State of California M E M O R A N D U M REFERENCE CODE: 2001-003 DATE: January 16, 2001 TO: Personnel Officers Personnel Transactions Supervisors Personnel Transactions Staff FROM: Department of Personnel Administration Benefits Division SUBJECT: Group Legal Services Plan - 2001 Annual Open Enrollment CONTACT: Sondra Cooper, Personnel Management Analyst (916) 324-9365, CALNET 454-9365 FAX: (916) 322-3769 Email: SondraCooper@DPA.CA.Gov The annual open enrollment period for the Group Legal Services Plan will be conducted from March 1 through April 30, 2001. This memo provides information on the plan eligibility criteria, effective dates of coverage, informational sessions for eligible employees, and instructions on ordering plan brochures and enrollment forms. CARRIER The plan administrator, ARAG Group, is a leader in its industry with a strong commitment to providing high quality service and access to professional legal advice for our plan members. ARAG Group currently provides coverage for more than 19,000 State of California employees and has an attorney network located throughout California. The toll- free number is (800) 247-4184. ARAG Group can also be contacted through the Internet at www.araglaw.com/california. PREMIUM RATES The existing rates for the Plan are guaranteed through March 31, 2002. The rate for individual coverage is $10.35/month. The rate for family coverage (employee and one or more eligible dependents) is $18.80/month. Please discard any enrollment forms that contain old rates. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Employees who meet the following criteria are eligible to enroll in the Plan during this open enrollment period: 1. Permanent or probationary employees excluded from collective bargaining, with a half-time or greater time base, with one of the following designations: - Managerial (M, E59, E79, E99) - Supervisory (S, E48, E58, E68, E78, E98) - Confidential (C, E97) - Excluded/Exempt (E88, E89) - E01 through E21, E67, E77 2. Permanent or probationary represented employees with a half-time or greater time base, in the following bargaining units: Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 Employees in bargaining unit 8 and permanent- intermittent employees are ineligible to enroll. Employees on Training and Development (T&D) assignments or limited-term assignments are eligible to participate in the program only if their permanent civil service appointment and resulting CBID are in one of the eligible categories. Dependents of Eligible Employees Dependents of eligible employees as defined below are also eligible for coverage when the employee enrolls in family coverage: 1. A lawful spouse; 2. Any unmarried, dependent children under the age of 23. Children include natural, step-children, adopted children, and children for whom the employee is the legal guardian; and 3. Any economically dependent child, 23 years of age or over who has never been married and is incapable of self-support because of a physical disability or mental incapacity and is chiefly dependent on the eligible employee for support and maintenance. Family members who are not eligible include the eligible employee's parents and grandparents, domestic partners, children under the age of 23 who marry and subsequently divorce, and children over age 23, unless disabled as specified above. EFFECTIVE DATES OF COVERAGE Plan coverage will begin on the first day of the pay period following the first premium (payroll) deduction. For correctly completed enrollment forms processed by the Personnel Office and forwarded to the State Controller's Office (SCO) by March 10, 2001, the first premium deduction will be in the March paycheck, and the effective date of coverage will be April 1, 2001. For employee enrollment forms received at SCO March 11 through April 10, 2001, the effective date of coverage will be May 1, 2001. Enrollment forms received at SCO from April 11 through May 10, 2001, will have a June 1, 2001, effective date. Employees cannot receive a retroactive effective date. The SCO will return any incorrectly completed forms to the Personnel Office for correction, which will result in a delay of the effective date. The "cut-off" date upon which the corrected form is returned to the SCO will determine the employee's effective date of coverage. The SCO will not process enrollment forms that have a projected future enrollment date. For example: the employee submits the form to the Personnel Office on April 1, 2001, and the agency designee documents the effective enrollment date (Section C-5) as June 1, 2001. In this example, the employee would have been eligible for a May 1, 2001, effective date. However, the SCO will not key in the application until the cut-off date for a June 1 effective date, thus delaying the employee's effective date of enrollment into the Plan. EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS A variety of communications will be used to inform employees of the Legal Services Plan open enrollment period. In mid-February, an open enrollment packet will be mailed directly to the home address (i.e., the address on file with SCO as of December 31, 2000) of approximately 161,000 eligible employees who are not currently enrolled in the plan. The packet will