S&T Bank

Winning Years: 2009
Industry: Financial Services
Location: Indiana, Pa.
Website: www.stbank.com

Highlights of 2009 Winning Strategies

In 2009, S&T Bank celebrates its first year on AARP's list of Best Employers for Workers Over 50. Almost 10 percent of the bank's employees have worked there for more than 25 years. Forty-two percent of S&T employees are ages 50 and older. 

Recruiting: S&T Bank works with a local nonprofit organization to help reconnect older workers, ages 40–60, with employment opportunities and skills. Through this relationship, the bank has successfully hired mature workers.

Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: All employees can take advantage of learning and development opportunities at the bank, including in-house classroom training, online training, and certification classes. Employees working at least 19 hours a week are also eligible for tuition reimbursement. In 2008, 100 percent of S&T employees used at least one of its development opportunities, so the average was 24 hours of instruction per employee.

S&T celebrates its employees' long-service anniversaries with announcements, parties, and awards. In addition, every five years of someone's employment, S&T recognizes that employee's service by announcing it in internal publications and at the annual all-employee meeting.

The bank has conducted employee opinion surveys and has followed through with enhancements to the rewards and recognition programs, including the Floating Time Off vouchers program. In this program, employees can receive paid time off in increments of one, four, or eight hours.

Opportunities for growth are plentiful at S&T and include temporary assignments in different departments, team projects, and a formal job-rotation program. S&T also offers a career-counseling program, in which employees can sit with a counselor for an assessment and develop a training, observation, and education plan.

In order to accommodate its employees with disabilities, S&T has installed specialized monitors, automated door panels, widened doors, and provided ergonomic furniture.

Benefits/Health: Employees working at least 15 hours per week are offered individual and family medical and prescription-drug, and individual vision coverage. Full-time employees working 40 hours per week are also eligible for individual and family dental, family vision, and short- and long-term-disability coverage. S&T helps employees cover out-of-pocket medical costs by providing health reimbursement accounts (HRA) and health flexible spending accounts (FSA).

Benefits/Financial: Full- and part-time S&T employees are eligible for a stock option or other profit-sharing plan and a 401(k) retirement plan with an employer match. Incentives for participation in the 401(k) plan include automatic enrollment for all new hires and the ability to make catch-up contributions for employees over age 50. S&T Bank offers a Web application that gives employees help with retirement planning and recommendations on investing. Employees over age 50 can take advantage of the bank's Four-Star Checking Account, which features reduced fees of 10 percent on financial services.

Unpaid leave, in both short- and long-term increments, is available to employees to attend to caregiving duties. The bank also offers referral services to help employees locate care for dependent children, grandchildren, and elders.

S&T offers the following wellness benefits to its full- and part-time employees: flu shots, health screenings, health-risk appraisals, smoking-cessation programs, discounts to local health clubs, physical-activity programs, weight-loss programs, stress-management training, and annual health fairs. Fifty-eight percent of S&T employees have used at least one of the bank's wellness benefits during the past year.

Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: S&T Bank allows telecommuting and flextime for all employees. Additionally, employees working 40 hours per week can compress their work schedules or move to part-time work on a temporary or permanent basis.