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Death or disability of a former employee  (Updated Dec 4, 2022.)  Comments: info@hpalumni.org

Please note that the HP Alumni Association is an independent volunteer group of former employees. Not officially endorsed or supported.

You must contact the various HP-related companies that the person worked for.

1. Determine which HP-related companies they were a retiree or former employee of.

Given HP's history of acquisitions and spinoffs, the company that a person was a former employee of may not be obvious. They may be a retiree or former employee of more that one HP-related company. Check here: Which Company

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 Labs is part of HP Inc; Hewlett Packard Labs is part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.)

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, 2015. 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.

HP Breakup Timeline shows each event as HP spawned Agilent, Keysight, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HPInc, DXC Technology, Micro Focus, Perspecta... Each is a completely separate company. hpalumni.org/hptimeline

Complete coverage of Acquisitions and divestitures (Articles.)   Directory (163 acquisitions -- plus 30 divestitures and spinoffs.)

Info for those who worked at:  Agilent    Autonomy    Compaq    DEC    DXC    EDS    HP    HPE    Keysight    Micro Focus    Perspecta    Tandem    Other acquisitions and spinoffs 

2. Notify the appropriate HPInc and/or HPE Benefits Center(s):  Benefits Center phone numbers

In the past, we had reports that the HPInc or HPE Benefits Centers did not notify all benefits and finance providers, but instead recommended additional notifications. A more recent report indicates that they do perform notifications. In any case, you should directly contact the appropriate retirement administrator(s), as indicated below, to ensure that any pension or 401(k) issues are resolved.

3. Health coverage for dependents:

Length of continuing coverage for dependents varies -- depending on the a) whether they were covered at the retiree's death and b) terms of the specific plan:

a) Dependents may not be covered, depending on coverage choices the retiree had made:

- HP: "...if at any time you elect not to participate in HP retiree medical coverage, there may be restrictions on your future ability to enroll... If you die after declining HP coverage, your surviving dependents will not be eligible to participate in HP benefits following your death. Only dependents who are covered on the date of your death can continue HP coverage. (Medicare Guide: page 13. Non-Medicare/Mixed Guide: page 24.)

- HPE: "Scenario: You die after declining HPE coverage. Your surviving dependents will not be eligible to participate in benefits following your death. Only dependents who are covered on the date of your death can continue coverage. For information about survivor benefits, call the HPE Benefits Center."  (Page 19)

- We have searchable copies of the Enrollment Guides on the HPAA website:  https://www.hpalumni.org/EnrollmentGuides

b) Company retirement health plans vary depending on when and how the employee left.

- While a letter will be sent by the company, calling the Benefits Center is advised. One member reports that the first-level Benefits Center agent may not know how to look up this critical detail. If the first-level phone agent can't help you, ask to escalate your problem. Use the magic word "escalate."

- The key document for a US employee retirement or health plan is the legal Summary Plan Description (SPD). The current SPD takes precedence over any other written, online, or verbal information you may have been given. The employer's plan administrator is required by law to provide the SPD upon request. Log into the plan administrator's website or call.  How to decode an SPD

4. Stock:  Depending on when and how they acquired HP or HPE stock, they may now have stock in up to five (formerly seven) completely separate HP-related companies -- usually in multiple accounts -- and may have missed cash payouts. How many shares of which HP-related companies should they have? How much cash should they have received? hpalumni.org/stock

5. Pension or 401(k) plan: In general, pension and 401(k) issues are resolved when a person leaves the company. However, you should directly contact the appropriate retirement administrator(s) to ensure that any pension or 401(k) issues are resolved:

- The key document for a US employee retirement or health plan is the legal Summary Plan Description (SPD). The current SPD takes precedence over any other written, online, or verbal information you may have been given. The employer's plan administrator is required by law to provide the SPD upon request. Log into the plan administrator's website or call.  How to decode 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.)

- The HPE Retirement Service Center is the primary administrator for Hewlett Packard Enterprise U.S. pension and 401(k) accounts, including any accounts for companies that HPE acquired since Nov 1, 2015 (Cray, Nimble, etc.) Operated by Fidelity Investments. 1-800-409-4015 (Outside US 1-508-787-9902 collect.)  https://nb.fidelity.com (Don't go to a local Fidelity office.)

6. HP-related life insurance. See https://www.hpalumni.org/Insurance for information on portable company-subsidized insurance plans and non-subsidized insurance discount programs. HP formerly had a $5,000 employee/retiree death benefit. The amount had not changed in decades -- and was seldom collected because heirs did not know about it. HP ended this practice in 2010, as did Agilent.

7. Run an online search for unclaimed property. Check any state they lived or worked in. Also check the state of incorporation and state of corporate headquarters for every employer (DE and CA for HP, DE and TX for EDS or Compaq, etc.) https://www.hpalumni.org/Unclaimed  State of incorporation for each stock is given in HPAA's State and Price table.


If you need to contact the corporate headquarters of either company:

- HPInc (Palo Alto, CA)  https://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/office-locations.html (Many admin functions -- including HR, Benefits, and Payroll -- are located in Spring, TX.)

- HPE -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise  HPE corporate office address  (Current HPE Corporate Headquarters: 1701 E Mossy Oaks Rd, Spring, TX 77389. 1-678-259-9860.)

Announcements to HP community. Obituary and memorial service announcements

If you are receiving benefits from the company based on the retirement status of your spouse or parent, you may want to join the independent, volunteer HP Alumni Association's Benefits Forum with your own email address. Covers topics such as COBRA and retiree health benefits, annual enrollment, and transition to Medicare. Summarized here: Benefits Menu
Join HPAA Benefits Forum

If you are an heir dealing with HP-related stock, you may want to join the independent, volunteer HP Alumni Association's Finance Forum with your own email address. Deals with employee stock, 401(k), pensions, and other personal finance issues from an ex-HP/HPE perspective. Summarized here: Finance Menu  Join HPAA Finance Forum


If formerly a regular, direct U.S. employee of HP or HPE -- or are in the process of leaving -- join the HP Alumni Association. No charge, thanks to HPAA's Supporting Members.


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