Dear Plan Member,
The ETFO ELHT Board wishes to advise you of changes in the health and dental benefit funding arrangements for plan members working less than 1.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) status in the locals identified below*.
If you are not in an identified local* (see list of identified locals below), this change does not affect you. However, the Board wishes that you be informed of the decision.
The ETFO ELHT plan requires plan members working part-time (less than 1.0 FTE) to pay a pro-rated premium toward their benefit plan. However, some members working part-time in identified locals* have not been required to pay the same pro-rated premiums. This is because some local collective agreements provided a subsidy for some part-time members prior to the transition into the ETFO ELHT Benefits Plan. The funding subsidies for those part-time members in the identified locals* were continued in the ELHT.
The ETFO ELHT Board will continue to maintain the subsidy provisions for permanent members who worked part-time in those locals* prior to September 1, 2018, as well as for those who were approved prior to September 1 to reduce their FTE for the 2018-2019 school year. However, after September 1, 2018, plan members in identified locals* who reduce their status will be required to pay pro-rated premiums as is the standard requirement under the ETFO ELHT benefits plan.
The ETFO ELHT Board is concerned that some affected plan members in identified locals* may have changed their work status between September 1, 2018 and the receipt of this notification without realizing the impact on their benefit premiums. If you are in this situation, please advise the ETFO ELHT Benefits Coordinator, Suzanne Gill at sgill@etfo.org as soon as possible and your premium payments will be reviewed.
In addition, newly hired permanent members and Long Term Occasional (LTO) teachers in identified locals* who begin positions on or after September 1, 2018 (or the first day of school whichever is earlier), who work less than a 1.0 FTE, will also be required to pay the standard pro-rated premiums for their benefits plan. If they become 1.0 FTEs in future, they would not have to pay the pro-rated premiums.
As a result of this change, all new permanent hires and LTO teachers working part-time will now have the same standard pro-rated premium requirement within the plan.
The ETFO ELHT Board believes that this change in the locals* identified below is important for the financial sustainability of the ELHT. The elimination of the part-time subsidies for new hires and LTOs and existing subsidized plan members who reduce their part-time status is a necessary step toward funding stability for all plan members.
Members in a full-time (1.0 FTE) position are fully funded for health and dental benefits while in an eligible permanent position or an eligible LTO teaching position if they are actively at work or on a statutory leave.
Please note that plan members who are working part-time (i.e. less than 1.0 FTE) in locals not listed below continue to pay the standard pro-rated premiums.
If you have questions about this change or about how this may affect you, please contact the ETFO Employee Life and Health Trust (ELHT) at inquiries@etfo-elht.ca or by phone at 416-962-3836 extension 3830 (Toll free 1-888-838-3836 extension 3830.
Sincerely,
Board of Trustees for the ETFO Employee Life and Health Trust
* The following locals have funding arrangements which have changed:
Teacher Locals: Algoma, Avon Maitland, Halton, James Bay, Keewatin-Patricia, Lakehead, Near North, Ontario North East, Ottawa-Carleton (teachers hired prior to 1999), Rainbow, Renfrew, Superior-Greenstone, Upper Canada, York
OT Locals: Superior-Greenstone, York
ESP/PSP/DECE Locals: Halton DECE, Rainy River ESP, Renfrew ESP, Renfrew PSP