PEF members: Pursuant to the PS&T contract that you ratified in July, New York will resume making the negotiated Employer contributions to DCAA accounts soon for 2021. Employer annual contributions are from $300 to $800 depending on the employee’s gross annual salary. (Please see Article 10.4 on page 36 of this document for specifics.) Here are the important points:
- Employer contributions will be at the full annual rate for those enrolled in the program for 2021.
- If an employee is not already enrolled, for 2021 only, he/she can enroll through a change in status form without a qualifying event to justify the change in status. The qualifying event will appear as “No reason (Consolidated Appropriations Act).”
- Employees may use money in the DCAA account for qualifying child care, elder care or dependent care expenses only for the period of time after enrolled; so if the employee enrolled during open enrollment period effective January 1, 2021, money in the account can be used for qualifying expenses going back to January 1, 2021. If not enrolled until, for example, September 1, 2021, then the money can only be used for qualifying expenses after that date.
- We do not have the exact date that the Employer contributions will be deposited. We have been advised that if an employee enrolls prior to that date, the employer contribution will be deducted from the employee’s paycheck but then fully refunded once the Employer contributions are implemented. The advantage to enrolling earlier is that it starts the clock for eligible qualifying expenses.
- Maximum employee contributions levels have been increased from $2,500 to $5,250 for single or married filing separately, and from $5,000 to $10,500 for married filing jointly or head of household.
- Email fsa@goer.ny.gov or call Wage Works/Health Equity at (800) 358-7202 with any questions on DCAA or the above-referenced changes. Info about DCAAs can also be found here: https://goer.ny.gov/dependent-care-advantage-account