What happens when an employee reaches 630 hours but decides not to bid or take shifts for the rest of the year? Do districts still provide benefits?

Yes. Districts will provide benefits to any employee who works or is anticipated to work 630 hours within the school year.

What happens when an employee hits 630 hours but is not anticipated to hit 630 hours the following year?

The employee would receive benefits in the school year they become eligible. Anticipated hours would be reassessed for the new school year. If they reach 630 hours two years in a row and return to the same type of position, they will be presumed eligible for the third year.

What happens if an employee is not anticipated to reach 630 hours during the school year, but subsequently does reach 630 hours?

The employee becomes eligible on the day they reach 630 hours. Their coverage begins on the first day of the following month.

If an employee has worked 630 hours and enrolls in SEBB, and then their work schedule changes so they will work less, do they lose coverage?

No. They retain coverage until the end of the school year. Their premiums will not change, unless they have a special open enrollment event and change their coverage.

If an employee meets the eligibility requirement of working 630 hours within the school year on May 1, do we offer them coverage through August 31 (the end of the school year)?

Yes. The employee’s SEBB benefits would begin June 1 and run through August 31. 

When do new employees start receiving benefits?

It depends on when they are hired.

  • In September each year, new school employees who are anticipated to work 630 hours during the school year and whose first day of work is from September 1 through the first day of school,  start coverage on their first day of work.
  • In general, for school employees anticipated to work 630 hours during the school year whose first day of work is at any other time during the school year, the effective date of coverage is the first day of the month following the day they begin work.
  • School employees hired late in the school year but anticipated to work 630 hours or more the following year enter into two categories.
    • Employees hired on a nine- to 10-month basis will be eligible for SEBB benefits on their first day of work if they are anticipated to work at least 17.5 compensated hours a week in six of the last eight full or partial weeks before summer break. Their benefits would begin the first of the month after they begin work.
    • Employees hired on a 12-month basis will be eligible for SEBB benefits on their first day of work if they are anticipated to work at least 17.5 compensated hours a week in six of the last eight full or partial weeks before the end of the school year (August 31). Their benefits would begin the first of the month after they begin work.
Do paid holiday hours count toward the 630-hour threshold?

Yes. Paid holiday hours and paid approved leave hours, such as sick leave, personal leave, and bereavement leave, count toward the 630 hours for eligibility. See How to determine eligibility.

How do we decide if an employee is anticipated to work 630 hours?

District administrators will decide this, based on the SEBB Program qualifications.

How do current PEBB rules inform the SEB Board’s policy decisions?

The SEB Board makes policy decisions entirely separate from PEBB Program rules. However, HCA does use its understanding of various issues that it has developed in administering the PEBB Program to help inform the SEB Board in its decision-making process.

Do part-time school employees pay the same monthly premiums that full-time employees pay?

Yes. All employees working at least 630 hours during the school year who enroll in the SEBB Program  pay a monthly medical premium. The premium amount will depend on the medical plan employees choose and whether they cover dependents. There is no employee premium for dental, vision, basic life, basic accidental death and dismemberment, or basic long-term disability.

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