Postdoctoral Benefits

Postdoctoral employees are entitled to employee benefits as determined by employment status, length of appointment, and by visa status where applicable.

Full Time Postdocs who are appointed for at least 35 hours a week for at least 90 days are entitled to statutory benefits and are eligible for participation in the RFCUNY's pension, health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, and long-term disability plans.

Part Time A Postdocs who are appointed for more than 19 but fewer than 35 hours per week for at least 90 days are entitled to statutory benefits (Workers’ Compensation, Short-Term Disability, Unemployment Benefits, participation in the Research RFCUNY's pension plan, and individual health and dental insurance.

Part Time B Postdocs who are appointed in any status for less than 90 days or who are appointed for 19 hours or less per week regardless of length of appointment are entitled to statutory benefits. All Postdocs regardless of status are also entitled to the employee assistance plan and health advocacy assistance.

Health insurance is a fringe benefit intended to protect the medical health and well-being of employees. Anthem is the provider organization for employees who are eligible for healthcare coverage. The effective date of coverage is on the 1st of the month after a 30-day waiting period from an employee’s start date (e.g., If the start date is June 1, coverage begins on July 1 with the 30-day waiting period. If the start date is June 7, coverage begins on August 1 because of the 30-day waiting period).

Enrollment in health insurance is self-managed through the My Payroll and Benefits e-Service. The names, dates of birth and social security numbers of all individuals being enrolled in the plan (i.e. spouse, domestic partner, dependent child or children) are required to enroll.

The RFCUNY offers three health insurance plans through Anthem. Benefits eligible PostDocs may enroll in the PPO Plan, POS Plan, or the EPO Plan. Enrollment includes medical, vision, and prescription coverage. Enrollment in Anthem health insurance includes enrollment in the Cigna Dental PPO Plan.

Postdocs eligible for health insurance may enroll in the opt-out waiver plan if currently enrolled in a non-RFCUNY health insurance plan. To qualify for the waiver plan, PostDoc employees must provide proof of alternate health insurance coverage. Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act Marketplace Exchanges, or other government issued insurance do not qualify for the opt-out funds. For more details on each plan, please visit Health and Dental Insurance, Direct Pay,and Waiver Plans.

Frontier MEDEX is available to serve as the initial point of contact for all RFCUNY employees who need medical attention while traveling overseas on business. This policy only covers employees who are active on RFCUNY payroll. This does not apply to individuals not on payroll but participating on an RFCUNY sponsored trip). 

The Health Advocate & Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available to all RFCUNY PostDocs, and their dependents, parents, and parents-in-law. Health Advocate is one of the nation's leading healthcare advocacy and employee assistance programs offering two valuable services. This benefit is at no cost to the Postdocs. The Healthcare Help Service features personalized help to resolve clinical and insurance-related issues. The EAP+Work/Life Program offers short-term counseling and support for personal, family, and work issues.

There is unlimited access to a highly trained Personal Health Advocate (PHA), to help the individual navigate the healthcare and insurance systems efficiently. PHA helps members find the right providers, negotiates fees on uncovered medical bills, locates second opinions, provides cost comparisons for medical procedures, and more.

A licensed EAP professional provides short-term counseling by phone or email to help the individual better cope with personal, family, and work issues. A Work/Life specialist may assist in locating the right support services, from childcare and eldercare to legal assistance.

Health Advocate does not provide health insurance, medical coverage or otherwise substitute for health insurance coverage. Health Advocate may be reached 24/7 by calling 866-799-2728. They ensure all personal information is kept confidential. 

The RFCUNY provides a 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plan at the time of retirement. The mandatory and voluntary pension retirement savings plans, offered through TIAA, allow employees to defer funds on a pre-tax basis into an annuity account. Accounts accrue earnings while allocated across an employee-designated array of asset options including stocks, bonds, and target date funds. Allocations can be changed at any time. Employees may select their investment allocations and designate beneficiary(ies) through the TIAA website. If an employee makes no allocations, the funds will be deposited into the default investment option.

Full-Time and Part-Time A employees are eligible to participate in the Defined Contribution retirement plan administered by TIAA. Participation in the pension plan is mandatory for eligible employees. There is a one-year waiting period to participate in the pension plan. After the employee enrolls in the plan, RFCUNY contributes 8% of the employee's earnings (as defined in the Plan), and 10% of the employee's earnings from seven years of service and thereafter. There are no employee contributions to the Defined Contribution Plan under Tier IV. Employees are vested in their employer contributions after three years of service, which includes the one-year waiting period. Non-vested employer contributions for each year are allocated to the plan in a lump sum as soon as practicable after the final payroll for that year. Nonelective vested contributions are remitted to the Plan each payroll period.

