Category: Payroll & Benefits

The Annual Benefits Enrollment (ABE) period is September 30 – October 25, 2024. This is your opportunity to enroll in or change your benefits and dependents for the upcoming calendar year. Changes made during ABE are effective January 1, 2025. Below are the highlights for 2025.

State Group Health Insurance
The plan designs (health plan and high deductible health plan), copayments, and coinsurance will remain the same. Employee premiums for all plan designs will increase.

The annual deductibles for the High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) will increase to $1,650 for individual coverage and $3,300 for family coverage to remain compliant with the IRS minimum deductible requirement.

Dean Health Plan Prevea360 West & Mayo Clinic will be renamed Dean Health Plan Medica West & Mayo Clinic starting January 1, 2025. If you are currently enrolled in a plan with Dean Health Plan Prevea360 West & Mayo Clinic, you will automatically be enrolled with Dean Health Plan Medica West & Mayo Clinic with the same plan design and dependents unless you make a change during ABE.

All other health insurance carriers will continue to be offered for 2025.

Uniform and Preventive Dental Insurance Plans
These plans provide coverage for preventive dental services, most basic dental services, and orthodontia services (up to age 19). Employee premiums for Uniform Dental, individual coverage, will increase. Employee premiums for all other dental insurance plans, and coverage levels will remain the same.

Supplemental Dental Insurance Plans
The Select and Select Plus plans provide coverage for major and restorative dental services. The Select Plus plan covers orthodontia services for children and adults. Employee premiums for the supplemental dental insurance plans will remain the same.

Vision Insurance Plan
The vision insurance plan provides coverage for an annual eye exam and materials (contacts and glasses). Employee premiums will remain the same.

Individual & Family Life Insurance
During this enrollment period only, there will be an enhanced enrollment opportunity offered for employee coverage for the Individual & Family Life Insurance Plan. All eligible employees may enroll in employee coverage up to $100,000 or increase employee coverage by up to $100,000 (up to the plan maximum), without proof of good health (evidence of insurability).

A new Accidental Death & Dismemberment benefit equal to your employee, spouse, and child coverage will automatically be included at no additional cost.

The premium rate for spouse coverage will decrease. The premium rate for employee and child coverage will remain the same.

Accident Insurance Plan
This plan provides a lump sum payment to you for specific injuries due to an accident. This plan includes an accidental death & dismemberment component. Employee premiums will remain the same.

Flexible Spending Accounts
Below are the annual contribution maximums for 2025:

• • Healthcare and Limited Purpose Flexible Spending Account (FSA): $3,200 (increase)\
  • Dependent Day Care Account: $2,500 or $5,000 (depending on tax filing status)

The Healthcare and Limited Purpose FSA carryover limit will increase to $640. To be eligible for carryover from 2024 to 2025, you must:

• • Have a minimum balance of $50 in your FSA at the end of the run-out period (March 31, 2025)
    OR
  • Enroll for the 2025 plan year with a minimum contribution amount to your FSA of $50

Carryover does not apply to the Dependent Day Care Account.

Health Savings Account
The below maximum contribution amounts for 2025 include the increased annual employer contribution amounts ($828 for individual coverage and $1,650 for family coverage).

• • Individual: $4,300 (increase)
  • Family: $8,550 (increase)

All remaining funds in your Health Savings Account immediately roll over year to year.

Next Steps
Some universities will host onsite benefits fairs during ABE to help you understand the benefits for 2025. Check the benefits fairs schedule to see if your university will be hosting a benefits fair. Then, mark your calendar to attend!

Watch for emails in September for more information about ABE and actions required.

Source: Universities of Wisconsin Office of Human Resources

Faculty, Academic Staff and Limited Appointees (who have or had an active leave-eligible appointment) must submit monthly leave reports for each appointment, whether or not leave is used. Employees are required to report leave on or before the day the leave is taken, or if no leave is taken, to enter a “No Leave Take” at the end of the month.

Missing leave reports must be submitted by September 30, 2024, for fiscal year July 2023 through June 2024.

Failure to submit leave reports will result in a permanent reduction of sick leave hours. Even one unsubmitted leave report will reduce an employee’s sick leave balance resulting in less sick leave available to use if needed.

Long term, a reduction of sick leave hours will result in fewer hours available for the Sick Leave Credit Conversion Program which allows employees to pay for health insurance in retirement.

How do I Know if I have Missing Leave Reports?

Employees with missing leave reports receive email reminders every two weeks listing their missing reports. Employees may sign into my.wisconsin.edu to check for missing leave reports at any time. UW-Madison employees can also access from the MyUW portal (my⁠.wisc⁠.edu).

To check for missing leave reports, access the Review Missing Leave Reports tipsheet on the Time and Absence Help page.

Policies

The following sick leave policies are available for reference:

• UW System Administrative Policy 1212 (formerly BN 3) Sick Leave (section 6.G.III.1 and VII.1)
• UW-Madison Sick Leave Policy (section VIII and XI)

If you have questions, reach out to your Payroll/Leave Administrator.

 

Source: Universities of Wisconsin Office of Human Resources

If you have a child in college that you cover as a dependent on your State Group Health Insurance plan, prepare for the possibility that your child needs care while they are away. Here are some tips about how services will be covered if/when they need to seek care.

Regardless of whether they attend school within or outside of your health plans service area, they should seek care for most services only from in-network providers.

However, if there is an emergency or urgent care situation, they can seek care outside of your health plans service area and the services will be covered at the in-network level. After an emergency or urgent care visit, in most cases, they must return to your health plans service area for follow-up care.

For additional information, including about mental health services, contact your health insurance carrier, or review the College Students and Health Benefits article.

