HR News Updates | December 2019

The Fall 2019 Academic Semester Officially ends on Tuesday, December 24, 2019. The University will be closed Wednesday, December 25 through Wednesday, January 1, 2020 reopening on Thursday January 2, 2020. Tuesday, December 31st 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

Do you still need to get your flu shot?
Protect yourself and others around you. Kaiser Permanente will be on-site giving no-cost flu shots to all faculty and staff - members and nonmembers - by appointment!  Walk-Ins will not be accommodated.

Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: OV 16, Human Resources Training Room
Register for an Appointment: https://www.csun.edu/development/events/free-flu-shot-clinic-faculty-staff

Kaiser Permanente members should bring their ID card to the appointment.

For flu information go to Kp.org/flu

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 13, 2019. Employees who do not submit this form WILL NOT be able to pick up their pay warrant on December 31, 2019. Employees receiving pay warrants from different departments, must complete a separate form for each department. This form must be turned in every year.

Pay warrants will be available to employees with a Request Form on file, between Noon and 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31^st  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 the pay warrant. December Pay warrants will be dated January 1, 2020.

Employees unable to pick up their check may authorize someone else to do so in writing and the letter must include the following:

1. Written authorization for the named person to pick up the check
2. Full name of the person being authorized
3. Employee’s department and last four digits of their Social Security number
4. Employee’s signature

Even if you are emailing this request, the letter must be attached. Please note that the person being authorized must present a valid government issued ID, such as a Driver License, stating the exact name in the authorization letter when picking up the warrant.

Direct Deposit “Advices” for employees with Direct Deposit will be available on January 2, 2020 by regular department distribution, and will not be available for pick up on December 31^st.

Obtaining a live pay warrant each month can be a time-consuming process. 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, Monday, December 16, 2019.

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 16, 2019.

If you haven't already done so, visit our LifeMatters@CSUN website to learn about all of the services and resources available to you and your family/household members as part of your Employee Assistance Program benefit. 

You can access the LifeMatters website on your desktop, or mobile device. Visit https://www.mylifematters.com/.

Monthly Webinar

In addition, LifeMatters hosts monthly Webinars. Most Webinars are live, and some are posted for download. 

This month's webinar (LIVE) will be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, TWO OPTIONS: 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. OR 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. PDT

Navigating Change Personally and Professionally:

This webinar discusses how adults struggle with the reality of change inside and outside of work. Examine your responses to change and improve the ways you navigate uncertainty.

To register for a live webinar:

• Go to mylifematters.com/my/webinars and log in using the password "Matadors."
• You must register prior to the start of the webinar in order to attend.

Effective January, 1, 2020, the California Minimum Wage will be increased to $13.00.  All active employees below the new minimum will be raised to $13.00 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 2020 Academic Personnel Hiring and Processing

The Spring 2020 Academic Personnel Hiring Memo is available here. Following are some highlights:

Save the Date:  Plan to tune in Tuesday, January 14^th from 9-10 AM for our Spring 2020 Webinar with Erick Cuevas!

The Part Time Faculty module is updated and ready for Spring 2020 hiring as of Monday, December 2, 2019. Dates are:

1.     Lecturers (2358) and Teaching Associates (2354)- Start 01/17/2020 and End 05/22/2020

2.     Graduate Assistants (2355) – Start 01/31/2020 and End 06/30/2020

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

1.     Keying: Thursday, 01/30/2020

2.     Approval: Friday, 01/31/2020

New Employee Sign-ins:

1.     No later than the effective date of the appointment

2.     Example: Lecturers who start effective 01/17/2020 must have signed in by that date

3.     Sign-in hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The 2020 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 2019 Open Enrollment Period your new plan(s) and premium should be reflected on your January 2020 pay warrant. In addition, you should receive written confirmation from your health plan and identification cards (as applicable) 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 1/1/2020 and select Go.

Employees that would like to make changes to their tax withholding options for federal and state income taxes may now submit these electronically through the myNorthridge portal. Once logged on, navigate to the “Staff” tab and select the “Tax Withholding Change Form” in the “Human Resources/Employee” pagelet.

 Complete and submit the form at least 15 business days prior to your next payday for the change to take effect during the current reporting 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 Tuesday, December 24th. The campus is closed from December 25th through January 1st.

            Please see the Payroll Calendar for Academic Calendar dates at https://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/payroll_calendar_19-20.pdf

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  State 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.  The 2020 Winter Break is from January 2^nd through January 16^th.

Split Weeks

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

The first day of the Spring 2020 semester is Friday, January 17th. The allowed hours for the week of 1/13/20 through 1/17/20 are:

•        Monday = 8 hours  
•        Tuesday = 8 hours 
•        Wednesday = 8 hours 
•        Thursday = 8 hours 
•        Friday = 4 hours
•        Total hours that can be worked in this “split” week scenario is 36 hours

The new Position Description- Staff form is now available on-line at the Human Resources Forms – A to Z.  There are new How To and FAQs, as well as informational resources under the HR Manager & Facilitator Toolkit, and Classification & Compensation webpages.  All new position descriptions especially for Recruitment and Classification Review must now be on the new form.  Please contact Lynn Marks or Robyn McKibbon with any questions.

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 2019) with balances in the Health Care Reimbursement Account Plan (HCRA) and/or the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plan (DCRA) as of December 31, 2019 will be allowed to utilize remaining 2018 balances toward reimbursement of eligible medical and/or dependent care expenses incurred from January 1, 2020 through March 15, 2020. Any balance remaining in either 2019 HCRA or 2019 DCRA account after March 15, 2020 will be forfeited. All HCRA/DCRA claims for services provided 1/1/2020 – 3/15/2020 will automatically be processed against a remaining 2019 balance if filed by June 30, 2020. If your claim exceeds the available funds from 2019, any excess will be automatically applied to your 2020 plan.

For more information, visit the ASI website at http://www.asiflex.com/.

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

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

For the 2020 tax year, the contribution limits are increasing from $19,000 to $19,500 to a 403(b) or 401(k) plan, subject to the 415(c) limit, AND $19,500 to a governmental 457(b) plan, for a total contribution of up to $39,000.

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 Supplemental Retirement Plan page for information on the CSU 403(b) plan.

Dependent Re-Verification (DRV) is the process of re-verifying the eligibility of your spouse, domestic partner, children, stepchildren, and domestic partner children (family members) enrolled for state health and dental benefits. Government Code section 22843.1 mandates re-verifying the eligibility of your family members. Government Code section 22959 authorizes extending this review to your family members enrolled for dental benefits.

The eligibility of your family members will be re-verified once every three years. The re-verification period is based on your birth month. Employees born during the following months are required to re-verify family members during 2020: March, June, September and December.

For those employees with birthdays in March, CalPERS, will mail you information explaining the process and the documentation required to maintain health coverage for your dependents. Please read and ensure Human Resources has your documents prior to March 1, 2020 in order for your dependent(s) to continue receiving health coverage and avoid cancellation on 4/1/2020.

For more information visit the following page: Health Care Dependent Re-Verification