Human Resources

The Annual Enrollment period begins July 1 and runs through July 31 each year. Any changes you make to your benefits during this time will be effective on September 1. Premium changes will be reflected on the first paycheck you receive for services you perform in the new fiscal year. For example, if you are paid monthly, premiums for your September coverage will be reflected on your October 1 paycheck.

Federal regulations define situations called Changes in Status that allow employees and retirees to change their Flexible Spending Accounts contributions or health, dental, vision or AD&D coverage during a plan year within 60 days of the Change in Status. Changes in Status are:

• Employee’s marriage, divorce or death of employee’s spouse
• Birth, adoption or death of a dependent child
• Child becoming ineligible for coverage due to reaching age 25 or marrying
• Change in employee’s, spouse’s or dependent child’s employment status that affects eligibility for coverage
• Change in employee’s, spouse’s or dependent child’s residence that affects eligibility for coverage
• Employee’s receipt of a qualified medical child support order or letter from the Attorney General ordering the employee to provide (or allowing the employee to drop) medical coverage for a child
• Changes made by a spouse or a dependent child during his/her employer’s annual enrollment period
• The employee, spouse or dependent child becoming eligible or ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid
• Significant employer-initiated or carrier-initiated changes in or cancellation of the employee’s, spouse’s or dependent child’s coverage
• Change in day care cost due to a change in provider, change in provider’s fees (if the provider is not a relative) or change in number of hours the child needs care (for Dependent Day Care Spending Accounts)

A court order against the spouse of an A&M System employee does not constitute a Change in Status. Also, a change in income, which may affect coverage affordability, does not constitute a Change in Status.

If you experience a Change in Status and would like to change your benefit coverages, complete a Benefit Change Form and, if applicable, a Dependent Enrollment Form/Certification within 60 days of the Change in Status. If it has been longer than 60 days since the Change(s) in Status occurred, you must wait until the next Annual Enrollment period to make the change(s).

Beneficiary information may be updated any time of the year. You can change your beneficiary(ies) for Basic/Alternate Basic Life, Optional Life and/or Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) in iBenefits or by completing a Beneficiary Designation Form (available from Human Resources).
If you participate in the Teacher Retirement System, complete the TRS 15 form or contact TRS at (800) 223-8778 to request this form. If you participate in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP), Tax Deferred Annuity Program or Deferred Compensation Plan, notify your vendor(s) of your new beneficiary.

You will need to apply for and obtain a new Social Security card reflecting your new name and provide a copy of the card to your departmental employment processor. Upon receipt of the appropriate paperwork from your department, your Human Resources office will update your personnel and payroll records. If you want to add or drop dependent(s), complete a Dependent Enrollment Form/Certification.

Yes. Your grandchild must be living in your home and you must provide proof of this to your Human Resources office in order for this the grandchild to be added.

COBRA forms to continue health, dental and/or vision coverage will be sent to you through the mail or provided to you at your "exit interview". Other coverages, such as Life and AD&D, may be continued through portability or conversion. Your Human Resources office will have this information and is a good resource for additional questions.

The A&M Dental plan (PPO) covers the reasonable and customary cost of three cleanings per year whether the cleanings are done at a regular dentist's office or a periodontist's office. The DeltaCare USA Dental HMO plan covers the reasonable and customary cost of two cleanings per year, one every six months, whether the cleanings are done at a regular dentist’s office or a periodontist’s office. If you have your teeth cleaned more often, you must pay the cost of the additional cleanings.

The most up-to-date list of participating dentists is online at http://deltadentalins.com/tamus/. You can also call Delta at (800) 336-8264.

To find a DeltaCare USA dentist, go to http://deltadentalins.com/tamus/. You can also call DeltaCare USA at (800) 422-4234. However, because the A&M System is rural-based, network dentists are not available in all areas where we have employees and retirees.

