HR News | October 2015

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

Benefits Administration

Open Enrollment | Now Through October 9, 2015

The annual Open Enrollment period is going on now through Friday,  October 9, 2015. During Open Enrollment, you can enroll in Medical, Dental, FlexCash and Health Care/Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plans, change health plans, or add eligible family members.  Information and Health Plan Rate information is available at Open Enrollment webpage.

As a reminder, you can view your current Benefits Summary and Dependent Coverage in the CSUN portal. If you submit forms as part of Open Enrollment, you can confirm those changes in the portal beginning November 16, 2015.

Spring 2016 Fee Waiver Application | Now Through October 23, 2015

The CSU Fee Waiver module is currently available for Spring 2016 registration. In order to ensure timely processing, please submit your application no later than October 23, 2015.

The application link is located in the myNorthridge portal under Human Resources/Employee> Apply for Fee Waiver Benefit (Faculty will find this link on their Staff page). When you submit your application, you will receive an immediate confirmation email. If there are any problems filling out the on-line application, just "Save As Draft Version" and call ext. 2173. If you forget if you applied, you can always view your application during the enrollment time frame.

For information and questions pertaining to fee waiver, please visit the Fee Waiver website. You may also call ext. 2173 or email the Fee Waiver Coordinator directly at FeeWaiver@csun.edu for assistance.

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 October is (LIVE) Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Pacific
The Family Approach to Caregiving - Nearly one out of three Americans is providing care for a family member. Oftentimes the entire family has to participate in caring for the family member that needs assistance. We will cover the issues of self-care, how to assess your family needs, and maintaining balance in family life. We will also discuss common emotions that caregivers may experience and special caregiving situations.

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.

Personal or Family Status Updates

As you are reviewing your open enrollment options now is a perfect time to update any personal information that has changed including your beneficiaries. For example, if you were recently married or entered into a registered domestic partnership or are recently divorced, you may want/need to update your name, address, emergency contact information, health benefit dependents, life insurance and retirement beneficiary designee, and your payroll designee.

Visit our website at Personal & Family Status Updates to access information and forms.

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.

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 centrally. No additional action by the department is required.

Recruitment Services & Employment

HR Launches New Employee Welcome Page

Newly hired Faculty, Staff & Management, and Student Employees can now access all pre-employment paperwork on-line with Human Resources' Welcome page.  Each category of employee is provided information on the Sign-In Process, what they’ll need to bring, and which forms are required or optional.  You can explore it here.

Background Check Requests

To expedite service, we have created a new-specific email address for you to send your background check requests. Please send your background check request forms to backgroundcheck@csun.edu.  We have updated our form to reflect this change.  

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 October 2015 Calendar of Programming and register as necessary through the Employee Learning & Training link in the Portal.

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