Frequently Asked Questions

UMass Chan Medical School employees have access to Human Resources’
(HR) online self-service system, HR Direct. HR encourages employees to keep their personal employee 
information updated to receive information and correspondence from UMass Chan.

Employees may update their direct deposit data, W-4, M-4 and/or other tax information, personal 
data (address, email address, phone, emergency contact, marital status), and other employee 
information using HR Direct.

Nonresident tax aliens will need to contact HR-DataGroup@umassmed.edu to update certain personal 
data, and can produce W-4 and M-4 forms in Sprintax Calculus.

Employees can access a W-2 from HR Direct. Click the “View W-2 / W-2c Forms” tile on the Employee Self-Service Dashboard page.

The Payroll Office at PayrollUMassChan@umassmed.edu can answer questions regarding an employee’s W-2.

Employees who were on tax treaties for all or part of the year can obtain their 1042-S tax documents directly from their international tax account in Sprintax Calculus.

Employees send a request via email to their Employee Relations partner (click here to access Employee Relations Contact List).

Refer to the detailed "Contact HR" web page (Contact HR web page requires intranet access).  

Employees can find information about Family Medical Leave, State Family Leave, and other types of leave on the Leaves of Absence website.

Employees on visas should contact the Immigration Services Office to discuss leave impact on immigration status prior to taking any kind of leave of absence.

When an employee needs to request a continuous or intermittent leave of absence, the employee should access the Leaves of Absence (LOA) website, to find information on:

• LOA eligibility, benefits, income protection, forms, and contact details.
• Step-by-step instructions to submit a leave request, including links to the necessary forms to complete and submit.

When an employee requests a continuous or intermittent leave of absence, the manager needs to take the following steps:

1. Sign the Leave of Absence Request form to acknowledge the request, and return this form to the appropriate contact as stated on the LOA website.
2. Complete a Personnel Action (PA) form to place the employee on leave, and send it to HR.
3. Notify the timekeeper of the employee’s absence to record the appropriate use of absence time.
4. Track the absence time in hours / days, as appropriate.
5. Notify the Leave Administrator when the employee returns to work.
6. Complete a PA form to return the employee from leave of absence and send it to the HR Data Group.

For more information, please read the Family and Medical Leave Act Policy or the Leave of Absence policy.

Employees should access the LOA FAQs to learn more about the different types of LOA.

Employees may choose to participate in a Long-Term Disability (LTD) program offered by MetLife. The plan will pay 55% of an employee’s gross monthly salary, up to a maximum of $10,000 per month. This is an employee-paid plan based on age and salary. LTD is an income-replacement program that protects the employee and his/her family in the event the employee becomes disabled and is unable to perform the material and substantial duties of the employee’s job. Access more information about the long-term disability benefit.

The UMass Chan Benefits website is the employee’s one-stop resource for accessing information such as health, dental, and vision insurance plans, as well as disability plans.

For information on tuition programs, click here. To access tuition forms, click here. For questions, please email Benefits.UMMS@umassmed.edu, or call 508-856-5260, and selection option 1.

The UMass Chan Benefits website is an employee’s one-stop resource for accessing benefits information such as health, dental, and vision insurance plans, as well as disability plans.

Employees can find their vacation balance on their paycheck (pay advice). Access HR Direct and click the “Payroll” tile on the Employee Self-Service Dashboard page to access your most current paycheck (pay advice). Employees may also access their vacation balance on the “Weekly Time Entry” tile on the Employee Self-Service Dashboard and then click “Leave/Comp Time” tab on the left navigation panel.

For full-time employees (FTE), sick time is accrued at 4.61 hours per pay period. Vacation accrual rate is based on the employee’s months of benefited service, union status, FTE status, and exempt / non-exempt status. Please review the Sick Time and Vacation Time policies found on the HR intranet site for more details.

Employees must be hired to work 20 hours or more weekly to be eligible for benefits.

