| To: | Agency Directors and Personnel/Payroll Officers |
| Subject: | System Modifications Required to Implement Code Changes Regarding Military Deployment (Federal) |
| Sent Date: | 05/30/2007 |
During the 2006 legislative session, two (2) senate bills were passed changing Idaho Codes 46-216 and 46-225. The changes to Idaho Code were as follows:
SB 1375 (Idaho Code 46-216) – Allow military personnel deployed ‘Federal’ Active Duty to receive pay for fifteen (15) days of ‘MLT – Military Leave Taken’ per calendar year. Note: change reason IM-inactive military was changed from ‘without pay’ to ‘with pay’. In addition, a new IPOPS personnel action has been added strictly for this function, “Military Inactivations”.
SB 1362 (Idaho Code 46-225) – Military personnel deployed ‘Federal’ Active Duty are entitled to their existing medical benefits for the first thirty (30) days of a deployment. Note: Because of the 2 week lag in the payroll schedule, employees will have insurance coverage for at least 30 days after their deployment. Therefore, no modifications were required.
Effective May 31, 2007 the following changes will be in a production status:
Any employees currently in an ‘Inactive Military’ without pay status (I) will be automatically changed to ‘Inactive Military’ with pay status (B). No intervention is necessary on the part of the agency.
Change reason ‘IM – Inactive Military’ (Federal Active Duty) will now place the employee in an inactive with pay status and the Time Sheet Required indicator will be set to ‘Y - Required’. Note: If the employee is in more than one active position, all active positions will be changed to IM. The employee is eligible to code leave taken (ex. MLT, VAC, CPT) during the deployment period. It is necessary for the agency to submit the ‘IM’ action once they have been notified of the Federal deployment. The effective date of this action should be the actual ‘deployment date’ on the notification.
Once payroll has been processed for the pay period (based on the effective date of the IM), the employee’s Health and Dental plans will automatically change to ‘E – Eligible’ and ‘NW – Not Wanted’ for the duration of the deployment period. In addition, the Life Insurance deduction will not be taken during the deployment. If the employee continues to receive pay intermittently (VAC, MLT, CPT, etc) in future payrolls during the deployment period no premiums will be taken for Health, Dental, and Life. All other deductions, including Retirement, Unemployment, and Workers Comp, will be taken. Note: Questions regarding eligibility status during the deployment period should be directed to Office of Group Insurance.
New Change reason ‘AM – Return from Military Deployment’ (Federal Active Duty). Use this code to return an employee to active status. Note: It may be necessary to change the Time Sheet Required indicator back to ‘N – Not Required’.
Once the employee returns from Federal active duty, it is necessary for the agency to send a paper Health/Dental application to Office of Group Insurance. The paper should be marked as “Return from Military Duty”. At that point, Office of Group Insurance will verify any changes in coverage and if an adjustment is needed, then they will enter the paper application into IPOPS for processing. No further intervention should be necessary on the part of the agency or employee. Note: Questions regarding the submission of the paper Health/Dental application should be directed to Office of Group Insurance.
Again, these changes are only addressing the employees deployed to ‘Federal Active Duty’.
If you have any questions regarding this memo (other than the Group Insurance eligibility), please call the DSP Helpdesk at 334-2394.
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