Emmaus FAQ

This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page is intended to provide answers to questions we anticipate you may have about your employment with Emmaus. As we are asked questions not covered on this page, we will update this page with our answers.

The answers provided on the first few pages are like those in the offer letter provided to you on January 17, 2024. However, there is lots of added information. Check it out!

The Emmaus Mission

Compelled by faith in Jesus Christ, we enrich the lives of individuals of all beliefs, with cognitive or developmental disabilities, by fostering independence, inclusion, and self-advocacy.

Emmaus Services

At Emmaus Homes, we know that the people we support want to be independent. To do that, they need a home and a community that embraces their unique abilities. The problem is it is hard to live without support, which makes them feel frustrated, excluded, and powerless. We believe everyone deserves the resources needed to live independently. We focus on three areas of support.

We provide supported living – We provide residential services to more than 150 clients with developmental disabilities in more than fifty homes throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Our team is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for each client we support.

We provide host homes – A host home is an arrangement where a client chooses to live with another individual or family who provides support in their newly shared home.

We provide spiritual services – An individual’s spiritual life in any belief is an important part of one’s journey to fulfillment and independence. We take pride in our faith-based heritage.

Employment Section

When is my first day with Emmaus?

For most employees, the first day of employment at Emmaus is Tuesday, February 27, 2024.

What if I work overnight on the first day?

If you work overnight on Monday, February 26, 2024, and your schedule ends after midnight you will clock in and out using IPS, Community Living’s timekeeping system. At the beginning of your next shift, you use Paycom, Emmaus’ timekeeping system to clock in and out.

How will I be paid?

Emmaus pays employees every other week. For your convenience, we provided the February/March transitional and full 2024 pay schedules below.

Will I retain my original hire date or the most recent rehire date from Community Living?

Yes. To honor your years of service at Community Living, Emmaus will calculate your original hire date or most recent rehire date with Community Living. This date of service will be used to determine your paid time off accrual rate.

In addition, any paid time off and leave balances transferred to Emmaus from Community Living will be available to you immediately. The transferred balance is subject to Emmaus PTO (Paid Time Off) Policy caps. Speak to your dedicated HR (Human Resources) professional for more information on PTO payouts and caps.

Emmaus Paid Time Off Accrual Chart

Will I continue to work at my current work location?

Yes. You will continue to support the clients at your current work location. As a normal course of business, we evaluate staffing patterns and client needs on an ongoing basis. As a result, there may be times in the future when you may be asked to work at other locations.

Will I continue to work my current schedule?

While we will work hard to align your new work schedule to your current work schedule, there are likely to be some changes. We will post your work schedules for March as early as mid-February in OnShift, our mobile scheduling system.

Do I get paid a differential for working weekends?

Emmaus does not offer weekend differentials. We understand that Community Living offered weekend differentials in addition to hourly rates of pay. However, in many cases you will find that reduced Emmaus benefit premiums offset the financial impact of no longer having weekend differentials.

Does Emmaus offer any wage differentials?

Yes. Emmaus provides a nursing delegation differential of $1.00 per hour for all hours worked when supporting clients who have the following delegations.

- Tube Feeding
- Ileotomy Care
- Urinary Catheter
- Tracheotomy Care

HR AND BENEFITS SECTION

How will my health and wellness insurance benefits be handled?

To ensure there are no gaps in coverage our insurance provider will hold a special initial benefit enrollment exclusively for those transitioning from Community Living.

Community Living informed us that enrolled employee’s benefits will expire at midnight on February 29, 2024.

Emmaus Homes Benefits Effective Date – The benefit plans are effective March 1, 2024, and will include the plan(s) selected during the initial enrollment. Benefit plans include medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, life, supplemental life, and flexible spending account (FSA).

Deductible Carryover – Your deductible spending from January 1 through February 29, 2024, will be applied to your yearly maximums under the new Emmaus plan.

Please review the enclosed Benefits Guide. It provides an overview of all the amazing benefits offered by Emmaus.

How will my retirement benefits be handled?

403b Retirement with Emmaus
Emmaus provides employees with retirement benefits with a 403b plan from Principal. 403b plans are like 401k plans. They provide employees with the opportunity to save for retirement through payroll deducted, tax deferred contributions with matching contributions from the employer. You can enroll in the Emmaus 403b plan on February 27, 2024. Emmaus will honor your years of service with Community Living for vesting and contribution matching.

Employees will receive an employer match on their voluntary contributions of up to 3% once they have met one year of eligibility. Your hire date or the most recent hire date with Community Living is the date we will use to determine your eligibility for employer matching.

Roth Contributions under the Emmaus Plan
Emmaus offers employees the opportunity to contribute to a Roth plan. This plan is not matched or tax deferred. For more details on the Roth plan, please contact Principal.

Community Living 401k Roll Over to Emmaus
If you have a 401K plan with Community Living, you can roll over your account balance to Principal, Emmaus’ plan provider. Emmaus will host virtual meetings in late March 2024 with Principal to assist you with your account balance transfer and account setup.

Paid Holidays at Emmaus

Emmaus offers eight paid holidays per year and employees are eligible for holiday pay upon hire.

