HR News Updates | December 2016

The Fall 2016 Academic Semester officially ends on Friday, December 23, 2016 The University will be closed Monday, December 26, 2016 through Monday, January 2, 2017, reopening on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. Friday, December 30th is not a covered holiday; eligible employees may charge their accrued leave time such as vacation, Personal Holiday, or, when eligible, Compensatory Time Off. Employees may also elect to take leave without pay on this day. Other provisions may also apply for some of our union partners; please see the relevant collective bargaining agreement for further information.

University Holiday Calendar

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 and submit the Pay Warrant Pick-Up Request form to University Cash Services - Bayramian Hall Room 100 (or Mail Drop 8214) by December 16, 2016. Employees who do not submit this form WILL NOT be able to pick up their pay warrant on December 30, 2016.

Pay warrants will be available to employees with a Request Form on file, between 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. on Friday, December 30th 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, 2017.

Direct Deposit “Advices” for employees with Direct Deposit will be available on January 3, 2017 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.

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 2, 2016. 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 2, 2016.

You can view your Annual Member Statements by logging in to your MyCalPERS account

https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/active-members/retirement-benefits/service-credit/annual-member-statement

The 2017 Health Plan Rates are available on the Benefits Administration webpage. Please remember to check your January pay warrant for your premium deduction and report any discrepancies to your Benefits Representative. If you made any changes during the Fall 2016 Open Enrollment Period your new plan(s) and premium should be reflected on your January 2017 pay warrant. In addition, you should receive written confirmation from your health plan and identification cards are expected to be mailed out in mid-December. Watch out for these in your home mailbox.

As a reminder, you can view your benefit elections under the Benefits Summary and the Dependent and Beneficiary Coverage Summary in the portal. If you submitted forms to make changes as part of Open Enrollment, change the date to 1/1/2017 and select Go.

The CSU provides for the 2 ½-month grace period extension allowed by the U.S. Department of Treasury for flexible spending plans. As a result, current participants (as of December 2016) with balances in the Health Care Reimbursement Account Plan (HCRA) and/or the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plan (DCRA) as of December 31, 2016 will be allowed to utilize remaining 2016 balances toward reimbursement of eligible medical and/or dependent care expenses incurred from January 1, 2017 through March 15, 2017. Any balance remaining in either a 2016 HCRA or 2016 DCRA account after March 15, 2017 will be forfeited.

All HCRA/DCRA claims for services provided 1/1/2017 – 3/15/2017 will automatically be processed against a remaining 2016 balance if filed by June 30, 2017. If your claim exceeds the available funds from 2016, any excess will be automatically applied to your 2017 plan.

For more information, view the Healthcare Reimbursement Account brochure and/or the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plan brochure.

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 webpage 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.

LifeMatters Recipe of the Month

LifeMatters has a featured recipe each month! Log in to the LifeMatters website to view how to make Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins. Perfect for Fall and the Holidays! 

The LifeMattters' webinar for December (LIVE) is Tuesday, December 20th, 2016, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Pacific

 What to Look Out for as Our Loved Ones Age:

Those of us who have senior loved ones in our lives want to be sure they’re well-cared for. This webinar will address some of the challenges elders face as they age, and solutions that we, as caregivers, can put into place from near or afar. We will discuss common eldercare issues and which eldercare systems can best address these concerns. There will also be an opportunity at the end of the session to address more individualized concerns.

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.

Is it time for a Financial Wellness Check-up? The CSU offers you additional ways to save for your future. 

For the 2017 tax year, the contribution limits remain the same. Up to $18,000 to a 403(b) or 401(k) plan, subject to the 415(c) limit, AND $18,000 to a governmental 457(b) plan, for a total contribution of up to $36,000.

To view additional information on our Retirement and Savings Programs, please view the Savings Plus Program page for information on the 401(k) and 457 plan, or the Tax Shelter Annuity Program page for information on the 403(b) plan.

Semester Breaks

When school is not in session due to semester breaks (outside of the academic semester), continuing Student Assistants may work up to a maximum of 40 hours per week, but may not be scheduled to work overtime. Overtime is defined as more than 40 hours per work week (work week is defined as Sunday through Saturday). A schedule may exceed 8 hours a day provided the total for the work week does not exceed 40 hours. The Controller's Office will not issue payments to Student Assistants in excess of 168 hours for a 21-day period, nor in excess of 176 hours for a 22-day period.  

Academic Semesters

During the Academic Semester (please see CSUN campus academic calendar), Student Assistants may work up to, but not in excess of, 20 hours per week total in all positions combined.  The end of the Fall semester, as indicated on the Academic Calendar, is Friday, December 23rd. The campus is closed from December 26th through January 2nd.

Split Weeks

When the academic semester starts, or ends, in the middle of a work week it is a “split” week.

The last day of the Fall 2016 semester is Friday, December 23rd. The allowed hours for the week of 12/22/16 are 20.  If the campus is closed on the 23rd, the total hours will be 16.

The first day of the Spring 2017 semester is Thursday, January 19th. The allowed hours for the week of 1/16/17 through 1/20/17 are:

• Monday = 0 hours (Holiday = Martin Luther King Jr Birthday) 
• Tuesday = 8 hours 
• Wednesday = 8 hours 
• Thursday = 4 hours 
• Friday = 4 hours

• Total hours that can be worked in this “split” week scenario is 24 hours.

Effective January, 1, 2017, the California Minimum Wage will be increased to $10.50. All employees below the new minimum will be raised to $10.50 and these changes will be applied by Human Resources. No additional data entry or action by the department is required.

The following information is provided for staff members responsible for transacting the hiring and processing of academic personnel.

Spring 2017 Academic Personnel Hiring and Processing

The Spring 2017 Academic Personnel Hiring Memo will be issued soon. Here are some highlights:

• The Part Time Faculty module is updated and ready for Spring 2017 hiring. Dates are:

1. Lecturers (2358) and Teaching Associates (2354) – Start 01/19/2017 and End 05/26/2017
2. Graduate Assistants (2355) – Start 02/01/2017 and End 06/30/2017

• Part Time Faculty, Teaching Associate and Graduate Assistant Module entry deadlines:

1. Keying: Wednesday, 02/01/2017
2. Approval: Thursday, 02/02/2017

• New Employee Sign-ins:

1. No later than the effective date of the appointment
2. Example: Lecturers who start effective 01/19/17 must have signed in by that day
3. Sign-in hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.