Furlough Information

Furlough Communications

When an employee is furloughed they will be placed on an inactive status until business volumes return and may be recalled to work.

As a furloughed employee, you can continue to apply for internal job openings through SuccessFactors Careers. Log in to SuccessFactors and choose Careers from the Home menu to search for available jobs. If you do not have access to a UP e-mail address, please submit a ticket here to have your personal e-mail address added. If you have problems logging in to SuccessFactors, call OSS at (402) 544-5555 or 1-800-621-8953.

You are strongly encouraged to set up Job Alerts (Formerly “Notify Me”). Log in to SuccessFactors and choose Careers from the Home menu. Select Saved Searches/Alerts and click Create New Job Alert. Complete the form to your specification and click Save.

Furlough Benefits

Agreement employees that are furloughed will have four months continuation of health and welfare (including medical, dental, vision, EAP, and life) benefits as long as they meet the following criteria:

1. The employee has rendered three months of compensated service.
2. If the employee is not active in the National Plan at the time they are furloughed, continuation of benefits will commence the month following the month furloughed, and will continue for four months from the month last rendered compensated service.

Example: Mr. Smith last worked 10/31/2022, but was furloughed 11/2/2022. Mr. Smith will have continuation of benefits for four months beyond his date last worked which means he and his dependents will have coverage through February 28, 2023. Mr. Smith will owe the health and welfare cost sharing contribution for his benefits in November based on his October pay/work history. The health and welfare cost sharing will be deducted when he returns to work and has available funds. As long as Mr. Smith remains furloughed, he will not owe for coverage in December, January, or February.

A COBRA notice will be sent within a couple months of being furloughed for those in the National Plan (including dependents). Employees covered by Iron Road will receive a letter roughly the fourth month after furlough. These letters will provide information about COBRA rates (National Plan) and/or dues rates (UPREHS) as well as payment requirements for continuation of benefits coverage. 

For all dependents refer to the National Plan information above.

Any questions that are not addressed above and are related to your benefits, please contact your medical coverage providers directly.

Employee Information

Furloughed employees should log in to SAP ePayroll to update personal contact information (address, phone, email, etc.) and to view paystubs/W-2s. To log in, use your TCS User ID and password. In the event you have any issues with your login, please contact OSS at (800) 621-8953.

Vacation

Employees in furlough status are automatically paid out for their unused vacation during the month of December, by December 31.

  • Train Service (TE&Y), Mechanical, and Clerical employees on furlough may request to be paid out for all or some of their unused current year vacation earlier than December. Per Labor Relations, this is allowed if the employee requests it. The only limitation is the number of days paid out cannot exceed the number of days the employees has been on leave (If the employee has been on leave for 3 weeks, we cannot pay out more than 3 weeks of vacation.) For these requests, enter a Payroll Ticket, explaining furlough status, and how much vacation in lieu they would like to be paid out. If your user ID is not active to enter a Payroll Ticket, you may contact the Payroll Call Center at (402) 544-4729 or 1 800-877-1010 during the hours of 9:00 AM - 3:00 PMT CST, Monday through Friday.
  • Furloughed Mechanical and Clerical employees will need to request their current year vacation be paid out, otherwise it will be paid at the end of the year. Payments will only be processed monthly. Requests made by the 15th of the month will be paid on the 25th of the month.
  • Furloughed Engineering employees will not be paid vacation in lieu upon request. All furloughed Engineering employees will be paid vacation in lieu at the end of the year.
  • For ARASA employees, craft seniority will dictate how vacation in lieu requests are handled. e.g. Engineering ARASA employee with seniority ranking in other engineering zones will be treated as an engineering employee. 

Seniority & Transfers

Intracraft Transfers (transfer work location within the same craft)
Train Service (TE&Y) employees: Review the TE&Y Intracraft Transfer Policy
 
Engineering, Mechanical, and Clerical employees:
1. Review the current collective bargaining agreement provisions applicable to transfers
2. Complete Non-Operating Intracraft Transfer Request Form (For Furloughed Employees) 
3a. For Engineering send the form by e-mail to ENG_TK@up.com or fax to 402-997-3953
3b. For Mechanical send the form by email NPSMechanical@up.com or fax to 402-997-3951
 
Intercraft Transfer Policy (transfer to position outside current seniority or craft):

Train Service (TE&Y), Engineering, Mechanical, and Clerical employees:  

1. Agreement employees with an active Managing Agreement Professionals for Success (MAPS) incident on record are ineligible for transfer.
2. Agreement employees with an active Attendance Policy event on record are ineligible for transfer.
3. Employees must obtain and complete a Request for Agreement Intercraft Transfer Form. Note: Employees are responsible for having their current nonagreement supervisor sign this document unless they are currently furloughed.
4. Employees must complete and submit an online application through SuccessFactors Careers Scan the signed Request for Agreement Intercraft Transfer Form and upload it as part of the application.
5. Eligible employees are invited to participate in the next steps of the hiring process depending upon the competitiveness of their qualifications and the needs of the hiring department. If invited to do so, employees must complete any required testing and an interview.
6. If an employee is offered a position/granted a transfer, the employee will be required to successfully satisfy all prerequisite qualifications including but not limited to a medical assessment, background investigation, and physical ability test as required for the position.
 

Eligibility Threshold:

  • Safety Record
  • Discipline
  • Absenteeism Record
  • Service (Furloughed Employees are exempt from the 2 year rule)

 For seniority related questions, please contact your General Chairperson’s office.

Railroad Retirement Board

RRB Phone: 877-772-5772

Link to information on RRB benefits including potential unemployment benefits:
https://www.rrb.gov/Benefits/Unemployment

Vanguard (401K)

When an employee is furloughed, the Union Pacific 401K plan does not allow access to the 401K balance without tax penalty due to IRS regulations.  If an employee is experiencing a financial need, the employee may contact Vanguard to discuss their eligibility for a hardship withdrawal.  Vanguard will explain the taxes associated with this type of withdrawal.  

Vanguard Phone: 800-523-1188

Link to information on Vanguard:
https://www.vanguard.com/retirementplans

W2 Documents

Furloughed employees were mailed their W2 forms on January 31 to their current mailing address listed within their UP SAP profile.
If you do not receive your document by February 14, please contact Payroll directly at (888) 241-2764 or (800) 877-1010.

Furloughed employees can also access their W2 online by completing the following steps:

  • Go to www.UP.com
  • Select the "Employees" pull down option then select "Employees Site (secured)"
  • Enter your User Id and Password
  • On the UP homepage, select the "More" pull down then click on "SAP Portal (ePayroll)"
  • Once in SAP, select "ePayroll" then "My W-2"


Having trouble accessing SAP? Please call OSS at (402) 544-5555 or (800) 621-8953 to reactivate your Union Pacific User ID.

Employment and Income Verification Letters

For employment and/or income verification, contact uConfirm, a third party verification agency.

Email Address:
support@uconfirm.com

Phone:
Toll-Free: (866)-312-8266, option 2

Returning to Work

Employees who have been recalled from furlough less than 1 year in duration should complete the Return to Work Attestation. Log in is required, if your user ID and password are expired, please contact OSS at 402-544-5555 to get them reactivated.

Recalls after a furlough of over 1 year should complete the Health and Medical Questionnaire.

If you have been recalled to work, please utilize this provided CLC benefit for a discount on your business travel.