January 28, 2009
Voluntary benefit deductions missing from January biweekly pay
Deductions for voluntary benefits were missed on the Jan. 14 biweekly pay and, for many, will be missed again on the Jan. 28 pay. Voluntary benefits include dental, homeowner’s, auto, universal life, prepaid legal, and others.
New enrollees and those who made a change in voluntary benefit coverage for 2009 will have a double deduction taken from the Jan. 28 pay. During the rest of the year, a deduction equal to 1/26th of the annual voluntary benefit premium will be taken from each pay.
For employees who carried their 2008 voluntary benefits forward into 2009 with no changes in coverage, deductions were missed on both the Jan. 14 and Jan. 28 pays. To make up for the missed deductions, the annual voluntary benefit premiums will be divided by 24 and taken in equal installments from the 24 biweekly pays in February through December 2009.
"The insurance carriers have assured us there will be no loss of coverage and no problem with claims because of this," said John Beelke, director of Human Resource Services.
The situation occurred because of difficulty with a file from the University’s voluntary benefits administrator, USI Affinity.
"Biweekly employees who wish to verify the deductions taken from their January pays can check Employee Self Service," Beelke said. Pay statements for the Jan. 28 payday were online beginning Jan. 26.