Benefits and Retirement
Faculty and Staff Benefits
The University of West Florida offers employees the opportunity to participate in a variety of benefit programs. All insurance programs are voluntary; however, employees must choose a retirement plan. Please review our Benefits and Services Offered guide, for a comprehensive overview of the insurance, retirement, and additional benefits offered. In addition, please visit the following links to our Benefits’ pages for additional information.
All new hires and current employees are strongly encouraged to speak with a member of the Human Resources Benefits Team to create a smooth enrollment experience. People First is the benefits plan administrator for the State of Florida. Their responsibilities include, but are not limited to, processing enrollments of pre-tax insurance, processing qualifying status changes (QSC), verification of dependent eligibility, and COBRA benefits. All payroll deductions must be set up locally within our office and cannot be assured by only enrolling with People First.
People First reviews documentation for all dependents being added to employees' plans. Employees are responsible for submitting documentation within 60 days of adding the dependent. If qualifying documentation is not received, dependents will be removed from coverage. Visit the MyBenefits Dependent Eligibility Verification web page for more detailed information.
All documents must be submitted to People First using one of the methods below:
- Upload the dependent documentation directly in the People First system (recommended and fastest approach)( Downloadable Instructions)
- Log in to People First.
- Select the “Submit” icon in the top right corner.
- Select the document type of “dependent documentation”.
- Add the necessary comments regarding which dependent(s) the documentation is for.
- Attach the document(s) and then select the Submit button; OR
- Mail the documentation to People First, P.O. Box 6830, Tallahassee, FL 32314.
Benefits Offered
The University of West Florida offers various types of leave, which are dependent upon your employment type. Faculty and Staff earn annual and sick leave based on years of service and their employee class. OPS Staff and OPS Students are not eligible for paid leave.
Employee Leave InformationThe University of West Florida offers a comprehensive benefit package for health, dental, vision, hospitalization, and supplemental insurance benefits for qualifying employees (including eligible OPS employees), retirees and their eligible dependents.
Faculty and Staff InsuranceOPS Staff employees at the University of West Florida who meet the requirements are offered Group Health Insurance coverage as an optional benefit. OPS Employees who meet the measuring guidelines will be notified by People First to elect coverage.
OPS Staff InsuranceEmployees of the University of West Florida have access to a variety of retirement planning resources. All employees in established, eligible positions are members of the Florida Retirement System from their first day of employment.
Retirement Plans and OptionsThe University of West Florida offers other additional benefits and perks to Staff and Faculty such as Holidays, Educational Opportunities, Flexible Work Opportunities, Employee Tuition Waivers, and much more.
Additional Employee Benefits and PerksAdditional Information
It is good practice to occasionally check your beneficiary information for accuracy and to keep the information up to date. If you have one of the following benefits and need to change or update beneficiary information, please follow the instructions. You may also contact the number listed for instructions on obtaining, changing or updating beneficiary information.
State of Florida Group Life Insurance
To review current beneficiaries, contact Securian at 888.826.2756 or visit their website. If your current beneficiary information is incorrect or needs to be updated, enter the information on the Securian website, mail a new beneficiary form directly to Securian or submit a new beneficiary form to the Human Resources Benefits Team.
Gabor Financial Solutions Life Insurance Products
Contact Gabor Financial Solutions at 850.291.5379 or 800.330.6115 to request current beneficiary information and to update or change beneficiary information.
Florida Retirement System (FRS) Pension Plan
Check your beneficiary information in FRS Online or contact the Division of Retirement at 844.377.1888 to request current beneficiary information. If the information is incorrect or needs to be updated, submit a new change of beneficiary form directly to FRS or to the Human Resources Benefits Team.
Florida Retirement System (FRS) Investment Plan
Contact MyFRS at 866.446.9377 or login to MyFRS to update current beneficiary information. Beneficiary forms may be mailed directly to the FRS Investment Plan Administrator or submitted to the Human Resources Benefits Team.
Optional Retirement Program
Contact your provider company to request current beneficiary information and to update or change beneficiary information.
Tax-sheltered Annuity Program
Contact your provider company to request current beneficiary information and to update or change beneficiary information.
The Benefits associated with the Executive Service Class are as follows:
- Bi-weekly cost of Health Insurance is $4.17 for individual coverage and $15.00 for family coverage.
- The university covers the full cost of Disability Insurance (payable up to a maximum of 364 days).
- The university covers the full cost of Term Life Insurance (coverage valued at $25,000) effective January 1, 2011 .
- Choose one of three retirement plans: FRS Pension Plan, FRS Investment Plan or Optional Retirement Program. If a FRS Pension Plan participant, membership is in the Senior Management Service Class instead of Regular Class. The retirement percentage value for calculating the annual retirement benefit is 2.0% instead of 1.60 - 1.68%.
- Annual leave is earned at 9.2 hours per pay period. Upon retirement or termination, annual leave is paid up to 480 hours.
- Sick leave is earned at 5 hours per pay period years 0-5, 6 hours for years 5-10, and 7 hours for over ten years of service.
- For FRS Investment Plan members, Senior Management Service Class employees receive 9.67% employer contributions to their Investment Plan accounts.
Employees transferring to the University of West Florida from another State of Florida agency (including Florida Public Universities) are subject to the following guidelines.
Insurance
Contact the Human Resources Benefits Team to complete the process to transfer your participation in the state insurance programs to the University of West Florida. The transfer of benefits does not happen automatically.
Retirement
Employees wishing to speak with a representative related to a State of Florida insurance or pre-tax plan should refer to the List of Contacts provided by the State of Florida.
If you have a question about a post-tax plan with Gabor Financial Solutions, please contact Karla McFarland (850.203.0901) or Samantha Wells (850.291.5379).
When terminating employment from the University of West Florida, an employee enrolled in any benefit program must contact the Human Resources Benefits Team.
Insurance
Employees who are enrolled in health, dental or vision insurance at the time of termination are eligible for COBRA. Since premiums are paid a month in advance, the employee is eligible for coverage the month following termination, including receiving the State's contribution for health and life insurance. After the employee notifies the Benefits Team of their termination, People First will send the employee paperwork regarding their COBRA options. To obtain COBRA coverage, the employee must complete the appropriate paperwork and return it to People First within the specified time frame.
COBRA Notification
Under the federal COBRA law, employees who terminate employment are eligible to continue their group health, dental and vision insurance for up to eighteen months. Under special circumstances, you may continue coverage for 29 months if you are disabled. Spouse and dependents may continue coverage for 36 months as a result of divorce.
Upon termination or if eligible for COBRA, People First will send the information necessary for enrolling in COBRA coverage. People First processes all enrollments and payments. The cost to continue coverage is the total premium (no employer contributions) plus a 2% administrative fee. To ensure continuation of coverage, contact the People First Service Center at 866.663.4735.
Retirement Plan
When leaving UWF by resignation or other non-retirement method , the following should be noted for each retirement plan:
- FRS Pension Plan: No action required.
- FRS Investment Plan: No action required. The employee will continue to receive annual statements. If the employee has an address change or for any other changes after termination of employment, they should contact MyFRS at 866.446.9377 or visit their website.
- Optional Retirement Program: No action required. The employee will continue to receive statements. If the employee has an address change or for any other changes after termination of employment, they should contact the appropriate company.