Basic Life/Basic AD&D is automatically provided to those who enroll in an A&M System health plan, and the employer contribution pays the premium. Those who do not take System health coverage and do not certify that they have other health coverage may buy Basic Life/Basic AD&D, but must pay for it themselves. Alternate Basic Life is available to employees and retirees who do not enroll in an A&M System health plan, but certify that they have other health coverage. Because they certify that they have other health coverage, they can use half of the employer contribution to buy other coverages, including Alternate Basic Life, which has a maximum coverage level of $50,000. Optional Life is available to all employees except those in Alternate Basic Life, but the employer contribution may not be used to pay the premiums. Those eligible for Alternate Basic Life may choose to buy either Optional Life or Alternate Basic Life, but not both.

If your doctor provides documentation to Medco before the prescription is filled stating that you have tried the formulary drug and you must have the nonformulary drug for medical reasons, and if Medco approves the substitution, you will pay only the formulary copayment. Formulary information is available at www.medco.com or from your Human Resources office.

The formulary is a list of preferred brand-name drugs that have been compared and evaluated with other brands and provide maximum quality and value. Many therapeutic categories (for example, ulcer medications) have two or more brand-name drugs that are used for the same purpose.

To maximize your savings, you should present the list to your physician each time you are to receive a prescription and, when possible, ask your physician to consider the use of generically equivalent alternatives. You are not required to use the drugs on this list, and they are not the only drugs covered by the plan.

Generic alternatives will be dispensed by the pharmacist whenever available and legally permitted, unless your physician specifically indicates on the prescription "dispense as written." The generic version of a drug has the same chemical compound as its brand-name counterpart. The use of generic drugs offers a simple and safe alternative to help reduce your prescription drug costs. If a generic drug is available and you have your prescription filled with a brand-name drug, the plan will pay only the cost of the generic. You will be responsible for paying the difference, plus the brand-name copayment. You pay only the brand-name copayment when no generic is available.

Member services: (866) 295-1212
Precertification: (800) 441-9188
Mental health precertification: (800) 528-7264
BlueCard (for network physician information outside Texas): (800) 810-BLUE
Both precertification numbers can be dialed directly or accessed by calling member services. Member services representatives will be available from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The HRConnect online information system is located at sso.tamus.edu. You will need to enter your Universal Identification Number UIN) and a password. If you do not already have a password or do not remember your password, follow the instructions on the login page. HRConnect provides personal, employment, benefits and payroll information on you. It also has a searchable database to help you find answers to your questions on human resource programs. The utilities function can help you calculate your TRS and/or Social Security benefits, how your net pay will change if you contribute to (or increase your contribution to) a Tax-Deferred Account and how much you need to be saving to meet your retirement goals.

More information is also available online. Check the System Benefits website at tamus.edu/benefits for information on benefits and retirement or the System Human resources website tamus.edu/offices/hr/ for information on holidays and employment opportunities.

You can update or correct your residence and/or mailing address and phone number in HRConnect, or you may contact your Human Resources office for the appropriate form. To change or correct your personal data, such as employment address/phone number, e-mail address, gender, marital status, education level, EEO minority code, disabled/handicapped indicator, veteran status and privacy flag, you may submit your changes through HRConnect or complete an Employee Personal Data Form.

If you participate in the Teacher Retirement System, complete the TRS 358 Change of Address form or contact TRS at (800) 223-8778 to request this form. If you participate in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP), Tax Deferred Annuity Program, or Deferred Compensation Plan, notify your vendor(s) of your new address.

You will use your NTNET username and password, which is the same one you use to log-in to the computer.

Please contact your immediate supervisor and discuss the changes with him/her. If the changes are needed, your supervisor will then begin a new action in Tarleton Connection as an update ONLY, which will then be approved by Human Resources to make the changes permanent.

Reclassification is a change from one job position/title to another that typically results in an increase in pay. 

Reclassification usually occurs as a result of one of the following:

• A vacant position exists that a supervisor wants to change to a different position to better meet the needs of the department.
• An employee in a current position has mastered all job elements to the point where they now meet the requirements of an existing higher level position. 
• An employee in a current position has mastered all job elements to the point where they should meet the requirements of a higher level position, but none currently exist within the University's classification plan. 

Employee-Discuss your need to have your position reclassified with your supervisor. Have a list of all of your current duties available to discuss with your supervisor.

