Family Friendly Benefits

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The discussion of benefits in this section applies specifically to faculty and staff on the Berkeley campus. This information is current only as of the date of publication. Before taking any action, refer to updated policy manuals and contracts. If you have questions, please contact your Department Benefits Counselor (DBC). The benefits discussed here are governed entirely by the terms of the applicable plan documents, custodial agreements, University of California Group Insurance Regulations, group insurance contracts, and state and federal laws.

For more comprehensive information on the following insurance programs, refer to " Your Group Insurance Plans" at: http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/forms_pubs/misc/ygip2004.pdf.

After reading this section, more information on benefits continuation can be found in the Maternity, Leave Without Pay, Disability, and Paid Leave Checklists and in the summary plan descriptions for each plan. Your Department Benefits Counselor (DBC) can provide you with these publications, or see the checklists online on the Benefits Life Events Page at http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/forms_pubs/categorical/checklists_factsheets.html. If you are going on leave, you must complete the Request to Continue Benefits While on Leave form and submit it to the Payroll office, indicating whether you are cancelling or continuing your benefits while you are on leave. If you do not complete this form, you may be liable for premiums paid on your behalf. This form can be found at http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/forms/lwopben.doc

Short-Term Disability
If you are an employee with full benefits eligibility and have a medical determination of disability, you are eligible for benefits from the Short-Term Disability plan. There is a waiting period and a requirement that you use up to 30 calendar days (22 working days, excluding holidays) of your accrued sick leave, if you have that much, before benefits begin. After that, the decision to use additional sick leave is voluntary.

Short-Term Disability will pay 55% of your monthly salary to a maximum of $800 per month for up to six months. You are eligible for this benefit only for the length of time your doctor certifies that you are disabled.

Supplemental Disability
If you are enrolled, this plan supplements the benefits from the Short-Term Disability plan to pay a total of 70% of your monthly salary to a maximum of $10,000 per month after you have completed the waiting period you have selected (7, 30, 90, or 180 days) and used the required 22 working days of sick leave. This plan is an optional benefit that eligible faculty and staff must sign up for when they are hired. After that, a statement of health must be approved by the insurer before you can enroll.

State Disability
If you have worked at the University for less than 18 months, you may be eligible for SDI benefits. Contact your local Employment Development Department for more information and an application by calling their toll free number, 1-800-480-3287 or you can online at: http://www.edd.cahwnet.gov/. If you are eligible for SDI, your benefits from the UC Disability plans will be reduced by the amount of your SDI benefit, so that your total benefits do not exceed the maximum described in the previous sections.

A Note about Income, Benefits, Vacation and Sick Leave during Pregnancy Leave
For eligible employees, income during pregnancy leave may come from several sources - Short-Term Disability and Supplemental Disability programs, State Disability Insurance (SDI), and vacation and sick leave. Pregnancy Leave may affect benefits continuation of various health and welfare plans, i.e., medical, dental, etc. Questions about benefit programs and disability benefits should be directed to the campus Benefits Unit at 642-7053.

While receiving disability benefits, you are on leave without pay and do not accrue vacation or sick leave. If you have prior departmental approval, you may use your accrued vacation leave during waiting periods before disability benefits begin, or for additional time off before returning to work from maternity leave. If you have more than 22 working days of accrued sick leave, you might consider saving some unused sick leave for medical appointments for your baby or yourself after you have returned to work.

Medical Coverage
UC contributions for medical coverage continue if you are on a paid leave or Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, or are receiving Short-Term Disability benefits and remain on approved leave. You must continue to pay your portion of the medical plan cost (last names beginning A-L call 642-0684; last names neginning M-Z call 642-7217) directly to the campus Payroll Office, Benenfits Accounting, at 171 University Hall (642-3685). You can find the Request to Continue Benefits While On Leave form at http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/forms/lwopben.doc

If you choose to remain on leave without pay after your FMLA leave or after Short Term Disability benefits end, your medical coverage stops. You may continue your coverage for up to a total of two years during an approved leave without pay, by paying premiums directly to the campus Payroll Office.

If you are on unpaid leave for less than 12 months and return to an eligible position, you may re-enroll in the same plan you were enrolled in before you left. If you are on leave for 12 months or more and return to an eligible position, you are treated as a newly eligible employee for benefits enrollment purposes.

Dental and Optical
UC contributions for dental and optical coverage continue for up to 12 weeks during an FMLA leave. Provisions for continuing these benefits at your own expense and re-establishing them when you return from leave without pay are the same as those described for medical benefits.

Life Insurance and AD& D
While you are receiving disability benefits and are on leave without pay, coverage to AD & D, supplemental insurance, and dependent life insurance are suspended. However, if you remain on approved leave you may continue coverage by arranging to pay premiums directly to the campus Payroll Office. Provisions for continuing these benefits at your own expense and re-establishing them when you return from leave without pay are the same as those described above for medical benefits.

Your coverage under Basic life insurance ends four calendar months from the beginning of leave without pay. You may convert the insurance to an individual policy within 31 days of the date that coverage ends. See your Department Benefits Counselor (DBC) for a conversion form. Coverage resumes automatically when you return to work in an eligible position.

Other Benefits
Contributions and deductions for other benefits, such as Short Term Disability, Business Travel Accident, and Workers' Compensation coverage, should resume automatically when you return to pay status. Auto, Homeowner, and Rental Insurance is suspended while you are on leave, but you can continue these forms of insurance by paying A+ directly.

