Author: deeringk

New Paid Parental Leave Policy Effective July 1, 2024

The Universities of Wisconsin is implementing a new Paid Parental Leave policy that will provide eligible employees with up to six weeks (240 hours) of paid time off within a 12-month period following a qualifying birth or adoptive event. The new policy is effective July 1, 2024.

The leave time granted under the Paid Parental Leave policy allows the employee time to bond with their new child, adjust to their new family situation, and balance personal obligations that result from a birth or adoptive event.

Policy Overview

Highlights of the Paid Parental Leave policy:

    • Must have completed six months of continuous employment with the Universities of Wisconsin at the time of the qualifying event.
    • Provided up to six weeks of paid time off every 12 months following a qualifying birth or adoptive event. The benefit is prorated for employees working less than 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE).
    • When an employee experiences multiple qualifying events during the same 12-month period, the employee is eligible for up to a total of six weeks of paid parental leave.
    • A completed Paid Parental Leave Request Form must be submitted at least 30 calendar days in advance of the paid parental leave start date.
    • Paid Parental Leave will run concurrently with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act (WFMLA) in cases where an eligible employee is also eligible for FMLA or WFMLA leave.

Employee Eligibility

For specific employee eligibility requirements, review the applicable policy documents listed below.

Resources

Please contact Human Resources at (920)-465-2390 or hr@uwgb.edu with any questions.

FY 2025 Pay Plan Information

Last year, JCOER approved a 2023-2025 pay plan for UW System employees, which provides a base rate increase to all eligible employees of 4% in FY24 and 2% in FY25. At this time, the Office of Human Resources is taking measures to prepare for the second 2% pay plan increase for eligible employees, which will be effective on June 30, 2024, for 12-month employees and August 26, 2024, for 9-month employees.

UW System has recently revised language for SYS 1278, UW System Pay Plan Distribution Framework for University Workforce to build more consistent methodology across institutions for determining eligibility. This aligns pay plan rules more closely with the how other state agencies define eligibility.  As a result, the UW-Green Bay Compensation and Pay Plan Policy has also been updated to align with UW System policy.

    • Included in the recent policy changes is the elimination that employees must be in an eligible position at least three months prior to the pay plan effective date. Moving forward, eligible employees in pay status on implementation date will be eligible to receive pay plan.

Eligible employees for the proposed FY 2025 pay plan include faculty, academic staff, limited, university staff, and university staff project appointments in ongoing positions with a budgeted FTE of 50% or greater. Pursuant to the UW-Green Bay Compensation and Pay Plan Policy, SYS 1278: UW System Pay Plan Distribution Framework, and other publicized guidelines, the following list represents employees who would be ineligible for pay plan:

    1. Employees paid from provisional, non-budgeted salary lines, including all temporary appointments and positions less than 50% FTE.
    2. Employees represented by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Respective pay increases for pay plan will be negotiated separately through the CBA.
    3. Employees currently under a performance improvement plan (PIP).
    4. Employees with performance which does not meet the institutional standard of performance in their most recent performance evaluation (or as documented by the supervisor if a new employee and an evaluation has not yet been required).
    5. Employees who have not completed required campus compliance trainings. Required trainings include:
        1. Sexual Harassment (Title IX) (Required every three years)
        2. Information Security Awareness (Required annually)
        3. Mandated Reporter (One-time training required at time of hire)
        4. Injury and Illness Prevention (EDU) (One-time training required at time of hire)
        5. FERPA Basics (One-time training required at time of hire)
        6. Tools for an Ethical Workplace (One-time training required at time of hire)
        7. Campus Security Authority Training (required annually for employees designated as Campus Security Authority (CSA) only)
    6. Faculty, Academic Staff, and Limited employees without a current Outside Activities Report (OAR) on file
    7. Supervisors who do not have completed, up-to-date evaluations on file and OAR forms approved for all of their direct reports. The performance evaluation periods to assess for FY25 pay plan are as follows:
        1. University Staff: 1/1/2023 – 12/31/2023 (and probationary evaluations as applicable) – these annual evaluations were due in late March 2024
        2. Non-Instructional Academic Staff / Limited:  1/1/2023 – 12/31/2023 (and 6-month evaluations as applicable) – these annual evaluations were due in late March 2024
        3. Faculty / Instructional Academic Staff: 2022-2023 Academic Year (these annual evaluations were due in early spring, 2024)

In order to be eligible for the FY25 pay plan, required trainings, OAR forms, and performance evaluations must be completed by the following deadlines:

Direct emails from UW-Shared Services and UWGB HR have been sent to employees over the past few months.  UWGB HR will continue to send out targeted emails throughout May to those with outstanding items due no later than May 31, 2024. Pay plan spreadsheets will be sent to Dean/Division Leaders the week of May 20th.

