Milestone/Service Awards

It is the policy of Bethel University to recognize and reward its employees for long time service by acknowledging the importance and value for their achievements, contributions, and loyalty through varied means of recognition and at specific service increments.

Eligible Years of Service:

Service award eligibility is based on employment status and benefit level.

•   All staff employees who are employed in regularly budgeted positions
•   All full-time faculty
•   Adjunct faculty who are retirement-benefits eligible

Individuals, who are re-employed by Bethel after having been separated from employment, will be eligible to bridge their years of service. They will not be eligible for missed awards but would be awarded for the combined years at the next 5-year increment. The employee is responsible for contacting the Office of People and Culture with written proof of employment to bridge previous employment. Examples of proof are copies of W2s, pay stubs, offer letter, letter from supervisor with dates employed or official benefit documentation with years of service.

Award Levels:

Employees who complete 5, 10, and 15 years of service will be informally recognized at the annual All Employee Party occurring in late spring.

Employees who complete 20 or more years in subsequent five-year increments of service will be formally recognized at the annual All Employee Party in late spring. Those longest serving employees (30 or more years) will receive a monetary award in relation to their years of service.

Program Administration:

The Office of People and Culture is responsible for the overall administration and periodic review of the program.

Tax Information on Service Awards

IRS Regulations requires service awards to be reported as taxable for federal, state, and FICA (Social Security and Medicare). While these awards can be added to your W-2 for federal and state purposes, we must withhold FICA for them directly from your paycheck. These taxes cannot be paid as part of your personal income tax returns, but instead, the federal government requires Bethel to withhold them from your paycheck. The month the President’s Office recognizes employees is the month you will receive the monetary award on your paycheck. Tax withholding will occur on that month’s paycheck.

This means that on paychecks those amounts that are taxable will be:

1.   Added to your federal and state taxable wage bases. But no federal and state withholding will be deducted from your paychecks.
2.   Added to your FICA taxable wage bases. FICA withholding for cash and cash equivalent recognition awards will be deducted from your paychecks. The Social Security withholding will equal 6.2% of the taxable benefit. The Medicare withholding will equal 1.45% of the taxable benefit.