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MIT Employee Benefits

Background

As many of you are aware, MIT receives a significant portion of its annual revenue from research grants and contracts: $1.47 billion in FY11 for campus and Lincoln Laboratory, of which 87% comes from federal government sponsors. Approximately 40% of that revenue represents reimbursement for the cost of salaries and fringe benefits for MIT faculty and staff who directly devote time and effort associated with these awards. Reimbursement for fringe benefits alone is roughly $124 million in FY11. In addition, through many jobs across campus, MIT employees indirectly support the Institute's research efforts, and therefore a portion of their salaries and fringe benefits are also reimbursable.

The federal government actively reviews the financial records of federal contractors such as MIT for compliance. In response to the current financial climate, the government has been concentrating its efforts on ensuring that only allowable costs are reimbursed to federal contractors. One result of this focus has been increased efforts to verify the benefits eligibility of employee dependents (e.g., current spouse or domestic partner; birth, adopted or step child(ren) -- see the complete list as a PDF). The cost of these benefits can only be reimbursed if the dependents' eligibility can be verified.

Process and Action Required

In January 2010, MIT began requiring that all new hires provide documentation of dependent eligibility, normally by means of marriage and birth certificates, which has been a straightforward process. We believe it is important to extend this verification process to all faculty and staff. Recognizing the importance of these compliance issues, most of our peer institutions (e.g., Stanford, UPenn, Johns Hopkins) have already begun similar processes.

Please note the following:

1. We began notifying the community in the fall of 2011, in order to allow employees ample time to access copies of marriage and birth certificates documenting dependent eligibility. To meet our internal timetable for compiling this information, we asked to receive your documentation by November 9, 2012. (For faculty, this deadline was December 1, 2012.) If your documentation is not received by us, you will be at risk for losing your dependent coverage. Please know this requirement applies to everyone at the Institute who is covering dependents under the MIT benefits program. All documentation received will be handled confidentially.
2. We need copies of the documents, not originals. If you are unable to access a marriage certificate due to hardship or other extenuating circumstances, you will be able to sign an affidavit confirming the relationship. For birth certificates, we will require copies of the certificate itself, or a birth record.

There are several ways to submit these copies. For information about how to submit your documents and for more details, see FAQs and examples of documentation required for validating dependent eligibility (PDF).

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

Thank you.

Claude Canizares, Vice President for Research and Associate Provost
Alison Alden, Vice President for Human Resources