N E W P A R E N T G U I D E

A Guide for MassMutual Employees Describing benefits and programs as of January 1, 2019, this guide is for

MassMutual employees planning to add a new child to their family. Whether you

or your spouse or domestic partner is pregnant, in the process of adopting, or

considering either, this booklet offers an overview of MassMutual resources and

other information that can help you through each stage of the journey.

Table of contents

Beginnings

Considering adoption? 1

Maternity medical care 1

Planning for child care 2

Getting Ready

Three months before 4

Finding a pediatrician & more

Two months

before 4

Understanding leave options One month before 7

Requesting your leave

Breastfeeding support 8

One week before 9 When Your Child Arrives 9

Returning to Work 10

Quick Links 12

Contacts 12

DISCLAIMER: This communication provides some basic 2019 benefits information. It has been prepared for employees of

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company; The MassMutual Trust Company FSB and MassMutual International LLC. It is

not for retirees, career contract advisors, field staff, general agents or general managers or employees of Barings LLC, Barings

Multifamily Capital LLC, or OppenheimerFunds, Inc. This is not a summary plan description (SPD) or summary of material

modifications (SMM). It reflects programs in place as of January 2019. Your receipt of this material is not a promise or

guarantee by the company of your eligibility for any one or all the benefits and programs described or of continued employment. The company reserves the right to terminate, modify, amend or suspend any or all of its benefit plans and programs at any time,

and from time to time. In case of conflict between this information and the plan terms, the plan terms and documents shall

govern. Provisions are based on current law and regulations, which are subject to change.

Considering Adoption?

Through the Adoption Assistance Program,

MassMutual reimburses eligible employees for

certain adoption expenses (up to $7,500 per

adoption, pro-rated for part time employees) for

eligible foreign or domestic adoptions.

If you are considering adopting, you may want to

contact your Cigna Employee Assistance Program

(EAP). Their work/life specialists can refer you to

adoption specialists and agencies, support

organizations, and more. Call Cigna at 1-800-548-

3980 any time and say “Employee Assistance

Program” at the prompt. The EAP is free and

available to all employees and their household

members.

Maternity medical care

Understanding your medical coverage can help

ensure that you and your baby get the best care

available. If you’re enrolled in a MassMutual

medical option, read on for resources that can help.

Ovia Health is a maternity and family benefit

that supports your health and parenting journey

with three apps:

Ovia Fertility helps women boost their

chances of conceiving with cycle tracking,

expert research, fertility tips, and

personalized health insights.

Ovia Pregnancy supports healthy

pregnancies by providing timely articles,

health and wellness tips, and answers to

almost every pregnancy question.

Ovia Parenting supports families with

expert parenting articles, daily tips and

guidance (based on your child’s age, up to

age 4), and the ability to share milestones

with friends and family.

Download the Ovia Health app that’s right for you

from the App Store or Google Play — and identify

MassMutual as your company.

Estimate maternity costs: Log on to

MyCigna.com, choose Estimate Health Care Costs,

then Health Care Professional Directory. Choose the

Procedure tab. Enter your preferred location. Type

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“delivery” in the Looking For box. (You may want to

look at both vaginal and cesarean delivery costs.)

You can view results by Doctors or Hospitals. When

you click on Doctors, you’ll see a list of in-network

providers in your area, their affiliated hospital(s),

and the total estimated cost of maternity care, which

includes prenatal office visits, delivery and a

postpartum checkup.

If the provider is affiliated with more than one

hospital, you’ll see the total price associated with

delivery at each hospital.

The You May Owe column lists your current,

personalized estimated out-of-pocket cost based

on how much you’ve paid this year toward your

annual deductible and out-of-pocket maximum.

Keep in mind that the You May Owe cost is only

an estimate, and that estimates can change during

the plan year and with the start of a new plan

year. Ultrasound, genetic testing, amniocentesis

and certain labs and procedures are not included

in this estimate; you may use Cigna’s search tool

to research those costs. Certain other screenings

are considered preventive and paid for by the

plan at 100%. For more guidance on costs, call

Cigna at 1-800-548-3980.

Another free resource available to MassMutual

medical option participants is ConsumerMedical,

an independent service that can help you

understand treatment options and costs. Contact

ConsumerMedical at 1-888-361-3944 or

www.MyConsumerMedical.com. The Company

code for registering online is MASSMUTUAL.