Supervisor-You will need to show that the position warrants the need to be reclassified and not just the fact that the employee does more than required. It could be that additional duties are going to be required of the position or that an employee who is currently holding the position has mastered that level of the job. If it is to reclass a current employee a job evaluation will also need to be prepared to accompany the reclass action.

Your salary grade is determined by comparing the market value for similar external positions to yours and then comparing your position to the pay of other jobs in the organization that require the same level of knowledge, skills and abilities.

Employees will submit a leave request using LeaveTraq. Some departments have alternate processes for entering leave requests, so check with your supervisor if you are not certain how your department enters information into LeaveTraq.

Per System Regulation 31.03.01 Vacation, all hours of accumulated vacation leave above the maximum hours allowable to be carried forward into the next fiscal year may be credited to an employee's sick leave balance as of the first day of the next fiscal year.

Employees may elect to be paid in lump sum, or, if it is mutually agreeable to both the employee and the employer, may elect to remain on the payroll, in a budgeted or wage position, for the period of accrued vacation.

Eligible employees who terminate state employment and remain on the payroll to exhaust vacation entitlement or accrued state or FLSA compensatory time are entitled to payment of full longevity or hazardous duty pay for each month or fraction of a month they continue on the payroll. However, longevity and hazardous duty pay will not be considered in the calculation of the lump-sum pay for vacation of eligible employees who terminate state employment. A lump-sum payment for accrued FLSA compensatory time will include longevity or hazardous duty pay.

Per System Regulation 31.03.01 Vacation, the vacation leave accrual rate is based on the percentage work effort and the number of years of State service as shown on the schedule in the regulation. Per System Regulation 31.03.02 Sick Leave,  the sick leave accrual rate is also earned as a percentage of time worked in relation to a normal accrual for a 100% employee.

For example, a 50%-effort leave-eligible employee with less than two years of state service will earn 4 hours of vacation and 4 hours of sick leave per month.

You may use sick leave for the following reasons:

• Your Condition – when injury, illness, or pregnancy prevents you from performing your duty

• Care for Your Immediate Family
  
  • Who lives in your household 
    • Eligible: related by kinship, adoption, or marriage
  • Who do NOT live in your household
    • Eligible: employee’s child, spouse, parent; must have a documented medical condition

You must account for your use of sick leave in the following instances:

• Absences of three continuous working days or less
  • Family member not residing in your household: Must provide an explanation of the immediate family member’s relationship and need for care and assistance that results from a documented medical condition.
• Absences in excess of three continuous working days
  • Your Condition: Medical documentation required indicating estimated date of recovery and cause of illness or some other written statement of the facts concerning the illness that is acceptable to the CEO or his/her designee
  • Care for Immediate Family
    • Must specify if leave is for family member
    • Eligible family members residing and not residing in your household: Must provide a physician’s statement that indicates the cause or nature of the illness and estimated recovery date, or other written statement of the facts concerning the illness that is acceptable.

Employees who retire may not have their previous sick leave balances restored in the event they re-employ with another state agency. Employees planning to retire have three options regarding sick leave upon retirement:

• Donate any or all remaining sick leave to the sick leave pool.
• Apply any or all remaining sick leave toward retirement service credit.
• Lose any remaining sick leave upon retirement.

An employee may use any or all of these options; however, upon retirement, the employee’s sick leave balance will be zero.

You may change your contribution amount once each month. Just fill out the TDA Salary Reduction Agreement/Change of Vendor form (http://www.tamus.edu/assets/files/benefits/pdf/publications/forms/17.pdf) and submit it to your Human Resources or Payroll Department.

You may change your ORP or TDA vendor whenever you choose. Just fill out the TDA Salary Reduction Agreement/Change of Vendor form (http://www.tamus.edu/assets/files/benefits/pdf/publications/forms/17.pdf) or the ORP Salary Reduction Acknowledgement/Change of Vendor form (http://www.tamus.edu/assets/files/benefits/pdf/publications/forms/14.pdf) and submit it to your Human Resources or Payroll Department. However, your new vendor must be listed on the A&M System active vendor list (http://www.tamus.edu/offices/benefits/retirement/activevendors).

