings, health risk appraisals, smoking cessation programs, health club discounts, exercise programs, stress management training, and weight loss programs. Nine percent of employees have utilized at least one of the above wellness benefits in the past 12 months.
- Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: The hospital offers the following alternative work arrangements to its employees: flex time (15% participation and must work at least 16 hrs/week), compressed work schedules (30% participation and must work at least 16 hrs/week), job sharing (2% participation and must work at least 20 hours per week), telecommuting (5% participation and must work at least 40 hours per week), and a formal phased retirement program (3% participation and must work at least 16 hours per week). Full-time employees are eligible to move to part-time work on a permanent and temporary basis.
- Opportunities for Retirees: Retirees are offered temporary work assignments as well as part and full-time work.
- Age of Workforce: Twenty-seven percent of the hospital's employees are 50+. Thirteen percent of the hospital's past twelve month new hires are 50+. The average tenure of employees age 50+ is 9.5 years.
Scottsdale Healthcare recognizes that its workforce is aging-a little more than a fourth are over 50 and 8 percent are over 60. Looking at work options that would work best for those nearing retirement, Scottsdale introduced a seasonal leave program (during Scottsdale's slow season-summer). Scottsdale is also expanding its part- or full-time work-at-home option.
The seasonal leave program is available to all employees, although it's designed primarily for use by those who wish to phase into retirement over a year or two. Employees can work full- or part-time for six months of the year and still maintain full benefits paid in full by the company for the entire year. The health care system is in the process of moving the coding staff to a home environment, and will set them up with computers and software. Most medical transcription staff already works from home.
Scottsville also offers tuition assistance. Employees are allowed a 24-month leave of absence for caregiving. A special program helps employees who need caregivers; they pay only $12 per day for a care service that typically costs $20 an hour.
Benefits:
- Employees pay 20 percent of the employee and family health insurance premium and 19 percent of the employee and family prescription drug premium. Part-time employees must work a minimum of 16 hours per week to receive these health care benefits. Scottsdale covers in full short- and long-term disability exclusively for full-time employees. Lower-income employees pay eight percent less of the total premium for medical and dental coverage.
- Scottsdale offers a defined contribution plan for full- and part-time employees, matching the first four percent at 100 percent.
Twenty-seven percent of employees are 50+. Twelve percent of the past year new hires are 50+.
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