"Potential Private Retirement Benefit"
letter from Social Security. Reports the last transaction in
a benefit plan that you were once enrolled in. If "Type of
Benefit" is coded "A" -- in the previous year, you rolled
the money into a different plan, bought an annuity, or took
the cash. "M" if you left before vesting in that plan. How
to investigate:
https://www.hpalumni.org/PotentialBenefitLetter.
HP Breakup. On Nov 1, 2015, the legal name of the Hewlett-Packard Company was changed to HP Inc.
and a new, independent company -- Hewlett Packard
Enterprise (no hyphen; singular; green-rectangle logo) -- was
spun out. Portions
of HPE were later spun out into DXC and Micro Focus, which have spun out
other companies. Details:
HP Breakup
HP Inc. is the legal successor to the companies acquired by
the Hewlett-Packard Company before the company was split into HP Inc. and
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE.) Responsibility for any commitments
to former employees of Compaq, Digital, and Tandem
remain with HP Inc. -- regardless of whether the employee's last business unit ended up in HP Inc. or HPE. This includes employment verification and
any retiree health coverage, pension, 401(k), etc. plans.
Which HP-related companies am I a retiree or former employee of? (Not always obvious.)
Given HP's complex history of acquisitions, divestitures, and spinoffs, the company or companies that you are legally a former
employee of 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
Make sure that HP 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. (HP Inc. is the legal successor to companies bought by HP -- including Compaq and EDS. HPE is successor to companies it bought -- Cray, Nimble, etc.) Update
address at former company
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, Palm, 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 company. (DEC employees get
retiree health credit for DEC and HP service but not Compaq
service.) Confusingly, predecessor service counts for
vacation/FTO.
Pension:
-
If you were employed by DEC prior to March 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 administers pension and 401(k) accounts
for HPInc (legal name changed from Hewlett-Packard Company
to HP Inc. in 2015.)
Also administers any pension or 401(k) accounts that
Hewlett-Packard predecessor companies (such as Compaq, Digital, and EDS)
may have had. Operated by Fidelity Investments.
1-800-457-4015, M-F 7:30 AM to 11:00 PM Central
Time. Outside the U.S., call 1-508-787-9902 collect. Website:
https://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/hp/home
For details of an employer retirement or health plan,
obtain a copy of the legal Summary Plan Description ("SPD")
-- either by logging into your account on the plan
administrator's website or by calling the plan
administrator's phone center. They are required by law to
provide your SPD upon request. The SPD takes precedence over
any other written, online, or verbal information you may be
given.
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.
- HP's official table to
determine if you are qualified for health coverage.
Pre-2003,
Post-2002, and Digital Retiree Health Programs
-
Annual Benefits Enrollment. Details and advice from
members:
https://www.hpalumni.org/Annual
-
Join the
HPAA Benefits Group for updates and Q-and-A forum on COBRA and retiree health benefits, annual enrollment, transition to Medicare.
Time to untangle your stock!
- No one but you really cares about your employment-related
stock. You may now have stock in up to seven HP-related
companies. Your stock may not all be in the same place, or
be registered to your current postal address. You may need
to find stray accounts or retrieve lost stock, dividends, or
cash payouts. The IRS does not have the ability to
independently determine your cost basis; you may need to
estimate it. An HP Alumni team has developed a step-by-step
process.
Employee Stock
- Stock Decoder tables for:
Compaq
DEC
Tandem
Employment verification and experience letters
for Hewlett-Packard or Hewlett Packard Enterprise,
predecessor companies, and successor companies.
Employment and Salary Verification
Experience Letter
For those in the workforce, select the links below that fit your
situation...
- Current HP or HPE employee:
Networking and Information.
Join
DEC professional networking groups
- 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 and perhaps other
DEC alumni social groups. Plus join the
HP Connections
group on LinkedIn.
Check your LinkedIn profile!
You may be surprised. LinkedIn has changed how employers are
identified -- dropping employers and modifying profiles
without notice. In addition, HP positions were changed to
HPE. You want recruiters to believe your profile -- and
former co-workers to find you.
Step-by-step instructions:
https://www.hpalumni.org/LinkedInPositions
Compaq acquisition of DEC: For each share of DEC
owned on June 11, 1998, DEC shareholders received $30.00 in
cash and 0.945 shares of Compaq stock. Source:
SEC 8K filing "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
DEC history and culture
Join the independent
DEC
Connection and perhaps other
DEC alumni social groups.
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
Articles:
- "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
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More about
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Ken Olsen, 1988