No. Both the ORP and TDA plans only permit transfers to vendors on the A&M System Active Vendor List located at http://www.tamus.edu/offices/benefits/retirement/activevendors unless you are actively contributing to a grandfathered vendor. Under this circumstance, you may transfer funds to the account at the grandfathered vendor in which you are actively contributing.

No. You may leave your existing ORP or TDA account with your former vendor and change your future contributions to a new vendor. You may also contribute to two different TDA vendors at the same time, if you wish.

With a traditional TDA, your contribution is deducted from your pay before federal income tax is calculated, so you do not pay current income tax on your contributions. Likewise, you do not pay current income tax on the investment earnings on your TDA savings. When you make withdrawals from your TDA account upon retirement, you will pay federal income tax on the withdrawals.

With a Roth TDA, your contribution is deducted from your pay after federal income tax is calculated, so you pay current income tax on your contributions. You do not pay income tax on your investment earnings now or in the future. When you make withdrawals from your Roth TDA account upon retirement, you will not pay federal income tax on the withdrawals.

No. Texas state law prohibits distributions, including loans and hardship withdrawals, under the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) until a participant retires, dies, reaches age 70½ or terminates employment with all Texas public institutions of higher education.

Yes. The TDA program does allow loans and hardship withdrawals regardless of the participant's employment status. However, not all TDA vendors offer loans. For more information, employees should contact their vendor representatives.

Texas state law prohibits distributions under the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) until a participant retires, dies, reaches age 70½ or terminates employment with all Texas public institutions of higher education.

The TDA program allows distributions from your account once you have reached age 59 ½, retire, or terminate employment with the A&M System. The TDA program also allows hardship withdrawals. This includes major un-reimbursed medical expenses, college costs for immediate family members, purchase of your primary residence or payments to prevent eviction from or foreclosure on your primary residence. If you receive a financial hardship withdrawal, federal law requires that contributions to the plan be suspended for six months.

The answer to this question varies based on a number of factors. Check with your HR Representative for further guidance.

The answer to this question varies based on a number of factors. Check with your HR Representative for further guidance.

Yes. The TDA and the Texa$aver DCP are two separate plans with separate contribution limits.

Yes. However, both the traditional TDA and the Roth TDA are subject to the same total TDA limit. The combined total cannot be greater than this limit. Check with your HR Representative for additional information.

To post a job go to Career Services’ website and click on Hire a Texan for Employers.

Submit a PBA with Department Head and Dean Signature along with a Graduate Assistant Requisition form, (form can be found on Graduate Studies website under Graduate Assistant forms).

New hire packets for Student Workers and Graduate Assistants can be found on the Human Resources’ website under employment packets at: http://www.tarleton.edu/hr/manager/index.html

Yes.

Yes, unless they are a foreign national.  Foreign national student employees can only work a total of 20 hours during a Spring or Fall Semester.

If the SW was hired in the past year, just submit a completed Employee Acknowledgement Questionnaire (can be found in GA packet), otherwise, please have the GA complete new GA packet.

You will need to submit a completed I-9 within three days of the date of hire for GA or Student Worker if they are new or have been terminated from their previous position.

Contact Financial Aid to ensure the student is approved for work study, if so, send the PAF to Financial Aid for approval.  If your employee is a new hire, send the packet to Human Resources along with a copy of the PAF and send the original PAF to Financial Aid.

All employees are required to complete the assigned training to ensure compliance with Texas state laws and System regulations. An employee is anyone who receives a paycheck from Tarleton, including student workers, graduate assistants, and temporary employees.

First, you must log-in to Single Sign On (https://sso.tamus.edu), then click on TrainTraq. When TrainTraq opens your assigned training should be listed and you will click on "Start" to launch the course.

The following link web page provides links to more detailed instructions for logging in to Single Sign On and navigating through TrainTraq:

Required Employee Training

All scheduled training classes are listed on the University Calendar under the category of "Training". Training classes may be added, deleted, or rescheduled, so you should periodically check for changes to the calendar.

