A task force created a year ago by UC President Mark Yudof to review the UC’s retirement and health benefits system will present its findings to UC campuses this spring.
The Apr. 19 forums at UC Davis follow up the Nov. 9, 2009 meetings where members presented the issues surrounding UC’s current pension and retiree health benefits.
The financial impact of revised post-employment benefits policies will mainly affect new people who enter the UC Retirement Plan program. The goal is to focus the policies on new individuals and avoid impacting current program members, said Perry King, UCD Human Resources Analyst.
“People currently enrolled in the post-employment benefits program are concerned that rates will go up and they are not going to get as much per month,” King said.
In order to restore the sustainability of the UC Retirement Program, current employees will resume contributing to pension system on Apr. 15. This is a significant change because most employees and employers have not had to contribute to the UCRP since the early 1990s as a result of the surplus of assets accumulated in the pension fund, according to Sue Barnes, UC Retiree Program manager.
“I started working at UC Davis in April of 1990, and while I may have contributed to the pension system for a few months, for most of my career I have not been contributing to the system,” Barnes said.
However, because no contributions have been made to the UCRP for so long, the surplus has been steadily declining.
Employees will contribute about 2 percent of pay. UC employers will contribute 4 percent of pay. In an effort to sustain the pension fund, employer and employee contributions are expected to increase over time.
Executive Director Randy Scott and Director Gary Schlimgen from the Office of the President Human Resources department will present at the forums. Task force representatives will propose recommendations to President Yudof later this summer regarding ways to change the funding and policies for post-employment benefits.
“The November 2009 forums were all sold out,” King said. In total, 1,145 people viewed the fall forums online.
Local forums will take place at the ARC Ballroom from 10 a.m. to noon and the UC Davis Medical Center in the Cancer Center Auditorium from 2 to 4 p.m.
Staff, faculty and retirees are welcome to attend. For the UC Davis campus sessions, staff and faculty may register online at lms.ucdavis.edu. For the UC Davis medical center sessions, staff and faculty may enroll through Health Stream at healthstream.com/HLC/ucdhs.
Retirees may contact the UC Davis Retiree Center at 752-5182 or at retireecenter@ucdavis.edu to reserve a seat for a specific session.
The campus session will be cast online live at ucdavis.edu.
THERESA MONGELLUZZO can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
