REI expands health benefits.

Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

If you thought a two-day-a-week job at REI might be your ticket to hang out with an active crowd and get discounts on outdoor gear ... well, you were probably right.

But the Seattle-based retailer is about to extend an even greater benefit to every part-time employee: health insurance.

The retail co-op announced this week that a new health care benefits package will be offered to every employee who has been with the company at least 30 days - regardless of weekly hours and whether the person is a regular employee or seasonal help.

REI already has a health care plan for its full-time employees and part-timers who work more than 1,500 hours per year and average at least 20 hours per week.

"It seems like the trend now is that most companies are taking benefits away," part-time REI sales clerk Judy Warga said Friday at the co-op's Eugene store. "So I'm excited - not that I'm going to go bash myself up so that I have to use (the insurance)."

Warga is one of 22 employees at the Eugene store who will qualify for the new benefit. The store has a total of 53 employees, with 10 full-timers and 21 part-timers who already qualify for insurance under the regular program.

While the company's regular health insurance program offers employees a lump sum that can be used to select from a variety of medical and dental plans, the new program for new part-timers and those working fewer hours will be more basic.

REI will pay 60 percent of the insurance cost, with employees paying a monthly premium of about $41 for medical and dental coverage. There also will be a $150 annual deductible.

Employees can enroll in the plan beginning Nov. 1, and it will become effective Jan. 1.

"Even if it's not the full-meal-deal, it's certainly going to be better than nothing, and better than a lot of other programs that are out there," said Jen Cline, manager of the Eugene REI.

"But we also have a healthier group of employees working for us," Cline said. "We emphasize lifestyle. One of our core values is balance - that's life and work."

An announcement from REI's headquarters said the new health insurance package, like other benefits offered to employees, is intended to reduce turnover. The co-op's annual employee turnover rate of about 50 percent already is considered low in the retail industry, where the average is about 75 percent.

"They have a very low turnover rate ... but they feel this will build even further loyalty among their employees," said Tom Pursley of Mercer Human Resources Consulting in Seattle.

Mercer is the world's largest human resources consulting firm, and Pursley said that he has done work with REI for 23 years.

He said that the new REI program "sets the standard for the industry" by offering subsidized health insurance for even those who work the fewest hours, and by not requiring employees to work for several months before becoming eligible.

Companywide, the new program is expected to make health insurance available to about 3,000 regular part-time employees and 1,200 seasonal workers.

At the Eugene store, assistant manager Maile Keliikuli said the reaction was enthusiastic when the plan was announced and part-time employees were asked at a morning meeting this week if they would be interested in learning more about the program.

"So far, we've had almost unanimous part-time hands go up," Keliikuli said. "They want to talk more about it."

Geoff Chabre, another part-timer at the Eugene REI, said he works a second job at a local radio station and has not had the opportunity to join a health insurance plan for several years.

"Just being eligible is more than I've been able to get in a long time, so it's a big deal," Chabre said.

"I hadn't heard anything about it, and all of a sudden we had these invitation things in our mailboxes," he said. "So it was a surprise - and unlike most, it was good."

Joe Mosley can be reached at 338-2384 or jmosley@ guardnet. com.