Death of a Current University of Iowa Employee
Notification--In the event of the death of a current University of Iowa staff or faculty member on or off campus, notifications must be confirmed among University Benefits, University Police, and University Relations. Any one of the three may be the first to learn of the death of an employee. For that reason, notification works best if everyone in this loop makes certain that the entire loop is informed.
University Police, upon discovery or notification of the death of a staff or faculty member, will notify or confirm notification of the Director or Assistant Director of University Benefits and the Director of University Relations or Director of University News Services.
University Benefits, upon notification or discovery of the death of a staff or faculty member, will notify or confirm notification of the Director of University Police and the Director of University Relations or Director of University News Services. University Benefits will monitor notification of the family and will inform University Relations and the deceased employee’s Senior Human Resources Leadership Representative when this notification has been confirmed.
The Office of University Relations, upon notification or discovery of the death of a staff or faculty member, will notify or confirm notification of the Director of University Police and the Director or Assistant Director of University Benefits. University Relations will handle all requests from media for information and will not release name or potentially identifying information about the employee until informed by University Benefits or University Police that the family has been notified.
In the event that law enforcement personnel request emergency contact or next-of-kin information for the deceased, any person on campus with access to the information may provide it to the authorities. Such person also should contact University Benefits of the death and the fact that emergency contact information has been released.
UI Integrated Employee Assistance Program
All University of Iowa employees of fifty percent time or greater and their dependents are eligible to receive free, confidential counseling services through Faculty and Staff Services. Counselors offer one to four sessions for assessment, referral and short-term counseling. This benefit is available to family members for grief counseling as well as stress management, family problems, heath or mental health concerns or job related issues.
The services also are available to University staff and faculty members affected by the employee’s death.
Call 319-335-2085 to schedule an appointment.
Departmental Arrangements for Services and Memorials
Time away from work for the purpose of attending memorial services for deceased staff and faculty members is granted at the discretion of management, based on operational needs. Use of funeral leave from the employee’s accrued sick leave is reserved for immediate family members as defined by that policy; otherwise, vacation accruals are available for use in this circumstance.
Guidelines for expenditures related to flowers and/or memorials can be found at http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/oe/worklife/RnR/guiderec.doc
If the death occurs during the last quarter of the calendar year (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31), notify Payroll. According to Internal Revenue Service rules, withholding from an employee’s final check differs from the usual when the payment is made in the calendar year after the death of an employee. Payroll will monitor the final payment(s) to make sure the withholding is correct.
Notification can be made by telephone to 319-335-2381 or via
e-mail to:
payroll-web@uiowa.edu
The employee’s final W-2 will be mailed to the employee’s home address unless otherwise directed by the executor of the estate. If other family members would like a copy of the W-2 or other arrangements are needed for the W-2, the executor of the estate may arrange to obtain a copy of the W-2 after providing proof of executorship.
A regular employee who passes away while actively employed is paid for any time worked during the current pay period, plus one additional month of regular base salary, plus any accumulated vacation time.
The employee’s final check will be disbursed per the normal routine for that employee. If the vacation payment is made before an estate is established, it will be disbursed per the normal routine. If payment is made after the estate is created, payment will be made to the estate.
University Benefits works with the respective health, dental, retirement, and life insurance plans to process claims and work with the surviving family members and/or executor to continue coverage, if desired. The office sends claim forms to beneficiaries and works to finalize these transactions.
University Benefits will accept the deceased employee’s University items from the family, as well as answer questions and direct family members, executors and/or representatives from employing departments regarding the following topics: email, parking, ID cards, paychecks, work materials, the self-service web site, University property located at home, personal property at the worksite, keys, and credit cards. (In addition, information about most of these topics is addressed elsewhere on this website.)
Continuing Benefits for Spouses/Domestic Partners
Health and Dental Insurance: Spouse/domestic partner and/or children of an active Faculty or P&S staff member whose death occurs while employed may continue the University insurances until such time that the children lose their dependent status or the spouse either remarries or obtains employment that includes an insurance policy. Families of merit staff may continue coverage for up to 36 months.
Spouse/Domestic Partner ID Card: A spouse/domestic partner of an active regular employee whose death occurs while employed may obtain a spousal University ID card from the University Payroll Office which gives rights and access to certain University facilities and discounts.
Sponsored Research -- Grants and Contracts
If the deceased employee received salary from a grant and/or contract, the Principal Investigator or departmental administrator should contact the Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) at 319-335-2123 or dsp@uiowa.edu as soon as possible, normally within one to two weeks.
If the deceased was a PI or key personnel on a grant or contract, consider whether another qualified individual at The University of Iowa can assume the role. Some Sponsors (funding agencies) require prior approval for changes to key personnel. Work with DSP to make the new assignments and to obtain approval from the Sponsor(s) as necessary.
If a qualified replacement cannot be identified on campus, it may be necessary to relinquish the grant/contract or transfer it to another institution. Sponsor policies in this regard differ, so it is important to work with the Division of Sponsored Programs to determine the appropriate course of action.
Information Technology Procedures
Notification must be made by the employing department within 72 hours to University Human Resources (HR) using a termination form (reason code = death).
- HR enters the information into the HR system
- This change subsequently is processed during the nightly
Directory Services update, which is then
- distributed to computer services for appropriate Hawk ID eligibility changes
- fed into the HawkID system to programmatically “lock” the person’s account
- reflected in the person’s university directory and address book listings (herd/phone/address books)
Notification must be made by the employing department to the computer application(s) owner(s) for computer services used by the deceased employee that do not use HawkID for login (for example, a local department application), so that the person’s name can be manually removed from access lists. ITS Customer Information Desk (its-information@uiowa.edu) is available to help with this.
