Benefits & Insurance
Winona State University offers eligible employees a great comprehensive benefits package. This includes healthcare benefits for you and your family, retirement programs designed to promote long-term savings and provide income upon retirement, as well as disability insurance and life insurance for income protection.
The State Employee Group Insurance Program (SEGIP) administers the insurance plans for medical, dental, vision, life, and disability, and provides options for pre-tax accounts.
WSU also offers additional benefits including paid and unpaid leaves, an employee assistance program, wellness program, tuition waiver for you and your dependents, eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and telework.
Healthcare Insurance
SEGIP offers the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan, which provides employees multiple options for insurance carriers and primary care clinics:
- Medical Plan Overview: Find information about rates, summary of benefits, and schedule of benefits
- Clinic Directory: Search for information on primary care clinics and their cost level for the plan year
Prescription Drug Coverage
The Minnesota Advantage Health Plan’s Prescription Drug Coverage is through CVS Caremark.
Visit CVS Caremark to learn more about prescriptions and co-pays, a pharmacy directory, and mail-order information.
SEGIP offers dental insurance which includes comprehensive coverage for most conditions requiring dental diagnosis and treatment, as well as orthodontic treatment.
Choose between two insurance carriers who administer the plans.
Review the Dental Plan Overview for information about rates, summary of benefits and schedule of benefits.
SEGIP offers the Blue Cross Vision Plan which includes:
- Appointments
- Frames
- Lenses
- and more
Disability Insurance
The State of Minnesota offers disability insurance programs and income protection plans for employees.
Short-term disability (STD) insurance provides you with income when a non-work-related injury, illness, or pregnancy results in your total disability.
Benefits begin on the first day of a disability due to an accident or on the eighth day of a disability due to illness or pregnancy.
Benefits will not be paid for any day you are not under the care of a physician and will not continue for more than 180 days for any period of total disability.
Long-term disability (LTD) insurance provides you with income when an injury or illness results in your disability beyond 180 days.
Benefits begin on the 181st day of a total disability due to an injury, illness, or pregnancy and are payable until your normal retirement age.
The Manager’s Income Protection Plan (IPP) is a combined basic life insurance and long-term disability (LTD) benefit available to managerial level employees covered by the Manager’s Plan, Administrator’s Plan, and certain employees covered in the Commissioner’s Plan.
Your IPP premium is based on which life insurance coverage level you choose, the elimination period you choose for your LTD, and your monthly salary.
Filing a Claim
The Hartford is the carrier for disability insurance:
- Employee Claim Process for Short and Long Term Disability (PDF)
- Phone number to file a claim: 1.800.549.6514
- Policy number to file a claim: 023458
Life Insurance
The State of Minnesota employee benefits package includes basic life insurance for eligible employees. Eligible employees also have the option to elect additional life insurance policies to build a stronger, more comprehensive financial protection program for yourself and your family.
View details about Life Insurance Plan Options.
Lifestyle Benefits Included
Lifestyle Benefits are a suite of additional resources and professional support, and these are automatically available through our group life insurance program.
Your spouse and insurance-eligible children can also use these resources, even if they’re not covered under the life insurance program.
There is no additional fee or enrollment for these resources. Just access the services you need, whenever you need them.
Retirement Plans
Employment at WSU includes a combination of mandatory and voluntary retirement plan options (PDF).
We encourage employees to review the full array of opportunities and to become actively involved in planning for your future throughout your career. Learn more about planning for retirement and ending WSU employment.
IFO, ASF & Administrators
Unclassified employees (.25 FTE and above) participate in either the Individual Retirement Account Plan (IRAP) or Teacher Retirement Association (TRA).
Full-time employees also participate in the Supplemental Retirement Plan (SRP) after completion of 2 years of employment.
New employees have 1 year to review the provisions of the IRAP and TRA plans to determine retirement plan choice:
- How to Enroll Online in TIAA-CREF (PDF)
- Contact Human Resources for the TRA election form
AFSCME, MAPE, MMA, MNA, Commissioner’s Plan, Managerial Plan
Classified employees participate in the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS) General Plan which is a defined benefit plan with all investments managed by the State Board of Investment.