New employees can research options through the Massachusetts Health Connector at www.mahealthconnector.org. If a new employee is a “benefits-eligible” employee (see definition in above FAQ), they will need to click on the option for Individuals and Families. To be covered for the first of a month, the new employee must enroll and pay online by the 10th of the previous month. They need to notify the Health Connector when they wish their coverage to terminate.
International employees and J-1 Exchange Visitors require insurance for the duration of their stay in the US. Please visit the Immigration Services Office website for further information.

Benefits / HR Service Center
UMass Chan Medical School
333 South St., 2nd Floor
Shrewsbury, MA 01545
Phone: (508) 856-5260, option 1
Email: benefits.umms@umassmed.edu

For information about leaving the university and employees’ rights, responsibilities, and benefits, see the Leaving the University policy and please visit the “Leaving the University” website to access frequently asked questions, procedures, guides, and forms.

Eligible employees who wish to retire should contact the Benefits Department in the HR Service Center via email at Benefits.UMMS@umassmed.edu, or call 508-856- 5260, and select option 1 for information or to make an appointment.

• Employees may access the UMass Chan Retirement Benefits Guide that includes all the forms that need to be completed to withdraw or rollover state retirement funds upon retirement.
• Employees may also visit the “Leaving the University” website to access frequently asked questions, procedures, guides, and forms.

Employees should call the State Board of Retirement at 800-392-6014 (in Massachusetts) or 617-367-7770 (outside Massachusetts) for a statement of their contributions and vesting date.

All beneficiary forms can be found in the Benefit Forms section of the website.

• To select or change beneficiaries for state retirement, complete the State Retirement Beneficiary Selection/Change Form.
• To change up to three beneficiaries for GIC life insurance, complete the GIC Life Insurance Beneficiary Form – 319.
• To change more than three beneficiaries or elect an estate or a trust* for GIC Life insurance, complete the GIC Life Insurance Beneficiary Form G-500.

*If naming beneficiaries for an Estate, an employee will also need to provide a copy of the Estate.

Employees need to contact their manager for assistance. If the manager is unable to help, the manager should email: PayrollUMassChan@umassmed.edu

Employees with questions regarding their paycheck should email the Payroll Department at PayrollUMassChan@umassmed.edu

Employee paycheck statements are available one day prior to the actual payday via HR Direct. See the “Payroll” tile on the Employee Self-Service Dashboard.

Employees change their direct deposit information by accessing HR Direct and clicking the “Direct Deposit” tile on the Employee Self-Service Dashboard.

An employee should contact their department manager for this information.

The holiday and pay calendars can be accessed on the HR intranet’s home page.

Employees (researchers, staff, faculty, GME fellows / residents) can request employment verification through The Work Number, the nation’s leading employment verification service. Click here for instructions and access.

Employees (researchers, staff, faculty, GME fellows / residents) can access the The Work Number to retrieve help and pre-populated forms for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Click here for instructions and access.

Employees access the UMass Chan Search Jobs page from the HR intranet’s “Job Postings/iCIMS” menu tab for the full listing of open jobs.

Managers may access the iCIMS system by going to the HR intranet and clicking on the iCIMS Login for Managers link located in the “Job Postings/iCIMS” drop-down menu.

Employees can find HR forms on the My HR Forms intranet site listed by department or alphabetically.

The PA (Personnel Action) form can be found on the My HR Forms intranet site.

Once complete, the original form with signatures needs to be sent to the HR Service Center at 333 South St., Shrewsbury, Mass.

For help completing the form, please send an email to the HR Data Group at HR-DataGroup@umassmed.edu.

The HR Department contact lists can be found on the HR intranet in the “My Contact HR” section.

