During the 2009 Washington State Legislative session, the Legislature established new eligibility rules for those participating in the Public Employees’ Benefits Board (PEBB) insurance programs. Effective January 1, 2010, these new criteria are used to evaluate when temporary employees become eligible for employer-paid insurance coverage. Below is information on how the rules apply to temporary employees—or what are termed in state law as "nonpermanent," "career seasonal," and "instructional year" employees.
Note: If you are temporary, part-time faculty, different rules govern your eligibility. Please see the faculty eligibility rules at Eligibility for Faculty, Staff, and Librarians.
Under the new rules, temporary staff employees are eligible for the employer-paid PEBB insurances if they:
Note: In order to become eligible and activate insurance benefits beginning the 7th month of continuous employment, the employee must also work at least 8 hours into the 7th month.
There are two ways for temporary employees to obtain PEBB insurance eligibility:
1. Through a temporary appointment which meets the eligibility criteria (listed above) from its inception based on the proposed work schedule offered by the department(s);
OR, if an appointment is not initially eligible for insurance, then:
2. By establishing eligibility through an individual’s actual UW employment pattern. This may include working in more than one non-faculty appointment or department, or a series of UW appointments. All employment and hours worked at UW are monitored by the UW Benefits Office to determine when eligibility is established. Please note that student employment is not eligible for consideration towards faculty and staff benefits.
In the event you become eligible for insurance benefits, written notice will be mailed to your home address of record in UW Employee Self-Service (ESS). It is your responsibility to keep your home address updated in ESS. This is also the address to which your annual W-2 tax statement will be sent if you are no longer on the UW payroll at the time of distribution. You may view your address and other payroll and benefits information at any time by using your UW NetID to log on to UW ESS. If you do not have easy access to a computer, your department’s Payroll Coordinator can also update your home address for you.
You may appeal an eligibility determination in writing to the UW Benefits Office within 30 days of receiving an eligibility notice, providing the reason(s) for your appeal. Additional information about the appeal process is available by contacting the UW Benefits Office or from the Health Care Authority's website: http://www.pebb.hca.wa.gov/appeals.html.
As soon as you are notified of your eligibility—via a letter from the Benefits Office—you are responsible for acting promptly to enroll yourself and any dependent(s) in your desired coverage. You must return your insurance forms to the Benefits Office within 31 days of your eligibility date. Medical premiums are due retroactive to the eligibility date for the medical plan you select. If you do not wish to enroll in a medical plan, you can indicate on the medical/dental form that you wish to "waive" participation, therefore avoiding premiums.
There are a variety of information and resources available to you to help you decide your coverages. They are:
Also, insurance plan coverage and enrollment for eligible temporary employees is described on the following pages.
Eligible employees must turn in a Medical/Dental Enrollment form to activate medical and dental coverage. Failure to turn in completed forms within the 31-day deadline, triggers the following events:
Benefits Summary for Temporary Employees (.pdf)
If you are looking for information about retirement plan participation, see the PERS 2 or PERS 3 web page.