If you’re enrolled in the HSA2000 or

HSA1350 medical option: If you’re able, you

may want to adjust your before-tax contributions to

your Cigna Choice Fund® health savings account

(HSA) in anticipation of your maternity medical

expenses. You may increase your bi-weekly payroll

deductions through Workday, or you may contribute

an after-tax lump sum through HSA Bank (subject to

IRS contribution limits).

Be careful not to exceed the IRS annual contribution

limit, and keep in mind your employee contribution,

the annual company contribution and any wellness

incentive dollars you may earn when calculating

your maximum contribution. See the Cigna HSA

calculator for help deciding on your per-pay-period

contributions

Planning for child care

Child Care Subsidy Program: Through this

program, MassMutual subsidizes a portion of the

tuition for children of eligible MassMutual

employees at participating Bright Horizons and

Children’s House centers. The subsidy ranges from

10% to 40% of monthly tuition depending on your

household income and number of children

participating.

While MassMutual employees have priority access

for openings at these centers, availability is limited.

Read more about the Child Care Subsidy Program

on myHR.

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KinderCare® discount: MassMutual employees

are eligible for a 10% discount on child care

provided within the KinderCare® network of more

than 2,000 full-time and before- and after-school

child care locations nationwide, including

KinderCare Learning Centers®, CCLC Child Care

Centers® and Champions Before- and After-School

Programs®. Find a center near you at

www.careiseverywhere.com. Contact centers

directly about rates, space availability and hours. To

get the discount, provide the center with a recent

MassMutual pay statement as proof of employment.

For other discounts on child care available to

MassMutual employees, see the discounts page on

MX.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

referrals: Call your EAP to request referrals for

day care, before- and after-school programs and

camps based on availability in your area and your

criteria. Within two business days, you’ll receive

referrals to up to three licensed child care options

with openings that meet your criteria.

Call 1-800-548-3980 and say “Employee

Assistance Program” at the prompt. Ask for

work/life referrals.

Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account:

When your child arrives, you may be eligible to use

a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account

(DCFSA) for certain eligible childcare expenses.

You may make before-tax contributions of up to

$5,000 per year, deducted from your bi-weekly pay

($2,500 if married and filing taxes separately) to

your DCFSA. You may use these funds to reimburse

yourself for eligible child care expenses of eligible

dependents. You must use the balance in your

account or lose it; any funds remaining in your

account on March 31 of the following year are

forfeited. It’s important to understand that both the

DCFSA and Child Care Subsidy are considered

employer-provided child care subsidies and both

apply toward your before-tax maximum (see box).

Discuss your options with a tax advisor or the Ayco

Financial Counseling service. (The KinderCare®

discount is not an employer subsidy and does not

affect this limit.)

Important tax note: The maximum before-

tax child care subsidy that you may

receive in any plan year is $5,000.

If the total of your subsidy through the

Child Care Subsidy Program plus your

annual DCFSA contribution exceeds the

IRS before-tax dependent care assistance

limit ($5,000 or $2,500 if married and filing

separate tax returns), the excess portion is

reported as taxable income and is

subject to federal and state taxes.

For some, the federal child-care tax

credit may be more advantageous than

using the DCFSA and/or Child Care

Subsidy. Consult your tax advisor for more

information.

Review IRS Publication 503 for more

information.

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Getting Ready

Below is a month-by-month list of ways

to help prepare for your child’s arrival.

3 months before

Call Ayco Financial Counseling: Ayco is a

free-to-you, confidential financial counseling

service. Ayco’s financial coaches can look at your

finances holistically and meet with you (and your

spouse/partner, if you’d like) to discuss budgeting

for your growing family, saving for college,

investing and more. They understand MassMutual’s

benefit plans and can help you make the most of

your options.

Call the Ayco Financial Counseling service at

1-866-325-0092 Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, or

by appointment Mon.-Thurs. 5-8 p.m., ET; or

Email appointments@ayco.com, with “I’d like

to speak to an Ayco counselor”

Visit the Aycofn® website for online tools.

Research your benefit options: You may be

eligible to change your benefit elections during the

plan year as a result of the birth of your child.

Medical, dental, life, long-term disability buy-up,

and health care and dependent care flexible spending

accounts (FSAs) are some of the options you can

add or change when your child arrives. There are

strict deadlines to make these changes. Email

HR@MassMutual.com or call Ext. 46825 internally,

or 1-800-767-1000, ext. 46825 to learn more.

