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Leaving UC employment
Leaving UC employment
We’re sorry to see you go, and we wish you the best. Here are a few things you need (or may want) to take care of before you leave. For more details about what happens to your benefits when you leave UC, see the Termination of Employment Benefits PDF fact sheet.
Depending on your circumstances, you may want to talk with your Human Resources representative about your possible eligibility for disability, retirement and/or other benefits.
- Continue the health insurance coverage you need.
- Understand your options for other UC insurance coverage.
- Use your FSA funds.
- Decide what to do with your primary retirement benefits.
- Understand your retirement savings plan options
- Arrange to pay back your 403(b) loan, if you have one.
- Update your beneficiaries.
- Keep your UC connections.
- Last steps
Continue the health insurance coverage you need.
Your participation in UC-sponsored benefits plans usually stops on the last day of the last month for which you have an eligible appointment and you’ve paid premiums. However, you may be able to continue your medical, dental and vision coverage by signing up for COBRA health insurance continuation or by converting coverage to individual plans. Learn more about COBRA here or contact your local benefits office.
Your insurance providers will have details about converting to individual plans. You may also want to explore your options through the health insurance marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act. In California, you can find information at www.coveredca.com.
Your Health Savings Account belongs to you and you can use it to pay for eligible expenses after you leave UC employment.
Your HSA contributions through payroll deduction end with your last paycheck, but you can continue to contribute to your HSA as long as you are covered by any qualified high-deductible health plan.
If you have not yet reached the IRS maximum contribution limit allowed for the year, you can still make contributions directly to HealthEquity. Call HealthEquity for more information at 1-866-212-4729 at any time.
Understand your options for other UC insurance coverage
Your options for continuing other coverage depend on the plan.
If you leave UC employment, you’re no longer eligible for the UC-sponsored basic or voluntary disability plans. Coverage ends on your last day actively at work.
AD&D coverage ends the last day of the last month for which you have an eligible appointment and premiums are paid. If you would like to convert this coverage to an individual policy, you need to apply for conversion for you and eligible family members within 31 days of leaving UC. Please note that individual policies are generally more expensive and offer fewer benefits.
Coverage ends on the last day of the month in which you end your employment with UC, but you may continue coverage through a process called “porting.” Contact Prudential’s customer service team at 855-483-1438 to port your coverage.
You may be able to buy an individual legal insurance policy directly from ARAG, the university’s legal coverage provider. Contact ARAG for details and more information.
If you’re enrolled in basic life only, you may continue basic dependent life; if you’re enrolled in and continue Supplemental Life, you may continue Basic Dependent Life or Expanded Dependent Life. When your group coverage ends, you have 31 days in which to apply for conversion to an individual policy or port (or continue) your coverage.
Your access to Bright Horizons Additional Family Supports ends when you leave UC employment. If you want to continue to use this resource, contact Bright Horizons Additional Family Supports about a paid membership.
Use your FSA funds
Your Dependent Care flexible spending account (FSA) ends when you go off pay status and may not be continued. You may be reimbursed for eligible expenses you incurred through the end of the pay period for which you made your last contribution. You have until April 15 of the next year to submit claims for reimbursement. You must forfeit any funds you don’t claim by the deadline.
The same rules apply to the Health FSA, but you may continue to participate in the Health FSA for the remainder of the plan year under COBRA. Learn more about COBRA here or contact your local benefits office.
Decide what to do with your primary retirement benefits
When you leave UC employment, you’ll stop making contributions for your primary retirement benefits, and you’ll stop accruing service credit.
Learn more about retiree health eligibility.
Your UCRP benefits are vested (available to you) after you have accrued five years of service credit. You may be eligible for one of the following options:
- Inactive membership: As a vested member in UCRP, you may retain the right to future retirement benefits by leaving your retirement plan accumulations in the plan.
- Refund of accumulations: You may request a distribution of your plan accumulations when you leave UC. If you request a refund of plan accumulations, you must also take your Capital Accumulation Payment (CAP) accumulations, if any. Please note: If you are vested in UCRP and take a refund of your plan accumulations, you will no longer be eligible for future retirement benefits.
- Retirement income: If you meet the criteria of your pension tier, you can elect to retire and receive a monthly lifetime benefit or, in some cases, a lump sum cashout. Contact the Retirement Administration Service Center for information if you decide to go this route.
Your employee contributions and related investment earnings are immediately vested (available to you), and UC’s contributions are vested after one year of service. Here are your options when you leave UC:
- Keep some money in your Savings Choice account (and at least $2,000 in the DC Plan): As long as you maintain a minimum balance of $2,000 in the DC Plan, with some of that money remaining in your Savings Choice account, you retain any service credit you have accrued toward retiree health benefits.
- Take a full distribution or rollover of your Savings Choice DC Plan account, or trigger an automatic distribution by letting the balance of your DC Plan account fall below $2,000: If you choose this option before you begin receiving retiree health benefits, you will lose any retiree health service credit you have accrued. Should you be rehired by UC, you will not have the option to purchase the retiree health service credit you forfeited.
Understand your retirement savings plan options
Your contributions to the 403(b), 457(b) and/or DC Plans stop with your last paycheck. If your balance in a plan is at least $2,000, you can keep your money in the plan and continue to take advantage of the benefits of UC’s Retirement Savings Program.
If you have less than $2,000 in a plan when you leave UC employment, you may no longer keep the money in the UC Retirement Savings Program. Plan balances may not be combined to meet the $2,000 minimum balance requirement. If you do not make arrangements for a distribution, your accumulation will be either:
- Rolled over to an IRA custodian in an account maintained for you, if your balance is more than $1,000.
- Paid directly to you at your address of record, if your balance is $1,000 or less. There may be tax penalties. See Fidelity Retirement Services for more information.
Arrange to pay back your 403(b) loan, if you have one
If you are repaying a 403(b) loan, you must arrange with Fidelity Retirement Services to make monthly payments or repay the loan in full within 90 days of your last day on pay status. If you do not take any action, the outstanding principal will be reported as a distribution and will be subject to income tax and (if applicable) state and federal penalties.
Update your beneficiaries
For UCRP and CAP, you can update beneficiaries any time online. For retirement savings accounts, contact Fidelity.
Keep your UC connections
Even though you’re leaving UC, there are some very good reasons to stay connected:
- If you leave money in UCRP, you’ll need to notify UC any time you move.
- You can continue to access important records (such as your W-2 form) through the UCPath Former Employee Access site. You’ll need to register and create a user account (with a non-business email address) to access your information. See UCPath online for former employees for more information.
Last steps
Return any UC items related to your job such as keys, laptop, access cards, mobile phones, etc. Leave phone and email messages informing contacts who to go to after your departure.
Thank you for your service to UC!
Manage your benefits
Are you…
- Retired? Learn more about benefits for retirees.
- A postdoctoral scholar? Visit your Gallagher benefits portal.
- Represented by a union? See your collective bargaining agreement for details about your benefits.