CalPERS Health Plan Open Enrollment, Plan Premiums and How They Affect YOU! The CalPERS annual health care Open Enrollment period for the 2020 calendar year will commence September 9 and ends October 4, 2019. During this time, State Scientists (and all CalPERS members) may enroll in or switch their CalPERS health plan, add eligible dependents, or delete dependents. All changes made during Open Enrollment become effective January 1, 2020. You can see a list of each CalPERS plan, and your cost after the new state contribution rates are applied. See them here: https://capsscientists.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CalPERS-Health-Plan-Rates-2020.pdf
Hotel Reimbursement Rate Causing Issues. The State-approved lodging rate is not high enough in some California counties for State Scientists to do their work. CAPS has heard that members are paying the overages out-of-pocket. If YOU are required to travel to a location with high lodging rates, be sure to submit an excess lodging form as soon as practicable, or at least 10 days before you travel. The added benefit of submitting these excess lodging requests, whether they’re denied or not, is that the data from these requests should help demonstrate to CalHR the need for increased reimbursement rates. If you need to submit an excess lodging request or receive a denial (written or verbal) from your department for the excess lodging, and can’t find a hotel in order to do your work, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org). With YOUR help, CAPS can be sure to provide salient data to CalHR for the next round of bargaining to ensure that these issues can be addressed.
Know Your Rights. Damage of Personal Items. CAPS MOU, Section 6.5 allows for replacement, repair, or reimbursement for “various articles of personal property necessarily worn by unit employees in the course of his/her employment when such property is damaged or destroyed, through no fault of the employee, while the employee is carrying out his/her job assignment.” This is limited to clothing, eyeglasses, hearing aids, watches ($50 or less) and dentures. If you have recently damaged a covered personal item and have experienced trouble while seeking a remedy, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org).
News Briefs
California Could See Biggest Salmon Harvest in Years Following Drought – Commercial salmon catches have surpassed official preseason forecasts by about 50%, said Kandice Morgenstern, a CAPS member and marine scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Harvests have been particularly strong in Morro Bay, Monterey and San Francisco, but weaker along California’s northern coast.
California Moves to Ban ‘Toxic’ Pesticide, But Farmworkers May Still Be Exposed for 2 Years – California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation announced this month that it’s taking legal action to ban chlorpyrifos across the state. The department said it’s sent formal notices to manufacturers and pest-management companies to cancel registrations they hold for chlorpyrifos products.