All RFCUNY employees who receive compensation reportable on an IRS Form W-2 are

eligible to participate in the 403(b) Tax Deferred Annuity Plan, as long as the employee contributes a minimum of $200 per year. Two exceptions are non-resident aliens who receive no U.S.-based income from RF CUNY and student employees, who are not eligible to participate in the Plan. Please see the Universal Availability Notice for more information.

An employee is eligible for RFCUNY retirement with benefits when he/she has reached age 62, and at the point of retirement has been employed full-time by the Research RFCUNY for a period of at least 10 years without a break in service. RFCUNY retirees are eligible for retiree health insurance, Medicare Part B reimbursement, and one-time retirement payout.

Short Term Disability is a benefit available to all RFCUNY employees. Short Term Disability provides income support in the event of a temporary disability, medical illness, or injury unrelated to the workplace lasting six or more consecutive days. Employees are covered under the Hartford short term disability policy up to 26 weeks. Full-time employees are covered under the policy after 30 days of employment. Part-time employees are covered after the completion of 20 scheduled workdays. Short Term Disability administered and paid in whole by the Research RFCUNY (no cost to the employee or payroll deduction).

RFCUNY employees work hard, making a positive impact on the university and communities which we serve. In turn, we aim to provide our employees with a variety of comprehensive benefits and resources to support you, promote work-life balance and empower you to make financially sound healthy decisions. Through partnership with Working Advantage and FunEx, RFCUNYPerks gives employees access to premium discounts and access to shows, travel, car rentals, restaurants, shopping, special events, subscription services and more. Enjoy limited time and exclusive offers for holidays savings, savings for amusement parks such as Disney and Universal Orlando Resorts. Registration is free. RFCUNYPerks are available to all RFCUNY employees.

Statutory Benefits (Workers’ Compensation, Unemployment, and Short-Term Disability) are available to all employees regardless of employment status or length of employment. In addition to the New York State Short Term Disability benefit, statutory benefits include Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, and Workers Compensation.

The RFCUNY provides supplemental benefits to Full Time employees.

Life Insurance

Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance is an employer-paid benefit (at no cost to the employee or payroll deduction) available to full-time employees. RFCUNY automatically enrolls all full-time employees for this benefit and coverage under the policy takes effect on the first day of the month after an employee’s hire date. The Life and AD&D plan is administered by Guardian Group Life Insurance Company. The amount of life insurance an employee receives is a fixed sum based on an employee’s annual salary. Employees cannot purchase additional coverage as part of this insurance policy.

Coverage remains active for the duration of an employee’s full-time status. Coverage may end for reasons such as disability, retirement, layoff, resignation, or end of appointment. If coverage ends, an employee has 31 days from their last day worked to apply for and enroll in a Group Life Insurance Conversion to continue coverage.

Pre-Tax Flexible Spending Plans

Pre-tax flexible spending plans are pre-tax reimbursement benefit plans designed to save money and reimburse qualified out-of-pocket expenses that are not covered by insurance plans. The RFCUNY offers four types of plans: Healthcare Reimbursement, Dependent Care, Transit/ Commuting, and Parking. The maximum allowable reimbursement may change based on IRS regulations. Contributions to the plan are tax-exempt (federal, state, social security, and Medicare). Advanced Benefits Strategies (ABS) administers the pre-tax savings plans..

It is important that you fully understand how these plans work. Flexible Spending Plans allow you to set aside money on a pre-tax basis to cover public transit or parking expenses used to commute to and from your workplace, out of pocket medical costs, or dependent care expenses (for children up to age 13 or eldercare). For the Transit and Parking plans are based on a monthly election amount. A minimum $1.00 election must be made in order to remain enrolled in these plans. For the Healthcare or Dependent care plans, a minimum $250 annual election ($10.42 per deduction) is required to enroll. Deductions are automatically taken from your paycheck twice a month. Reimbursement is on a post-tax basis allowing for tax savings.

Do not overestimate your eligible expenses when enrolling in these plans. Enrollment and reimbursement will follow IRS rule. Transit, Parking, and Dependent Care plans allow for enrollment, changes, and cancellations at any time. The Healthcare plan is an annual enrollment which cannot be increased, decreased, or changed outside of initial eligibility, within 31 days of a qualifying life event, or during annual open enrollment.

