Employee Benefits

As an employee of Gaston College, you are offered a variety of different options to help you manage your health, health care costs and prepare for your future by allowing you to choose the benefit plans that best suit your individual needs.

We offer comprehensive medical, dental, vision, Employee Assistance Program, basic and supplemental life insurance, flexible spending accounts, and disability benefits to enhance the lives of our employees and their qualified family members.

Benefit Plan Options

Overview of Gaston College Employee Benefits

Who is Eligible for Employee Benefits?

• Employees who work 30 or more hours per week are eligible.
• For benefit plans, eligible dependents include:
  • Your legal spouse;
  • A natural, legally adopted or foster child of the subscriber and/or spouse up to the end of the month of their 26th birthday. Dependent child includes a child for whom the subscriber is a court appointed guardian, and a stepchild of the subscriber who is married to the stepchild’s natural parent.
• Dependent child coverage may be extended beyond the 26th birthday if two statutory criteria are met:
  • First, the dependent is physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that they are incapable of earning a living.
  • Second, either (i) such handicap developed or began to develop before the dependent’s 19th birthday, or (ii) the handicap developed or began to develop before the dependent’s 26th birthday if the dependent was covered by the State Health Plan.

Employees may be asked to provide proof of their dependents’ eligibility in order for their dependents’ enrollment to be approved. If proof is not received by the deadline provided, the dependent(s) will not have coverage for the remainder of the calendar year and the employee may not have another opportunity to enroll the dependent(s) until the next open enrollment period.

When is Coverage Effective?

Full-time employees who meet the above eligibility requirements, will have coverage effective:

• The first day of the month following the date of employment if hired between the 1st and 15th of the month, or
• If hired between the 16th and last day of the month, then benefit eligibility will be 1st of the month following 30 days.