contain a cover letter, an enrollment form, a plan brochure, and a schedule of informational sessions that will be conducted throughout the State beginning in mid-February. A complete listing of the sites and dates is provided in this memo. Employees will also be reminded of the open enrollment period through a global message on their paycheck stub for the March pay period (dated March 31, 2001.) The February 2001 DPA Benefits News will feature the 2001 Group Legal Services Plan Open Enrollment. Please distribute the Benefits News to your employees. PLAN BROCHURES AND ENROLLMENT FORMS Since all eligible employees will receive an enrollment form and brochure in the mail, Departmental Personnel Offices do not need to order large quantities of these materials. However, they should ensure that an adequate supply of enrollment forms and plan brochures are in stock for use in enrolling employees who become newly eligible during the remainder of the year or may have recently moved during the period the enrollment packets were mailed. See Benefits Administrative Manual (BAM), Group Legal Services Plan, Section 1503 for eligibility criteria of Newly Eligible/Hires. DPA does not maintain these forms for distribution to departments. Supplies can be ordered by calling the ARAG Group at 1-800-247-4184 or emailing legal@araggroup.com or accessing the Web site www.araglaw.com/california. NOTE: Please ensure that the enrollment forms you have in stock list the premium rates of $10.35 for individual coverage and $18.80 for family coverage. SCO will not process enrollment forms that list old premium rates. SCO will still accept forms with the Midwest Legal Services name (former name for ARAG Group) as long as the premiums are correct. EMPLOYEE INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS During the month of February, representatives from ARAG Group and DPA will be conducting employee informational sessions throughout the State. The purpose of these sessions is to provide eligible employees with more detailed information regarding the legal services plan (i.e., what services are covered, how to access the plan, the reason for waiting periods for certain services, etc.) Please note that in both Oakland and Sacramento only, three (3) sessions per day will be held over a two-day period. In order to maximize employee attendance, we will need the assistance of personnel offices in publicizing this information to employees. We would appreciate if you would reproduce and distribute the enclosed schedule to your offices/field locations or communicate this information via e-mail messages, memos or other feasible communications methods. We appreciate your continued assistance in explaining the Group Legal Services Plan to your employees and processing the enrollment documents on a timely basis. Your assistance was instrumental in a highly successful open enrollment last year with more than 4,000 employees enrolling in the plan. If you have any questions regarding this memo, you may call Sondra Cooper at (916) 324-9365, CALNET 454-9365, or email SondraCooper@DPA.CA.GOV. Terri Westbrook, Chief Benefits Division NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LOCATIONS Sacramento - February 28, 2001 & March 1, 2001 Water Resources Building 1416 9th Street, Auditorium 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (Same times both days) San Jose Downtown - March 2, 2001 San Jose State Building 100 Paseo de San Antonio, Auditorium 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. San Jose - March 2, 2001 Agnews Development Center 3500 Zanker Road, Lobby Multipurpose Room 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. open session Oakland - March 6, 2001 Department of Transportation 111 Grand Avenue, Auditorium 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oakland - March 7, 2001 Harris Building 1515 Clay Street, 112-Training Room BCD 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOCATIONS Norwalk - February 26, 2001 Metropolitan State Hospital 11401 South Bloomfield Avenue 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Los Angeles - February 27, 2001 Ronald Reagan Building 300 South Spring Street, Auditorium 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Van Nuys - February 28, 2001 State Building 6150 Van Nuys Boulevard, Room 135/Auditorium 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. San Bernardino - March 6, 2001 Government State Building 464 W. Fourth Street, Training Room 8th Floor 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Riverside - March 7, 2001 California Tower 3737 Main Street, Highgrove Room 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 P.M. Costa Mesa - March 9, 2001 Fairview Development Center 2501 Harbor Boulevard, Admin. Small Class Room 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. open session San Diego - March 12, 2001 San Diego State Building 1350 Front Street, Auditorium/Room B-109 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Irvine - March 14, 2001 Dept. of Transportation 3347 Michelson Drive, S.E. 100, Room C1116 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Riverside - March 15, 2001 SCIF 6301 Day Street, Conference Room 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. open session