Interview pediatricians: If you’re enrolled in a

MassMutual medical option, find in-network

pediatricians by logging on to myCigna.com.

Choose Find a Doctor, Dentist or Facility, then the

Doctor tab. Enter your preferred location. Type

“pediatrician” in the Looking For box.

It’s a good idea to call several pediatricians to find

one who meets your needs. Ask about office hours,

policy for same-day sickness appointments and how

often you’ll see your primary doctor versus the other

doctors in the practice. Many pediatricians offer free

new-parent interviews to help you determine if it’s a

good match. You may want to ask if this is an option

when you call.

2 months before

Understanding Leave Options: If you haven’t

already, now is a good time to start thinking about

your plans for taking a leave when your child arrives

including planning with your manager. Doing so

will help ease the transition for you and your work

team.

Parental Leave and federal and state job-protected

leave options are available to all parents for the

purpose of bonding with a new child; Maternity

Leave is available to the mother giving birth for

recuperation after childbirth. Read on for an

overview of the types of leave available and options

for paid leave.

Page 5 of 12

If you’re pregnant:

You are eligible to take a combination of 10 weeks

of Maternity Leave and eight weeks of Parental

Leave, all of which is paid at 100% of base pay.

Maternity Leave is continuous leave beginning on

your child’s date of birth; Parental Leave may be

taken continuously or intermittently. Parental Leave

may be taken at any time within 12 months of your

child’s birth.

If you have a medical complication for which you

need to extend your time away from work, you may

apply for Short-Term Disability (STD) before your

Parental Leave begins. You are eligible for these

benefits if you are an employee regularly scheduled

to work 20 or more hours per week. (If you are an

eligible part-time employee, your leave will be pro-

rated to your regular hours of work.)

Things to do now:

Print out the Pregnancy Checklist and review it

with your manager. It’s a step-by-step guide to

your leave options and returning to work.

Read Having a Baby, Maternity Leave and

Parental Leave on myHR.

Contact HR Employee Services with any

questions.

All parents:

Parental Leave: Parents who are MassMutual

employees regularly scheduled to work 20 or more

hours per week who are employed at MassMutual on

the date of birth or placement for adoption are

eligible to take eight weeks or 320 hours (pro-rated

for part-time employees) of Parental Leave paid at

100% of base pay. Parental Leave may be taken

continuously or intermittently within 12 months of

your child’s birth or placement for adoption.

With input from your manager, you can use

intermittent Parental Leave to:

Work shorter days, or

Work fewer days per week, or

A combination of the above, until you’ve

exhausted your available Parental Leave

hours.

*Federal Family and Medical Leave (FML)

provides 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected

leave. Your state may offer similar types of

leave; if eligible, the more generous leave

will apply.

**If you wish to extend your time, talk with

your manager about using accrued vacation

or unpaid personal time during your FML

period.

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Whether taken continuously or intermittently,

Parental Leave runs concurrently with family and

medical leave (see next section). Learn more about

Parental Leave on myHR and read the Parental

Leave FAQs.

If you’re planning an intermittent leave,

please work out a schedule with your

manager.

How paid leaves work with job-protected

leaves: If you’re eligible for a job-protected federal

or state leave (eligibility is based on length of

service and hours worked; see next section), your

job-protected leave will run concurrently with

Parental Leave (and Maternity Leave). You may

have more weeks of available family and medical

leave than Parental Leave. If so, you may choose to

use some or all of your remaining family and

medical leave to bond with your child within one

year of the child’s birth or placement for adoption.

When taking family and medical leave, you must use

any available paid leave (e.g., Parental, Maternity)

and any available unused vacation (carried over

and/or accrued) before taking unpaid family and

medical leave.

If you aren’t eligible for a job-protected leave, you

may still be eligible for eight weeks of Parental

Leave.

Job-protected leaves: Federal and state family and

medical leave laws protect your job while you care

for your newborn or newly adopted child. State

leaves vary in eligibility guidelines and length: some

are more generous than federal leave and some less.

Important: If the leave available under the laws of

the state in which you work or conduct your job is

more generous than the leave available under federal

law, the more generous state leave law will apply.

Family and medical leave may be taken

continuously or intermittently. For intermittent

leave, please work out a schedule with your

manager.

