Q. What are the professional benefits of being an ESI leased employee?
A. Through its partnership with the District, ESI offers all employees access to free, online, on-demand continuing education. You can take advantage of such courses as “Building Relationships with Students,” “Basic Proactive Classroom Management,” “Giving Effective Praise,” and more. In addition, ESI offers classroom observation and feedback. The District and ESI are also dedicated to recognizing excellence. ESI’s Substitute-of-the-Month program and other campaigns recognize employees who are so critical to a school’s success. Monthly outreach calls to you and your colleagues allow ESI to gain valuable feedback and thank you for your continued service.
Q. Will I receive sick leave, personal leave, and vacation time as an ESI employee?
A. Effective July 1, 2017, you are entitled to accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Earned paid sick time is to be utilized for an employee’s medical care, an employee’s need to care for a family member, a public health emergency, or addressing domestic violence.
Q. Does ESI offer a way for me to save for retirement?
A. ESI offers a 401(k) plan that will allow you to shelter income on a pre-tax basis, which lowers your current year taxable liability and increases savings for retirement. The 401(k) plan has no waiting period, but you must be at least 21 years of age to participate.
Q. Am I eligible for benefits when I work for ESI?
A. Variable-hour employees are not eligible for benefits initially. Federal law states that an employer is required to measure the hours worked for variable-hour employees in order to determine whether annual hours indicate eligibility for health plan coverage in the future. A variable-hour employee is an employee who, at the time of hire, cannot be determined to be reasonably expected to work an average of at least 30 hours per week. To determine your eligibility in the future, ESI will track the hours you work over a 12-month period starting with the first day of the first month following your date of hire. If it is determined that you are eligible at the end of the 12-month measurement period, you will be offered medical plan coverage at that time for the following 12 months (coverage is never available retroactively).
Q. Does ESI offer anything for those first 12 months?
A. ESI does. ESI’s free SingleCare program focuses on making health care affordable for everyone. The free membership provides discounts on a wide range of healthcare services like outpatient health-care visits, prescriptions, dental and vision services, chiropractic and physical therapy, and other health-related services that insurance may not cover.
Q. If I am a retiree, will my employment with ESI affect my retirement with the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS)?
A. No, your employment with ESI will not impact your retirement with ASRS.
Q. If I am an early retiree, will there be a limit on the number of days that I can work next year?
A. No, since ESI is not an ASRS employer, the 20/20 provision does not apply and the number of days worked will not be limited.
