HR News Updates | June 2023

The University will be closed on Monday, May 29, 2023, in observance of Memorial Day. Classes will not be in session and most campus offices will be closed.

The Campus will be closed on Monday, June 19th in observance of Juneteenth. Classes will not be in session and most campus offices will be closed.

On March 22, 2023, the CSU Board of Trustees adopted a resolution designating June 19 (Juneteenth), as a paid holiday for CSU employees, effective calendar year 2023.  As such, collective bargaining agreements and Title 5, Section 42920, Article 4.1, Subchapter 7, Chapter 1, Division 5, of California Code of Regulations have been amended to extend the paid holiday to all CSU employees.

“Juneteenth,” or June 19, is considered the oldest known celebration of the end of legalized slavery in the USA. On that day in 1865, Union soldiers began informing the remaining 250,000 enslaved African Americans in Galveston, TX, that the Civil War was over, and they were free.

The Juneteenth holiday will be observed this year on Monday, June 19, 2023, and must be observed every year on June 19, unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. If June 19 falls on a Saturday, the holiday shall be observed on the preceding Friday. If it falls on a Sunday, the holiday shall be observed on the following Monday.

We encourage you to engage with Juneteenth celebrations and events at CSUN and in the San Fernando Valley area as well as in your local community. We look forward to sharing additional engagement opportunities around Juneteenth in the future.

Attend a free webinar at ScholarShare529.com/529Day: May 24, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. (PT)

Open a new account between May 22 and May 31, 2023, and receive up to an extra $100 in your account.*

Get a $50 bonus!
1. Start with a $50 deposit
2. Add $50/month for six months

or

Get a $100 bonus!
1. Start with a $100 deposit
2. Add $100/month for six months

View or download an accessible pdf of the following image here. To learn more, visit: https://www.scholarshare529.com/529-day-2023

Join the CSU and Fidelity for an upcoming virtual Ask Fidelity Session where your local Fidelity planner will share important updates related to your workplace savings plan and provide you with resources to stay on track to meet your financial goals, as well as share information and strategies on other financial topics.  Connection information provided upon registration. You can register to attend one or more of the following webinars.

Topic Overview & Schedule:

• June 7th @12 PM PST: Top Things to do Before You Retire -

• Learn how to get your financial house in order and other important considerations that can impact your decisions.

• June 14th @12 PM PST: How to Plan for the Income You’ll Need in Retirement -

• Learn how to create a retirement income plan and explore the risks that can impact it.

• June 21st @12 PM PST: Get to Know Your Retirement Plan -

• Learn how your retirement plan works and how we can help you with investment advice.

Register

Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 11:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m.

Description:

Most members can submit a service retirement application through my CalPERS and avoid driving to one of the offices, In this webcast CalPERS will discuss steps to plan for your retirement, walk you through the online application, and explain what happens after it's submitted.

Facilitated by:

CalPERS Staff

Location:

Online, Connection information provided upon registration

Registration:

Register

Note: Registration closes at midnight the evening before the webcast airs. 

LifeMatters Webinar: The Best Summer Ever! - Creating Rich and Rewarding Summer Experiences for your Child

Description:

Learn how to create rich and rewarding summer experience for your child.

Location:

Online: Available as a prerecorded webinar throughout June.

Facilitated By:

LifeMatters

To access the webinars:

• Go to www.mylifematters.com/my/webinars and follow the directions on that page. * If you need the LifeMatters password, please log into the CSUN Portal here.
• 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.
• If you are unable to attend the live webinar, it will be available in the WorkLife Balance Webinar archive

As a Cal State University Northridge employee, when you or your family members (your dependents and permanent household members) need helpful guidance, problem assessment, short-term counseling, and/or referral to local resources, your LifeMatters@CSUN program (administered by Empathia Pacific, Inc.) is just a phone call away, and it is available on a live basis, 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

• Short Term Counseling

• Other Services

• Quick Glance

• Frequently Asked Questions

For Direct Assistance (Free & Confidential), call LifeMatters at 1-800-367-7474

         Or, Log on to myLifeMatters.com* 

* If you need the LifeMatters password, please log into the CSUN Portal here.

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 2022: February, May, August and November.
• For those employees with birthdays in June, you do not need to send in the Dependent Eligibility Verification Affidavit mailed to you by CalPERS. As a sustainable and convenient alternative, you will receive an email from Adobe Sign allowing you to complete your required Dependent Eligibility Verification Affidavit and attach the required documents. Please complete and submit your required documents prior to June 1, 2023 order for your dependent(s) to continue receiving health coverage and avoid cancellation on July 1, 2023.

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

Did you know you can estimate your future Social Security benefit online at http://www.ssa.gov/?

The Social Security Retirement Estimator produces estimates that are based on your actual Social Security benefits. You can also apply for Social Security, check the status of your online application, and complete many other transactions by visiting the Social Security Administration Website.

Total compensation includes your salary and the value of your benefit package, based on your appointment type.

