HR News | January - February 2016

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

• Benefits Administration
• Payroll Administration
• LifeMatters | Employee Assistance Program
• Professional & Personal Development
• Academic Personnel
• Classification & Compensation
• Recruitment Services

Benefits Administration:

Part-Time Faculty On-Line Benefits Overview

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.

1. *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.
2. 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.

2015 Annual CalPERS Member Statements

1. The CalPERS Annual Member Statements (AMS) are now available online. You can access your AMS anytime by logging into your my|CalPERS account at http://www.calpers.ca.gov/. Review your statement and report any discrepancies to CalPERS.
2. If you would like to receive your AMS by mail in the future, you will need to log on to your CalPERS account and select Mailing Preference, or contact the CalPERS Customer Service Center at 1-888-225-7377.

Healthcare Reimbursement Account (HCRA) and Dependent Care Reimbursement Account (DCRA) Claims

1. 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 2015) with balances in the Health Care Reimbursement Account Plan (HCRA) and/or the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plan (DCRA) as of December 31, 2015 will be allowed to utilize remaining 2015 balances toward reimbursement of eligible medical and/or dependent care expenses incurred from January 1, 2016 through March 15, 2016. Any balance remaining in either a 2015 HCRA or 2015 DCRA account after March 15th will be forfeited.
2. All HCRA/DCRA claims for services provided 1/1/2016 – 3/15/2016 will automatically be processed against a remaining 2015 balance if filed by June 30, 2016. If your claim exceeds the available funds from 2015, any excess will be automatically applied to your 2016 plan.
3. For more information, view the Healthcare Reimbursement Account brochure and/or the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plan brochure.

2016 Information for 403(b), 401(k), and 457(b) Retirement Plans

1. For the 2016 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.
2. 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.

2016 Health Plan Rates

1. The 2016 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 2015 Open Enrollment Period your new plan(s) and premium should be reflected on your January 2016 pay warrant. In addition, you should have received written confirmation from your health plan and identification cards.
2. 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 1/1/2016 and select Go. 

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.

Classification & Compensation:

Reminders for Student Assistant Employment and Scheduling

Academic Semester

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.  

New Hire / Position Description Reminder

Please remember to have new staff sign their position description within seven days of their hire date and to forward a copy of the signed position description to the Office of Human Resources, University Hall 165, mail drop 8229.  If significant changes are made to a position description of a current staff member, that staff member should also sign their newly revised position description.  The signed position description is maintained in the employee’s file and the position file.  Retaining an electronic version of position descriptions within the department will make future updates easier. 

Employee Assistance Program | LifeMatters@CSUN:

Webinars

1. 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 new Employee Assistance Program benefit.
2. Are you looking for ideas to help you manage the Holidays? Visit the LifeMatters@CSUN website and find helpful information on staying healthy, smart spending, Holiday stress and many more tips to help you and your family during this Holiday season.
3. In addition, LifeMatters hosts monthly Webinars. Most Webinars are live, and some are posted for download.

February offers two webinar choices:

1. Get Motivated! Available as a pre–recorded webinar  - You set goals and then you procrastinate. You create a to-do list but then you don’t follow through. Sound familiar? If you’ve been caught in this cycle, take advantage of the new year and make a commitment to finding your purpose… NOW!
2. Making Tax Returns Less Taxing – Tuesday, February 16, 2016 Two options: Noon Eastern/11 a.m. Central/9 a.m. Pacific and 3 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Central/Noon PacificFiling tax returns can be very stressful. Let us relieve some of that stress by tackling common questions and concerns about the filing process. In this webinar, a tax specialist will discuss key decisions and mistakes to avoid with regard to selecting the correct tax forms, determining filing status, and making deductions and adjustments. Register for the live webinars at noon Eastern or 3 p.m. Eastern or please check our WorkLife Balance Webinar archives the month after this live webinar is complete.

To access webinars:

1. Go to www.mylifematters.com/my/webinars and follow the directions on that page. Please sign in with your company password.
2. 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.
3. Transcripts for non-captioned, archived webinars are available upon request.  

Payroll Administration     

Mailing Address and W-2 Forms   W-2s were 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 4, 2015. If you have not received your W-2, contact Payroll Administration at x2728 to inquire if your W-2 was returned to the campus by the post office.

REQUESTING A DUPLICATE W-2 FORM:

• If you do not receive a W-2 Form, or if you need a duplicate W-2:
• If you have not received your W-2 by January 31, please verify your address on file with Human Resources by accessing the link inside the portal in > Human Resources/Employee   pagelet  Update My Personal Information.  
• Duplicate copies of W-2's can be requested from the State Controller's Office. Information is online: http://www.sco.ca.gov/ppsd_empinfo_dpw-2.html

Work Schedule Changes

Changes in work schedules from alternate to regular that were made for the December 2015 holiday period should be reverted back to the alternate work schedule by submitting an Action Request Form to Payroll Administration. Schedule changes should be submitted 21 days in advance.

Take Advantage of Direct Deposit!

Direct Deposit is a convenient way to automatically deposit your pay check into the financial institution of your choice.

Some of the advantages of Direct Deposit are: 

1. Direct deposit is more secure than paper checks in that employees do not have to worry about lost or stolen checks.
2. No more trips to the bank or ATM to deposit checks.
3. If payday is on a holiday, or if employees are on vacation or away from work, funds will be credited to employees’ account and available for use on the direct deposit date. Employees will still receive pay statements that show all deductions, taxes and the amount that was deposited into their bank account.
4. Some financial institutions waive account fees when enrolled in direct deposit. Once enrolled, all payments, including supplemental payments such as overtime, will be directly deposited to employees’ designated financial institution. 

We invite you to learn more about Direct Deposit and sign up today! 

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 Spring 2016 Calendar of Programming and register as necessary through the Employee Learning & Training link in the Portal.

Remember - you can now print out a pdf for all Spring Semester programming that you can keep with you for handy reference. 

Academic Personnel:

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

Spring 2016 Academic Personnel Hiring and Processing

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

1. Keying: Wednesday, 02/03/16
2. Approval: Thursday, 02/04/16

All other faculty actions – Transfers, Non-Medical Leaves, etc.:

1. Personal Action Request Forms (PARS) were due January 8th.
2. Submit ASAP

New Employee Sign-ins:

1. No later than the effective date of the appointment
2. Example: Lecturers who start effective 01/22/16 must have signed in by that day.

Refer to the Spring 2016 Academic Personnel Hiring Memo for detailed information. 

Recruitment Services:

Emergency Hire Pool - NEW Job Opening Number

A NEW job opening number has been created effective January 1, 2016 for the continuous Emergency Hire Pool open position posted on Careers@CSUN, the CSUN Recruitment Services webpage.

Emergency Hire Pool (Administrative/Technical)
OLD number  = 4770
NEW number = 5217

If the prospective emergency hire has previously held a staff/faculty appointment and an application is in their personnel file, they will not need to apply through Recruiting Solutions. However, if s/he has not previously been employed, the applicant must apply through Careers@CSUN to Job ID 5217/Emergency Hire Pool (Administrative/Technical) (Continuous).

The Emergency Hire Pool is also utilized for applicants who seek employment for administrative and/or technical work on a short term temporary basis (Emergency Hire). When you need candidates referred from this pool, please create an Emergency Hire job opening in Recruiting Solutions and indicate that you would like applications forwarded to you from the Emergency Hire Pool or contact your campus HR Recruiter directly.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Mika Williamson, Director, Recruitment Services and Compensation at mika.williamson@csun.edu or x3817.