Office of Collective Bargaining > Labor Agreements > OCSEA > OCSEA Contract Table of Contents >
ARTICLE 10 - CHILD CARE
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This
is a labor agreement with annotations by the Office of Collective
Bargaining.
PLEASE NOTE:Language that is in bold typeface and underlined was added with this Agreement. Language that is Language in Italics are annotations added by the Office of Collective Bargaining. |
The language in this Article continues unchanged from the previous Contract.
10.01 - Child Care Expenses Reimbursement Program
The Employer will assure that eligible employees have the opportunity to participate in a child care expenses reimbursement program which provides the reimbursement on a pre-tax basis in accordance with Section 129 of the Internal Revenue Service Code as amended and other applicable law.
A. Eligibility
1. Employees must have been employed full time since January 1 of the previous year to receive full reimbursement; provided however, that
2. Full-time employees whose employment began after January 1 of the previous year and part-time employees are eligible for this program on a prorated basis based on the number of hours worked in a calendar year.
3. For the calendar year beginning January 1, 1997 the employee’s adjusted gross family income for the calendar year for which they seek child care expenses reimbursement shall not exceed $35,000.
4. The employee had employment-related child care expenses in the previous calendar year equal to or greater than the amount of the payment as provided in Section C below;
5. Employment-related child care expenses must have been for those children defined pursuant to IRS Section 129, at the time the expenses were incurred.
B. Verification
No later than April 15, employees must submit a copy of their Form 1040 and a copy of their receipt(s) for child care expenses for the previous calendar year to be eligible for reimbursement. Employees, and spouses when joint income is used, may be required to authorize the Employer to obtain verification of tax information through State and/or Federal Tax authorities.
C. Reimbursement Schedule
Maximum reimbursement shall be as follows:
1. $500.00 for one eligible child
2. $800.00 for two eligible children
3. $100.00 for each eligible child thereafter to a maximum family allotment of $1000.00.
D. Proration
Proration of child care expenses reimbursement based on calendar year adjusted gross family income shall be as follows:
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Adjusted Gross Family Income |
One Child |
Two Children |
Three or more/ Each Child |
Family Maximum |
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less than $25,000 |
$500 |
$800 |
$100 |
$1000 |
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$25,001 to $30,000 |
375 |
600 |
75 |
750 |
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$30,001 to $35,000 |
250 |
400 |
50 |
500 |
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Explanation: |
This Article assures that the programs provide employees with a tax free benefit pursuant to IRS regulations, and provide the Employer with an effective means to verify certain reporting requirements from employees. |
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Attention: |
Staff Representatives, Union Officials; Personnel Officers, Payroll Officers, and Department Of Administrative Services, Human Resources Division, Office of Benefits Administration (OBA). |
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Instructions: |
Please note that employees are not required to have child care expenses equal to the maximum amount of reimbursement in order to be eligible to receive a reimbursement. The following method will be used by HRD/OBA · determine the employee's (and spouse where applicable) AGI, · determine the number of qualified children, · determine the number of hours worked in the year, · refer to table to determine the maximum reimbursement. Once the maximum reimbursement has been determined, the amount of actual expenses will be reviewed and a voucher will be issued. |
10.02 - Dependent Care Spending Account Program
The Employer will continue to provide employees with the opportunity to participate in a program which allows employees to deposit pre-tax income into a dependent care spending account. Money in this account may be utilized to help pay the expenses of caring for dependent children or adults. The program shall include the following characteristics:
A. It is in accordance with Sections 129 and 125 of the Internal Revenue Service Code as amended and other applicable law ;
B. It assists in paying the expenses of caring for a dependent child or adult for whom care must be provided in order for the employee to work;
C. All permanent full-time and permanent part-time employees are eligible to participate;
D. The program has an annual open-enrollment period.
10.03 - Communication of Programs to Employees
Within 90 days of the effective date of this Agreement the Employer and the Union will meet to discuss development of appropriate methods to communicate these programs to employees.