benefits to participants are comparable and the City elects the least expensive plan available to
provide such benefits.
Should the City determine that it is in the best interests of the City to offer a "comparable" plan to
either option "a" or "b", it shall provide at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior written notice
to the Union and documentation of the cost to members and the benefits that will be provided under
the comparable plan. Should the Union determine that the proposed plan is not comparable, the
grievance shall not be subject to the grievance procedure (Article 12), and shall be submitted
directly for arbitration no later than thirty (30) days after the Union is notified of the proposed
change to the comparable plan. The grievance shall be heard in an expedited manner. The decision
of the arbitrator shall be binding on both parties.
For the duration of this Agreement, either party to the Agreement may request that a joint
labor/management committee be convened to consider the performance of the aforementioned plans
and any changes thereto.
Comparable Plan Definition: for the purposes of this Article, a comparable plan means one that
offers the same type of benefits, but benefits do not have to be exactly the same. In addition, the
plan must provide reasonable access to health services and physicians, including specialists and
hospitals.
City Contributions and Employee Enrollment:
The City shall contribute 70% of the POS premium and 80% of the HMO and HDHP w/HSA
premium
Regular part time employees are eligible for this benefit on a pro rata basis. This means, by way of
example, that if a part time employees works 30 hours per week, he/she is eligible to receive 3/4 of
the Board's contributive share of his/her premium cost, and the employee pays the balance. The
regular part-time employee shall work a minimum of 20 hours per week in order to be eligible for
this benefit.
In the event that an employee's spouse is employed by the City of Nashua, the Nashua School
District, or another agency of the City, the employee shall be entitled to health insurance premium
coverage either pursuant to this article or pursuant to the coverage afforded to the spouse, but not
both.
Coverage for new employees is available on the 1* of the next month following date of hire if
hired on or before the 15" of the month; and on the 1" of the month following a full month of
employment if hired after the 15" of the month. Employees who do not enroll on their initial
eligibility date may subsequently only do so during the annual open enrollment period or
following a “qualifying event.” Employees may also transfer to another plan during the annual
open enrollment period.
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