For help with the following HR areas, please contact the appropriate department:

Benefits: Benefits.UMMS@umassmed.edu
Compensation: Compensation@umassmed.edu
Compliance & Labor Relations: Compliance&LaborRelations@umassmed.edu
Employee Relations: EmployeeRelations@umassmed.edu
Employment Verification and Records: HR-DataGroup@umassmed.edu
FMLA / Leave of Absence: FMLA.UMMS@umassmed.edu
HR Communications and Website: HR.Communications@umassmed.edu
HR Data Group: HR-DataGroup@umassmed.edu
HR Information Systems: HRSysGroup@umassmed.edu
Immigration Services: Immigrationservices@umassmed.edu
Learning / Professional and Organizational Development: LandD@umassmed.edu
New Hires / Onboarding: Onboarding@umassmed.edu
Office of Well-Being: OWB@umassmed.edu 

Payroll: Payrollumms@umassmed.edu
Recruiting: Talent@umassmed.edu
Worker’s Compensation: Workerscomp.UMMS@umassmed.edu

Please see the HR website access links and descriptions below:

MY HR HUB INTRANET (INTERNAL) SITES
My HR Hub Home Intranet Website – HR’s internal, centralized digital hub for UMass Chan employees to access institution-wide content, forms, and tools that support knowledge-sharing, facilitate collaboration, drive employee experience and engagement, and build an inclusive organizational culture.
HR Forms Website – HR’s centralized digital forms hub provides employees easy access to all HR forms. Employees may find HR forms listed by department or alphabetically.
HR Policies Website – HR’s centralized digital policies hub provides employees easy access to all HR policies. Employees may find HR policies listed by department or alphabetically.
HR Contacts Website – The HR contact page provides employees access to HR’s organizational chart, employee contact list, department contact list, department assignments and biographies.
HR Benefits Website – The HR Benefits website is the employees’ one-stop resource for accessing benefits information such as health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
Benefit Summaries Website – The HR Benefits Plan Summaries website provides employee easy access to all benefit plan summaries.
Departments of Human Resources Website – The Departments of Human Resources website provides information on each department’s area of expertise and how it contributes to supporting the UMass Chan community.
Learning and Professional Development Website – The HR Learning and Professional Development website is where employees can find program information, including course descriptions, registrations, and other resources to support an employee’s learning and professional development at UMass Chan.
Office of Well-Being Website – The Office of Well-Being (OWB) website is a resource for employees to find OWB news and events, contact information, and tools for the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Wellness Program.

HR INTERNET (EXTERNAL) SITES
HR Home Internet Website – HR’s external digital website that provides information about UMass Chan’s campus culture to the public. The website provides job information and tools for job applicants to search UMass Chan open career opportunities.
HR Careers Website – HR’s Careers website provides information and tools for job applicants to search UMass Chan career opportunities.
HR Direct Website – HR Direct is the self-service application available to all UMass Chan employees to manage their human resource and payroll information.
HR Immigration Services Website – The Immigration Services website is a resource for all immigration matters. The website provides information, guidelines, and tools for UMass Chan's international students, scholars, and employees, as well as for the departments who host them.
HR Compensation & Total Rewards Website – The Compensation and Total Rewards website is a resource for employees to review UMass Chan’s compensation and total reward programs.
Employee Relations Website – The Employee Relations website is a resource for employees to find information about the services provided to employees and managers, including consultations, new hire onboarding, grievance processes, and more.
New Hire Onboarding Website – The New Hire Onboarding website is a resource for new employees to find information and tools to successfully onboard at UMass Chan.

Visit the Onboarding website and access the New Employee Checklist for Day 1, Week 1, and Month 1. Reach out to the Onboarding Team during your transition.

Medical interns and residents should refer to the Graduate Medical Education staff for information, because some of the information on the Onboarding website may not apply.

The HR Learning and Professional Development website is where employees can find professional development program information, including course descriptions, registrations, and other resources to support Learning and Development.

If employees want to learn more about the Mentoring Program or are interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, please visit the Mentoring Program website.

Employees can access the HR Learning Management System (LMS) with their UMass Chan Single Sign-On (SSO). An employee’s assigned courses will be located on their LMS homepage.

Employees can find information on these programs here:

• Office of Well-Being website
• Emotional Wellness (EAP)
• Wellness Program
• Your Wellness Network
• Your Work-Life Website (Code: OWBEAP)
• OnDemand Programs

Employees can find information on these programs by accessing the Diversity and Inclusion Office website.