Human Resources
Finance & Administration

New Employee Enrollment

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Welcome to Lehigh University!

We're excited to have you on board. This guide will help you navigate your benefits enrollment and other important resources during your first few weeks.

Be sure to bookmark this page for easy reference.

 

Quick contacts

 

Get to Know the Dashboard

Connect Lehigh provides easy access to essential tools, including:

  • Lehigh Benefits (within Human Resources) - where you will complete your benefits enrollment, access benefits plan information, submit a spousal surcharge waiver request, and more.
  • Timeclock Plus (within Employee Tools) - where you will record hours worked and/or exception time for each pay period. If you are a manager, you will approve you direct reports' time here.
  • Banner Self-Service - review your personal information, update your home address, access your pay stubs, and more.
  • LU FileSender - securely send and receive documents.

 

 

Benefits Orientation

Benefits orientations are offered twice per month, on the first and third Mondays. Sessions are held at 9:00 am via Zoom. New staff members will find their orientation date in their offer letter, and new faculty will be invited to attend an ad-hoc orientation specifically for faculty in June just prior to their start date.

You will receive an email from inben@lehigh.edu a few days prior to your scheduled orientation which will provide a calendar invite, Zoom link, a personal benefits orientation letter, and other necessary documents. 

Attendance at an orientation is strongly encouraged. Important plan information is covered during the session, as well as enrollment instructions, eligibility requirements, where to go for help, and much more.

 

Enroll in Your Benefits (Within 30 Days of Hire)

Action Required - you have 30 days from your hire date to enroll in or waive benefits. If no action is taken after 30 days, you will be automatically enrolled in default coverage consisting of the PPO medical plan for individual coverage, basic life insurance and LTD insurance on a pre-tax basis. These elections cannot be changed until the next open enrollment period or unless you experience a qualifying life event.

An HR team member will email you a few days prior to your scheduled orientation; this email will include a personalized benefits orientation letter which contains:

  • Your basic demographic information (upon receipt, please verify this information is accurate. If any inaccuracies exist, email inben@lehigh.edu).
  • Step-by-step instructions to access the Lehigh Benefits enrollment site.

Resources for Assistance:

 

Enroll in the Lehigh University Retirement Plan (Within 60 Days of Hire)

Eligible new employees are automatically enrolled in Lehigh's Retirement Plan upon hire. The university will begin making contributions to accounts managed by TIAA with your first pay.

Action Required - after 60 days of employment, you will be automatically enrolled to contribute 3% of your salary into the Voluntary Retirement Savings Plan (VRSP). You may opt out of this automatic enrollment by contacting TIAA within your first 60 days. You may also start your own contributions sooner than 60 days, adjust the contribution amount, and/or stop contributions any time throughout the year by making changes to your contributions in your TIAA account.

  • Watch for an email from TIAA that will be sent to your Lehigh email address confirming your enrollment.
  • Go to www.tiaa.org/lehigh to create an account.
  • To alter your voluntary contributions, navigate to "Actions" and then "Manage my contributions." Keep an eye out for the Payroll Calendars linked in the TIAA website; contribution changes must be submitted prior to the deadlines listed on each pay period's calendar.

Questions? Call TIAA at 800-842-2252.

 

Additional Resources

Supplemental Information for Orientation:

Education Benefits

Time Away from Work

Other Benefits & Perks