Federal, Connecticut and Massachusetts leaves are

described below. Contact Human Resources

Employee Services for information about other state

leaves.

Federal Family and Medical Leave: Provides up to

12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per rolling

12-month period. To be eligible, an employee must

have:

completed 12 months of service with

MassMutual, and

worked a minimum of 1,000 hours for

MassMutual in the previous 12 months.

Connecticut Family and Medical Leave: Provides

up to 16 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per

24-month period. To be eligible, an employee must:

work in Connecticut,

have completed 12 months of service with

MassMutual, and

worked a minimum of 1,000 hours for

MassMutual in the previous 12 months.

Page 7 of 12

Massachusetts Parental Leave: Provides eight

weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth

or placement for adoption of a child. Under this

leave, a parent of newborn/newly adopted

multiples (i.e., twins, triplets) may take eight weeks

per child, consecutively. To be eligible, an

employee must:

work in Massachusetts, and

have completed three months of service with

MassMutual.

Personal leave: Personal leave may be requested

to extend your time out of work. Personal leaves are

granted at manager’s discretion [and are unpaid].

Questions? Contact HR Employee Services with

questions about what kinds of leave you are eligible

for and how Parental Leave and vacation time may

be used in your situation.

If your child comes early:

If you’ve applied for Maternity Leave, notify

Lincoln Financial Group and your manager.

If you haven’t applied for any leaves,

contact HR Employee Services to begin an

application, and notify Lincoln Financial

Group and your manager.

If you’ve applied for Parental Leave only, to

change your Parental Leave start date,

notify Lincoln Financial Group and your

manager.

One month before:

Requesting your leave

To request Maternity and

Parental Leaves:

Apply for Maternity Leave with Lincoln

Financial Group based on your due date. If

approved, Lincoln Financial Group will also

approve your Parental Leave at the same time.

Print out a Maternity Leave Claim Form

(available on myHR > Maternity Leave), sign

it, and give it to your medical care provider.

This form must be returned to Lincoln

Financial Group.

Print out and review the Pregnancy Checklist.

Bring it with you when you discuss your leave

with your manager.

See “All parents” for next steps.

To request Parental Leave only:

Contact Lincoln Financial Group 30 days prior

to the child’s due date or expected placement

date (if possible) to open a Parental Leave (and

family and medical leave, if applicable). Note

that Parental Leave and family and medical

leave for bonding must be taken within 12

months of the date of birth or placement for

adoption.

See “All parents” for next steps.

All parents:

If you haven’t already, schedule a meeting with

your manager to discuss plans for your leave

and return to work, including:

Page 8 of 12

How your work will be handled in your

absence.

How to manage your mail, email and

voicemail.

Return-to-work date.

A schedule for any intermittent leave you

plan to take.

Flexible work arrangements, if desired and

available in your business unit.

Provide any requested documentation to Lincoln

Financial Group.

If taking any intermittent leave, submit the

schedule you worked out with your manager.

Other parents: Remember that when taking

continuous or intermittent family and medical leave,

you must use available Parental Leave and accrued,

unused vacation time before taking time without

pay.

Contacts:

HR Employee Services

Phone: Internal: Ext. 46825; External: 1-

800-767-1000, ext. 46825

Email: HR@MassMutual.com

Lincoln Financial Group

Web: www.MyLincolnPortal.com

(Company Code: MassMutual)

Phone: 1-800-213-8195

Fax: 1-800-694-6312

Breastfeeding support

If you plan to breastfeed, before your baby arrives,

learn about resources to help you succeed at

breastfeeding.

Mothers’ Rooms, located on most

MassMutual campuses, offer privacy and

refrigeration for expressing breast milk.

Mothers’ Rooms in the Springfield main

building and in Enfield are equipped with

breast pumps; you must provide your own

compatible tubing and breast-shields

(Medela 67116).

If you’re enrolled in a MassMutual medical

option:

Purchase of non-hospital-grade breast

pump (or rental of breast pump up to

purchase price), tubing, adapters, breast

shields, polycarbonate bottles, and

certain other supplies are covered. Pads

and freezer bags aren’t covered.

To ensure in-network coverage: Get a

prescription for a breast pump, and

make initial order through CareCentrix

at 1-877-466-0164.

Breastfeeding support and counseling

from a licensed practitioner are also

covered.

Learn about the lactation support services at

hospitals and health centers near you.