 

Source: Universities of Wisconsin Office of Human Resources

Fidelity participant fees in the Universities of Wisconsin 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Program (SRP) have been reduced effective July 1, 2024.

Using benchmarking information, the UW 403(b) SRP successfully negotiated a reduction in Fidelity’s recordkeeping fees by $4.00 annually per tier. The change will be reflected on September 30, 2024, statements.

Both TIAA and Fidelity have guaranteed their fees through December 31, 2026. The new Fidelity fees are detailed below.

Account Balance (as of the last day of the previous quarter)	Quarterly	Annual
< $5,000	$1.00	$4.00
$5,000 to $50,000	$6.00	$24.00
$50,000.01 to $100,000	$13.50	$54.00
$100,000.01 to $200,000	$23.50	$94.00
>$200,000	$36.00	$144.00

 

How to Change your Contribution Amount
Follow the instructions on the View and Update Benefit Savings tip sheet to adjust your contributions. Remember to monitor your contributions on your earnings statements.

Not Contributing to the UW 403(b) SRP yet?
Get started today! You can make either pre-tax or Roth (after-tax) contributions or a combination of both. Go to the UW 403(b) SRP web page to find out how to enroll. Watch the on-demand webinar SRP: Investing in Your Financial Future: Intro to the 403(b) Program to learn more about the program.

 

Source: Universities of Wisconsin Office of Trust Funds

Faculty, Academic Staff and Limited Appointees with a 12-month appointment have an annual opportunity to bank unused vacation after completing ten fiscal years (July 1 through June 30) of continuous service. The deadline to bank unused vacation allocated in fiscal year 2023-2024 is September 30, 2024.

Vacation and carryover balance hours that are eligible to be banked may be viewed beginning July 1. The Banked Leave Conversion Tipsheet includes instructions for viewing your leave balances and banking unused vacation.

How Much Vacation Can You Bank?

Years of Continuous Service	Hours That Can be Banked *
First 10 Years	0
10+ to 25 Years	40
25 Years and Over	80

* The amount of vacation that can be banked is prorated for part-time employees.

There is no limit to the total number of hours (balance) that can be retained in your Banked Leave account. Once vacation is banked the hours do not expire.

When Can Banked Leave Be Used?

With your supervisor’s approval, banked leave hours may be used whenever you are allowed to use paid leave.

What If You Terminate Employment?

Unused banked leave hours will be paid to you at your wage rate at termination.

Policies:

• UW System Administrative Policy 1210 (formerly BN1) Vacation
• UW-Madison Vacation Policy (UW-5052)

If you have questions after reviewing the available information, reach out to your Payroll/Leave Contact.

Source: Universities of Wisconsin Office of Human Resources

If you are a nine-month Faculty, academic staff, limited appointee, student assistant, or employee-in-training who had summer prepay insurance premiums deducted from your spring, 2024 paychecks, and you have had an employment or family status change, reach out to your benefits contact for information on how your insurance benefits and deductions may be affected.

What are Summer Prepay Deductions?

Summer prepay insurance premiums are deducted from spring paychecks to cover the cost of continuing insurance coverage through the summer months (i.e., contract break) and are in addition to regular biweekly insurance premium deductions.

What if Your Employment/Family Status Changes Over the Summer?

Employment Status: If your summer or fall 2024 employment status changes after summer prepays were deducted, you may receive deduction refunds. If you will be terminating employment and will not return in fall 2024, reach out to your benefits contact to determine your employment termination date and insurance coverage end dates.

Family Status: If you experience a family status change such as marriage, birth of a child, or divorce, reach out to your benefits contact for information on how your insurance benefits may be affected.

Note: Nine-month employees’ insurance premium deductions will resume on the September 5, 2024, paycheck.

Review the Universities of Wisconsin Employee Benefits Summer Prepay Insurance Premiums web page for information on:

• Employee eligibility for summer prepay deductions
• Which insurance plans have summer prepay deductions
• How employment or family status changes may affect deductions

Questions
If you have questions after reviewing the web page, reach out to your benefits contact.

Source: Universities of Wisconsin Office of Human Resources

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

• • UW System Administrative Policy 1221: Paid Parental Leave
  • UW Paid Parental Leave FAQs

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

Effective June 11, 2024, Universities of Wisconsin employees will notice a different look when accessing Human Resources (HR), Benefits and Payroll information. This transition will prepare Universities of Wisconsin users for the July 1, 2025, implementation of the new Workday Human Resources System.

What Do You Need to Know?

• The web address (my.wisconsin.edu) will remain unchanged.
• All current HR, Benefits and Payroll content will still be available, but might have some small navigation changes.
• Resources that are not HR, Benefits and Payroll related, such as ShopUW+, Zoom, etc., will be available on a campus specific dashboard. This dashboard can also be accessed from the Campus Dashboard tile in HRS.
• The new page will now be referred to as HRS instead of the MyUW portal.

Where Will I Find…

• Timesheet, request absence, absence balances
  • Time and Absence tile
• Direct Deposit, tax information, earning statements
  • Payroll tile
• Benefits summary, WRS Statement of Benefits, dependent benefit information, Employee Assistance Program information
  • Benefits and Well-Being tile
• Salary Reduction Agreement (403(b), Telecommuting Agreement, HR Outside Activity Form
  • Forms tile
• Manager Time and Absence Dashboard, Approvals
  • Manager Self Service (click the drop down in the upper left corner to select Manager Self Service)
• Update and review contact information like address and emergency contact
  • My Information tile
• Important new articles
  • HR, Payroll, and Benefit News

Getting Help

Help resources will be updated to reflect the change and can be found:

• In HRS by clicking the three dots menu and selecting help.
• The Employees and Manager section of the UW-Shared Services website

Contact serviceoperations@uwss.wisconsin.edu with any questions.

Source: UW-Shared Services