Plan Your Departure

As you plan to end your employment with DSM, be sure to review the following information to help ensure a smooth transition to the next stage of your personal and professional journey.

Exiting checklist

Discuss plans for your departure with your manager. If possible, assist in transitioning your current responsibilities to other colleagues.
Make arrangements to return all company property, including laptop computers, mobile devices, and company credit cards.
Review your options for continuing benefits and complete any necessary action steps.

Benefit options

  • Medical, dental, and vision plans — In most cases, you have the option to continue your medical coverage through COBRA. You will pay the full premium cost of these plans, plus an administrative fee, without any subsidy from DSM. For assistance, contact WageWorks COBRA at 1-855-556-5737.
  • Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) — If you participate in a Health Care or Limited FSA, your participation ends at the end of the month in which you terminate and your FSA card is deactivated at that time. You have 90 days following your termination date to submit health care FSA claims incurred from January 1 through the end of the month in which you terminate. You may continue using your FSA(s) if you elect COBRA and your contributions will be made on an after-tax basis directly to Wageworks/HealthEquity. This will allow you to continue spending any remaining balance in your account(s) at the time of your termination. For assistance, contact HealthEquity or at 1-877-924-3967.
  • Dependent Care FSA — You have until the end of the plan year to submit dependent care FSA claims incurred through the end of the year. For assistance, contact HealthEquity or at 1-877-924-3967.
  • Health Savings Account (HSA) — If you participate in an HSA, you will continue to own your account after you leave DSM. You will not forfeit any unused balance, and you do not need to enroll in COBRA to access your HSA funds. However, your payroll contributions will end once your employment ends. If you wish, you may make after-tax contributions and then deduct them on your income tax return. HealthEquity will send you a letter with details on what services you will still receive, criteria for continuing to make contributions, and information on the monthly maintenance fee since DSM will no longer pay the maintenance fees on your account as of your last date worked. You may keep your HSA open, transfer to another HSA custodian/account, or close the HSA. If you choose to keep your HSA open, HealthEquity will debit the administration fees from your account. For assistance, contact HealthEquity or at 1-866-346-5800.
  • Wellness Program — You have 30 days of access to the Brighter Living Wellness Program website following the day you terminate from DSM. During the 30 days you may redeem any earned Pulse Cash. After 30 days, if you have not redeemed your Pulse Cash you will need to call Member Services at Virgin Pulse. You will have an additional 32 days to take action. After this additional 32 days any unused Pulse Cash will be forfeited. For more information, contact Virgin Pulse or at 1-800-877-7195.
  • Life Insurance — Contact your life insurance carrier directly if you’d like to continue your life insurance coverage as an individual policy. To discuss your options further and for information about rates, contact Prudential at 1-800-524-0542. Be sure to reference DSM’s control number 44997 when calling.
    • Terminating employees (if you are not retiring or disabled), may apply to port their Basic or Optional Life Insurance coverage under Prudential’s portability option. You must port your coverage within 31 calendar days of your coverage termination date.
    • For Disabled or Retired employees, both the Basic and Optional Life are eligible for conversion only. You must enroll for the Conversion Option within 31 calendar days of your coverage termination date.
  • 401(k) Plan — In addition to the above options, you can roll over your vested account balance into another qualified plan through a new employer or into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Contact Fidelity or by calling 1-800-835-5095 to review your options upon Retirement. If you have a balance of $1,000, Fidelity will automatically roll your account balance over to an individual IRA rollover account. If you have $5,000 or more, you have the option of leaving your account balance in the plan although your payroll contributions and DSM’s matching contributions will end when your employment ends. If your employment is terminated prior to your benefit being fully vested in the 401(k) retirement plan, your non-vested account balance will be forfeited upon your termination.
  • Short-Term Disability (STD) — STD benefits cannot be continued after your termination date.
  • Long-Term Disability (LTD) — LTD coverage ends on your termination date. However, you may be able to convert your benefits through Prudential’s group conversion feature. If you are interested in converting your LTD coverage, please contact Prudential at 1-888-262-6873, Monday through Friday between 9 am and 7 pm, Eastern Time. Your completed application must be received by Prudential within 60 days of your termination date.
  • Identity Theft Benefit — If enrolled, you have 30 days from the date of your termination to log in to your account and sign up for a direct bill membership to continue your Aura Identity Guard service. You may also call and speak with a representative at 1-855-443-7748.
  • Legal Plan — Legal benefits terminate on your last day worked. However, the legal plan has a portability feature that enables you to continue your coverage after termination. For additional information, contact MetLife Legal customer service at 1-800-821-6400, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 8 pm Eastern time or visit www.info.legalplans.com. You must contact MetLife within 30 days of your last day worked to continue your coverage.
  • Pet Insurance — Veterinary Pet Insurance can be continued through Nationwide and premiums will continue to be paid via direct billing. Your premium will remain the same until the policy is renewed. Upon renewal, the DSM discount will no longer be offered. For additional information, contact Nationwide at 1-877-738-7874 or you can review your account details via your Pet Insurance portal.
  • Home, Auto and Umbrella Insurance — You may continue your coverage after you have terminated and will continue to be billed directly from Farmers. Failure to pay by the end of your Farmers billing grace period will result in your coverage being cancelled. Upon policy renewal, or if you terminate coverage due to nonpayment, your rates will no longer reflect DSM’s group discount rate. If you have questions about your Home, Auto and Umbrella coverage, please call Farmers at 800-438-6381.
  • If you or your eligible dependent are nearing age 65 and are Medicare eligible at the time of termination, be sure to review the Medicare Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Resources page of this site. Medicare eligibility does impact your COBRA enrollment.