Enrollment and Eligibility

Make informed decisions about your benefit options and enroll within the specified timeframe.

Eligibility requirements for the benefits described on this site can vary by plan, by location, by employee type (e.g. corporate, retail, intern or visiting researcher), and by employment classification (e.g., full-time or part-time), amongst other criteria.

For full details and definitions, refer to the applicable Summary Plan Description(s). Nothing on this site is meant to modify existing company policy or benefits plans, which will always control in the event of a conflict.

Eligible employees

Except where noted otherwise, a benefits-eligible employee is defined as a full- or part-time employee on the Microsoft U.S. payroll (meaning you are paid from the Microsoft Payroll department located in the United States and Microsoft withholds and pays U.S. employment taxes on your payroll amounts). Additional eligibility requirements may apply to certain benefits.

Retail employees must be regularly scheduled to work 20 or more hours per week and satisfy a 30-calendar day waiting period before becoming eligible for benefits. Eligibility for corporate employees, interns, and visiting researchers begins on their hire date.

Eligible dependents

If you enroll for coverage, you may also enroll your eligible dependents for medical, dental, vision, dependent life insurance, and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) coverage. See below for definitions of eligible dependents:

Spouse:

You must be lawfully married (whether the same or opposite sex of the employee) and not legally separated. You will be considered lawfully married if either of the following is true:

You were married in a state, possession, or territory of the U.S. and you are recognized as lawfully married by that state, possession, or territory of the U.S.; or
You were married in a foreign jurisdiction and the laws of at least one state, possession, or territory of the U.S. would recognize you as lawfully married.

In no event will Microsoft benefit plans recognize more than one spouse at any time. You may not cover both a spouse and a domestic partner at the same time.

Domestic partner:

You and your domestic partner (either of the same or opposite sex) must meet all of the following requirements:

You are each other's sole domestic partner and intend to remain so indefinitely
Neither of you is legally married
You are both at least 18 years of age and are mentally competent to consent to contract
You are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which you legally reside
You reside together in the same residence and intend to do so indefinitely (excepting a temporary residence change of not more than 90 days during which you and your domestic partner reside in separate homes)
You are mutually responsible (financially and legally) for each other's common welfare

For life insurance and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, a domestic partner includes any person who satisfies the requirements for being a domestic partner, registered domestic partner, or civil union partner of an eligible employee under the law of your jurisdiction of residence.

Dependent children under age 26:

Your biological child and/or your spouse’s/domestic partner’s biological child

A child for whom you or your spouse/domestic partner has been named legal guardian as appointed by the courts (or recognized as guardian by the state of residence)

Your legally adopted child, or child who has been placed with you for adoption, but not a foster child

A child’s eligibility as a dependent child under age 26 does not rely on the child’s financial dependency (on you or any other person), residency with you or with any other person, student status, employment, eligibility for other health plan coverage, or any combination of these factors.

Incapacitated dependent children aged 26 or over:

An incapacitated dependent resides with the employee for more than half of the year and is unable to sustain employment due to a developmental or physical disability that existed before the child reached age 26.

The individual is chiefly dependent on the employee (or the employee’s spouse or domestic partner) for support.

Proof of incapacity must be submitted to the plan administrator within 90 days of the latest of the child's 26th birthday, your date of hire, or the date that you enroll the child in coverage if the child is already over age 26, and then annually thereafter. For enrollees in the Kaiser California HMO Plan, proof must be submitted within 60 days after receiving notice from Kaiser.

