Employee Relations

All George Mason University employees who are leaving the university's employ should submit a written letter of resignation. Please complete Mason's Resignation Form and upload your resignation letter to notify your unit's HR point of contact and Central HR.

Please e-mail us at hr@gmu.edu to notify us about any separation. Your e-mail should include the following information:

• Your name, department, and phone number
• The name of the separating employee, their G#, and their last date of work

Sending an Exit Alert e-mail does not substitute for the need to send the appropriate paperwork to HR including the resignation/separation form and a formal resignation letter. However, an early alert does help us prevent overpayments.

All employees are encouraged to give a minimum of two weeks' notice; supervisors and managers are encouraged to give at least one month's notice.

If you plan to formally retire from George Mason, please contact your benefits specialist at (703) 993-2600 to set up an appointment to review your retirement situation.

Retirement Date (9 Month Faculty Only)

Your retirement date will be the first day of February or June. To help you make a successful transition, we would like you to keep a couple of important dates and paydates in mind:

Retirement after spring semester:

• • Retirement date June 1
  • Separation date May 24 (Last work day- end of pay period)
  • Mason health coverage through May 31
  • Final Mason paycheck on June 1 (includes summer deferred pay if applicable)

Retirement after fall semester:

• • Retirement date February 1
  • Separation date January 9 (Last work day- end of pay period)
  • Mason health coverage through January 31
  • Final Mason paycheck on January 16 (includes summer deferred pay if applicable)

Mailing Address

W-2s and other important communications will be mailed to the address listed in PatriotWeb.

If you are moving, or plan to move before the end of the calendar year:

• • Update your permanent address in PatriotWeb before your last day of work.
  • Notify the HR Department if your address changes after you separate from the University

Email Address

To ensure timely future communications, please be sure to provide a current personal email address

The following checklists must be completed and returned to HR.

• Property Checklist
• Employee Separation Checklist
• Supervisor Separation Checklist

When you leave your position at Mason, please be sure to review and remove any personal e-mail. Remember that your e-mail, just like your computer, belongs to the University. All e-mail left on your computer will be retained by the university for business purposes.

1. What is going to happen to my health insurance when I separate?

Your health insurance will always go through the end of the month in which you separate. Effective the first of the following month, you will no longer have active group health insurance coverage. If you would like to continue coverage - details regarding COBRA will be mailed to you in your exit package.

2. I'm a former employee who needs a financial document signed to allow a transfer.

Please fax your document, along with return instructions, to Benefits at 703.993.2601. We'll make sure it gets to the right person for signature.

Companies who administer retirement plans (VRS or ORP), or tax-deferred annuity plans (TSAs), must be notified directly. Please refer to the Benefits page to find web links and/or addresses for these companies.

Retirement Plans (VRS, ORP)

If you are a Virginia Retirement System (VRS) participant, you have three options. You may request a refund, you may do a direct rollover to a qualified plan, or you may leave the funds in VRS until you are eligible for retirement. For more information or to obtain a copy of this form, please visit the VRS website. Hybrid retirement plan members should also refer to the Hybrid Retirement: Leaving Employment Guide.

If you are a faculty member enrolled in an Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), you need to contact your ORP vendor directly to discuss distribution or rollover options. TIAA can be contacted at (800) 842-2252, Fidelity Investments is at (800) 544-6666.

Supplemental Retirement Plans (Tax-Deferred Annuity/Deferred Compensation Plans)

If you are participating in a 403b Tax-Deferred Annuity, you have the option of either leaving the funds in the plan or rolling them over into an IRA or other qualified plan. Please contact your specific plan vendor or vendors.

If you are participating in a Virginia Deferred Compensation (457) Plan, you have the option of either leaving the funds in the plan or rolling them over into an IRA or other qualified plan. For additional information, please visit the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) Leaving Employment Site.

Contact Info:

• • 403(b) TIAA - their website - 1-800-842-2252
  • 403(b) Fidelity - their website - 1-800-343-0860
  • 457 – ICMA-RC - their website - 1-877-327-5261

When Coverage Ends

Coverage ends on the last day of the month in which you separate employment if you are currently enrolled in a Mason-sponsored group health plan. For example, if you leave April 15th, your health coverage will end April 30^th. With few exceptions, you will be eligible for COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act).

For 9 Month Faculty: if leaving at the end of spring semester, you can:

• • Continue health insurance through the summer, 8/31, or
  • End the health insurance May 31^st.

