myBama
Human Resources

Benefits Eligibility

Employee Eligibility

Eligibility for benefits is determined by the employment classification code (i.e., ‘E Class’ or ECLS) assigned to an employee’s position at UA. Review the comprehensive Benefits Eligibility Matrix for additional information.

Dependent Eligibility

General definitions of eligible dependents are given below.

  1. Spouse – Lawful spouse
  2. Dependent Child – Child (up to age 26) of the employee or employee’s lawful spouse to include the following:
    • Natural, biological child
    • Step child who is the employee’s legal dependent
    • Legally adopted child (including a child placed for adoption)
    • Eligible foster child
    • Child who is placed with the employee by an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction for adoption or foster care
    • Incapacitated adult dependent who (1) is age 26 and over; (2) is permanently and totally disabled before age 26; (3) is unmarried, and (4) is not able to support their self and dependent on UA employee for their support due to this incapacity.

Dependent Documentation Requirements

The following documentation must be uploaded in BenefitFocus when adding a dependent. See instructions below.

1.  Spouse

  • A copy of your government-issued marriage certificate OR
  • A tax return transcript of your most recently filed federal income tax return showing you filed as married, either jointly or separately. The tax return transcript is the only official record of the tax return that you filed with the IRS. A copy of your tax return (Form 1040 or e-file documentation) will not be sufficient. The Form 1040 can be falsified and is not an official record of what was filed with the IRS. You can request a copy of your transcript from the IRS at www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript or by calling the IRS at 800-908-9946. Please submit ONLY the first page, showing yours and your spouse’s names or the last four digits of their Social Security number and tax filing period. All other financial information should be blacked out.

2.  Dependent Children

  1. Biological or Legal Child
    • A copy of the child’s birth certificate, naming you or your spouse as the child’s parent, OR appropriate court order granting permanent legal custody/adoption decree naming you or your spouse as the child’s legal guardian.
  1. Stepchild
    • A copy of the child’s birth certificate, naming your spouse as the child’s parent AND a copy of your marriage certificate as proof of the spouse’s relationship to the employee OR
  1. Incapacitated Child

Qualifying Life Events

Add or Remove Dependents

For all of us, life is a continuing process of change—marriage, birth, adoption, new job, divorce, death and loss of other coverage. These major changes are called qualified life events.

When one of these major events occurs in your life, you will need to rethink and, possibly, make changes to certain benefits, such as health insurance (medical, dental and vision), life insurance, tax-favored accounts (FSA or HSA) participation, and retirement.

Be aware that some changes can only be made within 30 days of the qualified life event. Documentation related to your qualifying life event must be uploaded to BenefitFocus (see instructions below). Failure to make changes within the 30-day time frame may result in waiting until the next annual open enrollment period to change current coverage(s). Open enrollment is held each October and benefit changes made during this time are effective January 1st of the following year.

Incapacitated adult dependents may be eligible to maintain certain benefit coverage after turning 26 years old. Click here for information about continuing benefits for incapacitated adult dependents after turning 26 years old.

Upload Documentation to BenefitFocus

New employees and/or current employees requesting mid-year benefit changes due to a qualifying life event will have 30 days to provide any required documentation (e.g., employee hired July 1, 2020 will have until Aug. 1, 2020 to upload dependent documentation). The following instructions will assist you to upload required documentation in BenefitFocus:

1. Login to myBama, select the Employee page and click the blue BenefitFocus icon.
2. Click the blue square labeled ‘Change/Edit Current Coverage‘.
3. On the main Benefitplace homepage, hover over word ‘Profile‘ in the top, right-hand menu and click the Document Center link.
4. Click the ‘+ New Document‘ button to upload document(s). New documents will show as Pending Approval until reviewed by a Benefits Specialist.

Direct questions to the HR Service Center at (205) 348-7732. Documentation may also be faxed to the HR Service Center at (205) 348-8755.