Employee Benefits

The County’s benefit program addresses both the immediate needs, such as health insurance coverage and your long-term needs such as retirement savings. 

The following outline the County-offered benefits and serves as an overview. This does not provide all provisions, limitations or exclusions. If there are contradictions between descriptions and the official plan documents, the plan documents will prevail. Benefits offered are subject to change at any time. Newly hired, benefit eligible employees are eligible for coverage the first of the month following their hire date.

Paid Time Off (PTO)

Mower County believes that vacation time is important in order to maintain a healthy and productive work-life balance. Paid time off accruals, utilization rules vary within each collective bargaining group and for non-union staff. PTO is accrued based on the following schedule and is eligible to use as it accrues. The accrual is pro-rated for part-time employees based on the number of hours worked. 

0 - 5 years:   6.16 hours per pay period

6 - 12 years:   7.08 hours per pay period

13 - 21 years:   8.62 hours per pay period

22 +:   10.16 hours per pay period

Paid Holidays

Most employee groups observe the following holidays:

New Year's Day                                                  Labor Day

Martin Luther King Day                                      Veterans Day

Presidents Day                                                   Thanksgiving Day

Good Friday                                                         Friday after Thanksgiving

Memorial Day                                                       Christmas Eve

Independence Day                                               Christmas Day

Pay Dates

County employees are paid via direct deposit on a bi-weekly schedule with pay days being every other Thursday. 

Health Insurance

Mower County offers two plans to employees for health insurance through Medica. Employees are eligible for coverage effective the 1st day of the next month following hire.

Voluntary Benefits

Several additional voluntary employee benefits are available to benefit eligible employees on an elective basis at the employee's choice. Human Resources Department can provide additional information pertaining to these voluntary plans. These voluntary plans are subject to change and are reviewed annually at open enrollment employee meetings for all benefit eligible staff.

• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Dental
• Vision
• Short & Long Term Disability 
• Accidental Injury Insurance
• Critical Injury Insurance 
• Deferred Compensation 
• Mower County Fitness Room 

Life Insurance

The Hartford

Basic Life: Mower County provides $50,000 of term life coverage after the waiting period. 

Additional Employee Life & Spouse Life: Employees have the option to purchase additional coverage in increments of $5,000 up to a maximum of $300,000 for themselves and up to a maximum of $150,000 for their spouse. The cost per $1,000 of additional coverage is based on the employee's and/or their spouses age.

Dependent Life: Dependent coverage is also available at a cost of $3.00 per month and includes $20,000 coverage for spouse and $10,000 for each eligible child. 

Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA)

Term Life:  $16 per month the benefit amount is dependent on age. 

Retirement

Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is a state mandated retirement program for public employees. the employee and the employer contribute a percentage of gross wages (pre-tax).

Employee Assistance Program

Any employee has available to them a confidential counseling service that provides short-term assistance for issues related to finances, work, chemical dependency, stress, relationships or other life concerns.

Student Loan Forgiveness Program

Mower County qualifies as a "public service organization" to help you qualify for this partial student loan forgiveness program.

Continuing Education Assistance Program

Mower County believes that it is important that employees have the ability to perform their jobs at maximum efficiency. Employee training is an important aspect in maintaining that efficiency and enjoyment of a job.