Human Resources & Workforce Diversity
Changing to Classified or Unclassified
How are your benefits affected if you change employee groups (classified to unclassified or vice versa)?
Wisconsin Retirement System
You should know. . .
WRS contributions and creditable service for classified employees are based on a calendar year. For unclassified employees they are based on a fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).
To receive one year of creditable service, most unclassified employees must work 1320 hours in a fiscal year. Classified employees and unclassified executives must work 1,904 hours in a calendar year. Employees who work less than the minimum earn a pro-rated amount of creditable service.
If you change from classified to unclassified, or vice versa, your WRS service and earnings record switches from the calendar to the fiscal year, or vice versa. If you make the change in one of your three highest years of earnings, you could lose credit for that high salary because it will be allocated to two different WRS annual earnings periods.
What to do. . .
- No action required.
You should know. . .
- Dental Wisconsin Dental Insurance plans are offered to all employees eligible for state group health insurance and is not affected by the position change.
- Anthem DentalBlue Dental Insurance plans are offered only to classified employees in a bargaining unit and new enrollments are not permitted after December 1, 2011.
What to do. . .
- If you have Anthem DentalBlue coverage as the time of the transfer and you are not eligible to continue it in your new position, you have 30 days to enroll in Dental Wisconsin by submitting a completed application. Any waiting periods satisfied under Anthem DentalBlue will also be applied to the Dental Wisconsin waiting periods. You may not add dependents who were not covered under the prior plan until the next open enrollment opportunity unless there is a qualifying event (such as marriage, birth or adoption of a child).
University Insurance Association (UIA) Life Insurance
(Unclassified Faculty and Academic Staff only)
You should know. . .
- Participation in this plan is mandatory for unclassified employees who meet the title and minimum salary requirement.
- If you change from an unclassified to a classified position, you cease to be eligible for this insurance, but you may be eligible to continue coverage in the group plan.
What to do. . .
- Contact your Benefits Office for more information.
Employee Reimbursement Account (ERA)
You should know. . .
- Classified employees are paid bi-weekly while unclassified employees are paid monthly. When you move between these categories, the frequency of your paychecks will change. To maintain the same level of contributions, you must change the amount deducted from each check.
What to do. . .
- Adjust your contributions by filing a Change in Status form directly with the Fringe Benefits Management Company's Lodi, WI office.
Tax Sheltered Annuity Program and
Wisconsin Deferred Compensation Program
You should know. . .
- Classified employees are paid bi-weekly while unclassified employees are paid monthly. When you move between these categories, the frequency of your paychecks will change. To maintain the same level of contributions, you must change the amount deducted from each check.
What to do. . .
- Review the contribution limits in the plan to make sure you are not over-contributing.
- Consider whether you want to increase or decrease your contributions. If you want to make a change, contact your staff benefits office for TSA Program changes, or Wisconsin Deferred Compensation for Deferred Compensation changes.
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This document was last revised on December 19, 2011
