A downloadable version of the annual Employee Viewpoint Survey is available below and the DOJ is hoping to hear from as many employees as possible about their ideas for improvement and overall sentiment about the workplace and culture here. This survey is completely anonymous and confidential and can also be found via direct link in an email sent to you by California AG Xavier Becerra's office.
Employees are currently permitted to make a one-time mid-year enrollment change to their MRA and/or DCRA elections for the 2020 plan year. Employees may enroll, cancel or change their MRA and/or DCRA election without a qualifying permitting event on a prospective basis only. The last effective date for the 2020 plan year is December 1, 2020. The State Controller’s Office must receive the employee’s completed STD 701R – Reimbursement Account Enrollment Authorization no later than November 10, 2020 in order to have an effective date of December 1, 2020.
The minimum contribution to keep a MRA and/or DCRA active is $10 per month. An employee must keep their MRA and/or DCRA active to be eligible for the grace period and incur claims until March 15, 2021. Any employees who previously cancelled or reduced their election to $0 will have until November 30, 2020, to amend their prior election to the minimum amount if they wish to do so. Employees who do not amend their prior elections will only be eligible to incur expenses until the cancellation effective date for the MRA or until December 31, 2020 for the DCRA.
More information is available under the National Emergency Relief and Guidelines for Employee Benefit Plans.
The one-time mid-year election opportunity is not extended into the 2021 plan year at this time. Employees will need to experience a qualified permitting event in order to make election changes in 2021 including:
· DCRA Only – Change in dependent care provider (e.g. a provider opens/closes)
· DCRA Only – Change in dependent care costs (e.g. an employee increases or decreases care based on work schedule)
· MRA and DCRA – Change in employee eligibility that is a result of a reduction of hours (e.g. an employee's work schedule is reduced to less than half-time)
These are common permitting events but are not an exhaustive list. You may refer to the FlexElect Program Permitting Event Codes/Dates Chart for additional permitting events. IRS guidelines currently prohibit retroactive election changes or refunds of remaining balances in an MRA and/or DCRA for the 2020 plan year. CalHR is diligently tracking IRS announcements and will release an HR Announcement if there is any change to CalHR policy.
The State Controller’s Office (SCO) is happy to announce that Cal Employee Connect is available for all civil service and California State University employees. This secure self-service portal allows state employees to view, print, and electronically save their own W2, leave balances, direct-deposit earnings statements, and more.
The portal can be accessed here: https://connect.sco.ca.gov/ and if you have questions or need assistance navigating please contact connecthelp@sco.ca.gov.