Current Faculty and Staff Members
Find helpful information to assist you throughout your career at Carnegie Mellon. Learn more about how to make the most of the benefits available to you and explore opportunities to get involved.
1. Workday
Workday provides employees with self-service options to complete many HR and payroll tasks, including electing and changing benefits and retirement savings contributions, updating personal information, submitting time (hourly employees), requesting Paid Time Off and viewing payslips. Refer to Workday Guides for step-by-step instructions to complete common tasks in Workday.
2. Benefits Overview
Benefit Changes
You must experience a qualifying life and family status change to make changes to your benefit elections.
- Changes to benefit elections must be submitted in Workday within 30 days of the qualifying event.
- System Guide: Change Benefits Elections (Qualifying Life Event) [pdf]
- Documentation is required within 30 days of submitting the change in Workday.
- Dependents must be verified in Workday with documentation that confirms their relationship to you. Review Accepted Dependent Eligibility Documentation [pdf] to determine what is required.
- Documentation confirming the life event is also required. Review Required Documentation Confirming Life Events [pdf] to determine what is needed to approve the benefit change.
- You will receive a Workday notification once your benefit elections are approved. Enrollment information is sent to the insurance carriers the Monday morning after your elections are approved.
- Beginning the Wednesday after your elections are sent to the carrier(s), you can create user accounts on your insurance carriers’ websites.
- Temporary insurance cards (ID cards) can be printed through your user account.
- Permanent insurance cards are sent within 7–10 business days.
- Log into Workday to designate your life insurance beneficiaries with MetLife.
- System Guide: Designate Life Insurance Beneficiary [pdf]
- Evidence of Insurability (EOI) may be required for optional life insurance. If applicable, MetLife will send the EOI form to your CMU email address.
TES employees transferring to a regular position with the same benefit eligibility are not permitted to make new benefit elections.
Student workers who are enrolled in student health coverage and move to a faculty or staff position can waive duplicate coverage at the time of hire and then submit a Loss of Outside Coverage life event effective August 1 to replace the coverage lost on July 31.
Retirement Contribution Changes
- Carnegie Mellon provides two retirement savings plans:*
- Carnegie Mellon University Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan (FSRP) for eligible faculty and staff who are U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents
- Carnegie Mellon University 401(k) Plan (401(k) Plan) for eligible employees who are, on their hire date, either a non-U.S. citizen or a non-U.S. resident (non-resident alien)
- The university contributes an amount equal to 8% of eligible base salary (9.78% for employees on a nine-month appointment) for eligible employees.
- Eligible faculty members, staff members and student workers can make supplemental contributions by payroll deduction. Employee contributions are effective the first of the month following the date the election is submitted in Workday, unless a future date is designated. You can elect to contribute up to 100% of your pay if you are eligible for the FSRP, or from .25% (¼%) to 100% of your pay if you are eligible for the 401(k) Plan. Elections cannot be made retroactively to a prior or current month or date, unless the election is changing to zero. Contact HR Employee Services to change your retirement elections to zero for the current month.
- System Guide: Retirement Elections [pdf]
- Learn how to roll over assets from an outside institution to CMU and request distributions.
- Create a user account with TIAA [pdf] to designate/update your beneficiary(ies) or change investment options once your first contribution (employee or employer) is made. Changes can also be made by calling TIAA at 800-842-2776.
- View retirement savings education opportunities, including one-on-one counseling sessions, webinars and on-campus workshops.
* Members of the AFL-CIO Local 95 — International Union of Operating Engineers are covered under their own contract, which specifies their retirement program options.
Time Away from Work Options
Carnegie Mellon provides several types of benefits to accommodate your needs to take time off. The eligibility requirements and compensation/benefits for each type of leave differ. In all cases, you should notify your manager and seek approval for time away from the office with as much advance notice as possible. Questions concerning time off and leaves should be directed to HR Employee Services.