Eligibility grid :

Benefit	Corporate	Retail	Interns/Researchers
Health
Surest Health Plan	Yes	Yes	Yes
Health Savings Plan	Yes	Yes	Yes
Health Connect Plan (WA- King & Snohomish county only)	Yes	No	No
Hawaii Only Plan (HI only)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kaiser WA HMO Plan (WA only)	Yes	No	Yes
Kaiser CA HMO Plan (CA only)	Yes	No	Yes
EyeMed Vision Plan	Yes	Yes	No
Dental Plus Plan	Yes	Yes	No
Dental Basic Plan	No	Yes	No
Pharmacy	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fertility (Progyny)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Living Well Health Center	Yes	Yes	Yes
Provider Quality Navigation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cancer Navigation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Second Medical Opinion	Yes	Yes	Yes
Virtual Healthcare	Yes	Yes	Yes
Menopause Support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wellbeing
Spring Health (MS CARES)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Perks+	Yes	Yes	Yes
Perks+ ProClub Option (WA only)	Yes	No	Yes
BeWell	Yes	Yes	Yes
Financial Wellbeing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ergonomics	Yes	Yes	Yes
Accommodations	Yes	Yes	Yes
Neurodevelopmental Support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Flu & Biometric Screenings	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mammography Screening	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hypertension	Yes	Yes	Yes
Diabetes Prevention & Management	Yes	Yes	Yes
Weight Management	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stop Smoking	Yes	Yes	Yes
Financial
401(k) Savings Plan	Yes	Yes	No
Stock Awards & ESPP	Yes	Yes	No
Business Travel Accident Insurance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Health Savings Account (MS Contribution)	Yes	Yes	No
Flexible Spending Accounts	Yes	Yes	No
Life Insurance	Yes	Yes	No
AD&D Insurance	Yes	Yes	No
Disability Coverage	Yes	Yes	No
Group Legal Insurance	Yes	Yes	No
Employee Giving Program	Yes	Yes	No
Tuition Assistance	Yes	Yes	No
Workers' Compensation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pet Insurance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Life & Family
Family Concierge	Yes	Yes	No
Child Care	Yes	Yes	No
Back-up Care	Yes	Yes	No
Complex Care Navigation (Family First)	Yes	Yes	No
College Coach	Yes	Yes	No
New & Expectant Parent Support (Maven)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Adoption & Surrogacy Reimbursement	Yes	Yes	No
Discount Programs (PRIME)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Time Away
Discretionary Time Off (exempt employees only)	Yes	Yes	No
Paid vacation (Non-exempt employees only)	Yes	Yes	No
Paid sick time (HHTO)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Paid floating holidays (Non-exempt employees only)	Yes	Yes	No
Paid Microsoft holidays	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jury duty	Yes	Yes	No
Bereavement	Yes	Yes	No
Paid Parental Leave	Yes	Yes	No
Paid Maternity Disability Leave	Yes	Yes	No
Paid Family Caregiver Leave	Yes	Yes	No
Military Leave	Yes	Yes	No
Unpaid Personal Leave	Yes	Yes	No

This is not an all-inclusive list but rather common examples of ineligible individuals.

Workers who are not eligible for coverage

The following persons are not eligible to participate as employees even if they meet the definition of an eligible employee:

Cooperatives
Apprentices
Nonresident aliens receiving no U.S. source income from Microsoft
Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement resulting from negotiations with Microsoft in which retirement benefits were the subject of good faith bargaining and participation in this plan was not provided for
Persons providing services to Microsoft pursuant to an agreement between Microsoft and any other individual or entity, such as a staff leasing organization (leased employees)
Temporary workers engaged through or employed by temporary or leasing agencies • Workers who hold themselves out to Microsoft as being independent contractors or as being employed by or engaged through another company while providing services to Microsoft
Project-based employees. For purposes of the plan, a project-based employee is one who is hired to work on a project or series of projects, is employed for a limited term, and has signed a Project-Based Employment Agreement.

All other workers who Microsoft does not classify as being either a full-time or part-time employee on the Microsoft U.S. payroll, even if that classification is later determined to be incorrect or is retroactively revised.

