A Word on Behalf of TESOL Member Services
Part-timers and adjuncts qualify for excellent health plans
In a recent exchange on the very popular TESL-JB
listserv (http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/~tesl-l/branch.html),
several part-time ESL teachers expressed dissatisfaction with
the medical and disability insurance options available through
membership in TESOL.
According to one person, a part-time teacher at Hunter
College paid disability insurance premiums through TESOL
for 10 years, only to find that when she was out for three
months for gall bladder surgery the company refused to
pay because of a 25-hour per week minimum number of
teaching hours required which she had not been aware of.
TESOL currently offers a number of different types of
insurance to U.S.-based members via Affinity Group Services,
Seabury & Smith, of Chicago, IL. When ESL MiniConference
called TESOL's new insurance carrier (800-503-9230), we were
told that, at least in the case of medical insurance, there is
no minimum number of weekly teaching hours.
As far as the disability income insurance plan for TESOL
members, offered through Seabury & Smith, the word is
that there is a minimum of 30 working hours per week: however,
these include prep time, whether those hours are paid separately
or not. According to Seabury & Smith, there is no specific minimum
number of classroom teaching hours required to qualify for the
disability income plan, and the time spent grading assignments
at home is counted within the minimum total of 30 hours per week.
For more information:
Affinity Group Services Story by Robb Scott
a service of Seabury & Smith
1440 Renaissance Drive
Park Ridge, Illinois 60068-1400
800-503-9230
Fax 847-803-1653
M-F 8:15-5
custsvc2@seaburychicago.com