Life Changes
General
Change Name within Human Resources
Please fill out and submit the Name Change Form. When changing your name, you must use this form and submit a copy of your new social security card or official name change document issued by the courts.
Address Change within Human Resources
To submit an address change, please either:
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- Change your address online via Patriot Web by logging in at Patriot Web and select "Personal Information")
OR
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- Complete a paper address change form send to us at MSN 3C3
Name Change or Address Change for Flexible Work Agreement
Employees with a flexible work agreement may need to update their flexwork agreement with their name change or address change. Please contact us with questions via the Contact Us page.
Name Change or Address Change within Retirement Companies
Companies who administer retirement plans (VRS or ORP), or tax deferred annuity plans (TSAs), must be notified separately. Refer to the Benefits page to find web links and/or addresses for these companies.
In the event of death of a Mason employee or an employee's family member, please review the In the Event of Death page for guidance.
Employee Status Change
For more information on how your benefits are affected as an employee moving from being classified staff to faculty, please review this information sheet.
Below is benefit information and guidance for employees who are transferring from one agency to another with no break in service (not even one day).
Health Insurance
When an employee transfers from one agency to another, the employee maintains the same health coverage. With the exception if the employee is moving into or out of a plan’s service area (Kaiser or Optima). Then the employee has sixty (60) days from the move to make the qualifying mid-year event (QME) change.
Employees should complete a State Election form to ensure a smooth transition. By completing the State Election form, this allows the Benefits office to quickly set up the plans in the payroll system, called Banner, so that payroll deductions can begin correctly. As transfers occur in the Virginia state’s management system, Cardinal, the transfer may not be reflected immediately.
VRS
- Classified to classified – the employee maintains the same retirement plan
- Classified to faculty – the employee can remain in the same retirement plan, or enroll in the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) plan that is offered to Faculty. In any event, the VRS 65 Form must be completed and submitted within sixty days of the date of hire making the election.
- Faculty to classified – the employee will be enrolled in the Hybrid Retirement plan, or the VRS plan that is determined when doing a Plan Determination in VRS.
Annual Leave
- Classified to classified - An employee who is transferred, promoted, or demoted from one classified position to another classified position in the same or a different agency retains his or her accrued annual leave balance and accrual rate.
- Classified to faculty – the annual leave should have been paid out at the prior agency. Annual leave does not transfer to the new agency.
- Non-classified to classified – Annual leave from the prior agency does not transfer, unless it was agreed upon prior by Mason to accept the accrued balance.
Sick Leave and Other Leave
The sick and other leave is dependent on the type of retirement plan the employee is enrolled.
- VRS and Hybrid Plans – the employee is enrolled in the VSDP and all accrued amounts will transfer.
- ORP – the employee will be enrolled in the Traditional Sick leave benefits.
Supplemental Retirement Plans
The employee must establish or re-establish their supplemental retirement plans. This applies to both the 403b and the 457 Supplemental Retirement plans.
To enroll in the 403b Supplemental Retirement plan you would need to complete and submit the Salary Reduction Agreement to Benefits using the secure upload. Once you submit your form, the Benefits office will process your election and begin the payroll deductions. This can be done every pay period. We will confirm with an email once we have set it up and we will send you the links to the investment vendor(s) you selected so you can set up your own account and select your investments.
To enroll in the 457 Supplemental Retirement plan you would log into Mission Square, the investment administrator of the plan. Once you set up your account with Mission Square and the Benefits office is notified, we will set up your contributions with payroll. You can enroll and/or make changes to this plan every month. Election changes made by the last business day of each month are effective the first day of the next month.
Hybrid Retirement Plan
The employee who transfers to Mason from another agency will need to re-establish the Voluntary Employee Contributions with Mason (Plan #307042). These contributions do not automatically transfer. The same quarterly enrollment timeframe applies. Changes made by the 15th of the month prior to the end of the quarter will be reflected the first day of the month of each quarter. To make changes, you will log into your Mission Square account.
We're sorry to see you go. Our Exit Process webpage should be able to answer most of your questions.
Insurance and Benefits
You have 60 days from the date of your qualifying mid-year event to add or remove a family member from your health insurance plan. You must submit your completed State Health Benefits Enrollment form and provide proof of your qualifying event as well as required documentation.
After you submit your enrollment form and required documentation, your family member will be added to or removed from your health insurance on the 1st of the following receipt of required documents. For instance, if your paperwork is submitted on June 15th, we will begin or remove coverage on July 1.
Please see the section below to learn how to add a newborn to your health insurance plan.
For more information on your health insurance, visit our Insurance and Benefits page.
You have 60 days from the date of birth to add your newborn under the Qualifying Mid-year event rules. You must complete a new State Health Benefit Enrollment form and provide proof of birth. We will accept either a birth certificate or the birth letter that the hospital gives you as proof of birth. If you submit both the enrollment form and proof of birth within 60 days of the birth, we will go back to the 1st of the month during which the baby was born to start coverage. For instance, if the baby was born on July 20 and you submit the required documentation on August 31, we will begin coverage on July 1 for the newborn.
For more information on your health insurance, visit our Insurance and Benefits page.
Spouse- A photocopy of marriage certificate and a photo copy of the top potion of the most recent federal tax return showing dependent listed as “spouse”- Social Security Numbers and finances redacted.
Natural or adoptive son/daughter- Photocopy of birth certificate or legal adoptive agreement.
Stepchild/children- Photocopy of birth certificate, photocopy of marriage certificate showing employee and dependent parent’s name, and photocopy of the top potion of the most recent federal tax return showing dependent listed as “spouse”- Social Security Numbers and finances redacted.
If adding a family member(s) due to a Qualifying Midyear Event, please provide a letter from previous employer or health insurance carrier with effective date of cancellation and the names of individuals who were covered under the employees plan.
A complete list can be found at the following document: Eligibility for Coverage.
For more information on your health insurance, visit our Insurance and Benefits page.
Change or Add Beneficiary
You can change or add a beneficiary for VRS Retirement Contributions, VRS Basic Life Insurance, or VRS Optional Group Life Insurance by logging into MyVRS.
To change or add a beneficiary for optional retirement plans, please contact your individual retirement company directly.