Employee Benefits

• Medical and Prescription insurance is provided through Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO. 
• Eligible employees who enroll in the medical and prescription plans for themselves and any eligible dependents will have coverage effective on the date of hire.

• Dental insurance is provided through a Guardian PPO plan.  
• Vision insurance is provided through Vision Benefits of America (VBA).
• Eligible employees who enroll in the dental and/or vision plans for themselves and any eligible dependents will have coverage effective on the date of hire.

• Mercyhurst provides $50,000 Basic Term Life coverage for full-time employees through Guardian Life, effective on the date of hire at no cost to the employee.
• Employees also have the option to elect additional voluntary life insurance with premiums paid through payroll deductions.

• Regular full-time employees are automatically enrolled in the benefit after completing one year of service. After a 90-day waiting period, and if approved by Guardian, LTD pays 60% of employee salary up to $6,500 a month.

• Employees have the option to participate in a Health Care FSA and/or Dependent Care FSA. Eligible full-time employees may enroll with coverage effective on the date of hire. 

• Employees can elect to purchase short-term disability coverage through Colonial Life with premiums 100% employee paid through payroll deductions.
• Eligible full-time employees may opt in for Accident and Critical Illness insurance.
• Premiums are 100% employee paid through payroll deductions.  

• Full-time regular employees and part-time faculty may participate in 403(b) defined contribution plan upon hire and are eligible for the employer match after one year of continuous employment. 

•    The University provides paid holidays typically aligning with various major holidays throughout the year.
•    Personal Holiday – Full-time employees are eligible for one additional personal holiday each year.
•    Half-Day Fridays during summer term.
 

• The University provides paid sick time to regular full-time employees due to personal and immediate family illness, injury, as well as medical and dental emergencies and procedures. 
• Unused sick leave may be carried over from year to year with a maximum rollover not to exceed 91 days. 

• The University provides generous vacation benefits as an opportunity for employees to get away from their daily job responsibilities.
• Temporary and/or seasonal, part-time employees, full-time faculty, full-time coaches, and full-time athletic trainers do not earn vacation hours. 
• The amount of paid vacation time an eligible employee receives each fiscal year is based on the following accrual schedule:

**Accrual rates adjust on the anniversary of the date of hire. 

In the event of a birth, adoption, or placement of a child through foster care, eligible employees are entitled to a leave of up to four (4) paid consecutive weeks immediately following the qualifying event, or as modified by the Human Resource Office and the department supervisor.

• Mercyhurst offers academic benefits in the form of tuition remission to eligible employees.
• Tuition remission is a waiver or reduction of tuition at the basic level as adopted by the University and is available to employees, spouses, and dependent children under the age of 25. 

• This is a reciprocal scholarship opportunity for eligible employees’ children.
• Please visit https://www.tuitionexchange.org/ for program specifics and a listing of over 650 individual member schools.
   

A federal loan forgiveness program is offered through the Department of Education for employees at non-profit organizations.  

Full-time Mercyhurst University employees may be eligible for a reduction in base tuition at Mercyhurst Preparatory High School, for their dependents. Employees should contact MPS High School Office for details (814-824-2210).

•    Mercyhurst provides a confidential EAP program dedicated to supporting the well-being of all our employees and their families. 
•    There is no cost to the employee for this benefit.  
•    Included in the EAP benefit is access to a discount center for various services and items. 

Employees are given a 10% discount on all purchases (exclusive of textbooks and class materials) in the University bookstore located next to the Audrey Hirt Academic Building on main campus with a University I.D. only. 

The Copy Center is located in the basement of Old Main. The Copy Center provides a variety of services for the Mercyhurst community, including: quality printing, graphic design/layout work, and related supplies. University budget directors are issued accounts, and items copied are charged to their budgets. Copiers are located throughout the University.

Mercyhurst employees, with their ID, receive a 25% discount on two tickets to the MIAC Live shows. So, they could purchase all of the MIAC Live shows and get two discounted tickets to each show. If they would like to purchase more than two tickets to the same show, they would pay regular price for the additional tickets. Employee discount tickets are not available online. For student music and dance shows – there is a discount as well – most of those tickets are $6.50. There is no employee discount for the theatre department performances.

The university maintains a central mailroom on the ground floor of Preston Hall. Although, not a sub- station of the United States Postal Service, the mailroom does offer common postal services such as the selling of stamps, the weighing and mailing of packages, and the receiving and delivering of regular mail. Hours are posted regularly. The mailroom has a postage meter and sealing machine for U.S. Postal Service mailings. Postage will be billed to the office from which the mail originates.