If you have questions about the FY 2025 pay plan, please feel free to contact Human Resources at hr@uwgb.edu or (920) 465-2390.

2023 Outside Activities Reports (OARs) – Access for online completion begins April 1, 2024

Each year, all faculty, academic staff, and limited appointees with appointments of half-­time or more are responsible for reporting Outside Activities (according to Board of Regent and UW System guidelines, UWS Chapter 8.025, and the Wisconsin Administrative Code).

Additionally, we ask University Staff to read the Code of Conduct (RPD 20-22) and all employees to read the policy on Employee Relationships with Educational Loan Lenders RPD 13-4.

Similar to past years, requests and notices will come to employees from UW-Shared Services (serviceoperations@uwss.wisconsin.edu), and eligible employees will submit their OAR form online through their My UW Portal.

On April 1, all employees required to submit an Outside Activity Report (OAR) received a message from UW System with instructions to complete the OAR. The OAR will need to be completed by the employee and approved by the supervisor. Following the initial notice, employees will receive reminders throughout the month.

Please see below for additional information:

For more information about OARs (including helpful videos), please see the UW System Conflicts of Interest and Outside Activities website.

The Code of Conduct and Employee Relationships with Educational Loan Lenders policies will also be delivered to your mailboxes from uwsytemhr@uwss.wisconsin.edu during the month of April with a reminder to familiarize yourself with these policies.

If you have questions while using the process or need technical support, please contact serviceoperations@uwss.wisconsin.edu.

Resources relevant to this message include:

UW-Green Bay Wellness Committee Receives 2023 Well Wisconsin Excellence and Innovation Award

The UW-Green Bay Wellness Committee was recognized on February 22, 2024 during the Well Wisconsin program as the recipient of the 2023 Excellence and Innovation award in Employee Well-being.  Chair Rachel Wautier, accepted the award on behalf of the Wellness Committee.  Current Wellness Committee members include:

      • Macrae Husting, Sheboygan Rep
      • Sara Chaloupka, University Staff Rep
      • Jared Dalberg, Manitowoc Rep
      • Sara Greenwood, Faculty Rep
      • Amy Henniges, Wellness Center Rep (Prevea)
      • Lynn Rotter, Academic Staff Rep
      • Alexandra Wandersee, UREC Rep
      • Rachel Wautier, HR Rep (Chair)

The UW-Green Bay Wellness Committee was honored with this award due to the fun and engaging ways it supports well-being on campus, making wellness initiatives a draw for employee recruitment and retention.  Rachel Wautier was also recognized as a nominee for the Personal Spotlight award during the February 22nd ceremony.

Click here to see ETF’s full article on the Well Wisconsin event.  Keep up to date on current Wellness Committee events and resources by visiting the Wellness Committee website and blog.

Annual Benefits Enrollment Presentations

The 2024 Annual Benefits Enrollment (ABE) period is September 25 – October 20, 2023. This is your annual opportunity to enroll in or make changes to most of your benefits. Changes made during ABE are effective January 1, 2024.

Plan now so you are ready for the enrollment period.

UW System Human Resources is hosting virtual presentations to review the upcoming benefit changes and actions you may need to take. Presentations are scheduled for:

Registration is not required. To attend a session, click on the link above. To save the link to your Outlook calendar create a ‘New Appointment’ and copy and paste the link for the session you want to attend to the appointment.

The presentations will be approximately 45 minutes. You will have an opportunity to submit questions during the presentation (excluding personal health information). A recording of the presentation will be available on the ABE web page (following the first presentation).

UW System Human Resources