Reinstatement of Benefits Upon Rehire
Employees who leave Bentley may seek re-employment by the university. In those cases, staff employees may have their benefits reinstated if they meet the following criteria:
- The employee was previously in a benefits-eligible position and is being rehired into a benefits-eligible position (i.e., both positions budgeted for a minimum of 17.5 hours per week for at least 9 months per year.)
- The employee must be rehired within five (5) years of the date of termination. In addition, the employee must have been initially employed at Bentley in a benefits-eligible position for a period of time longer than the time which elapsed between the termination date and the date of rehire. For those whose absence from employment was longer than the original length of employment in a benefits-eligible position, no reinstatement rights apply, except to retirement benefits as described below.
- If the rehire date is more than five (5) years after the termination date, no reinstatement rights apply, except to retirement benefits as described below.
All examples below assume the employee was in a benefits-eligible position at the time of initial employment and upon rehire.
Example A: An employee works at Bentley for six years and then leaves Bentley. Two years later, the employee is rehired. That employee is entitled to reinstatement of certain benefits.
Example B: An employee works at Bentley for one year and then leaves Bentley. Two years later, that employee is rehired. This employee is not entitled to reinstatement of benefits because the absence was longer than the initial length of employment, except that one year of service credit would apply toward retirement benefits eligibility.
Example C: An employee works at Bentley for five years and then leaves Bentley. Five years and one day later, that employee is rehired. This employee is not entitled to reinstatement of benefits because the absence was longer than five years, except that the employee is entitled to retirement benefits as described below.
Reinstatement of Benefits
If a rehired employee meets the criteria described above, benefits will be reinstated as follows:
Retirement Plan – To be eligible for university contributions, a re-hired employee must be in a position regularly scheduled and budgeted for 19.5 or more hours per week and have satisfied the two year service requirement. Prior service credit may be received for each full employment year completed in a benefits-eligible position, either at Bentley or another not-for-profit organization. Once the two year service requirement is met, the employee will be eligible to receive university contributions as of the first of the following month. However, a re-hired employee that was previously receiving university retirement contributions will be eligible to receive them as of the first pay period following rehire and completion of the enrollment procedures.
Tuition Remission - Prior benefits-eligible service will apply toward dependent tuition requirements.
Vacation Accrual - Any non-exempt employee who terminated at the four week vacation accrual level will be reinstated at the four week level upon rehire, and will not have to wait until five years from the rehire date for this higher accrual rate. Unused vacation time would have been paid at termination, so there is no reinstatement of unused vacation time.
Sick Time - Previously accrued and unused sick time will not be reinstated for any rehire.
Personal Time – Previously earned but unused personal time will not be reinstated for any rehire.
Unless benefits are reinstated as described above, rehires will have the same rights as all new employees for enrollment in the insurance, retirement and flexible spending account plans and to commence accruals for paid time off benefits as of their rehire date.
Date last revised: June 6, 2022