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Death or disability of a former employee (Mar 26, 2024) Question? Email: info@hpalumni.org Please note that the HP Alumni Association is an independent volunteer group of former employees. Not officially endorsed or supported. Advice collected from our members. Stock, pension, dependent health coverage, and other issues... 1. You must contact the various HP-related companies that the person worked for. 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 (green-rectangle logo; no hyphen) -- was spun out. Portions of HPE were later spun out into DXC and Micro Focus: HP Breakup (HP Labs is part of HP Inc; Hewlett Packard Labs is part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.)
HP Inc. is the overall legal successor to companies acquired
by Hewlett-Packard before the company was split into HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Nov 1, 2015.
In general, responsibility for commitments to former U.S. employees of Compaq, DEC, EDS, etc. remain with HP Inc. --
regardless of whether their last business unit ended up in
HP or HPE. (Canada and UK: HPE. Other countries vary. 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 (165 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 Benefits Center(s): In the past, we had reports that the HPInc or HPE Benefits Centers did not notify all benefits and finance providers, but instead recommended that you make 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). It includes plan details and an address at the employer for appeals. The current SPD takes precedence over any other written, online, or verbal information you may have been given -- but is still subject to change. The employer's plan administrator is required by law to provide the SPD upon request. How to obtain and decode: https://www.hpalumni.org/SPD-decode 4. Stock: Due to spinoffs, they may have wound up with stock in HP, HPE, Agilent, Keysight, or DXC in various accounts. May not have received cash payouts for Micro Focus and Perspecta. Often in multiple accounts -- related to employee stock purchase, option and incentive plans over the years, or at transfer agents for parent and spinoff companies; or in personal brokerage accounts. Other stock issues that can show up in paperwork: paper certificates stock options stock in predecessor companies Potential Benefit letter from Social Security Member advice: Stock Recovery and Cost Basis 5. Pension and/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. See our Pension and Retirement Plan menu: https://www.hpalumni.org/RetirementPlans 6. HP-related life insurance. See Insurance Discounts 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. https://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/office-locations.html Admin functions -- including HR, Benefits, and Payroll -- 10300 Energy Drive, Spring, TX 77389. 1-650-857-1501. Legal headquarters -- Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, not Hanover Street as in old documents. - HPE -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE corporate office address Current HPE Corporate Headquarters: 1701 E Mossy Oaks Rd, Spring, TX 77389. 1-678-259-9860. (At a Post Office window, you can specify Certified Mail combined with Return Receipt.) 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 If you are an heir dealing with HP/HPE-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 financial issues from an ex-HP/HPE perspective. Summarized here: Finance Menu Join HPAA Finance Forum |
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