There have been some concerns regarding the Optional Group Life Insurance (OGLI) premiums and how deductions are handled while on Layoff and whether coverage would lapse for non-payment of premiums. Employees' Life Insurance will not be cancelled while on layoff. OGL/DGL/OGA premiums will continue to be deducted from their pay (regular, SUB, or S&A). If there is not enough monies from their pay, the amount will accrue and placed in arrears until they return to work. When they return to work, the accrued amount will be deducted from their pay. An employee does not need to contact Payroll or Benefit Connect to request their premiums be taken from SUB or S&A.
OPTIONAL INSURANCE (OGL/DGL/OGA/VEDB) PAYMENTS FOR EMPLOYEES NOT ACTIVELY AT WORK
This guide provides an overview of the optional insurance plans payment process for an active employee who is no longer actively at work (due to Layoff or Leave of Absence).
Employee optional insurance premium payments are deducted from employee pay on one of the following Payroll systems:
o FCA Regular Payroll o Sickness & Accident Payroll o Supplement Unemployment Benefit (SUB) Payroll
Missed deductions (for OGL, DGL, OGA, or VEDB) occur most often when
o there is no pay check for a cycle (leave of absence, unpaid vacation, etc.) or o the participant is on an alternate FCA Payroll source, for participants on:
Layoff (SUB pay), or Sick Leave (Sickness & Accident)
When an ongoing payroll deduction is missed, whether the participant is on layoff/unpaid leave or not, Benefit Connect will:
o accrue missed deductions and o send the missed deduction on subsequent files to FCA Payroll as “arrears adjustments”
These adjustments are for missed deductions and do not replace ongoing deductions.
o Due to this, the participant may see an adjustment on a paycheck (Regular or SUB pay) especially while they are on a layoff/unpaid leave until these missed deductions are recouped.
Employees on layoff/unpaid leave who are not receiving a paycheck for a period will be direct billed by Benefit Connect for their ongoing optional insurance premiums.
o The Direct Bill invoice(s) they receive do(es) not eliminate the arrears or missed past deductions for prior payroll periods.
Please note, when switching to SUB or S&A Pay:
o there is typically a delay in receiving the first check, which could result in a deduction from that first check overlapping with their receiving a Direct Bill invoice, causing the participant to think they are being double billed when in fact that payroll deduction is really attributable to the payroll cycle prior to the cash pay begin date. To further clarify, SUB and S&A payments only get "arrears" deductions. Therefore, the SUB and S&A deductions for a participant on sick leave or layoff will always be one pay period behind. Example #1 - Employee is on a layoff:
The first layoff check has no deductions The 2nd layoff check has an arrears deduction for the deductions not taken from the first layoff check, but no regular deduction The employee is reinstated to work: o the first regular pay check has a regular deduction, o as well as an arrears deduction (for the 2nd layoff deduction owed)
Example #2 - Employee is off on an unpaid leave (with cash pay/direct billing):
Participant goes on unpaid leave effective 7/15/2019. Cash pay/direct billing starts 9/1/2019. Benefit Connect will continue to send payroll deductions through 8/31/2019. Benefit Connect will also send arrears adjustments for missed deductions. After 9/1/2019, the missed deductions will continue to accrue and be sent on payroll files even after cash pay starts. If a check is issued for any reason, these accrued amounts will be taken. If participant reinstates to work, Benefit Connect instructs FCA Payroll to restart regular deduction, as well as an arrears deduction until participant has paid in full for missed deductions. NOTE: This does not include the period of time when they received direct bill(s) from Benefit Connect; these are only missed payroll deductions from the period before direct bill (cash pay) started.
How can an employee see their total number of payments from payroll?
Log into My ePay via Dashboard At the top of their pay statement screen, select the year, check the box for “Include SUB/SSUB” and then click “Create YTD Earnings & Deduction Report”
This will prompt to open an excel file
Once the file is opened – employees can count the number of pay weeks where contributions were made either REGULAR or ADJUSTMENTS. Columns on the spreadsheet to review are:
4/15/2020