AFSCME Onboarding - Human Resources

DEADLINE: Coverage must be applied for within 30 days of hire.  Coverage may be changed if family status changes occur (i.e. birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc) and Human Resources is notified within 30 days of the event; and during the Annual Enrollment period in November of each year for coverage effective January 1st. 

• Coverage is effective on your date of hire
• Medical coverage is administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) 
• Prescription coverage is administered by CVS/Caremark
• The benefit year is January 1 - December 31
• NMU has a fully staffed Health Center which provides services to students; faculty, staff, and their eligible covered family members.  Members covered under the NMU group health plan are eligible to receive office and lab services at no cost and reduced pharmacy co-pays.
• Dependent children are eligible for coverage through the end of the month in which they turn age 26
• Documentation of a dependents relationship to you and eligibility must be provided by submitting the required documentation
• 2024 RATES (if you work less than 12 months during the year your premium will be increased): 
  • Single Plan:            $  61.19
  • Two-Person Plan:  $ 146.85 
  • Family Plan:           $ 183.54

DEADLINE: Coverage must be applied for within 30 days of hire.  Coverage may be changed if family status changes occur (i.e. birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc) and Human Resources is notified within 30 days of the event; and during the Annual Enrollment period in November of each year for coverage effective January 1st. 

• Coverage is effective on your date of hire 
• Coverage is administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) 
• The benefit year is January 1 - December 31 
• Dependent children are eligible for coverage through the end of the month in which they turn age 26
• Documentation of a dependents relationship to you and eligibility must be provided by submitting the required documentation
• 2024 bi-weekly rates
  • Single Plan:            $   0.00
  • Two-Person Plan:  $   0.00 
  • Family Plan:           $  12.24

DEADLINE: Coverage must be applied for within 30 days of hire.  Coverage may be changed if family status changes occur (i.e. birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc) and Human Resources is notified within 30 days of the event; and during the Annual Enrollment period in November of each year for coverage effective January 1st. 

• Coverage is effective on your date of hire
• Coverage is administered by EyeMed
• Benefits are available once every 12 months (365 days between services)
• Dependent children are eligible for coverage through the end of the month in which they turn age 26
• Documentation of a dependents relationship to you and eligibility must be provided by submitting the required documentation
• NMU provides family coverage at no premium cost to the employee

DEADLINE: Coverage must be applied for within 30 days of hire.  Some coverage may be changed if family status changes occur (i.e. birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc) and Human Resources is notified within 30 days of the event; and during the Annual Enrollment period in November of each year for coverage effective January 1st. 

Basic Life Insurance ​​​​​​

Northern Michigan University provides group term life insurance through The Hartford for staff working half-time (.50 FTE) or more.  The amount of Basic Life Insurance is equal to one times annual salary rounded to the next thousand.  There is also a double indemnity clause (AD&D) which doubles the benefit for accidental death.  At termination of employment, coverage ends and faculty are given the option to "convert" or "port" coverage at their own expense.

Supplemental Life Option

Additional life insurance may be purchased and paid through payroll deduction. Additional coverage is available in multiples of your salary from 1/2 up to 5x your salary, subject to a maximum of $100,000,000, with a guaranteed issue amount of $500,000.  Rates are based on your age and are shown below.

Please use this Supplemental Life Calculations spreadsheet to calculate the values available, based on your salary, and their associated bi-weekly premium based on your 5-year age band: 

EXAMPLE: A 42 year old employee with an annual salary of $47,900 elects 3 times their annual base salary in supplemental life insurance.

$47,900 x 3 = $143,700 rounded to the nearest thousand would provide $144,000 in supplemental life insurance.

$.0674 (rate for age range) x 144 (amount of coverage in thousands) = $9.71/bi-weekly

Dependent Life Option

Dependent term life insurance may be purchased for coverage on your spouse and/or dependent children (through age 26).  Three options of dependent life insurance are available:

DEADLINE: Enrollment for the current calendar year must be applied for within 30 days of hire.  Enrollment is required annually and will be completed during the annual enrollment period in November.  Some changes may be made during the current year if you experience a qualifying event. 

The Medical Flexible Spending Account allows you to make pre-tax payroll contributions to an account to assist you in paying for a portion of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses not already covered by insurance – including qualified medical, dental, vision, prescription, and long-term care premiums. 