9 Month faculty must notify Benefits at benefits@gmu.edu of your decision to stop or continue your health insurance prior to your last employment day so that any pre-paid health premiums can be refunded before your final check is issued

Continuing Health Coverage

You will receive information about your rights to continue coverage (COBRA), including an informational sheet, coverage costs and how to make payments, and an election agreement no later than 14 days after the health insurance coverage ends. You will also receive a Certificate of Group Health Plan Coverage which is the certificate of evidence of your coverage under the health plan offered through the University. This evidence of coverage can be used when securing new coverage. To ensure a timely delivery of the COBRA Election form, please provide us with your personal email address.

To continue coverage under COBRA, you must complete the COBRA election form and return it to the COBRA administrator (ohb@dhrm.virginia.gov or 1-888-642-4414) no later than the election period end date indicated on the election form. COBRA and payments will be retroactive to the effective date of COBRA coverage.

Please visit the Benefits page for information on COBRA.

Flexible Spending Accounts

If you are currently enrolled in the health care reimbursement account (HCRA) or dependent care reimbursement account (DCRA), coverage will end the last day of the month in which you separate. You have three months after your coverage ends to submit for reimbursement of any eligible expenses. After that three-month period, you will forfeit any unused dollars in the account. For example, if you separate April 15^th, expenses incurred through April 30^th are eligible for reimbursement. The three month reimbursement window will end July 31^st. Eligible expenses submitted after that date are forfeited

Please visit the Benefits page for questions about Flexible Spending Accounts.

Coverage under the group life insurance and the long-term care insurance, if enrolled, terminates at the end of the month in which you separate from employment.

You may be eligible to convert your life insurance, or if applicable your long-term care insurance to an individual policy by contacting the carrier(s) directly.

Contact Information:

• Basic Life Insurance (Securian Financial) - 1-800-441-2258
• Optional Life Insurance (Lincoln National Insurance) -  1-800-423-2765
• Long-Term Care (Genworth Life Insurance) - 1-866-859-6060

If you are a timesheet approver, please send us the Timesheet Approver/Supervisor Change Form on the forms page so that your employees do not have a disruption in submitting time and receiving pay.

Before your departure, please complete the Employee Exit Survey. We want to hear about your experience and we value your feedback.

The data you share with us will be kept confidential and your specific answers will only be accessible by a small team within HR. However, if your exit survey indicates that a university or Commonwealth Policy may have been violated, you will be referred to the appropriate University office(s) responsible for the policy/ies in question.

All reports will combine data so that no one individual can be identified. We appreciate you being open and honest about your experiences at Mason so that we can better understand and focus on areas to improve.

Each employee must complete a final on-line timesheet and submit it for approval by the next payroll deadline. If you do not normally submit a timesheet using Patriot Web, please disregard.

For Most Employees

For most employees, the last day you work will be your last day on George Mason’s payroll, unless you are a faculty member or you are retiring. 

For Faculty

• 9 Month Faculty: your last day of employment will end on the last day of the semester, which is either January 9^th or May 24th.

Last Paycheck

You will receive your last paycheck for all hours worked in the last pay period.

• • If your last day falls in the first pay period of the month, benefit deductions for health, life insurance and retirement will be doubled in order to cover the full month of premiums.
  • If your pay is direct deposited, it will be deposited through your last regular paycheck and for any leave pay

Leave Payout

Payouts of annual, compensatory, overtime and recognition leave balances are disbursed in separate checks, usually in the pay period immediately following your last regular pay date.

Payouts of annual, compensatory, overtime, and recognition leave balances may be contributed to your Tax Sheltered Annuity plan. You will need to complete a Salary Reduction Agreement Form on the forms page and submit it to the Human Resources Department.

VSDP Participants

For VSDP participants, no payment is made for any unused sick or family/personal leave balances.

VSDP Participants Who Converted from the Traditional Sick Leave Plan

For VSDP participants with five years of continuous state service who converted sick leave to disability credits, a payment of 25% of the disability credit balance (up to the allowable maximum of $5,000) may be made.

Effective July 2002, VSDP participants may convert their unused disability credits to VRS service credits at the time of termination or elect to be paid the balance of their disability credits under the same provisions detailed above. Disability credit conversion will be at the rate of one month of service for each 173 hours of disability credits, rounded to the next highest month. Please contact your Benefits Administrator with any questions.

Non-VSDP (Traditional Sick Leave Plan) Faculty Employees

For non-VSDP faculty employees, no payment is made for any unused sick leave.

Non-VSDP (Traditional Sick Leave Plan) Classified Employees

For non-VSDP classified employees who have five years of continuous state employment, a payment of 25% of the sick leave balance (up to the allowable maximum of $5,000) will be made. Legislation (HB 189), effective 7/1/99, permits a sick leave balance to be converted to additional VRS credit at the time of retirement. Please contact your Benefits Administrator with any questions.

Please contact HR if you have questions regarding your leave payout.