State of California M E M O R A N D U M To: PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT LIAISONS Date: June 16, 1993 Reference Code: 93-41 THIS MEMORANDUM SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED TO: ALL PERSONNEL OFFICERS, PERSONNEL TRANSACTIONS SUPERVISORS AND PERSONNEL TRANSACTIONS STAFF From: Department of Personnel Administration Subject: GROUP LEGAL SERVICES PLAN--SPECIAL OPEN ENROLLMENT The Department of Personnel Administration will be conducting a special open enrollment for the Group Legal Services Plan from August 2, 1993 to September 30, 1993, for employees in the following groups only: Units 4, 5, 6, 15, 16 and 19; Employees of the California Judicial Council (designated E88 and E89); and Unit 14 (Subject to ratification of the MOU by the Legislature). This special open enrollment is necessary because the bargaining units signed side letters to their Memoranda of Understanding after the original open enrollment was held. Eligible Employees Eligible employees must be assigned to a permanent position on a half-time or greater time base. Permanent-intermittent employees are not eligible to enroll in the Legal Services Plan. Employees who otherwise meet the eligibility criteria but are on an unpaid leaves of absence (ie. maternity leave, etc.) at the time of open enrollment will not be able to enroll during the open period. Employees must be on active pay status at the point of initial enrollment as the monthly premium will be automatically deducted from their pay checks. However, once an employee returns from a leave and is on active pay status, he/she should be considered a "newly eligible employee" and given a 60 day period to enroll in the Plan. Employees who were previously eligible to enroll during the open enrollment (Excluded/exempt employees and represented employees in Bargaining Units 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20 and 21) are not eligible to enroll during this special enrollment. However, any employees who have become "newly eligible" since the open enrollment would be eligible to enroll within a 60-day period as described in PML 93-16 which was distributed to all departments in February, 1993. Effective Dates of Coverage Plan coverage will begin on the first day of the pay period immediately following the pay period from which the first premium deduction is made. Specifically, if the employee's enrollment form is received at the State Controller's Office (SCO), Miscellaneous Deductions Unit, by August 10, 1993, the first premium deduction will be in the August pay check. The effective date of coverage will be September 1, 1993. Enrollment forms received at SCO by September 10, 1993 will become effective on October 1, 1993. Enrollment forms received in the Personnel Office between September 11, and September 30, and forwarded to the SCO by October 10, will have a November 2, 1993 effective date. The Plan does not provide for retroactive effective dates. Group Legal Services is a pre-paid plan that requires a current premium payment before coverage can begin. If there is an error on the enrollment form, the SCO will return the form to Personnel. The payroll deduction will not be processed. The date upon which the corrected form is returned to State Controller's Office will determine the effective date of coverage. If the effective date will be different than the date specified on the enrollment form, the SCO will send the employee an "effective date correction" letter. Personnel Services Specialist Training Representatives from Midwest Legal Services (MLS) and the DPA will be conducting training in July. The training will include an overview of the Legal Services Plan design, an explanation of the point-of-service delivery system, the open enrollment process, and a discussion of the most commonly asked questions and answers. An administrative guide will be distributed and an enrollment video will be shown. Location Dates Times Sacramento July 8 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm State Training Center July 9 9:00 am - 11:00 am 1515 S Street North Building, Suite 105 Kern/Colorado Room We strongly encourage attendance by those departments that were unable to send a representative to the training held in January. Only 50% of the departments were represented at the initial training. As a result, DPA received a significant number of phone calls from personnel office staff during the open enrollment regarding the plan coverages, eligibility criteria, enrollment forms processing, etc. (which were topics addressed during the training). All persons interested in attending one of the training sessions must register by June 30, 1993, by calling Angie Gable of Midwest Legal Services at 1-(800) 247-4184. If you are unable to reach Angie, please leave a message on her voice mail which includes your name, your department name, your public (not Calnet) telephone number and the number of people who will be attending. Employees' Enrollment Materials Enrollment kits will be mailed directly to the homes of eligible employees. The kit will include a cover letter from DPA, a plan brochure, an attorney listing, an enrollment form, and a question and answer sheet. We anticipate that employees will receive their kits during the week of July 12, 1993. You should be aware that not all eligible employees may receive an enrollment kit. Since the mailing labels were printed at the beginning of June, any employees who become eligible after June 1 will not receive an enrollment kit at their home address. In addition, any employees who have moved and have not filed an address correction will not receive a kit. This was a problem during the initial open enrollment, as over 6,000 kits were returned because the State Controller's Office did not have the employees most recent address on file. Global Message To help assure that all eligible employees are aware of the special enrollment period, a global message regarding the Legal Services Plan enrollment will appear on the August 1, 1993 pay warrant. Ordering Brochures and Enrollment Forms Prior to the open enrollment held in March, DPA distributed extra supplies of legal services enrollment brochures and forms to headquarter Personnel Offices, with instructions that they distribute these materials internally to field offices, hospitals, institutions, etc. However, we received many complaints from various departmental field offices that they never received their supplies. Therefore, for this special open enrollment, DPA will not be distributing enrollment forms, brochures, etc. to Personnel Offices. Headquarters as well as field offices may order supplies by contacting Midwest Legal Services directly at 1-(800)-247-4184. Please keep in mind when ordering that you will not need to have large quantities in stock as the majority of your eligible employees will be mailed an enrollment kit. You should order enough supplies to have an adequate stock to deal with exceptional situations (ie., employees losing their forms, employees not receiving their kits, etc.). In addition to the communication methods discussed above, your assistance in informing eligible employees of the special open enrollment is crucial to the success of the Legal Services Plan. During this special open enrollment, personnel staff should assist employees with their enrollment. If there are any questions regarding the Plan which staff are unable to answer, they may direct employees to call MLS at 1-(800)-247-4184. If you have any questions regarding the information contained in this memorandum, please call Vallita Lewis, Benefits Program Manager at (916) 324-9362 or Calnet 454-9362. Patricia Pavone, Chief Benefits and Training Division