[Plsfaculty] CHANGE IN COLLECTION OF GROUP INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR ACADEMIC (9-MONTH) EMPLOYEES

[Donna-Rae Marquez]

On Behalf of Human Resources:

 

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CHANGE IN COLLECTION OF GROUP INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR ACADEMIC (9-MONTH)

EMPLOYEES

 

A change is being made to the premium deductions for your voluntary benefit

coverage for the summer of 2010 and future summers. Less premium will be

deducted in the Fall semester, and more premium will be deducted in the

Spring semester.

 

Past Practice

 

In the past, employees paid over the nine-month academic year had extra

insurance premiums deducted from every biweekly paycheck to pay for

voluntary benefits coverage (medical, dental, vision, and supplemental life

insurance) through the summer months when they were not receiving a

paycheck. The Fall semester is the most unpredictable time of year for

premium deductions. Each October, the start of the benefit plan year

generated new employee and employer premium rates; these changes impacted

current premium deductions and the pre-collected summertime premium

deductions. These processes were mostly automated in the payroll system, but

still required significant manual intervention to review and reconcile for

accuracy.

 

New Practice Effective 2009-2010 Academic Year

 

The Spring semester is the most stable time of year for premium deductions.

Beginning with the first paycheck in January 2010, all Spring semester

paychecks will have both a current premium AND a pre-collected premium

deducted for summertime coverage. This change will reduce the amount of

staff time spent on reconciling adjustments, maximize automation of the

processes in the new payroll system, and increase the timeliness and

accuracy of changes. Another advantage is that pre-collected premiums will

be both deducted and applied within the same calendar year, in alignment

with tax regulations and current practices of the other two Arizona

universities.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Your paychecks this fall will have no extra (pre-collected)

deductions for summertime premiums. Your paychecks will provide slightly

more take-home pay, and your Spring paychecks will provide slightly less

take-home pay. You may want to consider this change to your paycheck when

planning your budget for the Spring semester.

 

Additional Resources

 

Additional information, including Premium Deduction Charts, is available on

the Human Resources web site

<http://www.hr.arizona.edu/premium_deduction_academic_year_employees>. 

 

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