HR News Updates | January 2020

The campus will be closed on Monday, January 20, 2020 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

W-2s will be issued in January 2020 by the State Controller's Office (SCO), and mailed to an employees’ home address on file in SOLAR HR as of the close of business on December 17, 2019. Employees who do not receive their W-2 by the end of January should contact Payroll Administration at (818) 677-7550 after January 31 to inquire if their W-2 was returned to the campus by the post office.

For W-2s that are not returned to the campus, or if a duplicate copy is needed, submit a request for a duplicate copy using Standard Form 436 (Request for Duplicate Wage and Tax Statement). Additional information and the duplicate W-2 request form are available through the SCO at http://www.sco.ca.gov/ppsd_empinfo_dpw-2.html. Please note that there is an $8.50 processing fee per tax year for duplicate W-2s. All requests should be sent directly to the SCO at the following address:

State Controller's Office
Personnel / Payroll Services Division
ATTN: Duplicate W2
P.O. Box 942850
Sacramento, CA 94250-5878

For assistance in requesting a duplicate W–2, please call the State Controller’s Office at (916) 445-2847. More information regarding Form W-2 is available at the SCO’s FAQ site at https://www.sco.ca.gov/ppsd_empinfo_form_w2.html.

Now is a good time to ensure that your emergency contact information is up to date and easy to access.

CSUN Portal

Having your emergency contact information up to date on the portal will help in the event of an incident on campus. To review your information and to easily update it, visit: http://www.csun.edu/payroll/updating-personal-information.

Mobile Device

Having your emergency contact information up to date on your mobile phone will help in the event of an incident on or off campus. If you became incapacitated but had your mobile device with you, first responders could access your family/emergency contact information without your help.  It's easy to set this up on most mobile devices.

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 2019 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/.

If you are a new part-time faculty member or returning faculty and are benefits eligible* for the Spring semester, we invite you to click here and view information on plan options, eligibility, and how to enroll. Benefits Packets are also available in the Office of Human Resources, UN 165.
 
*To be eligible for benefits, part-time faculty must have an Academic Year (AY) classification and have an appointment of at least six units (.4 time base) for one semester.
 
Faculty currently enrolled in Medical/Dental/Vision benefits or FlexCash who fall below six units should notify Benefits Administration regarding continuation of coverage. COBRA coverage may be available. For information on COBRA please visit http://www.csun.edu/benefits/cobra.

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.

The California State University is excited to announce an opportunity for eligible employees and their dependents to enroll in Critical Illness, Accident and Voluntary Life insurance during a special enrollment period beginning February 1 through February 29, 2020!

Benefit offerings include:

• Group Critical Illness Insurance pays upon the diagnosis of a covered illness.
• Group Accident Insurance pays a benefit directly to you in the event of a covered accident.
• Voluntary Life Insurance is a simple, easy way to help financially protect your loved ones.

Watch your mailbox and the February issue of HR News for more information!

The CSU Employee Fee Waiver and Reduction Program provides for the waiver or reduction of tuition and certain fees for eligible employees. In addition, an eligible CSU employee may transfer their fee waiver benefit to a spouse, domestic partner, or eligible dependent child. CSUN employees who want to complete a bachelor’s or graduate degree, enhance job skills, or even prepare for a future career, are encouraged to participate in the program.  Eligible employees or their eligible dependent may have tuition and fees for a maximum of two (2) courses or six (6) units, whichever is greater, waived/reduced each semester.

The CSU Fee Waiver module will be available February 24, 2020 for Fall 2020 applications. In order to ensure timely processing, please submit your application no later than April 24, 2020. How to apply for the CSU Fee Waiver - Instructional Video

Partnering with Admissions & Records, and Student Accounting, we will be offering a workshop on the Fee Waiver and Reduction Program on Monday, March 2, 2020 from noon to 1 p.m. in the HR Training Room, Oviatt Library, Room 16. Join us and get your questions answered!

Visit the Fee Waiver page for more information about the benefit, including how to request reimbursement of the Cal State Apply $70 application fee.

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, has mailed 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

CSUN is part of Wave 3 - the CSU's transition to a comprehensive recruitment & onboarding tool for staff and management. 

We'll provide information and updates on the system in HR News throughout the coming months.  If you would like to find out more now, visit our CHRS website, which has information on the greater CHRS systemwide project and details of the first phase, which is CHRS Recruiting.  

Effective January, 1, 2020, the California Minimum Wage increased to $13.00.  All active employees below the new minimum have been raised to $13.00 and these changes were applied by Human Resources. No additional data entry or action by the department is required.