A review and approval process for making training assignments is provided in SAP 33.05.02.T0.01, Required Employee Training. Following the approval of the required training, Human Resources will make the assignment for the affected employees, departments, or divisions.

You may request training by simply asking your supervisor or by sending a request to Human Resources. Your supervisor may approve your request to attend a specific class offered outside of the University or if it is a class offered on campus, but is not scheduled, the supervisor should forward the request to Human Resources. A needs analysis may be conducted to determine the exact training need and as appropriate develop or schedule the class.

Performance evaluations are required at least annually for budgeted faculty and staff positions. Normally, the annual evaluation period will start near the beginning of March and end near the middle of May. The exact dates may vary depending on specific requirements for the evaluation.

New staff employees are required to have a performance evaluation completed within the first six months of employment.

Existing employees who have been promoted are required to have an evaluation completed within the first 90 days of the promotion.

The supervisor has the option of performing an evaluation more frequently, especially if it is in conjunction with a performance improvement need.

Student workers must be evaluated before a pay raise can be submitted. Periodic evaluation of a long term student worker is recommended as part of that workers development.

Self appraisals for faculty and staff are initiated in Tarleton Connection. Instructions for initiating the self appraisal are located on the Performance Management web page in the Human Resources web site.

Performance Management

As a supervisor, you have on-going actions associated with performance management, such as setting goals, communicating expectations, and providing periodic feedback on performance.

The performance evaluation is the formal culmination of all of those actions and instructions are provided on the Performance Management web page in the Human Resources web site.

Performance Management

Yes. By logging into Tarleton Connection and clicking on Historical Evaluations, you may view any performance evaluations documented in the system. For evaluations conducted prior to the use of Tarleton Connection, you will need to check with your supervisor or Human Resources for a copy.

A form of coverage specifically designed to provide for medical payments and in some cases financial payments, to employees whose name appears on the payroll.  Coverage is only extended to employees who suffer injury, occupational diseases, or work related death in the course and scope of employment while doing some activity that furthers the affairs of the employer.

An injury that arises out of and in the course and scope of employment for which compensation is payable under the Texas Workers' Compensation Act.

An activity of any kind or character that has to do with and originates in the work, business, trade, or profession of the employer and that is performed by an employee while engaged in or about the furtherance of the affairs or business of the employer.

You may have the right to receive benefits regardless of who was at fault for your injury with a few certain exceptions, such as:

• You were intoxicated at the time of the injury
• You injured yourself on purpose or while trying to injure someone else
• You were injured by another person for personal reasons
• You were injured by an act of God
• Your injury occurred during horseplay
• Your injury occurred while voluntarily participating in an off-duty recreational, social, or athletic activity

No. If you are injured on the job and need to seek immediate medical attention, such as the emergency room, you will not be required to use your Paid Leave. However, for follow up visits and medical attention that is not considered to be emergency care, the injured employee will need to use paid leave to cover the time he/she is out. The injured employee must schedule his/her follow-up visits along with non-emergency care appointments so that it does not deter or place a hindrance on the daily operations of the business.

Upon hire a Notice of Coverage is given to all employees to sign.

When an injury occurs the injured employee will receive a Copy of employee's rights and responsibilities along with a copy of the first report of injury via mail to the last known address of the employee.

A Notice of the Ombudsman Program is posted for employees to review along with a notice regarding certain work-related communicable diseases on the employer's premises.

The injured employee is responsible for informing his/her employer and Insurance Carrier about any changes regarding the following items:

• Changes in home address or phone number
• Changes in work address or telephone number
• Changes in salary, such as income increase or decrease, or change in employer

It is a letter that is put into place when employee is returned to work at light duty status.  It should be signed and dated before employee returns to work.

• Offer must be in writing
• Offer must include copy of Work Status Report the offer is based upon
• Location where the employee will be working
• Schedule the employee will be working
• Wages the employee will be paid
• Description of the physical and time requirements of the position
• Statement that the employer will only assign tasks consistent with the employees physical abilities, knowledge and skill, and will provide training if necessary