What’s In Your Contract?
Articles 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 – Retirement, Health, and Dental
Retirement
Unlike every other school district in California, classified staff in SFUSD are not part of the CalPERS system. We participate with other civil service workers in the San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS). SFERS is governed by a retirement boardelected by public employees in San Francisco. The retirement board makes important decisions about how your pension dollars are invested, and how much of your paycheck is contributed to pensions.
SFERS also provides for retiree health care, which is funded by a 2-3% contribution from member paychecks in City and County departments. In SFUSD, retiree healthcare benefits are instead paid for by QTEA tax revenues and do not come directly from your check.
Civil service employees become eligible for the retirement system upon permanent appointment, or after working 1040 hours in a 12 month period. Your specific benefits vary based on your hire date, and you can get all the details of your specific benefits at www.mysfers.org.
SFERS Plan III A8.603 (hired on or after 1/7/2012)
SFERS Plan II A8.600 (hired on or after 7/1/2010 and before 1/7/2012)
SFERS Plan I A8.587 (hired on or after 11/2/1976 and before 7/1/2010)
SFERS Plan A8.509 (hired before 11/2/1976)
2018 Retiree Health Benefits Guide
You are entitled to a yearly consultation on retirement benefits, and can also voluntarily contribute to a 403(b) planfor additional retirement savings. For more information regarding 403b and 457 Plans, please contact Guillermo Garcia in the Payroll Operations Department at 241-6114, EXT.3075.
Health Insurance
Health insurance for SFUSD employees is provided through the San Francisco Health Service System. The HSS boardnegotiates rates and coverage details on our behalf, and your union negotiates the employer/employee split with the district.
2019 Health Benefits Guide
WageWorks FSA Form
Dental and Vision
In SFUSD, all members who qualify for health insurance also qualify for visionand dentalcoverage. You can additionally sign up for a Flexible Spending Accountto save money on taxes for your personal health care spending.
There is a lifetime maximum benefit of $750 for orthodontia, per covered person. Each year your dental insurance will cover $1500-$2000, depending on whether your dentist participates in the Delta Premier program. Coverage starts at 70% for the first year, and goes up 10% per year you consistently visit the dentist, to a maximum of 100% coverage.
How to Qualify for Health Coverage
The qualification is a little complex – so I’ll break it down into a few categories.
1. Regularly scheduled workers who are assigned 30 or more hours per week
If you are hired into a regularly scheduled position (your check does not say “as needed”) and work at least 30 hours per week, you will qualify for health insurance on your first day of work.
2. Regularly scheduled and as-needed workers who work at least 20 hours per week, on average
If you average at least 20 hours per week for all hours worked between July 1 and June 30 in a year, you will be eligible for health insurance starting the following January 1, and must sign up during open enrollment.
3. Permanent Exempt employees working less than 20 hours per week
The District will cover 75% of the employee-only cost for the Kaiser plan if you are PEX and work less than half time
4. PEX workers in Student Nutrition Services
The District will cover 100% of the employee-only cost for the Kaiser plan if you are an employee of Student Nutrition appointed Permanent Exempt and don’t otherwise qualify for health insurance. This provision addressed one of the long-standing inequities for SNS workers who were improperly assigned. No current members fall into this category.
Retiree Dental
If you would like to keep your SFUSD dental coverage when you retire, you are able to pay out-of-pocket to maintain it for 18 months. Generally, it’s a better idea to sign up for the retiree dental coverage instead.