"Potential Private Retirement Benefit" letter from Social Security. 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:
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; singular; green-rectangle logo) -- was
spun out. Portions
of HPE were later spun out into DXC and Micro Focus, which have spun out other separate companies. Details:
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. Responsibility for commitments to former employees
of Compaq, 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
Facebook groups. There are many
alumni
social groups on Facebook -- reliving the good times, reconnecting with people you worked with, and
remembering those who have passed.
Leading examples -- and how to find Facebook
groups that match your career experience:
Facebook groups for HP, successors, and predecessors
Join the independent
DEC
Connection
DEC alumni social group.
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 company. (DEC employees get
retiree health credit for DEC and HP service but not Compaq
service.) Confusingly, 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 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 is the primary
administrator for HP U.S. pension and 401(k) accounts,
including any accounts that HP predecessor companies (such
as Compaq, DEC, and EDS) may have had. Operated by Fidelity
Investments.1-800-457-4015 (Outside US 1-508-787-9902
collect.)
Fidelity (Don't go to a local Fidelity office.)
Member advice
- 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. An HP Alumni team has developed a process to determine what stock you should have and how to find it.
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.
Check your LinkedIn profile!
Profiles were changed without notice. HPE changed many decades-old HP positions to HPE; LinkedIn deleted many employers. Recruiters and hiring
managers view entries that don't make sense -- such as HPE employment before
Nov 2015 -- as signs of a fake
profile. You may wish to feature your EDS, Tandem,
or other background. Step-by-step:
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
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More about
the HPAA
Ken Olsen, 1988
PDP-8 Ad in Scientific American
