Benefits
The Perks of Working at Prairie State
Ask around and you’ll start to realize something—employees at Prairie State tend to stick around. And while we’re a pretty great place to work, we’re also great at making sure our employees are treated well and properly valued.
Prairie State provides a robust and comprehensive benefits program to help employees grow personally, financially, and professionally. This summary is a brief overview of the benefits offered to our employees. Currently, eligibility for most of our benefits begins on the first of the month, coinciding with or following the first day of employment.
Paid Time Off & Holidays
Employees start accruing 160 hours of PTO annually, with gradual increases based on length of service. Employees enjoy 9 paid holidays per year, in addition to Veteran’s Day for former military employees.
Medical Insurance & Health Savings Account (HSA)
Prairie State is pleased to provide two affordable health plan choices to our employees and their dependents through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. Since both options are high deductible health plans (HDHP), employees can enroll in a Health Savings Account (HSA). A Company HSA contribution is made quarterly to employee accounts based on the level of coverage you choose. The HSA account belongs to the employee. The employee can choose to deposit tax-deferred dollars to this account to be used to pay for qualified medical expenses.
Dental & Vision Insurance
Low-cost dental and vision coverage are also available to employees and their dependents. We partner with Delta Dental of Illinois for dental insurance and with EyeMed to offer vision coverage.
- Dental: This includes preventive, basic, and major care as well as orthodontia for children.
- Vision: This includes periodic exams, eyeglasses, and contact lenses for you and your family.
Life & Disability Insurance
Planning for employees’ financial security is important to Prairie State. Therefore, Prairie State provides the following insurance:
- Basic Term Life and Basic Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance equal to two times your annual earnings paid by Prairie State.
- Employees may purchase additional supplemental term life insurance for themselves and their spouse and/or children.
Short-Term & Long-Term Disability Insurance
Company Paid Benefit, no cost to employee
If an eligible employee is hurt or sick, Prairie State provides short- and long-term disability insurance at no cost to the employee.
- Short term disability provides 66.67% of salary per week to a maximum payable of $1,500, with a maximum duration of 11 weeks.
- Long term disability provides 60% of the monthly salary up to $10,000 per month, with duration based on age of employee but normally to the Social Security Normal Retirement Age, available after 90 days of employment.
401(k) or Roth 401(k) Deferral
Upon meeting the eligibility on the first of the month following the date of employment, employees will automatically be enrolled in the plan to contribute 5% of the employee’s earnings on a pre-tax basis. Employees can, of course, elect to defer more than 5% – up to 85% of your pay to a maximum annual amount allowed, or elect to opt out of the plan. You have the option of deferring on a pre-tax 401(k) or post-tax into the Roth 401(k) account. Prairie State matches 200% of up to 5% of the employee base salary that is deferred.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Confidential and cost-free assistance is available to active employees and their family members through the EAP. Relationship matters, legal and financial counseling, personal and retirement coaching, elder care, and childcare as well as a myriad of other counseling opportunities and topics are available to help employees work through various challenges in their lives.