2025 Open Enrollment - 11/11-11/27

To:          All Benefit-Eligible Faculty and Staff

Open Enrollment time is upon us. This is the time each year that employees may amend their insurance plan selections based upon their personal needs and anticipated healthcare expenses for the upcoming year. Open Enrollment will be in effect from November 11 through November 27, 2024. All new elections will take effect on January 1, 2025.

All benefit changes for January 1, 2025 must be entered in Workday by the close of Open Enrollment on November 27th. The Open Enrollment task will be in your Workday Inbox starting on November 11th. Employees who are not making changes or enrolling in either of the Flexible Spending Accounts during Open Enrollment, do not have to take any action. The Open Enrollment task will disappear from your Workday Inbox once Open Enrollment has ended.

Detailed benefits and rate information can be found on the Human Resources section of My.Fairfield. If you have questions after reviewing these materials, please contact Blythe Josovitz, Director, Benefits & Compensation at bjosovitz@fairfield.edu or at extension 2995.

Updates for 2025

4 Tiers of Health Insurance Coverage

Effective 1/1/25, we will transition from three tiers of health insurance coverage to four tiers. The Employee + 1 option will be split into two tiers: Employee + Spouse and Employee + Child(ren). We will continue to have the Employee Only and Family options as well. Dental and vision insurance will remain as three tiers of coverage.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Contributions for the pre-tax Medical Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and pre-tax Dependent Care Account (DCA) will not continue into 2025 unless you re-enroll during Open Enrollment. The 2025 annual contribution limit for the Medical FSA will be increasing from $3,200 to $3,300. The Dependent Care Account annual contribution limit will remain at $5,000. As a reminder, Medical Flexible Spending Account balances must be used by December 31^st and Dependent Care Account balances must be used by March 15^th of the next calendar year. The pre-tax Commuter Transit and Parking FSA limits will each be increasing from $315/month to $325/month.

Health Savings Account (HSA)

The 2025 HSA contribution limits are increasing to $4,300 for a single person and $8,550 for a family of two or more. There is an additional catch-up allowance of $1,000 for employees age 55 (or turning 55 during 2025) and older. HSA contributions will continue as-is unless changed in Workday.

Retirement Savings Contributions (TIAA)

Your retirement savings contributions will remain as-is and won’t show up as part of Open Enrollment. If you’d like to make a change to your retirement savings contribution amount at any time during the year, you can do so in Workday under Benefits and Pay.

ARAG Legal Insurance

Fairfield University is pleased to announce the addition of legal insurance. As a global leader in legal insurance, ARAG gives employees, along with their spouses and dependent children, a place to turn to resolve legal issues. ARAG’s legal insurance plan offers members a nationwide network of thousands of attorneys who can review and prepare legal documents, as well as provide legal counsel and representation. Network attorney fees are 100% paid in full for covered legal matters. This new voluntary benefit plan costs $18.78/month and can be added in Workday during Open Enrollment. Legal insurance will be deducted post-tax via payroll and can be added or removed during any Open Enrollment or within 30 days of a qualifying life event. Examples of covered legal matters include:

Consumer Protection Matters

Small claims court, personal property disputes, auto repair, buying/selling a car, consumer fraud, consumer protection for goods or services, home improvement

Criminal Situations

Juvenile, parental responsibility

Family Law Events

Adoption, domestic partnership, guardianship/conservatorship, name change, pet-related matters and damages, pre-marital agreements, divorce

General Needs

Credit records correction, document review, document preparation

Finance, Tax & Debt-Related Matters

Debt collection, garnishments, personal bankruptcy, student loan debt, tax audit

Home Ownership or Renter Matters

Boundary disputes, buying/selling a home, contractor issues, contracts/lease agreements, deeds, foreclosures/evictions, landlord disputes, neighbor disputes, property title disputes, real estate disputes

Traffic Troubles

License suspension/revocation, traffic tickets

Wills & Estate Planning Needs

Funeral directives, powers of attorney, wills, trusts