Your department's DBC can help you determine how employment life cycle events affect benefits eligibility and how you can best communicate benefits options to employees.
Changes in Appointment or Personal Circumstances
- New appointment/new hire
- Extension of original appointment
- Appointment added or eliminated in same or other department
- Increase or decrease in appointment percentage
- Title code change
- Payment method change
- Marriage or divorce
- Birth, adoption, or attaining legal guardianship of a child
- Child reaching age 23 or getting married
- Death of a dependent
- Travel or relocation out of health plan service area
- Involuntary loss of insurance coverage
- Change in employment status that affects dependent care expenses
Possible Ramifications are:
- A new PIE may be created for enrolling or adding dependents, changing plans or changing levels of participation
- If eligibility ends, options may be available for continuing coverage
Leaves
Leaves can also affect benefits coverage. Leaves of absence can occur for a variety of reasons and can be fully paid, partially paid, or unpaid. Leave periods include:
- Leave without pay for health reasons
- Leave without pay-personal
- Leave with pay
- Sabbatical leave
- Professional leave
- Furlough/temporary layoff
- Disability leave
- Maternity leave
- Family and medical leave (may run concurrently with other leaves)
- Military leave
- Workers' Compensation Extended Sick Leave
Possible Ramifications are:
- Some coverages may continue automatically
- The employee may be able to make arrangements with the Campus Payroll Office to pay for certain benefits
- Savings plans contributions may need to be adjusted
- Retirement system service credit, lost during a leave, may be eligible for buyback if initiated within the specified time
- Reenrollment in certain benefits may be necessary upon return to regular appointment
Employment Ends
When employment ends, benefits options will depend on which of the following circumstances applies:
- Employee is vested in UCRP or PERS and is age 50 or over
- Employee is vested, but is under age 50
- Employee is not vested
- Employee is going to PERS-covered employment
- Employee is being laid off
- Employee is being medically separated
Possible Ramifications are:
- Health and dental insurance may continue in retirement if the retirement date is within 120 days of separation
- COBRA conversion for health, dental, and vision insurance may be available
- Other insurances may be eligible for conversion
- A number of options (and tax ramifications) pertain to savings and retirement plan accumulations
- Retirement plan benefits may be available if the employee is age 50 or over with five years of service credit
- Inactive status in retirement and savings plans may be available even if the employee is under age 50
- Employees terminated due to Indefinite Layoff need specialized counseling about additional options available which may help preserve certain benefits
- Employees terminated under Medical Separation policies may be eligible to apply for a variety of retirement and group insurance benefit plans, and may lose the opportunity to apply for these benefits if application deadlines are not met
- Employee may be eligible for Unemployment Insurance