New Employees
Initial Eligibility Information
To determine initial eligibility for benefits, UCPath evaluates newly hired or recently reclassified employees and Postdoctoral Scholars based on several factors:
Appointment Type
Appointment Percentage
Appointment Duration
Membership in UCRP
If these criteria are not met, the employee or Postdoctoral Scholar will not be eligible for benefits initially. For a complete list of benefit programs, please view here.
Enrollment Information
You have 31 days from your first day of hire to enroll in health and welfare benefits. Medical cards are typically mailed 3-4 weeks after you select your medical plan. All benefits elections are done through the UCPath website.
New Employee Benefits Orientation
There are two benefits orientations available for employees to attend:
New Postdoc Benefits Orientation - Designed for Postdocs
New Employee Benefits Orientation - Employees eligible for benefit packages:
(Please look at your offer letter or the UCPath portal Dashboard.)
*Benefits Orientations are subject to change times and dates.
Coming from or going to another UC location, your benefits may stay the same.
However, a new job classification may have completely different Benefits. For example, a postdoc reclassified to a Term or Career appointment will have different benefits and need to enroll in their new Benefits.
Eligible Family Members
You may enroll the following family members in your UC benefits:
Spouse / Domestic partner
Children (biological or adopted, stepchildren, domestic partner’s children)
Grand Children, step-grandchildren, domestic partner’s grandchildren
Legal ward
For information on eligibility criteria, please refer to A Complete Guide to Your UC Health and Welfare Benefits or the Group Insurance Eligibility Fact Sheet for Retirees. UC requires all faculty, staff, and retirees who enroll family members in their medical, dental, and/or vision insurance plans to provide documents to be verified.
Domestic Partner's eligibility rules differ for health and UC Retirement Plans benefits. Visit Establishing a domestic partnership to ensure you have established your domestic partner’s eligibility for UCRP survivor benefits.
Family Members Eligibility Verification
UnifyHR will request documents to verify eligibility for your family members' benefits after you enroll in benefits. you will need to be prepared to provide the required documents within the timeframe to ensure your dependents continue to be enrolled in benefits.
SELECTING YOUR BENEFITS
Once you decide which benefits you would like to enroll in, log in to UCPath Portal to enroll in health & welfare benefits.
(Instructions to log into UCPath)
Please review your Online Earnings Statement (check stub) each payday to ensure your benefit elections are correct through UCPath Portal.
UCNet is UC's Benefit resource website.
SELECTING YOUR PRIMARY RETIREMENT
Attend a Fidelity webinar, "The UC Retirement Choice Program," and/or have a one-on-one consultation with an LBNL-designated Fidelity representative.
Register and select on myucretirement.com/choose within 90 days, starting with your eligibility date (usually your first day of work). Remember that the election is final once you hit the *confirm* button in the Primary Retirement benefits enrollment system. You must complete your election within 90 days to avoid defaulting to the Pension Choice, and the election is irrevocable.
The sooner you enroll in the Pension Choice or Savings Choice, the sooner you will receive UC contributions in retirement.
Name Your Beneficiaries
Remember to name your beneficiaries. Beneficiary designations do not automatically carry over across your benefits, so please take the necessary steps to assign them to each benefit plan. You may change your beneficiaries in the future at any time.
To update beneficiaries for:
The pension plan, life insurance, and AD&D log into your account on the UCRAYS website.
Retirement Savings Program (403b, 457b, Savings Choice), Log into netbenefits.com.
UC Health Savings Plan - You can name beneficiaries for your Health Savings Account through HealthEquity.
LAST UPDATE: 07/09/2024