- New Year’s Day
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
- 1 floating holiday

Holiday Pay for Full-Time Employees – Employees who are scheduled to work an average of 32 or more hours per week and work on a holiday enjoy their regular rate of pay per holiday as well as additional holiday pay. Employees who do not work on a holiday receive 8 hours of holiday pay only.

Holiday Pay for Part-Time Employees – Employees scheduled for less than an average of 32 hours per week and work on a holiday will be paid their regular rate of pay plus a 50% premium for the hours worked on the holiday. Employees who do not work on a holiday will not receive holiday pay.

What happens to my Community Living employment file, disciplinary actions, and attendance record?

Emmaus will start a brand-new personnel record for you. We did not receive any of your employment records from Community Living. You are starting with Emmaus as a new employee, and therefore you will start with no disciplinary or attendance actions.

What if I worked for Emmaus in the past?

We welcome you back! Emmaus will start with a brand-new personnel record for you.

OTHER PRETTY AWESOME BENEFITS

Get Paid In Between Pay Dates

The Wallet program (through OnShift, our scheduling program) gives hourly employees access to their earned but unpaid wages in between pay dates. Unlike pay day advances, access to your earned but unpaid wages in Wallet only has a transaction fee of $5.00 per pay period (when it is used). More importantly, there is no interest on the pay advances through Wallet! See the benefit manual or talk to an HR professional for more information.

Employee Discount Program

Emmaus provides a wide variety of discounts and rewards through Working Advantage that you can take advantage of just for being an employee. Get instant access to exclusive deals, limited-time offers and members-only rewards on products and services like travel, shopping, movies concerts, theme parks, and much more.

As a welcome gift to you we are giving you access to this benefit now. Go ahead and begin using this discount program!

1. Visit www.workingadvantage.com
2. Click become a member.
3. Click on company code.
4. Enter your name, email, and enter company code EMMAUS.

Low Interest Loans

Full-time employees with 12 consecutive months of employment with a personal checking account are eligible for loans through Kashable. Kashable provides a responsible lower interest rate (as low as 6%) safety net during financial setbacks such as car repairs, appliance replacements, or tackling costly high interest debt. This benefit is a great alternative to payday loans. Get the tools to pay down other expensive debt while building your credit score with auto deductions that are paid on time. There is also an option to suspend payments for a brief time.

Recognition and Rewards

Work Tango is Emmaus’ online program that gives employees an opportunity to give and receive recognition in the form of points which can be redeemed for the hottest merchandise, gift cards, experiences, and charitable giving.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND OPEN POSITIONS

Emmaus promotes from within whenever possible. Typically, you would need to be in your role for at least six months before you are eligible for an internal transfer or promotion. However, we honor your service with Community Living. If you are interested in any of our open roles, please use Paycom, our internal application process and platform to apply. We require internal applicants to discuss the opportunity with their supervisor before applying.

TRAINING

New Hire Orientation – In February, an Emmaus talent services specialist will contact you regarding your pre-onboarding paperwork. Please be prepared to present your banking information for direct deposit, valid driver’s license, current automobile insurance, education verification, and *right to work documents.

*Within the first three days of employment someone from Emmaus will need to view your original right to work documentation (Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, Passport). We will schedule a time to meet with you and in most cases, we will meet with you at the client’s home, your work location.

Certifications – We have copies of all your training certifications and will notify you when you are nearing expiration so you can schedule training. Someone from the training department will contact you if they have any questions about your certifications or if you are missing them.

Department of Mental Health (DMH) Training – All new hires must complete a minimum of 50 hours of DMH training courses based upon twelve competencies considered most critical to the role of a successful DSP. This training will be assigned to you in Relias, our online training platform. You have until March 2025 to complete the 50 hours of training. We will share more about required training in the coming months.

EMMAUS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

CLIENT SERVICES ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

CAREER LADDER

While the graphic above shows you how our client services organization is structured, it also illustrates the Emmaus career ladder. All our Associate Directors, most of our CSMs and ACSMs started as Direct Support Professionals and were promoted from within!

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Virtual Meetings

In February Emmaus will host a virtual meeting room on the following days and times. You do not need to make an appointment. Just use the following link to login to the room. No password or pin is needed. An Emmaus HR professional will be there to answer your questions.

January 18 from 1pm-4pm
January 19 from 10am-2pm
Every Wednesday and Friday, from 10 am-2 pm
Every Monday, from 6-8 pm

Link for Joining Zoom online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84517232759
Meeting ID: 845 1723 2759

Join Zoom by phone (use any of the numbers below)

1 305 224 1968
1 360 209 5623
1 386 347 5053
1 507 473 4847
1 564 217 2000
1 669 444 9171
Meeting ID: 845 1723 2759

CEO Corner

Every Tuesday until February 27 we will email our CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Corner to your Community Living email address. Our CEO Corner is published each week to give Emmaus employees vital information about the business, benefits, fundraising, recruiting, and more.

Your Dedicated HR Professional

You will receive a phone call from an Emmaus HR professional by Monday, January 22. This person will be dedicated to you for questions and concerns through your first day at Emmaus. Once you start with Emmaus you can continue to work with your dedicated HR professional on HR and benefit related items, but you will contact your supervisor for client, day to day, scheduling, and operational items.