December 2025 Employee Benefits Spotlight

From: Human Resources

Below is a list of important announcements from the Benefits Team.

Health benefit updates

Reminder for Employees with Dependents who turned age 26 in 2025

If you are an employee with a dependent child who turned 26 in 2025, that child will no longer be eligible for health coverage on Jan. 1, 2026. The coverage for this dependent will automatically terminate effective Dec. 31, 2025. This could result in eligibility for reduced membership coverage and possibly lower premium costs (depending on continued coverage for other eligible dependents).  

Consistent plan changes are permitted when a child loses eligibility. You may change your plan within 60 days of your child losing eligibility by submitting a health benefits enrollment form to Human Resources. If you wish to continue with the same plan for remaining covered individuals, no action is required.  

Letters were mailed to the address of record for each affected employee in October outlining the health benefit options for children who will lose coverage in the Health Benefits Program due to age. If your child qualifies as an incapacitated dependent, please refer to the letter for additional information. 

If you need further assistance, please contact the HR Service Center at 540-231-9331.

Leave updates

Nov. 26 and Dec. 24 recognition leave and other holiday reminders 

As a reminder, Virginia Tech will provide four hours of recognition leave on Wednesday, Nov. 26 and Wednesday, Dec. 24 in recognition of the exceptional work of our faculty and staff this year. The leave will be added to the four hours of holiday time granted by the Commonwealth of Virginia, giving eligible faculty and staff a total of eight hours of leave each day. Employees who are required to work on Nov. 26 or Dec. 24 will earn compensatory time to use later. Read the full campus notice for more information.

View the full holiday and winter closing for 2025 and 2026 on the HR site. For questions about holidays, holiday time, and other procedures, review University Policy 4315: Guidelines on Holidays. For questions, contact your college or department HR representative. 

University Policy 4315: Guidelines on Holidays contains more information on university holidays, holiday time, and other procedures. For questions about the policy, contact your college or department HR representative.

Plan now to use annual leave

All faculty and staff are encouraged to plan with their supervisor to schedule annual leave. The deadline to use annual leave exceeding the maximum carryover balance for 2025 will be Jan. 9, 2026. More information about leave carryover limits for different position classifications is available on the HR Leave website. If you have questions about leave time and usage, contact your college or department HR representative or the HR Leave Team at hrleave@vt.edu. 

Retirement Benefit Updates

Increasing retirement savings using VRS hybrid plan services 

Auto-escalation happens January 2026:

In January 2026, VOYA, who administers Virginia’s 457(b) deferred compensation plan, will automatically escalate members’ contribution to the by 0.5 percent. 

Auto-escalation helps members save more for retirement and qualify for a higher employer match. Automatic escalation occurs every three years and includes all hybrid plan members except those who opt-out or are currently using Smart Step to regularly increase their contributions or are already making the highest (4%) voluntary contribution.

Members may opt-out of escalation beginning Dec. 1 at 9 a.m. through Dec. 31 by 4 p.m. by logging into their account at dcp.varetire.org/login or calling 877-327-5261 (excluding stock market holidays). 

2026 Voluntary Retirement Plan Contribution Limits 

Virginia Tech employees have many retirement plan options, including voluntary plans such as the university's Deferred Savings Program (403(b) Plan) and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Deferred Compensation Plan (457(b) Plan). 

All Virginia Tech employees (including adjunct faculty, wage, and student wage) are eligible to participate in one or both voluntary plans, which provide additional ways to save money toward retirement. Contributions can be made through pre-tax or after-tax (also called Roth) payroll deductions. Employee contributions and any applicable matching employer contributions in your 403(b) and 457(b) Plan are immediately 100 percent vested.

Below are the 2026 IRS maximum annual limits for contributions to a 403(b) Plan and a 457(b) Plan:

• Under age 50: $24,500 
• Over age 50: $32,500 (with the $8,000 age catch-up)

These limits are separate for the 403(b) and 457(b) plans, and employees can contribute to both. 

If you wish to enroll, or are already participating and wish to make changes to current contributions, the following links provide access to additional information:

• 403(b) Plan: Changes can now be made online through Hokie Spa. More information can be found here. 
• 457(b) Plan: Contact the plan provider or by calling 1-877-327-5261. or by calling 1-877-327-5261.

Contributions can be changed at any time throughout the year, but in order to be effective for the first pay period in January 2026, all 467 changes should be initiated with Voya by Dec. 29, 2025 and 403(b) changes submitted by Jan 5, 2026.

More information about Virginia Tech’s Retirement plan options can be found online; additional questions can be directed to the HR Service Center at hrservicecenter@vt.edu.

2026 Voluntary Retirement Plan Contribution Changes (Secure Act 2.0)

Effective January 1, 2026, the SECURE ACT 2.0 requires participants in a 403(b) and/or governmental 457(b) plans who are age 50 or older and earned more than $150,000 in FICA wages (as reflected in Box 5 of the 2025 W-2) in the prior year  to make any age catch-up contributions on an after-tax Roth basis. This means that pre-taxed contributions for the 403(b) and 457(b) plans will be stopped once the regular contribution limit of $24,500 is reached. Individuals in this situation may continue with age catch-up contributions on a post-tax basis, but this requires participants to submit an election for the respective plan(s).  

General Employee Reminders  

2026 Social Security Wage Base 

The Social Security Administration has announced that the Social Security Wage Base for 2026 is $184,500. 

Preparation for delivery of annual tax document: Verify addresses by Dec. 31 

Payroll and the Commonwealth of Virginia are getting ready for the annual mailing of tax documents, including W2s (if not accessible electronically), 1042S, and IRS 1095-C forms. Tax documents will be available electronically or will be mailed to home addresses of record by Jan. 31, 2026.

To ensure tax documents are sent to the right address, employees are encouraged to review – and update as needed – all applicable addresses in their employee dashboard by Wednesday, Dec. 31. 

Once available, W2 forms can be accessed electronically through Hokie Spa or ADP. ADP will mail W2 forms based on the print status each employee indicates in the ADP system prior to W2 printing in mid-January. 1042S forms will be available electronically through HokieSpa for all applicable employees before the IRS deadline. Printed W2s and 1042S will be sent to employees’ current mailing addresses. The Virginia Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) processes IRS Form 1095-C, which provides information regarding any employer-provided health insurance coverage or offers of coverage. DHRM is required to mail 1095-C documents to home addresses of record.

For questions about address updates, contact the HR Service Center at hrservicecenter@vt.edu. For more questions about year-end tax statements, visit the Payroll’s website. For specific W2 or 1042S questions, email VTW2@vt.edu.