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Feature Article  |  UC People  |  Briefs  |  Benefits Q&A

Tips to Prepare for the Retirement Process
In April the phones in benefits offices at all UC locations ring much more frequently as employees begin to prepare for the annual July spike in retirements. Typically, more employees retire in July than any other month. About 4,200 employees retired in 2007, and more than 1,500 of them did so in July. With almost 35,000 UC faculty and staff eligible to retire (age 50 or older with at least five years of UCRP service credit), the July spike is likely to continue. When the time comes, will you be ready?
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UCLA
Candy Without the Cavities
What Willy Wonka did for chocolate, UCLA microbiologist Wenyuan Shi is doing for lollipops.

Shi and his lab team at the UCLA School of Dentistry have managed to make candy that's actually good for your teeth. As a result, thousands of orange-flavored lollipops are rolling out of a factory in Grand Rapids, Mich., into the hands of people eager for them.

UC Davis
No Place Like ‘Om’
Beth Cohen began meditating 12 years ago. The reason was simple — she wanted to lead a healthier life.

“I was always anxious," said Cohen, director of the Academic and Staff Assistance Program at UC Davis. Soon enough, she discovered that meditation dramatically increased her quality of life. After meditating for six years, she took some courses and became a certified meditation instructor herself.

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Blue Cross Changes Name
Starting April 1, Blue Cross of California will be renamed Anthem Blue Cross. This change affects UC-sponsored medical plans Blue Cross PLUS, Blue Cross PPO and Core. Medical plan members will receive new identification cards.
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Annual Health & Welfare Audit Set for May
In May, UC/HR Benefits will conduct its annual random audit of family members enrolled in UC-sponsored health and welfare plans. Randomly selected employees and retirees will receive a letter asking them to submit documentation to verify that their family members are eligible for health and welfare benefits under UC’s rules.
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Is Your 2008 Tax Withholding Correct?
April tax return time is also a good time to review your UC payroll tax withholding to make sure it is correct for 2008. If you owe lots of taxes for last year, you may be under-withholding, and if you will receive a large refund, you may be over-withholding.
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Squads Offer a Good Fit
For many employers, their most valuable players include those who keep the computers running smoothly. Emerging throughout UC, however, is a new cadre of MVPs – those who are keeping the workers physically and mentally fine-tuned.
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Coming Soon: HRB Briefing to Go Green
In the near future UC will offer the option of reading an electronic version of HRB Briefing rather than receiving the paper version through the mail.

Here’s how it will work:
You will be able to choose the electronic option by logging in to your personal account on At Your Service Online and making that selection. Then, when a new issue of Briefing is posted online, you will receive an email with a link to the newsletter and a notice that it is available. If you are interested in this new option, watch for news of it on At Your Service and in the newsletter.

Q. I have nearly 30 years of service at UC Davis. During that period of time, I spent six years, 1985-1991, working for a private company. When I left UC to take that position, I left my UC Retirement Plan (UCRP) accumulations on deposit in UCRP -- I did not cash out. I would like to know if it is possible to buy back those six years of service credit.

A.  UCRP rules allow service credit buybacks only for approved leaves of absence or for an earlier period of UC employment for which you received a refund of your UCRP accumulations. In your case, you were separated from UC for six years. You cannot buy back service credit for a period when you were not a UC employee. For more details on service credit buyback, see the UCRP Buyback Booklet [PDF], available online.

Do you have a question about your benefits that you’d like to have answered here? Send your questions to HRBBriefing-L@ucop.edu or UC HR/Benefits, HRB Briefing editor, 300 Lakeside Drive, 12th Floor, Oakland CA 94612. We will provide answers in a future issue of HRB Briefing.