All employees regularly scheduled for 17.5 hours per week or more are eligible to participate in the university's dependent care reimbursement account program. This program allows employees to set aside pre-tax dollars through payroll deduction to be used to reimburse them for "eligible employment related expenses", which are expenses for the custodial care of qualifying individuals that enable you (and your spouse, if applicable) to work or to look for work. Generally, a “qualifying individual” is a dependent child under the age of 13 or an incapacitated dependent or incapacitated legal spouse. Please refer to the Summary Plan Description for definitions and complete plan details.
Employees may enroll within 30 days of eligibility or during the annual open enrollment period. Participants may not stop or change deductions during the calendar year unless they experience what the IRS considers a qualified event (marriage, birth, death, divorce, etc.) Dollars are reimbursed for expenses incurred within the calendar year of participation and before March 15th of the following year. You have until March 15th to incur expenses, and until March 30th to request reimbursement. After that date, these dollars will be forfeited. Therefore, it is very important that you review the Summary Plan Description before enrolling.
Participants must re-enroll each calendar year to continue participation for the following year. Amounts are deducted in equal installments from scheduled number of paychecks during the calendar year.
Minimum annual amount: $200.00
Maximum annual amount: $5,000.00 (per household).
Participants are encouraged to obtain information about the advantages of this program versus the Federal child care credit.
More information on flexible spending accounts, including a list of eligible expenses, a tax savings calculator, and reimbursement forms and instructions are available at https://www.wageworks.com/
or call WageWorks at 1-877-924-3967 with any questions.
See the Summary Plan Description.