Category: Fiscal Wellness

Fiscal wellness is the ability to understand our financial situation. This involves being able to control and maintain a balance of income and expenditures. It is important to make financial decisions that allow one to save, invest and plan for the future.

Year-End Information for Classified Employees

**Important information regarding vacation carry over, compensatory time, and personal & floating holidays**

Please be advised: Employees eligible to utilize the Annual Leave Conversion Option will receive written notification of this by the end of November.

Attention Classified Employees and their Supervisors:

UW-Green Bay requires that vacation for classified employees be taken in the calendar year in which it is earned.  It is UW-Green Bay’s practice to allow up to 40 hours of vacation to be carried over into the following year, if approved by the employee’s supervisor.  A request to carry over more than 40 hours of vacation must be approved by Human Resources.  Any vacation carried over from 2011 into 2012 must be used by June 30, 2012.

Please complete the Vacation Carry Over Request Form (http://www.uwgb.edu/hr/documents/2011ClassifiedVacationCarryOverRequestForm.pdf)

ONLY if requesting to carry over more than 40 hours of vacation into 2012.

Requests must be submitted to HR, ES 107, no later than Friday, December 9, 2011.  A scanned, signed copy of the form may be e-mailed to hr@uwgb.edu in lieu of a hard copy submission.

If a new employee completes his or her original probationary period between July 1 and December 31, 2011, all vacation may be carried over (without supervisor or HR approval).  However, the leave must still be used by June 30, 2012.

In-so-far as possible, all 2011 Compensatory Time earned should be used by December 30, 2011.  Under exceptional circumstances, approval to carry unused compensatory time into 2012 may be granted by the immediate supervisor.  All 2011 compensatory time must be used by April 30, 2012 or it will be paid.

Personal holiday hours may not be carried into 2012 and if not used by December 30, 2011 will be forfeited.  Also, please remember that Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both fall on a Saturday, resulting in two floating holidays.  You must use these floating holidays by December 30, 2011 or they will be lost.

Please visit the Legal Holidays section of our website to view 2012 Legal Holiday dates.

Please contact Human Resources at x 2390 if or via e-mail at hr@uwgb.edu you have any questions or concerns.

Fidelity Counseling Sessions

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING SESSIONS

Fidelity Investments is offering individual and confidential counseling sessions where you can discuss your financial situation with a Fidelity consultant.  Consultations are meant for participants to review their current retirement plan, investment strategy, or discuss ways in which Fidelity can help along the road to retirement.

When:  Tuesday, October 4, 2011 9:00am-11am, 2pm-5pm

Where:  Mary Ann Cofrin Hall (MAC) 201

To schedule a confidential consultation with your Fidelity Investments representative, Andrias Campbell, call 1-800-642-7131 or go to www.fidelity.com.

Please contact Human Resources at hr@uwgb.edu or ext. 2390 with questions.

Benefits & Wellness Fair

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Phoenix Rooms – University Union

UW-Green Bay is hosting an Employee Benefits & Wellness Fair to provide employees with the opportunity to learn more information about their benefits.  Mark your calendar to attend!

Refreshments will be served and door prizes will be given out.  Aurora will have “Nutrition Wheel of Fortune” and Body Mass Index (BMI) checks. The following vendors will be available to talk with you:

  • Ameriprise
  • Ameritas
  • Arise Health Plan
  • Aurora
  • Bay Care Clinic
  • Bellin Health
  • Dental Associates
  • ETF
  • Health Choice Long Term Care Solutions
  • HRS eBenefits Team
  • Humana
  • Lincoln Financial
  • Network Health
  • Standard Plan
  • TIAA-CREF
  • UnitedHealthCare
  • VSP (Vision Care)
  • WEA Trust
  • Western Racquet
  • Wisconsin Deferred Compensation

Please e-mail benefits@uwgb.edu or call 465-2390 if you have any questions.

T. Rowe Price Free Webinar

Tuesday, September 13, starting at noon and 6 p.m., central time

Getting to and through retirement: How investing in a T. Rowe Price Retirement Fund Can Help

T. Rowe Price, one of the investment companies in your UW TSA 403(b) Program, offers this free webinar to employees of the institutions it serves.  Discover how the Retirement Funds are designed to work for you up to and through retirement. In this live 60-minute webinar led by Wyatt A. Lee, associate portfolio manager, you’ll learn how the funds are invested, explore the potential benefits of investing in one, and feel more confident in this investment strategy.   A Question & Answer session will conclude each online seminar.

Register at  http://video.webcasts.com/events/trpr001/39252/  Please note the times at the registration site are indicated as eastern.

Please contact Human Resources at hr@uwgb.edu or ext. 2390 with questions.

Budget Repair Bill Update

Now that the Budget Repair Bill (Act 10) has been upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and is in effect, the Budget Repair Bill FAQ has been updated to include clarification on health insurance and WRS contribution effective dates.  Information regarding changing or cancellation of various benefit plans is also included in this FAQ.