Family members who are not eligible for coverage

The following is a list of dependents who are commonly mistaken as eligible dependents. This is not an all-inclusive list but rather common examples of ineligible dependents:

Legally separated spouse, regardless of whether you are subject to a court order or agreement requiring you to provide them with health care coverage
Divorced spouse, regardless of whether you are subject to a court order or agreement requiring you to provide them with health care coverage
Nieces, nephews, and grandchildren, regardless of whether they live with you and/or depend on you for financial support unless they meet the dependent eligibility definition described above
Parents, regardless of whether they live with you and/or depend on you for financial support
Grandparents, regardless of whether they live with you and/or depend on you for financial support
Siblings, regardless of whether they live with you and/or depend on you for financial support
Roommates
Foster children
Any person who is on active duty in the armed forces
Anyone else who does not meet the definition of an eligible dependent
Anyone for whom you fail to provide proof of eligible dependent status, if required or requested

You may make benefit elections for you and your eligible dependents using the Benefits Enrollment tool at the following times:

As a new employee, within 30 calendar days of your hire date

During the annual open enrollment period in November for coverage effective the following January 1

If you experience a qualifying life event, you can make limited changes to your benefits during the year

Otherwise, you cannot make changes to your benefit elections until the next annual open enrollment period. The open enrollment period takes place in the fall each year, typically in the first few weeks of November, prior to Thanksgiving week. The specific dates are communicated out each year.

Spousal surcharge for medical

When you enroll your eligible spouse/domestic partner for benefits, you’ll need to indicate whether they are also eligible for medical coverage through their employer. There is no charge if your spouse/domestic partner is not eligible for other medical coverage. However, if they are eligible and waive that coverage, there is an additional charge of $150 per month for coverage in a Microsoft medical plan.

The charge does not apply if your spouse/domestic partner enrolls for coverage through their employer and you enroll them as a dependent in a Microsoft medical plan. The Microsoft plan will coordinate payments to ensure the total paid by both plans will not exceed the total amount charged. Review the Coordination of Benefits page for more information.

If you and your spouse or eligible domestic partner are both employed by Microsoft and one of you waives coverage and is enrolled as a dependent under the other employee’s coverage, there is no additional charge.

Note: Changes to your enrollment status that require the addition or removal of the $150 per month charge for spouse/domestic partner medical coverage will apply prospectively only, for pay periods following the date that you finalize the election change in the Benefits Enrollment tool.

Coordinating other coverage

If you or your covered dependents have health benefit coverage through another employer, a government plan or Medicare, your Microsoft health plan will coordinate payments to ensure the total paid by both plans will not exceed the total amount charged. Review the Coordination of Benefits page for more information.

What happens if I don’t enroll?

If you do not enroll within your 30-day enrollment period as a new hire, you will automatically be enrolled in default coverage, which does not include coverage for dependents, as described in the Summary Plan Description.

If you experience a qualifying life event, any change you make to your benefits must be consistent with the event and must be made within the designated timeframe. Otherwise, you will need to wait until the annual open enrollment period to make changes for the new plan year.

When does my coverage begin?

See the Summary Plan Description for detailed information on the date each benefit begins.

Covering another Microsoft employee

Certain rules apply if both you and your spouse/domestic partner work for Microsoft and are both eligible for Microsoft benefit coverage.

For medical, vision, and dental benefits you may elect one coverage option:

You may enroll in your own coverage, OR

You may enroll as a dependent in your spouse’s/domestic partner’s Microsoft coverage, but not both.

For life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) benefits, you have two coverage options:

You may enroll in your own coverage, AND

You may also be enrolled for dependent coverage through your spouse/domestic partner

An eligible child of two legally married employees or eligible domestic partners employed by Microsoft can be enrolled only under one employee's medical, vision, and dental benefit coverage. If a couple has two children, one employee could cover one child and the other spouse or eligible domestic partner could cover the other child on their plan.

Note: If you and your spouse or eligible domestic partner are both employed by Microsoft and one of you waives coverage and is enrolled as a dependent under the other employee’s coverage, there is no additional charge.

The annual open enrollment period in November is the only time you can make changes to your benefit elections unless you experience a qualifying life event. However, you can make updates to your beneficiary at any time.

You can also make changes to your Health Savings Account (“HSA”) contributions at any time Benefits Enrollment tool. Changes to your HSA contributions are effective on the first day of the month following the change.