Retirement and Savings Plans
Contributions and deductions for all retirement and savings plans stop while you are receiving disability benefits or are on leave without pay, and resume automatically when you return to pay status.

After you return to pay status, you may be eligible to buy back UC Retirement Plan service credit that you did not earn because you were on leave without pay. (You can buy back this loss of time toward your retirement plan whether your loss has been from disability or personal leave of absence.) Speak to your Department Benefits Counselor (DBC) about buy-back procedures. Please note that there is a three year window to choose buy-back.

Benefits for Domestic Partners
An eligible same-sex domestic partner and same-sex domestic partner's child may be covered under your medical, dental, vision, legal, dependent life, and AD&D plans. For eligibility rules see: http://www.ucop.edu/bencom/.

Benefits for Dependent Children
New dependents are not automatically enrolled into your benefit plans. You will have a Period of Initial Eligibility (PIE) to enroll new dependents in certain benefits plans for which you are eligible. The PIE begins on the date of birth, legal adoption, or legal guardianship of your child and ends 31 days later, or on the last working day of that 31-day period, whichever comes first. During the PIE you may add your child only to the medical, dental, vision, legal, and dependent life insurance plans you were enrolled in before the child's birth or adoption.

If you don't enroll a new dependent within this time period, you will have to wait until medical, dental, vision and legal insurance are offered by the University during an open enrollment period or, for medical plan enrollment only, you can apply for coverage through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA enrollment at the University requires a 90 day waiting period before coverage is effective. If you miss the enrollment period listed above and you want to enroll in dependent life insurance, you must complete a statement of Health, subject to carrier approval. This can be done at any time.

During the PIE you may also enroll in, or increase, employee-paid life insurance and purchase dependent life insurance for your child.

Benefits you May Enroll in at Any Time
Accidental death and dismemberment coverage (AD&D) can be changed at any time. Enrollment forms should be submitted to the campus Payroll Office. Once the forms are received, benefits are retroactive to the date of eligibility. (AD&D is not retroactive but prospective from the date the form is received in Payroll). If you are on leave (paid or unpaid) for health reasons, your effective date may be delayed. You may add your child as a beneficiary to your life insurance and retirement plans at any time. See your Department Benefits Counselor (DBC) for forms.

Long-Term Care Insurance
UC employees have options for long term care insurance available to them. Long term care insurance covers elders' needs for extended care services. For more information, Link to CalPERS at http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/about/benefits-overview/longterm-care-benefits.xml or to the TIAA-CREF Teachers Select Care Policy at http://www.tiaa-cref.org/ltc/index.html

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Tax Reduction for Dependent Care Expenses
Two programs enable people who are paying for child care to reduce their income taxes: The Child Care Tax Credit and the Dependent Care Assistance Program. Both programs require that the person being cared for live in your home and be claimed as a dependent on your federal income tax return. To be eligible, children must be under age 13. You can receive credit for care of any-age dependents only if they are disabled or cannot care for themselves because of physical or mental problems. Under both programs your expenses for in-home care, licensed care out of the home, or day camps are eligible. You must show the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of the care provider on your federal income tax return.

If you want more information on these two programs after reading this description, go to the Benefits web site at http://atyourservice.ucop.edu for a more in-depth comparison.

Child Care Tax Credit
The federal government currently provides working families a child care tax credit if they have child care expenses for one or more children under age 13. An additional earned income credit is available to families who meet the federal requirements in each tax year. You must file a separate schedule or form with your tax return to receive these credits. For further details and examples, refer to IRS Publication 503 or consult your tax advisor.

Dependent Care Assistance Program
The Dependent Care Assistance Program (DepCare) allows eligible UC employees to pay for eligible dependent care expenses on a pre-tax basis. This can produce a significant financial savings since you pay no tax on that portion of your income. Maximum contribution limits are established by the Internal Revenue Code. The current limit is $5,000 a year.

The amount you specify is taken from your paycheck each month before taxes are deducted and deposited into your DepCare account by the University. You must pay your dependent care expenses directly to the provider and then submit a claim for reimbursement from your DepCare account. The reimbursement is not subject to tax. Reimbursement takes between three and five weeks, depending upon when your claim is received.

You should carefully estimate your DepCare expenses since, under IRS law, you forfeit any unclaimed balance in your DepCare account after the closing date for the plan year (generally April 15 of the following year).

You must enroll in DepCare during your Period of Initial Eligibility (PIE), or during an eligible change in family or employment status. If you don't, you will have to wait until the next open enrollment period. To sign up for DepCare fill out the DepCare/TIP Salary Reduction Agreement form available from your Department Benefits Counselor (DBC).

The DepCare program can be used either with or instead of the child care tax credit. There is a combined maximum for the two programs, so using one reduces your ability to use the other. Whether your tax savings will be greater through DepCare or the federal tax credit depends on your income, your tax status (e.g., whether you are single or married) and how many dependents you have. Generally, people with higher incomes derive more tax savings from the DepCare program. In 1997, for example, anyone with a household income of over $43,000 would receive more tax savings using the DepCare program than the tax credit.

More information and a detailed description of these programs can be found in the DepCare Summary Plan description available from your Department Benefits Counselor (DBC).

Please do not make decisions and take actions based solely on the information in this section without verifying its current accuracy with your departmental human resources and benefits staff or central campus OHR or Academic Personnel.

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