As an employee of the CSU system, you have comprehensive health and retirement benefits. To see the equivalent value of your total compensation, use the Total Compensation Calculator. 

To view the most current CSU Employee Benefits Summary visit https://www.csun.edu/benefits/employee-benefits-summary.

Take advantage of your newest benefit as a CSUN Employee

Whether you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes, Calm’s diverse content library offers resources to suit your schedule and needs. Explore guided meditations and specialized music playlists to help with stress and focus, mindful movement video and audio, relaxing Sleep Stories, tailored content for children, wisdom-filled masterclasses led by experts, and much more.

Employees with Kaiser Permanente as their health plan provider already have access to Calm and may sign-up directly through Kaiser. All other state-side employees should simply follow the instructions below to gain full access to Calm - the #1 app for mental fitness.

To Get Started

• Visit the following link: Calm for CSUN Employees
• Sign up with your personal email address (or log in to an existing account)
• Validate your work email address or Employee ID

Once complete, you can download the Calm app and log into your new account. Your Calm subscription gives you unlimited access to the full library of content at calm.com and in the Calm app. In fact, you can now share your Calm subscription with up to 5 additional devices with your same login credentials. Enjoy the perks of Calm with your family and loved ones – all while becoming happier and healthier together! Calm's mobile app elements are accessible to mobile assistive technology such as screen readers like VoiceOver for iOS and Talkback for Android and these devices' native live-captioning and subtitle capabilities. If you do not have this assistive technology on your device, you can use Calm's web app to utilize their assistive technology.

Sign up for one of Calm’s Live Employee Welcome Sessions to learn more.

Please note that Calm only shares aggregated user data. For more information, see their privacy policy at calm.com/privacy.

Visit the HR Benefits Calm website for more information and FAQs.

Direct Deposit

Enjoy the convenience of having your monthly pay directly deposited into the bank account of your choice. The following link provides information on Direct Deposit for CSUN employees: https://www.csun.edu/payroll/direct-deposit.

Direct Deposit Enrollment Overview

1. Log into your Cal Employee Connect (CEC) account
2. Select Employee Services > Direct Deposit

a. Submitting a direct deposit form via CEC requires the employee to be on campus or connected to the CSUN VPN.

3. Follow the instructions to fill out the form and submit

a. Enrollment takes 2 pay cycles (30 to 60 days)

Cal Employee Connect

Cal Employee Connect (CEC) allows CSUN employees to securely view up to three (4) years of their earnings statements and W-2’s, along with personal information online. Cal Employee Connect reduces state costs and workload by providing a tool for all state employees to access their earnings information electronically.

The statements available in CEC provide continuity to the statements previously printed by the SCO. CEC offers a range of tools to help you view your earnings, including a feature to compare statements side-by-side.

The following are guidelines to assist you in hiring student employees during summer sessions:

• Summer session appointments may be made if the student has been enrolled for the current Spring semester, and is planning on attending in the Fall. 
• Students who graduate, and who are not admitted/enrolled for either the Summer or Fall semester, are not eligible for appointment as Student Assistants. The last day that a graduating student may work this semester is May 25th, the last day of the academic year. Also, Student Assistants will need to follow the 20 hours per week cap during that last week of the academic semester, regardless if they are finished with their finals earlier in the week.
• If a student is enrolled at least half time (six or more units for undergraduate students or four or more units for graduate students) cumulatively during all three Summer sessions, the student may be appointed as a Student Assistant. They may work up to, but not in excess of, 20 hours per week total in all positions. The CSU policy for Student Assistants limits their normal working hours to 20 per week during academic sessions.
• If the eligible student (see 1st statement above), is not enrolled, or is enrolled in less than half time for throughout all 3 summer sessions, they may work as a “taxable” Student Assistant (Job Code 1874) for the months of June and July only.
• They 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 week. A schedule may exceed eight hours a day, provided the total for the week does not exceed 40 hours. Overtime should not be authorized, because the State Controller's Office will not issue payments to Student Assistants in excess of 168 hours for a 21-day pay period, or in excess of 176 hours for a 22-day pay period.

Reminder: Student Assistants are employees and, as such, need to have the termination/separation date provided to Payroll as soon as it is known for preparation of the final pay check/warrant. 

If you have questions regarding International Students and eligibility to work over the summer, please contact the International Exchange Student Center (IESC) for their review and clarification of the International Student’s status and eligibility to work.

Specific information for summer student employment options may be found in the “Summer 2023 Student Employee Hiring & Processing Workshop Guide” which can be accessed in the Managers & HR Facilitators’ Toolkit webpage.

Documentation and a copy of the Wednesday, May 3rd Summer 2023 Student Employee Hiring & Processing Workshop is available in the HR Toolkit under Student Employment

How to Report COVID-19 Cases or Potential Exposure

Please complete one of the following forms to report a case of COVID-19 or possible exposure to someone with COVID-19.

• Faculty & Staff Self-Reporting Form
• Manager Reporting Form (For managers to report employee and student employee cases)