If you got a letter from Social Security entitled "Potential Private Retirement Benefit." Look at the "Year Reported" and the table on the back of the letter. If "Type of Benefit" is "A" -- you rolled to a different plan, bought an annuity, or took cash. How to decode and what to do:
https://www.hpalumni.org/PotentialBenefitLetter.
DEC sale to Compaq. DEC's first quarterly loss was in
1990. In Jan 1998, after several years of declining revenues
and heavy losses, DEC negotiated a $9.6 billion sale to
Compaq at a
26% premium over the current stock price -- which was
completed on Jun 12, 1998.
HP Breakup. On Nov 1, 2015, the legal name of the Hewlett-Packard Company was changed to HP Inc.
and a new, completely separate company -- Hewlett Packard
Enterprise (no hyphen; green-rectangle logo) -- was
spun out. Portions of HPE were later spun out into DXC and Micro
Focus, which have spun out other companies:
HP Breakup
HP Inc. is the legal successor to the companies acquired by Hewlett-Packard before the company was
split into HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Nov 1, 2005. Responsibility for commitments to former employees of Compaq, DEC, EDS, etc. remain with HP Inc. -- regardless of whether their
last business unit ended up in HP or HPE. Includes employment verification and
any retiree health, pension, etc. plans.
Make sure that the legal successor to every company you
ever worked for has your current postal address.
Even if not classified by the company as a "Retiree" or
if long gone -- in case of pension plan changes, employment lawsuits,
settlements, or other issues. Update address at former
company
Which HP-related companies have me classified as a retiree or former employee?
Given HP's history of acquisitions and spinoffs, this may not be obvious. If any doubt, check here:
Which Company
Info and contacts for those from:
Compaq
Contacts at HP Inc. -- the successor company:
HP contacts
Reconnect, celebrate the good times, and appreciate those who have
passed. Social groups on Facebook for HP, Boise, Corvallis, Cupertino,
Medical Group, Response Center, Santa Rosa, Southern California, EDS, DEC, Tandem, and Compaq.
Private, independent online forums operated and moderated by people from each community.
Directory of leading HP-related Facebook groups:
https://www.hpalumni.org/facebook
Service at predecessor companies. Of the many Hewlett-Packard
predecessor companies,
only HP and DEC had retiree healthcare programs. Only HP, DEC, and
EDS had pension plans. Over the years, HP, DEC, and EDS set aside
money in dedicated trust funds to pay for those programs.
Compaq, Tandem, Autonomy, etc. did not have retiree
healthcare or pensions among their benefits programs. Their
employees did not have those expectations and there were no
corresponding trust funds to pass on to an acquiring
company. Therefore, employees of those companies do not get
credit under HP's retiree healthcare or pension programs for
service at the predecessor. (DEC employees get
retiree health credit for DEC and HP service but not Compaq
service.) Predecessor service counts for
vacation/FTO.
Pension:
- Pension change. If you have been receiving monthly
U.S. HP, DEC, or EDS pension payments that commenced on or
before November 1, 2020 -- your pension is probably among
the 41,000 converted in September 2021 from a company pension administered by Fidelity to
an insured annuity provided by Prudential. Details:
hpalumni.org/pension2021
-
If you were employed by DEC prior to Mar 1, 1996: You may
have a benefit under the HP Cash Account Pension Plan.
Plan details in this HP document, which may be out of date:
2008 HP CAP Summary Plan Description
How to use an SPD
- The HP Retirement Service Center is the primary administrator for HP Inc U.S. pension and 401(k) accounts,
including any accounts for companies that Hewlett-Packard acquired before Nov 1, 2015 (Compaq, DEC, EDS, etc.) and that HP Inc acquired later (Poly, etc.)
Operated by Fidelity Investments.
1-800-457-4015 (Outside US 1-508-787-9902 collect.)
https://nb.fidelity.com (Don't go to a local Fidelity office.)
-
Benefits depend on the choice the employee made. At
various times available pension options may have included
lump sum, monthly payment, reduced monthly payment with
survivor benefit, etc.
- UK -- HP,
DEC, EDS. HP Limited Retirement Benefits Plan,
administered by Equiniti.
https://hprbp.com
For details of a U.S. employer retirement or health plan,
obtain a copy of the legal Summary Plan Description ("SPD"). Log into the plan administrator's website or call. They are required by law to provide the SPD upon request. The current SPD takes precedence over any other written, online, or verbal information you may be given -- but is still subject to change.
How to use an SPD
Retiree Health Program:
-
DEC retirees report that Compaq -- and now HP -- have lived up to DEC's
retiree healthcare commitments.