RFCUNY Plans have a 2 ½ month grace period following the end of the plan year. A grace period extends the period of time in which you can use your FSA funds on eligible expenses, such as going to the doctor or purchasing prescriptions and FSA eligible over-the-counter medications.

Claims may be incurred by March 15th following the end of the plan year and submitted by March 30th following the end of the plan year.

FSA Plans follow IRS rules. Claims submitted after the deadline will not be approved. Use It or Lose It. Healthcare and Dependent care funds do not roll over and remaining plan balances will not be refunded. Unclaimed Transit and Parking funds will automatically roll over to the next plan year IF you re-enroll. If you have the debit card, it will continue to work as normal, using the funds remaining in your prior plan year first.

DEBIT CARD REIMBURSEMENTS

For the Transit, Parking, and Healthcare eligible expenses, you may use the FSA Debit Card provided by Advanced Benefit Strategies. See the attached Instructions for more information on How to Use the Debit Card. Dependent Care reimbursement is not available through Debit Card.

REIMBURSEMENT USING CLAIM FORM AND RECEIPTS

Save your Receipts! The IRS views certain expenses as automatically eligible, while others will require an itemized receipt. For example; vision centers and dental expenses (FSA). Duplicate expenses submitted via claim form for expenses already charged to the ABS Debit Card will not be reimbursed. ABS will review manual claims and reject claims submitted for the same dates of service which were previously charged to the ABS Debit Card.

There will be no payroll reimbursements. You can submit the reimbursement form by ABS Mobile App, through the ABS portal www.abs12.com, via email at rfcunyclaims@abs125.com, fax to 860-675-2260, or mail to ABS at 30 Mill Street, Unionville, CT 06085. Employees who submit claims will be reimbursed directly by ABS via direct deposit set up through ABS or via manual check. If you need assistance submitting your claims, please contact Support@abs125.com

ABS Consumer Portal and Mobile App

The ABS mobile App provides you with a centralized view of:

• Account balances, account activity, claim history and payment (reimbursement) history
• Submit claims online to reimburse yourself or pay a provider – snap a photo of a receipt and submit with a new or existing claim.
• Track your expenses, update personal profile information, and report a lost/stolen card to receive a new one
• Sign up for Direct Deposit – Mobile App, Consumer Portal or paper form
• Face enabled and contactless payments with Mobile Pay (mobile app)
• Built in eligibility scanner and EOB Smart Scan (mobile app)
• “Let's Chat" your AI-Virtual Account Manager is live on the ABS Consumer Portal to help with questions 24/7/365.

The Research Foundation Education Assistance Program (REAP) is a tuition reimbursement program available to eligible RFCUNY employees for courses offered by, conducted at a facility of, and leading to an undergraduate or graduate degree from The City University of New York (CUNY).

Program eligibility is as follows:

• RF employees who have been continuously employed under Full-time status for at least one year without a break in service
• Part-time A employees whose scheduled hours equal at least 20 hours of assigned work per week for at least one year without a break in service
• Employees with multiple concurrent Part-time appointments whose cumulative scheduled hours are equivalent to Full-time or Part-time A status for at least one year without a break in service.

The employee must be currently active in an eligible status, as described, on the first day of classes and must continue in such eligible status without a break in service, through the last day of scheduled examination.

All tuition reimbursements are subject to current IRS regulations. This pertains to the calendar year in which the reimbursement is made, not the academic year in which the class was taken. All REAP reimbursements will be paid in the form of a direct deposit to the bank account(s) on

file normally used for payroll. RFCUNY will no longer issue paper checks for reimbursements to employees with direct deposit. The reimbursement will appear as a lump sum in the paycheck and will not be taxed unless the amount exceeds $5,250. In that case, only the amount above $5,250 will be taxed. If an employee currently receives a paycheck in the form of a paper check, reimbursements will continue to be made by paper check.

Voluntary supplemental Short-Term Disability, Accident Care, Cancer Care, and Hospital coverage may be available through a third-party provider. Premiums may be paid for through pre-tax payroll deductions. For more information, please contact Denise Perez or call 201-739-6897. These plans would not replace the short-term disability or long-term disability plans paid for by RFCUNY.

Federal State Unemployment Insurance provides unemployment benefits to eligible workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own.