Instructions for Employees
1. General information
Use this form (or its electronic equivalent) for FEGLI 2004
Open Season elections to enroll in the FEGLI Program, or to
change/increase your current FEGLI coverage. Most agencies
(including agencies who use Employee Express) require paper
forms for FEGLI elections. A few agencies process FEGLI
elections electronically, and do NOT use paper FEGLI election
forms. If you're unsure about what your agency does, contact
them for more information.
If you want to cancel ALL of your current coverage or make a
non-Open Season election (for example, if you're a new
employee electing coverage within 31 days of your appointment,
or you're electing coverage based on a life event, etc.), you must
use SF 2817, Life Insurance Election.
Be sure that you sign for ALL coverage you now have and
wish to keep. Also sign for any NEW coverage you wish to
elect. If you do not sign for a particular type of coverage,
even if you have it now, it will cancel on the effective date of
this election (see #2, below.)
2. Effective date
FEGLI 2004 Open Season elections will be effective on the first
day of your first pay period that begins on or after September 1,
2005, and that immediately follows one in which you were in a
pay and duty status for at least 32 hours for full-time employees.
If you are a part-time employee, you must have been in a pay and
duty status for one-half of the regularly scheduled tour of duty
shown on your current SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action.
If you are on an intermittent schedule or do not have a regularly
scheduled tour of duty, you must have been in a pay and duty
status for one-half of the hours you customarily work.
For some employees, their new coverage will never become
effective because they will never meet the pay and duty status
requirements.
If you are on annual leave, sick leave, donated leave, or any other
type of leave, you are not in a pay and duty status.
Benefits WILL NOT be paid based on any new coverage
until that new coverage becomes effective. That means that if
you make a FEGLI 2004 Open Season election and you or a
covered family member die BEFORE that new coverage is
effective, life insurance benefits will NOT be paid based on that
new coverage.
3. Continuing coverage into retirement or compensation
If you retire or begin receiving compensation payments from the
Department of Labor fewer than five years after the effective
date of this Open Season election (see #2, above), you CANNOT
carry new coverage into retirement or compensation. So this
means the very earliest most employees can retire or start
receiving compensation and carry that new coverage into
retirement or compensation is September 4, 2010 (September 3,
2010, for U.S. Postal Service employees.)
4. How to complete and review your election form
Follow the instructions for each item carefully. After you fill out
this form (or its electronic equivalent), review it to be sure it is
complete and correct, and accurately reflects your intentions.
Give the completed form to your employing office.
The following list should help you complete the form:
If you sign Item 4, you elect Basic.
If you sign any block in Item 5, you must also sign
Item 4. (To elect an option, you must also elect Basic.)
If you sign Item 5 for Option B and/or Option C,
you must also mark one of the 5 boxes to show how
many multiples you wish to elect. Do not mark more
than 1 box for each option.
Be sure you sign for every option you want, EVEN IF
you already have that coverage. Anything you do not
sign for will be cancelled/waived on the effective date
of this election.
This election supersedes all previous elections.
Only you, the employee, may sign this form (or its electronic
equivalent.) Signatures by guardians, conservators, or through
a power of attorney are not acceptable.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT YOUR
ELECTION IS CORRECT AND ACCURATELY
REFLECTS YOUR INTENTIONS. IF YOU DO NOT SIGN
FOR IT, YOU HAVE CANCELLED/WAIVED IT.
5. Assignment
If you have assigned your coverage by filing an RI 76-10,
Assignment of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance, any
new coverage you elect during the FEGLI 2004 Open Season
(except Option C) will be subject to that assignment. Your
assignee(s) may not make an Open Season election.
6. Further information
For further information about the FEGLI 2004 Open Season,
consult your employing office or visit
www.fegli2004.opm.gov.
FE-2004
Back of Part 3
September 2004