- Eleven official holidays and up to three floating holidays, depending on your start date
- Paid Time Off — review guidelines and accrual schedule
- System Guide: Request Time Off [pdf]
- Leave types available to eligible employees:
- Family and Medical Leave
- Disability Leave
- Staff Parental and Maternity Leave
- Staff Handbook [pdf] — comprehensive information about all leave types including Military Leave, Jury Duty Leave and Personal Leave
Tuition Benefits
Benefits-eligible faculty and staff members can receive tuition remission or assistance for themselves and their dependent children. Courses may be taken at CMU or at another institution.
- Learn more about tuition benefits including eligibility, benefit level and taxation implications.
- Find step-by-step instructions for submitting a tuition benefit application for a faculty or staff member [pdf].
- Find step-by-step instructions for submitting a tuition benefit application for a dependent [pdf].
- Contact HR Employee Services to discuss the application process and taxation prior to enrolling in courses.
Child Care Benefits
Carnegie Mellon offers benefit programs to assist with child care costs. Please note that there may be tax implications associated with child care benefits.
- Cyert Center Sliding Scale Benefit: The Cyert Center for Early Education is a full-day early care and education program serving the university. The Sliding Scale benefit provides eligible employees with a reduction in the Cyert Center’s tuition rate, taking into account your family income for the prior calendar year.
- Dependent Care Reimbursement Account (DCRA): Carnegie Mellon offers a DCRA to help you lower your dependent care expenses by paying with tax-free money.
- Care for Business: Through the Care for Business benefit, CMU provides eligible employees with backup care services for children and adults. The program also includes a free membership to perform self-directed searches for a variety of caregiving needs.
- Family and Child Care Resources: The Office of Human Resources has compiled a list of relevant benefits, information and resources for parents and families, including the university's Family Care Concierge Service for personalized support and guidance.
3. Personal Information Changes
You can make changes to your personal information, including legal and preferred name, address, phone numbers and emergency contacts; payment elections (direct deposit); and tax elections.
- Learn how to change your personal information in Workday.
4. Training and Professional Development
- FocusU and LinkedIn Learning provide faculty and staff members with opportunities for professional and personal development. See the Development Program Guide for curated lists of learning resources based on role or need.
- Staff Members can create and maintain a Career Profile [pdf] using Workday's Talent Management functionality.
- Mentoring relationships can be established through programs sponsored by the Carnegie Mellon Women's Association.
- Looking for a new challenge? Review available opportunities at Careers@Carnegie Mellon.
5. Policies, Handbooks and Guidelines
Carnegie Mellon's policies ensure fair treatment of all individuals.
- Become familiar with University Policies.
- Know what is expected of you; review handbooks, guidelines and required employee notices.
- Be aware of Equal Opportunity Services and the university's Affirmative Action Plan, as well as resources for addressing workplace concerns and how to contact the staff ombudsperson.
- Learn how to request an accommodation for a disability.
6. Discounts and Perks
- Browse Staff Council's Perks & Discounts.
- Explore the discounts available to CMU employees including banking services, transportation, real estate services, entertainment discounts and wireless communication savings.
7. Opportunities to Stay Involved, Informed and Healthy
Learn about opportunities to get involved in the campus community.- Find information about annual campus events and ongoing event listings.
- Learn about opportunities to get involved through Staff Council.
- Explore volunteer opportunities on campus.
- Read The Piper, the university's weekly community newsletter.
- Review the university's community health & well-being resources.
- Consider joining an employee resource group.
- Learn more about the fitness facilities and programs, including free Group-X classes, available to faculty and staff.
- Sign up for the Be Well newsletter and learn how to be well, be mindful and be connected.
- Learn how to contribute to United Way.
8. Retiring from Carnegie Mellon
As you prepare for retirement, review the resources provided by the Office of Human Resources and the university's retirement plan vendors.
9. Leaving the University
If you decide to end your employment with Carnegie Mellon University, review these key steps that you should take to ensure that you receive the benefits you are entitled to and that your last-day obligations are met.