AG-449 (2/28/25)
Texas A&M AgriLife
Administrative Services – Human Resources
As you leave Texas A&M AgriLife employment, you should be aware of all the benefits available to you. This document provides a summary of those benefits and discusses other topics regarding your departure.
Your health, vision, and/or dental coverage will continue through the last day of the month in which your employment ends provided the full monthly premium is paid. After your coverage ends, you may elect to continue group health, vision, and/or dental coverage for up to 18 months under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA); however, you must pay the full premium plus 2%. If you are enrolled in the Dental HMO but will be moving out of its service area, you can enroll in the A&M Care Dental PPO plan. The COBRA election form will be mailed to your home address.
After your COBRA coverage expires, or if you choose not to continue health coverage through COBRA, you can apply for health coverage under an individual insurance policy, which most health plans offer. However, your benefits may be different from those you received under the A&M System policy. You may also be able to enroll in individual health insurance through https://www.healthcare.gov/
Your Basic Life/Basic Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D), Alternate Basic Life, Optional Life, Dependent Life and Optional AD&D coverages will continue through the last day of the month in which your employment ends. Within 31 days after your coverage ends, you may convert these coverages into individual policies without providing evidence of good health. The terms of and premiums for these conversion policies will be different from those provided through the A&M System. Human Resources can provide information and application forms for conversion coverage.
Tax-Deferred Account (TDA) and/or Texa$aver Deferred Compensation Plan contributions will stop on the date you terminate employment.
If you are enrolled in a TDA, you may choose to:
leave your account as-is until you retire, become disabled or die
roll over your account to an individual retirement account (IRA)
withdraw your account balance and pay tax on it (including a 10% penalty tax unless you are disabled, leave A&M System employment after age 55, or you take an annuity) or
transfer your balance if you are changing jobs and your new employer offers a similar plan.
If you do not choose to leave your TDA account intact, you will need to contact your TDA vendor to find out what options are available for withdrawing your funds. You will need to complete a TDA Notification of Change in Employment Status Form, available from Human Resources or Payroll.
If you are enrolled in a Health Care Spending Account, you may continue participating for the remainder of the plan year by electing COBRA continuation. The cost will be the amount of your current deduction plus 2%, but you will no longer be able to contribute using before-tax dollars. If you choose not to contribute to your account after your employment ends, you can be reimbursed only for eligible charges incurred up to the last day of the month in which you separated employment. COBRA information will be sent to you from the plan administrator, Navia Benefit Solutions.
If you leave the A&M System before the end of the plan year, you will no longer be able to contribute to your Dependent Day Care Account. However, you may continue to submit claims for expenses incurred through the end of the plan year (August 31) against the balance in your account as of the date you terminated employment.
Federal law prohibits you from withdrawing funds from the Flexible Spending Accounts. Any money in your account that you have not utilized by the deadline will be forfeited.
Contributions will no longer be made to your ORP account after your employment ends, and you will have the option to withdraw your contributions (provided you are terminating employment with all Texas public institutions of higher education) or leave your retirement account intact until you reach retirement age.
If you leave your account intact, you may be eligible for group insurance benefits later as a retiree when you meet the criteria listed in the brochure A Look Ahead: A Guide to Retiring from the A&M System – refer to Former Employees section. If you withdraw your retirement deposits, you will not be eligible to apply for insurance benefits as a retiree.
If you withdraw funds from your account, you may be subject to taxes and penalties. To withdraw from your account, you should contact your ORP vendor.
Regardless of whether you want to withdraw your funds, you will need to complete an ORP Notification of Change in Employment Status Form, available from Human Resources or Payroll.
When you leave System employment, your TRS contributions will end, and you will have the option to leave your retirement account intact or withdraw or roll your contributions into another retirement plan.
If you have at least five creditable years of service and you leave your TRS account intact, interest will continue to be credited to your account. If you have fewer than five creditable years of service, your account will stop earning interest after you have been absent from TRS service for five consecutive years.
To withdraw or roll over funds, you must complete the TRS 6 - Application for Refund. Mail the TRS6 form directly to TRS in Austin. The address is on the form. For TRS forms and information, call TRS at 800-223-8778 or contact TRS at http://www.trs.texas.gov.
If you withdraw your TRS account, you will not be eligible to regain insurance benefits as a retiree or receive a TRS annuity.
If you are eligible for retirement or have any retirement questions, contact Human Resources at 979-845-2423 to schedule a visit to discuss your specific retirement options.
If you leave A&M System employment before retirement, you may be eligible for A&M System group benefit coverage, including the state contribution, when you reach retirement age. You must meet the eligibility criteria listed in the brochure titled A Look Ahead: A Guide to Retiring from the A&M System, found at: https://assets.system.tamus.edu/files/benefits/website/Flyers/GuidetoRetiring.pdf
If you have a personal TAMU parking permit, you should contact Transportation Services to receive any refund you may be due or to discontinue the automatic payroll deduction. Transportation Services is located in the Polo Rd Building, Suite 350 (322 Polo Rd, College Station, TX 77843). Questions regarding your parking may be directed to Transportation Services at 979-862-PARK or parking@tamu.edu. When contacting Transportation Services, it is best to include your UIN.
Upon termination or separation, an employee who has completed six months of continuous state service is entitled to a lump sum for all eligible unused vacation time. Lump sums are typically paid out two weeks after your last paycheck is received. If you transfer without a break in service to another Texas state agency into another leave accruing position, your unused vacation balance will be transferred. *
Unused sick leave is not paid, but the hours remain in your account for 12 months. If you go to work for a different state agency, state institution or Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) component in a leave accruing position within 12 months of terminating employment, your sick leave balance will be reinstated and transferred to your new state employer. If you reemploy with the same System component after a break in service of at least 30 days but no more than 12 months, your sick leave balance will be restored, if you are in a leave accruing position.
You may also donate your unused sick leave to the AgriLife Sick Leave or Family Leave Pool. Sick leave hours donated to either pool are unavailable to transfer to another state agency or TAMUS component.
If you have earned compensatory time under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), you will be paid for any unused FLSA compensatory time. However, you will not be paid for unused State compensatory time.
* If you are an employee of Texas AgriLife Extension Service, County Programs, your lump sum vacation payment is based only on the salary paid by the State. County paid funds cannot be taken into consideration when determining the
amount of the lump sum.
If you were reimbursed by The Texas A&M University System for certain professional fees and occupation taxes associated with maintaining certain certifications or licenses, state law requires that you repay the System for a prorated portion if your employment ends before your certification or licensure period expires. You will need to check with your supervisor or Human Resources if this requirement applies to your situation.
To ensure you receive all necessary benefits and tax information, please update your email address to a personal email address in Workday. Follow these steps:
Go to SSO Login and log in using your TAMUS UIN. Be sure to select the TAMUS UIN logo, not the AgriLife logo.
Once logged in, update your email address to a personal one. This ensures that you continue receiving important communications after leaving the organization.
If you are relocating, don’t forget to update your contact information (including your address) in Workday as well.
If you would like to speak with someone regarding your benefits or have comments you would like to share, please contact Human Resources at 979-845-2423.
With few exceptions, you have the right to request, receive, review and correct information about yourself collected using this form.
For questions concerning this form, please call 979-845-2423