New Hire, Rehire, Interlocation Transfer

As a new faculty or staff person, you may be eligible for employee benefits. Eligibility for benefits is based on your appointment type, duration of appointment, title, type of pay you receive or working 750 or 1,000 eligible hours in a twelve month period. Your department will tell you if you are eligible for benefits and if so, for which benefits package you are eligible.

If you are eligible for the Full, Mid-level or Core benefits package, you must sign up for most of your Health and Welfare benefits within 31 days of your date of hire or date of eligibility. You may enroll in the UC Retirement Savings Programs at anytime.

If you are a Rehire or Interlocation Transfer, refer also to the special notes below.

How to begin

  • Get a New Hire Kit from your department
  • Have your department show you UCnet, the UC systemwide HR and benefits website
  • Visit "What to Do If You're A New Employee"
  • Review the Benefits Plans section of the Central HR Benefits website
  • Ask any questions you have so you can make informed benefits enrollment decisions
  • Choose the plans you want to enroll in and gather any data you will need for enrollment
    • Primary Care Physician (PCP) numbers for you and your family members, if applicable
    • Family member data – names, birth dates, Social Security numbers
  • You must enroll in most Health and Welfare benefits within 31 days of your date of hire or date of eligibility.
    • [Important: If you are a rehire or interlocation transfer, see below for further instructions.]
    • Enroll online by choosing “Sign into my accounts” on At Your Service Online.
    • Confirm your enrollments and keep a copy of your confirmation statement.
    • If you are unable to enroll online, see your department immediately for assistance.
  • You can enroll in voluntary Retirement Savings programs at any time. To enroll, contact Fidelity Retirement Services:
    • By Phone: 1-866-682-7787, press 0
    • Online: http://netbenefits.com.
    • UC contracts with Fidelity to provide account services and record-keeping for the Retirement Savings programs.
  • Designate your beneficiaries.
  • It is a good idea to check your pay statement each month to ensure it is correct, however, it is particularly important to do so whenever you enroll or make changes to your benefits enrollments to verify that all of your enrollments are correctly recorded. If there are any problems, contact your Department Benefits Counselor immediately. It is your responsibility to be sure your enrollments are correctly reflected on your pay statements. If you wait to report an error, we will not be able to fix it.

If you need additional help, first seek help in your department. If they are unable to help you, they will refer you to the Central HR Benefits Unit.


Important Notes

Rehires

  1. If you are rehired within 120 days of your date of separation, you may only enroll in the plans and level of coverage you had prior to separation. Other than this restriction, follow the steps above. If the New Hire Enrollment web application will not allow you to enroll, see you Department Benefits Counselor immediately for help.
  2. If you are rehired more than 120 days from your date of separation, there are no restrictions on enrollments – you enroll as a new employee. Follow the steps above. If the New Hire Enrollment web application will not allow you to enroll, see you Department Benefits Counselor immediately for help.
  3. If you have prior UC Retirement Plan (UCRP) membership: read the UCRP Buyback booklet (PDF) for information about reinstating your prior service credit.
  4. If you have prior service in the Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) or the State Teachers’ Retirement System (Cal STRS), refer to the appropriate factsheet for more information about reciprocity agreements.

Interlocation Transfers

  1. If you are an interlocation transfer with no break in service or an interlocation rehire within 120 days of separation, you may only enroll in the plans and level of coverage you had at your prior location. In order to avoid duplicate coverage and extra insurance premiums, you must enroll using paper forms, even though the online enrollment application will allow you to enroll. If you enroll online, you will not receive a refund of premium overpayments.
  2. If you are an interlocation rehire more than 120 days from your date of separation, there are no restrictions on enrollments – you enroll as a new employee. Follow the steps above. If the New Hire Enrollment web application will not allow you to enroll, see you Department Benefits Counselor immediately for help.

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