Benefits News for December 2022

December 15, 2022

December Webinars

Healthy Eating through the Holidays Webinar
Wednesday, December 14 at 8:00 a.m. Alaskan
It's easy to stress eat during the holidays. With all the added responsibilities of the season, it's no surprise that many people fall into bad eating habits. We'll be sharing tips & tricks to keep our health a top priority while still enjoying everything delicious this season offers.

Registration Open! FMLA Training with Unum
January 10, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. 
Register now for FML Training with Unum on myUA
Unum will host an FMLA training for all employees, supervisors, and HR Coordinators on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Alaskan. There have been several updates to the process (including the removal of earnings code 601 and 602) and we encourage all to attend. This training will be recorded and will be added to our FML Training website.


Resources & Reminders


Vivacity/ComPsych Holiday Tips
Review Holiday tips including intuitive eating and creating a holiday budget.

Update your Beneficiaries
UA would like to remind employees to keep their beneficiaries up to date.
Remember - beneficiaries for the accounts below are not maintained in UAOnline.

  1. All benefit-eligible employees have basic life insurance in the amount of $50,000. Please review the basic life insurance website to update your basic life insurance beneficiaries. You can also update your beneficiaries for your supplemental life and AD&D by visiting our Life Insurance website.
  2.  If you are a PERS/TRS DC member, please check your beneficiaries with Empower Retirement.
  3. If you are a PERS/TRS DB member, please check your beneficiaries with the Division of Retirement and Benefits.
  4. If you are an ORP member, please check your beneficiaries directly with your vendor (Fidelity, TIAA, VALIC, or Lincoln). Contact information can be found on our ORP website under "Enrollment / Manage your ORP" and "Manage your ORP."
  5. If you have a UA Pension Plan, please check your beneficiaries with your vendor (Fidelity, TIAA, VALIC, or Lincoln). Contact information can be found on our UA Pension Plan website under "Enrollment / Manage your UA Pension" and "Manage your UA Pension."
  6. If you have a Tax-deferred Annuity (TDA or 403(b))  you will want to reach out directly to your vendor to update your beneficiaries. 

Alaska 529 
The Alaska 529 is a versatile, tax-advantaged education savings plan that can be used for qualified expenses at nearly all colleges, universities, and technical schools nationwide, as well as for K-12 tuition. Contributions to accounts are taxable, earnings grow tax-deferred, and are tax-free if used for qualified education expenses. Visit the Alaska 529 Plan website or contact alaska529@alaska.edu for more information.

Sick Leave Donations
If you have excess sick leave and would like to donate hours to employees in need on approved FML, please visit our Leave Share website for more information including a form to submit for donations. Remember - donations remain in your sick leave balance until they are used by a recipient so you will not see the leave share hours deducted right away. 

Pharmacy Updates for January 1, 2023
There are pharmacy updates beginning January 1, 2023, that may affect specific employees on a UA Choice Health Plan. Express Scripts and Premera have sent out notices to those affected with the action items to ensure continued prescription coverage with no disruption. Please keep an eye out for this information to be delivered to your HR address. To review a list of in-network pharmacies, please go to express-scripts.com/findapharmacy. 
For questions regarding this update, please reach out to Premera by calling the customer service number on the back of your ID card or by logging into your account at premera.com. Additional information has been provided via a separate email on Thursday, December 8, 2022.

FMLA Updates to the 601/602 Earnings Codes and 5-day Reporting Period
UA is implementing two updates to the FML time reporting process.

  1. Removing both 601 and 602 earnings codes from time sheets beginning with R01 (pay period that runs from December 18, 2022 - December 31, 2022), and
  2. Removing the 5-day reporting deadline with Unum effective immediately. 

Please review the information provided in our November 16, 2022 email: Family Medical Leave (FML) Updates. This information is also provided on our FML FAQ pages for both employees and supervisors, the FML process guide, and the Benefits News page. If you have any questions, please email us.

Updates to the HSA and 403(b) 2023 Contribution Limits from the IRS
The IRS has released the updated amounts for calendar year 2023 for the HSA and the 403(b). These increased rates are available beginning January 1, 2023. Below are links to the HSA and 403(b) forms. If you do not want to make any changes for 2023, you do not need to submit a form. Elections will remain the same until you submit a form to update your deduction.

1:1 with Fidelity
 Interested in meeting with a Fidelity representative to discuss your current plans for retirement? Click here and follow the prompts to schedule your virtual appointment today!

Winter Closure
As a reminder, hard closure will be observed from December 23, 2022 - January 2, 2023.
More information, including soft closure dates, can be found in the Winter Closure Memo sent from Chief Human Resources Officer, Memry Dahl.

 

 
General Wellness Activities

Maintain Don't Gain
November 21, 2022 - January 8, 2023
The goal of this challenge is to practice healthy eating habits during the holiday season. Log and track your weight throughout the challenge from November 21, 2022 through January 8, 2023. This challenge is available to all UA employees on a UA Choice Health Care Plan. Remember - spouses and Financially Interdependent Partners (FIPs) can participate if they are on a UA Choice Health Care Plan, too! For more information, please visit the wellness website or contact Victoria Carver at victoria.c@zomohealth.com

 

Stay up to date!
Review our website to stay up to date on all benefits news.
If you have any questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.