MSRS requires a vesting period and provides a guaranteed lifetime annuity to eligible retirees.
All employees may voluntarily participate in these retirement plans:
Pre-Tax Benefits
The pre-tax benefits offered by SEGIP can provide employees with substantial tax savings by paying health and dental plan premiums, eligible dependent day care, medical, dental, and transportation expenses with pre-tax dollars.
- Medical/Dental Expense Account (MDEA)
- Dependent Day Care Expense Account (DCEA)
- Transit Expense Account (TEA)
Contributions towards these accounts are taken from your paycheck before taxes are deducted, and since you pay less in taxes, your net income may be greater.
BRI is the administrator for the state’s pre-tax benefits.
Other Pre-Tax Accounts
Eligible employees within the IFO collective bargaining agreement and the personnel plan for Administrators are eligible for a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA).
The employer funded HRA can be used to reimburse the employee for certain out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses.
View your bargaining agreement or plan for more details.
The HRA is administered by BRI.
The Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) is an employer-sponsored program that allows Minnesota Public employees to invest money in a medical savings account while employed.
After you end employment, you may access the funds to reimburse eligible medical expenses incurred by you and your eligible dependents.
Contributions to the HCSP are directed by your bargaining agreement or plan.
The HSCP is administered by the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS).
Additional Benefits
In addition to insurance, WSU offers our employees a variety of benefits from tuition waivers to employee discounts.
Paid Leaves
Eligibility for paid leaves such as vacation leave, sick leave, holidays, personal leave, parental leave is directed by your bargaining agreement or plan.
Submit a Vacation Accrual Credit Request (PDF) if applicable to your bargaining unit and employment status.
Help support critically ill state employees by donating vacation hours.
Convert unused annual leave by completing the Administrator Vacation Conversion Form (PDF).
Employee Assistance Program
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is administered by SEGIP and provides expert, confidential and personal consultation for all state employees and their families.
You and your family may get 6 free counseling sessions through EAP a year. In addition, EAP provides consultations to help with legal, financial, and workplace questions and concerns.
Tuition Waiver
Learn what you want when you want. WSU offers most employees, their spouses, and dependents a tuition waiver benefit based on their union contracts and salary plans.
The waiver covers the cost of tuition and, in some cases, course fees.
All participants must submit an online Tuition Waiver Application form no later than 10 days following the start of the course for which the student is seeking to waive tuition and/or fees.
Tuition Waiver ApplicationFind more details:
- Tuition Waiver Matrix (PDF)
- Tuition Waiver Taxation (PDF)
- Tuition Waiver Reference Guide (PDF)
- MAPE Professional Development Matrix (PDF)
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Winona State is a qualifying employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Telework
The Telework Guideline (PDF) provide rationale for positions that can be offered a telework schedule.
To start a telework schedule, complete the Telework Request Schedule and Acknowledgement Form. You will need to complete this form each year to renew your telework arrangement.
If you currently telework from a location outside of Minnesota, you need to complete the Telework Out of State Reporting Form.
Employee Discounts
As a benefit of your employment with the State of Minnesota and WSU, employees can receive discounts from a variety of companies.
We are not always aware of available offers, so be sure to ask the company or business you are purchasing from.
Get savings on software from Microsoft, Adobe, Minitab, SPSS, Parallels, SAS, TrendMicro and more.
Visit WSU’s On the Hub website.
Take advantage of the phone discounts AT&T and Verizon have to offer:
Join the Integrated Wellness Complex and engage yourself in a journey of self-discovery and life-long wellness through numerous activities.
Employees can also receive discounts through MN State Employees, Inc. (SEI). SEI is a non-profit organization that offers its State of Minnesota employee members entertainment and other valuable discounts.
An SEI membership includes membership in MERSC (Minnesota Employee Recreation and Services Council) and EMRA Life.
Salary Savings Leave
The WSU FY24 SSL Guidelines (PDF) outline options and the process for taking salary savings leaves. If you are interested in salary savings leave, complete the Salary Savings Leave Request Form.
Review the Minnesota State Voluntary Leave FAQs (PDF) for more details.