Employee Benefits

La Frontera's cafeteria plan lets employees save on benefit expenses by letting them select only the benefits they want.  To pay for benefits, La Frontera provides an allowance (see description below) that can be cashed or spent on benefits.  The allowance is in addition to the employee’s pay.  To save on taxes, most benefit premiums are purchased with pretax dollars.
 

Allowances
An annual allowance of $3,800 + 2% of salary is provided to all benefited employees.  The allowance, which is in addition to the employee’s regular pay, is paid in regular payroll installments.  Employees can take the allowance as cash (at 92% of value) or use it to purchase benefits (e.g., health, dental, vision, or supplemental life insurance, or to invest in a retirement plan).  The percentage portion of the allowance increases by an additional 2% every 2 years until reaching 10% after 8 years.  Example:  A new employee earning $25,000 would have an allowance of $4,300 ($3,800 + $500).

Dental & Vision Insurance
Two dental and one vision insurance plans are available for purchase by employees.

Health Insurance
United Health Care provides PPO medical insurance with three levels of care (employee selects level).  Within the three levels, employees select insurance for self only, employee and children, employee and spouse, or family.  Lowest level of care for employee starts at $314.72 per month.

Holidays
Ten holidays per year:  New Year’s Day, MLK Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas.

Leaves of Absence
-          Bereavement Leave: Two paid days per event (maximum of two events/calendar year).

-          Catastrophic Leave:  Employees accrue 48 hours per year (575 max) to take with pay when a catastrophic medical or family event occurs and personal leave time is exhausted.  Paid after 2 weeks of continuous time off work.

-          Personal Leave Time (PLT):  Employees have 3 weeks of personal leave time during the first 2 years of employment.  PLT increases to 4 weeks after 2 years, 5 weeks after 5 years, and 6 weeks after 10 years.  Accrual rates for employees working at least 30 hours but less than 40 are prorated.  Employees may cash out unused PLT at 100% of value.

-          Professional Leave:  With supervisory approval, an employee may take 5 days per year to attend professional conferences. 

Life Insurance
La Frontera provides, at no cost to employees, life insurance valued at the employee’s annualized pay.  Additional life insurance can be purchased by the employee.  Employees can also purchase life insurance for spouse and children.

Long-term Disability
La Frontera provides, at no cost to employee, a long-term disability benefit that pays 60% of the employee’s pay after a disability lasting more than 6 months.  The benefit is available until normal retirement age.

Retirement Plan
La Frontera has 403(b) retirement plans through ING, Lincoln Financial, and Nationwide that offer a large variety of investment options.  The percentage amount of the allowance is La Frontera’s contribution to employee retirement.  This amount starts at 2% of an employee’s pay and increases every 2 years of tenure until reaching 10% after 8 years.