July 2011 - Benefits Newsletter
Topics Of Interest:
- Is Your State Tax Withholding Correct?
- View Your Leave And Earnings Statement (LES) Regularly – It’s Important!
- How Can I Determine If My Designations Of Beneficiary Are Up To Date?
- What Happens To My Child’s Health Insurance Coverage When He/She Turns Age 26?
- What Happens To My Child’s Life Insurance Coverage When He/She Turns Age 22?
- Why Do I Need A myPay PIN And How Can I Get One?
- Where Can I Find Information On Pay And Leave?
Where Do I Go If I Have Questions About My Benefits?
1. Benefits Calendar of Events
2. Is Your State Tax Withholding Correct?
When was the last time you checked the tax withholdings on your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) for accuracy? Confirming that state taxes are being withheld for the correct state is extremely important. If you fail to make a state tax withholding election, the withholdings automatically default to the state of Maryland. An address change from one state to another completed in myPay does not automatically change your state tax withholding. You can access your LES in myPay (DFAS). Should you discover a withholding problem, complete the appropriate state tax withholding form and submit it to the Benefits and Payroll Liaison Branch, Bldg 31/Rm B3C23.
3. View Your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) Regularly – It's Important!
LES each payday to ensure that proper deductions are being withheld. You should also compare your leave balances with those in ITAS. You can access your LES in myPay (DFAS). Should you discover a Benefits withholding problem, notify your Benefits Contact. For other pay or leave problems, contact your timekeeper or Administrative Officer for assistance. Your LES is available in myPay for only the past 26 pay periods. Once your LES has been removed through normal pay period updates, it cannot be regenerated. We recommend that you print or save the printer friendly version of your LES to a file or disk.
If you want the added convenience of receiving an e-mail notification each pay period when your LES is available in myPay, you only need to follow a few simple steps. First, you need to access your account in myPay (DFAS). Once in myPay, select E-mail Address. You must then enter your Secure Personal E-mail Address twice and click on the primary button. Finally, click on accept/submit. You will then be asked to confirm your information. That’s all it takes! Each pay period, you will receive an e-mail notifying you when your LES is available.
4. How Can I Determine If My Designations Of Beneficiary Are Up To Date?
Designation of Beneficiary forms may be completed for unpaid compensation , life insurance , retirement (CSRS or FERS ), and the Thrift Savings Plan, TSP-3 , if you want payment to go to someone other than the person(s) entitled under the normal order of precedence upon your death. You should periodically review your designations to ensure they remain current. You may view designations for unpaid compensation, life insurance, and FERS in your electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF) . A designation will still be valid even if your family situation has changed. For instance, if you designated your spouse and you have since divorced, your former spouse is still your beneficiary unless you file a new Designation of Beneficiary, either canceling the previous one or designating someone else. Additionally, please know that the unpaid compensation designation form is no longer valid if you transfer to another Federal agency. The OPM website also has information pertaining to designating minors as beneficiaries.
Once you’ve completed the form(s) and have had them signed by two witnesses, the unpaid compensation, life insurance, and the FERS forms should be forwarded to the Benefits & Payroll Liaison Branch, 31 Center Drive, Bldg 31, Room B3C23, MSC 2215, Bethesda, MD 20892-2215. (Note: NIEHS employees located in North Carolina may submit their forms to Donna Fisher, Keystone, Room 1108.) The CSRS and TSP forms should be mailed directly to the address indicated on each form. Please note that no erasures, white-out, or cross-outs are permitted on the designation forms. If you have questions, please notify your Benefits Contact.
5. What Happens To My Child's Health Insurance Coverage When He/She Turns Age 26?
When your child reaches age 26, he or she is no longer eligible to be covered under your health benefits enrollment. If your child is no longer eligible for coverage and was your only covered family member, you must submit an election form to your Benefits Contact to change your enrollment to “Self Only”. The change is not automatic.
You have 60 days from the date your child turns age 26 to notify your Benefits Contact. He/she will give you information on how your child may enroll in his/her own right for Temporary Continuation of Coverage (TCC) (OPM). The TCC enrollment can be for up to 36 months and the child will have to pay the full premium (no Government contribution), plus a 2% administrative charge. TCC enrollments are also available to you (coverage for up to 18 months) should you leave the Government and for a former spouse should you get divorced (coverage for up to 36 months). All TCC enrollments must be submitted within 60 days of the event allowing the enrollment.
6. What Happens To My Child's Life Insurance Coverage When He/She Turns Age 22?
When your child reaches age 22 (or marries before age 22) he or she is no longer eligible to be covered under your life insurance family enrollment. This is true even if your child is still in school. If your child is no longer eligible for coverage and was your only covered family member, you must submit an election form to your Benefits Contact to cancel the Option C-Family coverage. The change is not automatic.
To determine if you have Option C-Family, review your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or your LES in myPay (DFAS). If your two-digit Life Insurance code ends in number 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, then you are carrying Option C. Loss of coverage due to marriage or reaching age 22 does not afford one the opportunity to convert Option C to an individual policy. If you have specific questions, please notify your Benefits Contact.
7. Why Do I Need A myPay PIN And How Can I Get One?
It is very important to have access to your myPay (DFAS) account so that you can view your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) each pay day to verify that the correct deductions are being withheld and that your leave balances on your LES match the balances in ITAS. You must also use myPay to make changes to your home address, TSP contributions, direct deposit of pay, allotments, and Federal tax withholdings. Additionally, some state tax withholdings must be made via myPay (DFAS). If you move to or from Maryland, you must complete a state tax form for your new state and submit it to the Payroll Liaison Team (Bldg 31/Rm B3C23) for processing. However, for movement between other states and/or the District, you must use myPay (DFAS). Additionally, all open season health insurance elections must be accomplished using myPay (DFAS).
To access the system, you will need your Login and Password. If you have forgotten your Login or Password, click the "Forgot Your Login ID?" or "Forgot or Need a Password?" link on the left side of the myPay (DFAS) screen. Using this method, your Password can be e-mailed to you if you pre-registered your e-mail address, or it can be mailed to your current home address of record within 7 to 10 business days
A second option for requesting a Password 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 Card, and you must sign the fax. Upon receiving your fax, the Defense Finance & Accounting Service (DFAS) will reset your Password using a temporary Password. Your temporary Password will be 8 numbers, the last 4 numbers of your SSN twice. You will not receive a notice from DFAS that your Password has been reset. Simply wait at least two business days before logging into myPay (DFAS) to use your temporary Password. Upon logging in, you will be prompted to reset your Password. Information pertaining to establishing an acceptable Login and Password can be obtained at myPay FAQs (DFAS).
If you encounter problems with your Login and/or Password or technical issues 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 6:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. They can provide assistance on how to use the options available to you in myPay. They will also provide support for establishing and changing your Login and/or Password.
8. Where Can I Find Information On Pay And Leave?
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. Don’t forget to check out the Benefits FAQs section.
Human resource topics not related to your benefits are normally handled by your Client Services Division HR Representative.