Everything you want to know (and more) about your SEIU CSU/PTRLA commuter benefits:
Q. Why are SEIU CSU/PTRLA members getting $80/month, while all other city workers are getting only $20/month?
A: We won an increased commuter benefit during our contract negotiations last June 2021. The City Council signed our contract in late July 2021, and we should have begun receiving $80 in August 2021. But due to several problems with implementation the City did not begin to pay members this benefit until March 2022.
From August 2021 – February 2022, members who had signed up for commute benefits received only $20 from the BRI system. Some members, but not all, were paid $300 retroactively for the months of August – December 2021, which was five months of $60/month. The City said all members would be made whole by this most current paycheck from the pay period ending 4/16/2022.
Q: How do I get $80/month extra in my paycheck?
A: First, check your pay stub. In March the City began to pay us our post-tax commuter benefit via Payroll. The $80/month is divided over 26 pay periods, or $36.93 per pay period. If you see the line item – CC/BKE CSU on your paystub with $36.93 under the Current pay, then you are already receiving the increased benefit.
If you are not seeing that, then sign up ASAP by filling out the New $80 Commuter Benefits Subsidy Request Form. Be sure to put SEIU CSU/PTRLA in the Union field. Email it to commutebenefits@cityofberkeley.info. It will take about a month for you to begin receiving the increased $80/month benefit once you’ve submitted the new request form.
Q: Do I have to submit receipts to get the $80?
A: No, you don’t have to submit anything, or sign any claim forms. Just sign up and get $80/month more in your paycheck. That’s $960 per year!
Q: Why is the $80 commute benefit taxed?
A: The tax law changed under Trump and this benefit should have been taxed by the City starting in January 2021, but the City just recently figured out how to tax us on it by administering the benefit via Payroll.
Q: What is the $220 lump sum at BRI?
A: The City switched from EdenRed to Benefit Resource, Inc. (BRI) to administer commute benefits as of April 2021. The City put aside $20/month for all eligible employees in our BRI accounts for us for one year starting April 2021 for both the Bicycle and Mass Transit Subsidy. But the City decided to end the contract with BRI for the post-tax commuter benefit and began paying the commuter benefit directly via Payroll in March 2022. So if you have not registered with BRI there are 11 months (April 2021 – February 2022) of $20/month, or $220 waiting for you to claim.
Q: How do I get the $220 of BRI funds?
A: This is a multi-step process. Begin ASAP as the BRI portal for post-tax benefits will close at the end of the week. Don’t delay.
- Register in BRI. Please see BRI instructions – STEP 1 – How to Register Online with BRI. Please pay special attention to the following inputs:
- Company Code – cityofberkeley
- Member ID – Your City of Berkeley Employee ID with zeroes added to create a 9-digit number. For example, if your City of Berkeley ID is 12345, your Member ID is 000012345
- Personal Info: First name, last name, CITY ZIP CODE 94704
- Email Address
- Telephone number
- Sign Up for Direct Deposit {or you may choose to receive a check by mail, but then you must update your address otherwise the check goes to the City}. See STEP 2 – How to Sign Up for the $20 Monthly Subsidy
- Choose & Enroll in Your Subsidy
- Print, Scan & Upload your Subsidy Attestation Form.
- This $220 subsidy will be delivered by DIRECT DEPOSIT or CHECK MAILED TO YOUR ADDRESS ON RECORD WITH BRI
Q: Who do I contact if I have questions?
A: No SEIU CSU/PTRLA member actually administers the program for the City. We are just sharing this information to help you access benefits to which you are entitled. You should contact BRI directly if you are having trouble registering. You can also contact Nancy Melendez at commutebenefits@cityofberkeley.info who coordinates the commute benefits program for the City, but Nancy can’t tell if you are in the BRI system or not. Nancy can help you with general questions.
Q: What about the BRI commuter benefit debit Mastercard?
A: Any employee can put pre-tax earnings onto the commuter benefit Mastercard. To note, this is money coming from your paycheck; these are not additional benefits paid by the City. BRI is still administering the Mastercard. You can use it to purchase any commute related expense such as BART or Amtrak tickets, or use it for Lyftline or Uberpool.
To note, if you leave the City for retirement or another job, you will lose access to that Mastercard after a month. You can transfer all of the funds on it to a personal Clipper card at any time. We recommend you do this before leaving the City.
Q: Why do I have two accounts at BRI?
A: One account is for the post-tax $20/month. If you haven’t claimed it, there will be $220 for the Mass Transit/Bicycle Subsidy. The other account is your pre-tax Mastercard. If you were enrolled previously in the EdenRed platform, your balance was moved to BRI and onto a new BRI Mastercard. In the EdenRed system both the $20 from the City, and any additional funds you contributed, were put on that Mastercard.
Q: Why did I receive a $120 check recently?
A: The $120 is the retroactive pay for the months of January and February when the City taxed members who had signed up for the benefit $80/month in our paycheck. But those members only received $20 from BRI, so the City owed them $60/month ($120 for January – February). As we had already paid taxes on the full commute benefit of $80/month, the City had to pay us outside of our paychecks, which is why you may have received the $120.
Q: Why didn’t I get a check for $120?
A: It is possible that you were not previously signed up for commute benefits in the BRI system. The City will only pay you $80/month since the time you signed up in BRI. So if you signed up in BRI in March, you won’t get the retroactive pay for the months of August 2021 – February 2021.
Q: Who do I contact if I believe I am missing retroactive pay for the commute benefits?
A: Contact Payroll Audit at PayrollAuditInbox@cityofberkeley.info.
Additionally, please Cc or Bcc RMilliken@cityofberekeley.info. Our chapter wants to know if our members have been made whole or not.
Q: Why is the commuter benefits rollout such a mess?
A: It is complicated and the City made several mistakes along the way. Our chapter filed a grievance back in November after trying to work collaboratively with HR for several months to no avail to get information on the rollout. Ultimately, the City came up with a game plan which they shared with us on April 2, 2022.. Now all members who have requested the commuter benefits in BRI should have theoretically received retroactive pay. Again, if you think you are missing retroactive pay, contact Payroll Audit at PayrollAuditInbox@cityofberkeley.info
Q: Who can I contact if I have other questions not answered here?
A: You can reach out to me at rmilliken@cityofberkeley.info. Please be patient if my response time is slow, as I receive a high volume of emails. Please contact BRI directly for any issues registering, or receiving your $220. Don’t delay. Again those funds will disappear at the end of the week.
Image by Ketut Subiyanto