The effective dates for the additional payroll deductions are as follows:

* Classified (or others paid bi-weekly):  August 25, 2011 paycheck

* Unclassified (12 month):  September 1, 2011 paycheck

* Unclassified (9 month):  September 30, 2011 paycheck

Academic year (9 month) employees who had multiple health insurance deductions taken from the June 1 paycheck will have an adjustment made to reflect the amount that should have been paid for the payroll month of August (for September coverage).  More specific information will be made available at a later date about this additional deduction.

Also attached to the Budget Repair Bill FAQ is a letter that was recently sent to all agency heads from Cynthia Archer, Department of Administration Deputy Secretary, regarding the status of the Supplemental Health Insurance Conversion Credit (SHICC) program.  The letter states that there are no provisions in Act 10 that would impact SHICC benefits and at this point there are no provisions in the 2011-13 biennial budget that would impact SHICC benefits.

Weblinks:

* Budget Repair Bill FAQ:   http://www.wisconsin.edu/hr/benefits/repairbillfaq.pdf

* High level two page summary of the impact of the legislation:  http://www.wisconsin.edu/hr/benefits/budgetsummary.pdf

* Main resource page on the budget is available at:  http://www.wisconsin.edu/hr/benefits/budgetbill.htm

We will continue to provide you with updated information as it becomes available.  Please contact Human Resources at hr@uwgb.edu or ext. 2390 with questions.

Annual Benefits and WRS Statements

NOTICE TO ALL WISCONSIN RETIREMENT SYSTEM (WRS) EMPLOYEES

The 2011 UW Staff Benefit Statement AND the 2010 ETF Annual Statement of Benefits (WRS) Issued 2011 are now available in your My UW System Portal.   You will find them in the bottom section titled “Benefit Information” on the Statements tab.

You will find a link to the Explanation document for both Statements located in the same section on your Portal.   Both statements are issued every April and provide an overview of your WRS account and your benefit plan enrollments, level of coverage, projected annual deduction costs, and the projected annual UW Contribution.  Both the (current) employee and the UW contribution amounts are projected for the calendar year and are based on the assumption that your salary and benefit costs remain the same for the remainder of the year.  The benefit statement basically reflects the traditional benefit plans.

Please contact Human Resources at hr@uwgb.edu or ext. 2390 with questions.

UW Credit Union Budget Planning Presentations

UW-Green Bay employees are invited to attend the following budget planning sessions presented by the UW Credit Union:

Take Control: Budgeting 101

Thursday, May 5th

Noon to 1:00 p.m.

University Union – 1965 Room

Attend this seminar and you will be able to take control of your spending and learn basic budgeting skills—and how to stick to them. You will learn tips on budgeting for your regular bills and saving for emergencies.

At this free seminar, you’ll learn how to:

* Identify where your money goes

* Track personal spending

* Set realistic short and long-term financial goals

* Develop a personal spending plan to gain control of your finances

 

Build Your Own Budget Workshop

Monday, May 16th

Noon to 1:00 p.m.

University Union – Phoenix Room B

This invite-only workshop is for those people who have recently attended our Budgeting 101 seminar. The workshop is designed to give you individual attention and help setting up a personalized budget. Bring along your monthly purchases, expenses and savings goals to work through your individual spending plan.

UW Credit Union experts will show you how to:

* Create a spending plan

* Track personal spending

* Set realistic financial goals

* Stop spending “leaks”

* Save money for the things you want and need

 

If you would like to attend these presentations, or have questions, please e-mail hr@uwgb.edu or call 465-2390.  (Please note that seating is limited to the first 36 people who register for the May 5th presentation due to room size.)

Personal Budget Planning Presentations

To help with the upcoming changes to our personal finances, employees are invited to attend a personal budget planning presentation.  Ken Knauf, Lecturer in Finance, Accounting, and Statistics for the Austin E. Cofrin School of Business at UW-Green Bay, will be presenting “Making Your Own Personal Budget.”  Ken is a licensed C.P.A. and has been teaching for over 20 years.  Please mark your calendar to attend one of his insightful presentations:

Tuesday, April 5th

1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Phoenix Room B

Thursday, April 7th

1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Phoenix Room B

If you would like to attend, please R.S.V.P. to hr@uwgb.edu by Monday, April 4th and include which day you will be attending.  Please contact Human Resources at hr@uwgb.edu or ext. 2390 with questions.

UW Credit Union Personal Loans and Financial Services

As we may be considering how to adjust our personal finances as a result of the upcoming changes in the state’s budget that will impact our take home pay, the UW Credit Union is offering various personal loan options.  Please see UW Credit Union Financial Resources Guide for additional information on loan options and other services offered.

Financial services offered by the UW Credit Union that can help individuals manage their finances include:

* Confidential credit consultations

* Mortgage loan modification programs

* Financial education

* Loan payment extension programs

* Access to smaller dollar loans with low monthly payments

* Limited-term personal loans

Our UW Credit Union branch is located in the University Union, Room 201.  If you have any questions, please contact Muriea Jaeckels at mjaeckels@uwcu.org or 1-800-533-6773 ext. 1801.