Effective Date: December 1, 2017
Trinity College provides certain benefits to the surviving spouse and/or dependents of employees who die while employed. The College may, at its discretion, direct certain benefits to the estate of the deceased employee.
Procedure:
Survivor Benefit :
Trinity provides a benefit in the event of the death of an eligible employee. Generally, an active, full-time employee who has completed at least one year of full-time service is eligible for this benefit. The College will pay a benefit equal to two months' base pay to the employee's estate.
This benefit is intended to help the family in a time of need. Wages paid to the estate of the employee in the same calendar year of death are taxable for Social Security and Medicare only. The net amount of the check will therefore be net of those taxes. Even if taxes are not withheld by the College at disbursement, it may be considered taxable income to the recipient by the IRS. A Form 1099 will be issued by the College; beneficiaries are encouraged to talk with their tax advisor regarding tax reporting and/or filing related to the benefit amount.
Vacation Time:
An eligible staff member's accrued and unused vacation time will also be paid out in lump sum, minus applicable taxes (see Survivor Benefit above), in accordance with policy, to the estate.
Medical and Dental Insurance:
If an employee dies while actively employed, his or her covered dependents will be eligible for continuation of health care benefits through COBRA. The first four months will be at no charge to the employee’s family.
Dependent Tuition Benefit Program:
The children of deceased faculty and staff who were eligible for the tuition benefit at the time of the employee’s death will continue to be eligible for the tuition benefit upon the child’s acceptance and enrollment, in accordance with the policy in place at the time of admission.
Travel and Accident Insurance:
The estate of an employee who dies accidentally while traveling out-of-town on College business receives the proceeds from the Business Travel and Accident Insurance.