New Benefits Billing FAQs

June 23, 2022

Did You Know:

Recently, clarifications were given around Benefits Billing for employees on leaves without pay, furlough, and short work break. 

New FAQ Questions: 

When will employee billing notices be sent out; are these on the same schedule as employees on all other leaves?

  • Billing notices are prepared during the final week of the month and mailed to the employee on the last day of the month. Employees should receive the bill the first week of the month and is due by the end of the month

  • Example: If furloughs begin mid-June (around 6/19) then the transactions would need to be entered into UCPath no later than 6/15/22 to ensure it will be captured during 7/1/22 Finance Invoice Date for August coverage month

  • FYI: Short Work Breaks / Furloughs are on the same schedule as employees on all other leaves

  • Resources: UCPath Quicklinks -> Benefits Resources -> Location Users - Administrators for Benefits Billing Calendars -> Processing Calendars for Benefits Billing Processing Calendar 2022. Direct link

Will employees be given the option to pay the full amount due during this time or will they receive separate bills each month?

  • Benefits Billing is always on a monthly basis, so employees will receive separate bills each month

  • Examples:

    • For monthly employees, if their furlough begins mid-June (around 6/19) then 7/1/22 monthly paycheck should be their last Active paycheck with deductions to cover for July premiums, pay period dates 6/1/22 – 6/30/22 

    • For bi-weekly employees, if their furlough begins mid-June (around 6/19) then 7/6/22 bi-weekly paycheck should be their last Active paycheck with deductions to cover for the 1st half of August premiums, pay period dates 6/12/22 – 6/25/22 

  • Resources: UCPath Quicklinks -> Benefits Resources -> For Employees – Benefits Deduction Calendars -> Benefits Deduction Calendar – 2022. Direct Link

What happens if a location submits the furlough or Short Work Break after the deadline (e.g., after June 15th), when does the employee receive the Benefits Billing Invoice?

  • If the furlough transaction beginning mid-June (around 6/19) is entered after 6/15/22 and is not captured during 7/1/22 Invoice, then the following 8/1/22 Invoice for September coverage month would reflect August + September due for monthly employees and half August + September due for bi-weekly employees, all for the same 8/1/22 Invoice due date 8/31/22

What happens when an employee’s return to work date is after mid-month (e.g., 9/19/22)? 

  • If an employee’s return to work date is 9/19/22, there’s a difference between monthly and bi-weekly employees as active paychecks cover different coverage months.

  • Examples:

    • For monthly employees, their first Active paycheck with deductions should be 9/30/22 which covers October premiums, pay period 9/1/22 – 9/30/22. The 9/19/22 return from leave needs to be entered into UCPath before 8/23/22 (last calc for 9/1/22 Invoice that covers October premiums)

    • For bi-weekly employees, their first Active paycheck with deductions should be 10/12/22 covers 1st half of November premiums, pay period 9/18/22 – 10/1/22. The 9/19/22 return from leave needs to be entered into UCPath after 8/23/22 (last calc for 9/1/22 Invoice that covers October premiums) but before 9/23/22 (last calc for 10/1/22 Invoice that covers November premiums)

Does Leave without Pay/ Benefits Billing impact Flex Spending accounts?

When an employee returns to work from a leave without pay, where can they check that benefits are processing correctly?

  • Upon returning to work, employees can review their Benefits enrollment summary to ensure everything is correct.
  • Plans that were discontinued during the leave without pay, furlough or short work break will be reinstated when the employee returns to active status (this process can take a few weeks to be reflected within the employee’s Benefits summary). 

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