Commuter benefits
Commuter benefits help you save money (by paying less in taxes) when you pay for eligible parking and transit for your commute to work.
How it works
Commuter benefits allow you to set aside pre-tax funds to pay for eligible transit and parking expenses related to commuting to work. You can open separate accounts for both transit and parking and fund each account individually. To fund your account, you’ll select a monthly amount, up to the IRS limit, to be deducted from your pre-tax paycheck. Funds cannot be transferred from one to the other.
Paying for expenses
You’ll receive a NetBenefits CommuterCard® to pay for qualified parking and transit expenses, including mass transit passes, tokens or fare cards, or parking fees. The card maintains separate accounts for parking and transit and when you swipe the card the transaction will be directed to the appropriate account based on the merchant. Any unused amounts can be carried over and you can track your account activity directly on NetBenefits.
Fidelity will mail you a card within 5-7 business days of when you complete your online election. The funds are available as they are contributed to your account approximately 10 days after each payroll cycle.
Eligible expenses
Parking: Eligible parking expenses include fees to park at or near your work location, or at or near a location from which you commute using mass transit.
Transit: Eligible transit expenses include public transportation such as the train, bus, monorail, streetcar, subway, and ferry. This also includes services such as UberPool and Lyft Shared. Vanpool expenses are eligible, but the highway vehicle must seat at least six adults, excluding the driver. (See FAQs below regarding the Englewood Cliffs Shuttle.)
Transit and/or parking benefits are limited to your own expenses only; they are not available for your dependents. Reimbursements for the following are not covered expenses:
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Spouse or dependent transit or parking expenses
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Gas or toll expenses, e.g., EZPass
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Below are some FAQs about Unilever’s commuter benefits.
When are my funds available?
Elections made through Fidelity NetBenefits by the 5th of the month will be deducted as a monthly amount from your pay before the end of that month. Those funds are then contributed to your Fidelity Commuter account at the beginning of the following month to pay for that month’s expenses. For example, an election made on August 5th will be deducted from your pay in August to pay for parking and/or transit expenses in September. When you first set up your account, you may need to wait until the following month in order to access your funds.
Can I use my commuter benefits account to pay for Unilever’s Englewood Cliffs shuttle?
If you currently have money being deducted pre-tax from your paycheck to pay for the EC shuttle, there is no change. You will continue to have this pre-tax amount deducted.
If you currently pay Pegasus direct through their app (i.e., post-tax) for the EC shuttle and would like to participate in the commuter benefit, you can enroll by following the guides on this page. Employees who use the EC shuttle on a ride-by-ride basis can submit for manual reimbursement, but the Commuter Benefit debit card may not work on the Pegasus app. It is your responsibility to confirm with Pegasus that the card will be eligible for use on their app.
For more details on the Unilever Englewood Cliffs shuttle, please go to https://www.unileverusa.com/shuttle/.
What do I do if the cost of my monthly pass changes? Can I update my election amount?
Election amounts can be updated month-to month. Simply log in to NetBenefits and select Flexible Spending and Reimbursement Accounts tile. Under “Your current benefits,” select Parking or Transit. Hover over Accounts in the upper menu bar and select “Account Summary.” Select the + icon beside your parking or transit account and then select “Update Election.”
How do I access the funds available in my commuter account?
Your commuter funds are loaded to a Fidelity NetBenefits CommuterCard®, in separate buckets for your transit and/or parking balances. Fidelity will mail you a card within 5-7 business days of when you complete your online election. You can use the card to pay for your commuting expenses.
How can I check my commuter balance?
Log on to NetBenefits and select Flexible Spending and Reimbursement Accounts tile. Under “Your current benefits,” select Parking or Transit. Select “Accounts” and “Account Summary” in the green header bar.
What happens if I terminate employment?
Your NetBenefits CommuterCard® card will be deactivated, and you’ll have until the end of the calendar year or up to 90 days, whichever is longer, to submit mass transit or parking claims incurred while you were still actively employed. After that run-out period ends, any remaining funds in your account are forfeited back to your employer.
What happens if I choose to no longer participate in commuter benefits but I’m not terminating employment?
To cancel your enrollment, log in to NetBenefits and select Flexible spending and reimbursement accounts tile. Under “Your current benefits,” select the Parking or Transit plan name. From there follow the instructions for updating your commuter enrollment. You can continue to submit mass transit and parking claims until the end of the calendar year or up to 90 days, whichever is longer. Your NetBenefits CommuterCard® will no longer work for mass transit and parking expenses.
What if I have funds remaining at the end of the year?
At the end of the year, funds will automatically roll over to the new year. Since commuter benefits are a month to-month benefit, you aren’t required to re-enroll.
For a complete set of FAQs, click here.
Enrollment
To enroll, log in to NetBenefits and navigate to the Flexible Spending and Reimbursement Accounts Summary page. Follow these instructions to set up an account. Or, you can go here to learn how to make updates to your existing account.
Learn more
Read the fact sheet to learn more about the commuter benefits program and the NetBenefits CommuterCard®.
IMPORTANT: The projections or other information generated by the Planning & Guidance Center's Retirement Analysis regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of future results. Your results may vary with each use and over time.