If work files, correspondence, and other electronic information need to be retrieved from the person’s office computer by the department, using the deceased person’s Hawk ID, the request to reset the password must be documented as follows:
- Send a notice to the ITS Customer Information Desk (its-information@uiowa.edu) requesting that the person’s account be unlocked and the password reset in order to retrieve work files
- include the person’s name and Hawk ID (if known)
- include a contact name and phone number (the person to receive the password)
- copy the head of the department
- copy the UI Information Technology security office (it-security@uiowa.edu)
Computer equipment, files, software or other university property located at the deceased person’s home needs to be returned to or retrieved by the department.
- The department and HR will coordinate contacting the next of kin or the executor about retrieving university property from the home, so that only one person/visit to the home is made.
If family members or executors request access to the person’s computer account(s):
- Refer them to University Benefits (benefits@uiowa.edu or 319-335-2676) or this website for payroll/benefits information
- Do not share the person’s password with family/executor
- Do not forward or make copies of files, work, or other computer correspondence without first consulting with your department head and the Office of the General Counsel to determine confidentiality and ownership.
The department may exercise discretion in determining how to handle the deceased employee’s business e-mail account. Consider having the deceased person’s e-mail automatically forwarded to another account if s/he received departmental requests or a considerable volume of business correspondence. In addition, an automatic reply message may be returned to senders. The ITS Customer Information Desk (its-information@uiowa.edu) makes these change on the department’s behalf. Consider the amount and type of e-mail received by the person when selecting e-mail handling options, as well as the need for removing the employee from listserv subscriptions and from web forms that mail to them. Some options are:
- Automatic Forward: all mail addressed to jane-doe@uiowa.edu is forwarded to mary-smith@uiowa.edu
- Automatic Forward with Auto-reply: All mail addressed to jane-doe@uiowa.edu is forwarded to mary-smith@uiowa.edu, and an automatic reply is sent to the original sender, “The account for jane-doe@uiowa.edu has been closed. Your message has been automatically forwarded to mary-smith@uiowa.edu.”
- No Forwarding with an Auto-reply: An automatic reply is sent to the original sender, “The account for jane-doe@uiowa.edu has been closed. If you need assistance please resend your message to mary-smith@uiowa.edu.” This option works nicely if you need to split mail to several individuals. For example, “If you need assistance with billing, resend your message to mary-smith@uiowa.edu; if you need assistance with orders, resend your message to bill-jones@uiowa.edu; and for all other messages, please resend to john-brown@uiowa.edu.”
- ID cards – These are deactivated upon processing of the termination form in the system; they need not be returned. The exception is University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics ID cards, which may be returned to University Benefits or Hospital Human Resources.
- Keys – Return to University Benefits or the employing department.
- Credit cards – University procurement cards and American Express and Visa credit cards may be returned to University Benefits; they are destroyed and sent to Purchasing.
- UI property at home – Return to University Benefits or the employing department.
- Personal property at the worksite – Two persons from the department may inventory and remove the property to give to the family or executor.
University Benefits changes the deceased employee’s campus mail address to the Benefits office address, and distributes mail appropriately upon its receipt.
Other University Notifications
University Benefits notifies the Office of the President of the death. The President sends the family a letter of condolence;
that office also arranges for flying the flag atop Old Capitol at half-mast in honor of the deceased, notifying the family of the anticipated date of that event.
University Benefits notifies Staff Council of a current staff member's death. Staff Council orders a book in the staff member's memory for the University of Iowa Main Library.
University Benefits also notifies the University publication FYI.
For the employee who has University parking privileges, Parking and Transportation requires return of the permit, which consists of a tag that hangs from the interior rear view mirror, and of the key or card, if the employee parked in a keyed or carded lot or ramp. Departmental parking placards (the laminated documents that are placed on the dashboard to access parking other than that to which the employee is regularly assigned) and the accompanying key or card can be returned to the employing department. (Parking and Transportation will deactivate the cards upon notice of the death.)
In the event that Parking and Transportation does not receive the above, they will send a letter requesting the items.
If the employee participated in the van pool to travel to work, either the respective van pool driver or the Van Pool office (319-353-5770) should be contacted.
In the event that the surviving spouse or domestic partner is also a University employee and has been riding to work with the deceased spouse or domestic partner, the surviving spouse or domestic partner may retain parking privileges by writing a letter to Parking and Transportation requesting such. If the surviving spouse or domestic partner is assigned parking in a lot other than that assigned to the deceased spouse, s/he retains that assignment rather than assuming the assignment of the deceased spouse or domestic partner.
Contact information for Parking and Transportation is as follows:
Parking Office
The University of Iowa
IMU Ramp
Iowa City , IA 52242
319-335-1475
For inquiries about outstanding University charges, contact the Business Office at cashier@uiowa.edu.
For inquiries about outstanding charges at University Hospitals and Clinics, contact Patient Fiscal and Registration Services at 319-356-2211.
Athletic Tickets and Recreational Services
For questions related to current or future athletic season tickets, contact the Athletics Department at 319-335-9309.
For information related to a deceased person’s locker and its contents at Finkbine Golf Course, contact the course at 319-335-9556.
For information related to a deceased person’s locker and its contents in the Field House, Halsey Gymnasium, or the Recreation Building, contact Recreational Services at 319-335-9293.