Employee Benefits - NIH Benefits Information - Did You Know? August 2007
What's New?
Topics of Interest:
- If I Die As An Employee, Will A Survivor Benefit Be Payable To My Spouse?
- Do You Want To Provide Feedback On Our Benefits Newsletter?
- What Are Voluntary Contributions Under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)?
- How Is Sick Leave Credited Towards Retirement?
- How Is The Coverage Amount Determined for Life Insurance?
- I Have Misplaced My myPay PIN. How Do I Obtain A New One?
Where Do I Go If I Have Questions About My Benefits?
1. BENEFITS CALENDAR OF EVENTS
2. YOUR 2007 BENEFITS STATEMENT WILL BE ARRIVING SOON!
Your annual Benefits Statement will be mailed to your home address in August. The benefits computations and figures are based on payroll data as of April 2007. Changes effective since then will not be included. The statement will reflect retirement benefits determined using your Leave Service Computation Date (SCD). SCDs reflect how much service is creditable toward eligibility for a benefit or entitlement. The Leave SCD is used to determine the rate at which your annual leave is accrued while the Retirement SCD is used to determine your retirement eligibility. In some cases, these dates may be different. If you have questions, please notify your Benefits Contact.
3. IF I DIE AS AN EMPLOYEE, WILL A SURVIVOR ANNUITY BE PAYABLE TO MY SPOUSE?
If you are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or CSRS-Offset, your spouse is entitled to a survivor annuity (OPM) provided you have at least 18 months of civilian service, and you were married for at least 9 months. The 9-month requirement does not apply if your death is accidental or there is a child born of the marriage.; Generally, your spouse is entitled to 55% of your earned annuity based on your length of service and high-three salary at the time of your death.
(Note: If you have a former spouse from whom you were divorced after May 6, 1985, he or she may receive, by court order, all or a part of the survivor annuity that your current spouse would otherwise receive.)
If you are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), your spouse is entitled to the Basic Employee Death Benefit (BEDB) (OPM) provided you have at least 18 months of creditable civilian service, and you were married for at least 9 months. The 9-month requirement does not apply if your death is accidental or there is a child born of the marriage. The BEDB is a lump sum payment (currently $27,461.91) plus a payment of 50% of your annual pay or 50% of your average pay, whichever is higher. Furthermore, if you have at least 10 years of creditable service, your spouse is also entitled to a survivor annuity (OPM) equaling 50% of your earned annuity based on your length of service and high-three salary at the time of your death.
(Note: If you have a former spouse, he or she may receive, by court order, all or a part of the survivor annuity that your current spouse would otherwise receive. Additionally, a court order that awards a survivor annuity to a former spouse also awards a corresponding share of the BEDB unless the order expressly states otherwise.)
4. DO YOU WANT TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON OUR BENEFITS NEWSLETTER?
Do you want to comment on our newsletter? Do you have suggestions? We welcome your feedback! E-mail us at BenefitE@od.nih.gov.
5. WHAT ARE VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER THE CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (CSRS)?
If you are an employee covered under CSRS or CSRS Offset, and you want to receive a larger annuity than that which would be payable based on your years of service and “high-3” salary, you may make voluntary contributions (OPM) to purchase additional annuity. However, if you owe a deposit or redeposit for civilian service, you will be eligible to make voluntary contributions only after the deposit or redeposit is paid. Also, if you previously made voluntary contributions, and received a refund of those contributions, you may not make voluntary contributions again, unless you had a break in service after receiving the refund.
If you wish to make voluntary contributions, you must complete the Application To Make Voluntary Contributions, Standard Form 2804 (OPM), and forward it to your Benefits Contact.
6. HOW IS SICK LEAVE CREDITED TOWARDS RETIREMENT?
If you are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and retire with an immediate annuity, or die leaving a spouse entitled to a survivor annuity, your sick leave (OPM) is credited towards retirement to give you additional service credit. If you are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), sick leave is not credited for annuity computation purposes. Please refer any questions to your Benefits Contact.
7. HOW IS THE COVERAGE AMOUNT DETERMINED FOR LIFE INSURANCE?
Your life insurance coverage amount will depend upon the type of coverage you have. The Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program (OPM) offers Basic insurance coverage and three types of Optional coverage. The Basic insurance coverage amount is equal to your annual basic salary rounded up to the next $1,000 plus an additional $2,000. There is also an extra benefit for employees under age 45. Option A (Standard) provides a flat coverage amount of $10,000. Option B (Additional) provides multiples of one to fives times your annual basic salary, after rounding up to the next $1,000. Option C (Family) is coverage for your spouse and unmarried dependent children under age 22. It provides one to five multiples of coverage. Each multiple is equal to $5,000 for your spouse and $2,500 for each of your eligible dependent children.
The cost for basic insurance is shared between you and the government. Your age does not affect the cost for Basic coverage. You pay the full cost for any Optional insurance, and the cost depends on your age. To determine the value and cost of your FEGLI, the easy use of the FEGLI calculator can help. Please refer any questions to your Benefits Contact.
8. I HAVE MISPLACED MY myPAY PIN. HOW DO I OBTAIN A NEW ONE?
You can request a new PIN in one of two ways. One of which is by selecting “New Pin” on the myPay (DFAS) website. Please make sure you use the “Go” button to finalize your request. Using this method your PIN will be mailed to your current record of address within 7 to 10 business days.
If you need it sooner, your second option is to send a fax to 216-367-3549. You will need to include in your request, your name, SSN, a daytime phone number, a copy of your NIH ID, and you must sign the fax. Upon receiving your fax, the Defense Finance & Accounting Service (DFAS) will reset your PINusing the last 5 numbers of your SSN as your temporary PIN. You will then be able to log in within 3 days using your temporary PIN. Upon logging in, you will be prompted to reset your PIN.
If you encounter problems with your PIN or using myPay (DFAS), contact the DFAS Centralized Customer Support Unit toll-free at 1-888-332-7411. This support line is available Monday through Friday, 7:00 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. The Centralized Customer Support Unit can provide assistance on how to use the options available to you in myPay. The Centralized Customer Support Unit will also provide support for establishing and changing your PIN.
9. HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH MY BENEFITS CONTACT?
Your contact in the Benefits and Payroll Liaison Branch will be able to help you with a variety of issues pertaining to the health and life insurance programs, designating beneficiaries, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), calculating your retirement annuity estimate, working with you to pay a redeposit for prior civilian service if you previously withdrew your retirement funds, paying a deposit for prior civilian or military service for which retirement deductions were not withheld, etc. To find your benefits contact, review our list of contacts. In addition, the Benefits and Payroll Liaison Branch (BPLB) website has a wealth of information regarding your Federal benefits.
Human resource topics not related to your benefits are normally handled by your Client Services Division HR Representative.
