How To Use the Monthly A Life Well Lived: CalHR Benefits Newsletter
Overview:
The monthly A Life Well Lived: CalHR Benefits Newsletter is a resource designed for Benefits Ambassadors, including HR Professionals and Wellness Coordinators, to share with their department’s employees. Created by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) Benefits Division, the newsletter helps promote state benefits effectively and encourages employees to use their benefits year-round.
Each month, the newsletter includes:
- Benefits content, helpful reminders, and tips.
- Resources and links to detailed information on the CalHR Benefits website.
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A single link to a dedicated monthly benefits page with expanded content for employees.
As your statewide partner in benefits, CalHR provides tools, resources, and guidance to support departmental personnel offices in administering benefits.
Beginning in July 2026, department Wellness Coordinators in addition to HR professionals will receive this newsletter. Please coordinate internally to determine who will be responsible for distribution.
When to send:
CalHR sends the newsletter content to departmental personnel offices and wellness coordinators a few weeks in advance of send date. During the first week of each month, your departmental personnel office or wellness coordinator will send the newsletter to your department’s employees. Coordinate internally to confirm who is responsible for sending the newsletter and to complete any required approvals before distribution.
How to send:
The employee-facing content is designed to be flexible. You’re welcome to copy and paste the “Employee-Facing Message” section directly, incorporate individual items into a broader department newsletter, share content on your department’s intranet pages or use the resources in whatever way best fits your department’s communication strategy. Below are steps on how to send the newsletter via Outlook.
- Open a new Outlook email; set format to HTML.
- Paste the employee block. When pasting click “keep source formatting”. Add a short intro paragraph to the email if desired.
- Insert the subject line provided.
- Send to all employees or your standard distribution list.
Personalization ideas:
Below are some ideas to make your Benefits Newsletter personalized to your employees.
- Add clinic flu shot dates
- Add upcoming department wellness events
- Office walking routes
- Heat safety reminders
- Department ergonomic assessment information
Monthly Benefits Website page:
At the end of the employee newsletter, a link directs readers to the monthly Benefits page on the CalHR Benefits site. This page provides expanded information from the newsletter, along with related resources and links. CalHR updates the page each month with new benefits content.
How to sign up:
State HR professionals must subscribe to the Personnel Officers listserv to receive the content of the monthly A Life Well Lived: CalHR Benefits Newsletter. This content is provided so they can share it with their department’s employees. You can sign up here: CalHR Subscriptions – CalHR Website.
Beginning in July 2026, this content will also be distributed through the Wellness Coordinator monthly email.
