Leaving Stryker

Deductions from your final paycheck will include (if applicable), your healthcare plan cost, special deductions (e.g. garnishments, United Way, Day Care FSA, supplemental life insurance and employee stock purchase plan), 401(k) plan contributions and any other expenses owed to Stryker.

If you have a vested balance in the 401(k) plan, you’ll receive a letter from Vanguard soon after you leave the company. This letter informs eligible employees how to take a distribution of their account and/or any rollover options via the web. Vanguard can be reached at 800-523-1188.

Coverage terminates on your last day of employment. You will be notified in writing by HealthEquity/WageWorks, our COBRA administrator, of your COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act) rights within 44 days of termination.

COBRA gives you and your covered dependents the opportunity to continue health coverage for up to 18 or 36 months by paying the premiums at your own expense. HealthEquity/WageWorks can be reached at 866-206-5751 or the HealthEquity/WageWorks website.

For more information on COBRA, see your Summary Plan Description (SPD) and your 2024 monthly COBRA rates. Please note that you must be on the Stryker network to access the rates.

If you choose to continue your medical plan coverage through COBRA, it will include Included Health's Expert Medical Opinion services. Included Health can be reached at 855-431-5551.

If you leave Stryker, you may be eligible to convert your Transamerica supplemental benefit policy to an individual policy. Please contact Transamerica within 31 days of your termination date to find out about eligibility, application requirements and premiums. Contact Transamerica at 855-244-8318.

Coverage under the group life insurance contract terminates on your last day of employment. You may be able to convert or port your group life insurance to a personal policy at your own expense. You will receive a notification in the mail of the opportunity to port or convert coverage including the Unum toll-free number to call. If you choose to continue coverage, the completed application and your premium payment must be returned to Unum within 90 days of the loss of coverage date.

Portability/Conversion requests will not be accepted if they are received more than 90 days after Life Insurance terminates. Contact myHR at 1-877-795-2002 or see the Plan's Insurance Certificate for additional information.

Short-term disability terminates on your last day of employment. There are no provisions for continuation or conversion of coverage. Qualifying disabilities, which occur prior to separation, will remain covered by the plan. See the plan’s Summary Plan Description (SPD) for additional information.

Long-term disability coverage terminates on the employee's last day of employment. You may be eligible to convert coverage that you had in effect while an employee. You will receive a notification in the mail of the opportunity to convert coverage, including the Unum toll-free number to call. If you choose to continue coverage, the completed application and your premium payment must be returned to Unum within 90 days of the loss of coverage date. Qualifying disabilities, which occur prior to separation, will remain covered by the plan. Contact myHR at 1-877-795-2002 or see the Plan's Summary Plan Description for additional information.

Flexible Spending Accounts participation rules change on the employee’s last day of employment. 

• Healthcare FSA: You may continue to submit claims for healthcare FSA expenses incurred up to your last day of employment. If you wish to submit claims for dates of service after your last day of employment, you may elect to continue participation in the health care FSA through COBRA, in which case the contributions are on an after-tax basis and are increased by 2% to cover administrative costs. 
• Daycare FSA: You may continue to submit claims for eligible daycare FSA expenses you have incurred until the earlier of the date your day care FSA balance is exhausted or the end of the plan year of your employment termination date.

The deadline for both healthcare and daycare FSA claims submission is March 31st of the following year. UnitedHealthcare is the claims administrator and they can be reached at 800-387-7508 for additional information on how to submit claims or your claims submission deadline.

You own the Health Savings Account (HSA), so the account is in your name and is portable. The account and the entire balance goes with you, including the contributions made by Stryker. You can continue to withdraw funds for eligible expenses from your HSA after leaving Stryker or retiring. However, you cannot continue to contribute to the HSA unless you are enrolled in a qualified HSA-compatible plan. Any monthly maintenance fees previously covered by Stryker will begin being charged to you at the time of separation. For any questions regarding your account, you can contact UnitedHealthcare at 800-387-7508 or OptumBank at 800-791-9361 Option 1.

The HSA is separate from the UHC Premium HSA and Basic HSA medical plan options. For information on how to continue these medical plans through COBRA, refer to the Summary Plan Description (SPD).

If you contributed to the Employee Stock Purchase Plan through payroll deductions, you have an account with Computershare. After all applicable holding requirements are met under the ESPP, you will receive a letter from Computershare detailing available distribution options. You must contact Computershare directly at 800-639-0119 for further transactions.

Eligibility in the Tuition Reimbursement Plan terminates on your last day of employment.

Separated employees must notify the Human Resources Department of any address changes to ensure that wage information documents (e.g. W-2) and future mailings can be properly delivered. In addition, you will also need to update your address with benefit vendors directly as data will no longer pass to them once separation of service has occurred in Workday.

Stryker pays for you and your family to have access to TELUS Health (formerly LifeWorks), our Employee Assistance Program. In most situations, you will continue to be eligible for these services for 18 months following the end of your employment. Additional time will be available for employees and/or family members in the event of an employee death or other COBRA-qualifying event that allows coverage to continue for more than 18 months. See the Stryker Summary Plan Description for more details.

TELUS Health is available 24/7 for confidential support on a wide variety of topics including mental health, grief, finances, retirement, family changes and many more. Access to the EAP also includes up to five free counseling sessions. You can contact the program at 866 785 4572 or TELUS Health (formerly LifeWorks) (Username: stryker; Password: 4260) for support today.

In addition to inpatient hospital services, Part A covers care in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) or hospice. Note that it does not cover outpatient Emergency Room visits. You're eligible to sign up for Part A during the seven-month Initial Enrollment Period (IEP), which begins three months before you turn 65 and continues until the last day of the third month after your 65^th birthday. It is essential that you sign up during the IEP or you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty. For the majority of people who sign up on time, Part A is premium free.

There are specific timing requirements involved in signing up for Medicare Part B. If you delay past these specific enrollment timelines, you will pay a higher monthly premium. You can sign up for Part B within your first eligible IEP without paying higher monthly premiums. You also will have the opportunity to enroll in Part B during the eight-month Special Enrollment Period (SEP) after your Stryker employee health benefits end without paying a late penalty.

The Medicare Supplement medical plan offered to you provides coverage that can take the place of Medicare Part D. Keep in mind: If you don't enroll in Part D during the IEP or within exactly 63 days after your employer-provided drug benefits end, you will have to pay a penalty, and drug benefits may be delayed, causing you to have to pay retail cost for expensive prescriptions.