HR News | November 2015

Read each section below for important updates, timelines and deadlines on Benefits, Payroll, Recruitment & Employment, and Professional & Personal Development Programming.

Payroll Administration

California Minimum Wage to Increase Effective January 1, 2016

Effective January, 1, 2016, the California Minimum Wage will be increased to $10.00. All employees below the new minimum will be raised to $10.00 and these changes will be applied by Human Resources. No additional data entry or action by the department is required.

December 31st Pay Day

Important Update for December Pay Warrant Pick-Up –

Employees who do not participate in Direct Deposit and want to pick up their pay warrant during the campus closure are required to complete the Pay Warrant Pick-Up Request form no later than December 17, 2015. The form must be returned to University Cash Services – Bayramian Hall Room 100 (or Mail Drop 8214) by December 17, 2015. Employees who do not submit this form WILL NOT be able to pick up their pay warrant on December 31, 2015.

Pay warrants will be available to employees with a Request Form on file, between 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 31st at the front counter of University Cash Services in the lobby of Bayramian Hall. A CSUN photo ID will be required in order to release your warrant. December Pay warrants will be dated January 1, 2016.

Direct Deposit “Advices” for employees with Direct Deposit will be available on January 2, 2016 by regular department distribution and will not be available for pick up on December 31st.

Obtaining a live pay warrant each month can be a time-consuming process for you and for Cash Services. As a result, we encourage the use of direct deposit of your pay into a bank of your choice. To enroll in direct deposit, please go to: http://www.csun.edu/payroll/direct-deposit.

APC, Unit 4 Employees: Budget Shortfall Mitigation Bonus

Please note that the Budget Shortfall Mitigation (BSM) Bonus Payout has been processed by the State Controller’s Office.  The BSM bonus will not appear in your current October, 2014 monthly pay warrant, but will instead issue as a separate payment, in the same manner established for one’s monthly pay warrants (direct deposit or check). The payment will be available for distribution on campus through the regular Cash Services department distribution process around November 1st.

For full-time APC employees, the BSM Bonus will be $526.52 (gross), less required taxes.  The amount will be prorated for part-time employees based on time-base.

Mailing Address and W-2 Forms

W-2s will be issued in January by the State Controller's Office and mailed to the address on record in SOLAR HR as of close of business, Friday, December 4, 2015. If your mailing address has changed, please go online today and update your records through the myNorthridge portal. In the Human Resources/Employee pagelet, use the link labeled Update My Personal Information to change your address. You may also fill out a change of address form in person in the Office of Human Resources, University Hall, Room 165, by December 4, 2015.

Maximum Vacation Balance Cap

Please ensure that your vacation balance as of January 1, 2016 is at or below your maximum carryover per your applicable bargaining agreement. You may view your leave balances online through the portal at www.csun.edu. Once in the portal, find the HR/Employee – Time & Attendance pagelet; click on View Absence Balances. If you are not able to view your balances, please see your department Timekeeper.

Also remember to consider your vacation accruals for November and December when calculating the number of hours you must use before January 1st. For details concerning the calculation of your “Maximum Carryover Hours” refer to http://www.csun.edu/benefits/vacation.

Special note for Faculty: After one (1) full year of employment, a California Faculty Association (R03) employee who accrues vacation (12-month appointments) shall take at least forty (40) hours of vacation each calendar year. Any part of the forty (40) hours not taken during the calendar year shall be forfeited by January 1 of the subsequent year (Article 34.7).

Benefits Administration

Annual Open Enrollment Update

As a reminder, you can view your current Benefits Summary and Dependent Coverage in the CSUN portal. If you submitted forms as part of the annual Open Enrollment period, beginning November 16, 2015 you can view those changes in the portal by changing the date field on those pages to 1/1/2016.  Changes made during Open Enrollment (which closed October 09, 2015) will be effective January 1, 2016.

Employee Assistance Program | LifeMatters@CSUN

Are you aware of our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefit, LifeMatters@CSUN. The program is designed to provide professional assistance to all faculty, staff and their families. The benefit includes three face-to-face counseling sessions available on a per problem basis with a licensed professional, and an array of work/life resources.

We invite you to visit our LifeMatters@CSUN website to learn about all services available to you and your family/household members. California State University, Northridge believes that the services provided through LifeMatters@CSUN can be a most valuable resource in helping faculty and staff maintain satisfying and productive lives, and we are pleased to include this service as an employee benefit.

The webinar for November is (LIVE) Thursday, November 12, 2015, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Pacific
Positive Guidance and Your Child's Self-Esteem - Parenting is tough. How do you know what to do to make sure your child grows up with the confidence they need to be successful? What worked for your parents may not work for you. In this webinar, you'll learn positive guidance tips that will help you on your journey as a parent in today's ever-changing world and assist you in shaping your child's self-esteem for the better.

To access webinars:

• Go to www.mylifematters.com/my/webinars and follow the directions on that page. Please sign in with your company password.
• For live webinars, click on the link for the webinar you would like to attend and follow the registration instructions. You must register prior to the start of the webinar to attend.
• Transcripts for non-captioned, archived webinars are available upon request.

Benefits Administration Representatives

If you need to clarify information from our website or would prefer to speak with your Benefits representative, please see their contact information below.

Professional & Personal Development

We have more than 20 Professional & Personal Development sessions for you to choose from for this month.  Make your selection from the November 2015 Calendar of Programming and register as necessary through the Employee Learning & Training link in the Portal.

Remember - you can now print out a pdf for all Fall and Spring Semester programming that you can keep with you for handy reference.