It is important to note that IRS regulations specify that Medical FSA funds, up to a maximum of 20% of the maximum contribution established, may roll forward to the following year.  Any remaining funds in excess of 20% at the end of the plan year (January through December) will be forfeited.  For example, the maximum salary reduction for 2024 is $3,200, so the carryover amount into 2025 is $640.  For this reason, it is important to accurately estimate your out-of-pocket medical expenses each year to prevent forfeiture of unused funds. 

The Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account allows you to make pre-tax payroll contributions to an account to pay for day care expenses for a dependent child, adult, or elder so that you may work.  Eligible service include: nursery school, nanny and/or before/after school care through age 12, day care for disabled adult or child, elder day care for parent or dependent, and day camp through age 12. It is important to note that there is no rollover of unused Dependent Care FSA funds at the end of the year.

The FSA’s are administered by Health Equity

Have you worked at any of the following Michigan universities, while not attending classes, prior to 01/01/1996?

Central Michigan University; Eastern Michigan University; Ferris State University; Lake Superior State University; Michigan Technological University; Northern Michigan University; or Western Michigan University

If YES: please contact Kimberly Hongisto at (906) 227-2470 or khongist@nmu.edu 

If NO: please proceed to the 403(b) Retirement Plan with TIAA below

403(b) Retirement plan with TIAA

• Immediate vesting
• 7.25% employer contribution with up to an additional 1.5% of the employees contribution matched 
• To enroll: 
  1. visit www.tiaa.org/nmu
  2. Click 'ready to enroll'
  3. Select '403(b) Retirement Plan'
  4. Click 'next'
  5. Click 'begin enrollment'
  6. Log into your existing TIAA account or register if you have not previously done so

Two types of Voluntary Retirement Accounts (403(b) and 457(b)) are also available for pre or post-tax payroll contributions. 

For more information about retirement, please visit www.nmu.edu/hr/retirement

Staff and their eligible family members may take classes and have 100% of the tuition waived.  The tuition scholarship program waives the tuition for eligible students who are accepted to NMU and complete the necessary tuition benefit request each semester the student is enrolled.

This benefit does not include individual charges such as the University Fee, Discretionary Activity Fee, Student Athletic Fee, TLC/iBook Fee, distance education fees, program specific fees, laboratory fees, books, supplies, and all other fees associated with the students enrollment and courses.  

For more information on eligibility, please visit www.nmu.edu/hr/tuition

Northern Michigan University offers are variety of other fringe benefits to staff members of the Food/Maintenance/Police Officers Collective Bargaining Unit (Local AFSCME 1094).  For detailed information regarding your fringe benefits, please refer to the Food/Maintenance/Police Officers benefit summary 

In order to begin your first day prepared, please complete the following tasks.  Human Resources is available to answer any questions that you may have as you complete this process.

1. Complete section 1 of your I-9 (Eligibility to work in the United States) no later than your date of hire.  Information regarding completing your I-9 was sent via email under separate cover from hr@nmu.edu 
2. Gather Acceptable Forms of Identification to bring with you on your first day.  Section 2 will be completed by your supervisor or department secretary.
   1. NOTE: if you are beginning your employment remotely, please contact me so that I can change your I-9 to be completed by an individual willing to act as an 'Authorized Representative' for NMU.  This individual will need to complete section 2 of your I-9 following the directions in the email from hr@nmu.edu titled 'Remote Agent Instructions" no later than your three (3) business days following your hire date. 
3. Complete the NMU Onboarding forms emailed to you via DocuSign
4. If you are covering a spouse or dependent children under your benefits, please email the appropriate documentation supporting their relationship to me at khongist@nmu.edu.  Acceptable documentation can be found here
5. Enroll in the TIAA Retirement Plan by following the directions listed above
6. Visit  https://myuser.nmu.edu/newuser to activate your NMU username and email account. 
   1. Your email address will be your username@nmu.edu (i.e. khongist@nmu.edu) and email services are provided through Gmail.  Please visit gmail.nmu.edu to sign in with your NMU username and password created. 
   2. You will use your NMU username to access MyNMU, your employee portal which provides various benefits and payroll related resources
7. Request your Faculty/Staff parking permit via  https://nmu.t2hosted.com/Account/Portal.  Please select 'benefit online' as the payment method to obtain your 1 free parking permit.
8. Watch your email for information on required training or visit the Safety Department Training System via MyNMU (under Safety Department Services) to view and begin your required training sessions. 
9. Upon arrival on campus, please visit the Wildcat Express Center, located in the Northern Center, to obtain your University ID card.  

Please reach out to me at any time if you have any benefits related questions!