Newly Enhanced Leave of Absence Event Now Online

The NRECA Employee Benefits website’s updated Leave of Absence event, which you use to start or end military or uncompensated leaves of absence, has been updated and is now available online. Like other revamped events on the site, this enhancement provides a more efficient and guided workflow, an improved user experience and consistency with other life and employment events.

The consolidated Leave of Absence event combines the former Start a Leave of Absence and End a Leave of Absence events. There are a couple customized steps for the event:

In Step 2 (Participant Information):

• You elect “Start” or “End” based on the event.
• You elect the “Reason”—either “Military” or “Uncompensated Leave”—for a “Start” leave of absence transaction. Disability is not an option, as disability leave follows a different process. You must contact the disability unit at Cooperative Benefit Administrators, Inc., to process a disability.
• The “Event Date” selection has a “31 days before” or “31 days after” parameter in alignment with the business rules for a leave of absence. You cannot enter a date outside of this constraint.
• You can edit certain items in the “Employment Information” container, such as “Payroll Frequency,” “Job Information” and “Inside/Outside” employment, for an “End” leave of absence transaction. If needed, you can update other employment information that may affect retirement benefits and eligibility using the Benefit Eligibility Status Change event.
• You are required to update employee spousal information in the Dependent Information container if the employee’s marital status is “married.”

In Step 3 (Benefits):

• This step is bypassed for a “Start” leave of absence transaction, as employees cannot change benefits for a leave of absence. Some benefits are paused automatically or ended for a leave of absence; others are continued. This step appears for an “End” leave of absence transaction, as employees can change their benefits after a leave of absence. Employees are defaulted into their previous benefits as long as a benefit is still available after the end of the leave of absence.

The Leave of Absence event is located at cooperative.com > My Benefits > Employee Administration > Leave of Absence.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Member Contact Center at 866.673.2299 or by email at contactcenter@nreca.coop. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 7 am until 7 pm, Central time.