Most hospitals provide lactation

counseling during your stay.

Many hospitals offer free, drop-in

breastfeeding clinics with lactation

counselors.

Page 9 of 12

Many hospitals offer breast pump

rentals.

One week before

The excitement is building! Remember to do these

three things:

Verify your accrued, unused vacation time if

you’ll be using any for your leave.

Remind your manager to email HR@

MassMutual.com on your first day out of

work to let them know your last day worked.

Set up your out-of-office email and

voicemail messages.

When Your Child Arrives

If you’re taking Maternity Leave:

Notify Lincoln Financial Group within three

days of your baby’s birth by calling 1-888-440-

6118. (A family member or friend may do this

for you.)

All parents:

The birth or placement for adoption of a child is

a mid-year qualifying event that allows you to

add or change your MassMutual health and

welfare benefit options. You must do this

within 60 days of birth or placement. If you

do not take action by the 60-day deadline,

your new child will not have medical

coverage through MassMutual, even if you

already have family coverage.

Some of the options that you may consider

adding or changing at this time may include

medical and life insurance coverage and/or a

dependent care flexible spending account

(DCFSA). You may also want to add your child

as a beneficiary to your plans.

Log on to Workday to add your new child to your

benefits and make any desired changes to your

benefit plans. You will need to upload proof of birth

or legal placement for adoption for your benefit

changes to be complete. Changes must be consistent

with and on account of your mid-year qualifying

event.

Page 10 of 12

Contact HR Employee Services at

HR@MassMutual.com or 1-800-767-1000, ext.

46825 if you need assistance.

Once enrolled, your child’s coverage will be

retroactive to the date of their birth or

placement.

If you don’t add your child to your coverage

within 60 days, you’ll have to wait until the next

annual benefits enrollment to make changes that

will be effective the following January 1;

retroactive coverage will not apply.

Returning to Work

Day one: Remind your manager to send an

email to HR@MassMutual.com with your name

in the subject line and your return-to-work date

in the message. (Alternatively, you may send

this email on behalf of your manager, copying

them in.)

Options to know about

Whether this is your first child or an addition to

a house full of kids, you’ve got a brand new

person to take care of, which means more

demands on your time, energy, finances, and

other resources. Many of the resources

mentioned earlier in this booklet can also help

you once your child arrives, such as Ayco

Financial Counseling for financial issues; the

Cigna Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for

work/life resources and counseling; and more.

The back page of this guide lists them all for

easy reference.

Highlighted below are some options that can

help you in your parental juggling act.

Flexible work arrangements: In some business

units, employees may request flexible work

arrangements, which are agreed-upon work

hours (or work locations) that differ from the

standard five-day-week/eight-hour-day.

Page 11 of 12

Managers and employees can enter into flexible

work arrangements based on job responsibilities

and business needs. These arrangements can

include compressed work weeks, part-time work

weeks, extended flextime hours, telecommuting

and job-sharing.

Massachusetts Small Necessities Leave Act: The

Small Necessities Leave Act allows employees

to take up to 24 hours of unpaid leave in a 12-

month period to attend certain family activities.

This time is in addition to time allowed under

the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

While a Massachusetts state law, the company

extends its provisions to all employees in all

states.

Occasional Illness: You are eligible for 40

hours of paid occasional illness time each year.

You may take occasional illness time to care for

your sick child or for their diagnosis, treatment,

or well-child visits, as well as to attend to your

own or your spouse or domestic partner’s

sickness or medical care. If you need to provide

care and necessary attention for a loved one’s

serious health condition, please see Caregiver

Leave in myHR wherein eligible employees

may take up to two weeks of continuous or

intermittent paid leave.

Quick links

Use the links below to get more information about the resources mentioned in this

booklet. Access this booklet online any time at

https://benecontent.massmutual.com/FORMS/NewParentGuide.pdf.

Adoption Assistance Program

Child Care Subsidy Program

Benefit Contacts

Family and Medical Leave

Flexible Work Arrangements

Having a Baby

Health Care Handbook

KinderCare® Child Care Discount

Lincoln Financial Group Maternity Leave

RequestForm

Maternity Leave

Mothers Rooms

Parental Leave

Parental Leave FAQ

Personal Leave

Pregnancy Checklist

Short-Term Disability

Small Necessities Leave Act

Contacts

See a list of employee benefit contacts.