- We have a copy of HP's official table to
determine if you are qualified for health coverage.
hpalumni.org/Pre2003
-
Annual Benefits Enrollment. Details and advice from
members:
https://www.hpalumni.org/Annual
-
Why HP group plan costs are going up.
hpalumni.org/health-cost
-
Join the
HPAA Benefits Group Covers topics such as COBRA and
retiree health benefits, annual enrollment, and transition
to Medicare.
Time to untangle your stock!
- Compaq acquisition of DEC: For each share of DEC
owned on June 11, 1998, DEC shareholders received $30.00 in
cash and 0.945 share of Compaq stock. DEC stock was
retired. Source:
SEC 8K filing
- HPAA's detailed Stock Decoder tables for:
DEC
Compaq
-
Depending on when and how you acquired HP or HPE stock, you may now have stock in up to six completely separate HP-related companies in
various accounts -- or have missed cash payouts. How many shares of which HP-related companies should I have? How much
cash should I have received?
hpalumni.org/stock
Employment verification and experience letters for
Hewlett-Packard, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and related
companies.
Employment and Experience Verification
For those in the workforce, select the links below that fit your
situation...
- Current HP or HPE employee:
Networking and Information.
- HP or HPE employee in the process of leaving or being laid off:
ASAP
checklist.
- Former DEC employee who never worked for HP: Join the
independent
DEC
Connection.
Update and strengthen your LinkedIn profile. Even if not
currently looking, you
need a strong, credible profile on LinkedIn. People check you out before
working with you. Recruiters run searches for particular skills and
background. In addition,
LinkedIn helps you reconnect with people who know you and your work.
Check your profile. LinkedIn has been standardizing company names, with odd results. Recruiters view illogical entries -- such as HPE positions before 2015 -- as fake.
(HPE changed many decades-old HP positions to display the HPE name and
logo.) Watch for typos, like "principle engineer." You may wish
to emphasize (or de-emphasize) some of your experience and background.
Tricks and
traps:
hpalumni.org/LinkedIn
DEC history and culture
Original DEC
Business Plan: The
DEC
Connection has a copy of the 1957 document:
Ken Olson's Business Plan
Urban
Legend:
Did Ken Olsen
say there was "no reason for any individual to have a
computer in his home"'?
"Legend. The out-of-context misinterpretation of Olsen's
comments has been promulgated for decades. What Olsen was
addressing in 1977 was the concept of powerful computers
that controlled every aspect of home life. The fear that
computers might even try to take charge altogether was
widely experienced." --Snopes, the urban legend and
misinformation reference site
snopes.com article
Videos and articles:
- Gordon Bell's "CyberMuseum
for Digital Equipment Corp Documents, Photo Albums, Talks, and
Videotapes"
- Website of Gordon College:
http://www.gordon.edu/kenolsen
Where to sell or donate DEC equipment and memorabilia:
http://www.decconnection.org/DECdonations.htm
Digital Technical Journal:
hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/dtj/past.htm
Articles:
- "Compaq Computer Corp., seeking to
expand into the lucrative enterprise computing business,
agreed Monday to acquire Digital Equipment Corp. in a
blockbuster deal worth $9.6 billion. ... $57.41 a share in
cash and stock, well above Friday's closing price of
$45.44." Source:
CNN Money
Article
- "Lessons from Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corp." MIT Sloan
Management Review. "How many current Fortune 500 executives will be
remembered fondly by their former employees?"
MIT Sloan Management Review
- "Ken Olsen: Faith, Work, And Charity Support A Computing Career" Doris
Kilban, Electronic Design
Electronic Design article
- "Computer pioneer Ken Olsen dies" Boston Globe
Boston Globe article
- "Ken Olsen, Who Built DEC Into a Power, Dies at 84" New York Times
New York Times article
- "Ken Olsen Founder Digital Equipment Corp Passes Away" Silicon Angle
Silicon Angle article
Books:
- "DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment
Corporation" Edgar H. Schein et al
Amazon
(Look inside the book at Amazon
to read the appendices: "DEC's Technical Legacy," "DEC Manufacturing:
Contributions Made and Lessons Learned," "The First Knowledge
Organization," "The Strategic Failure," and Gordon Bell's "What
Happened?")
- "Digital at Work: Snapshots of the First Thirty-Five Years" Jamie
Parker Pearson, ed.
Amazon
Amazon
- "The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and Digital
Equipment Corporation" Glenn Rifkin and George Harrar
Amazon
- "Learn, Earn & Return, My Life as a Computer Pioneer" Harlan E.
Anderson. ISBN
0615305458. [DEC badge #2]
Amazon
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More about
the HPAA
Ken Olsen, 1988
PDP-8 Ad in Scientific American
