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.

Benefits Enrollment and Change Period

Annual Benefit Enrollment and Change Period October 3 – 28, 2011

There are important changes to benefits for 2012 that may require action to be taken during the Benefit Enrollment and Change Period that begins October 3, 2011 and ends October 28, 2011 for all participating plans.  All changes made during this period will be effective January 1, 2012.  Detailed information is available on the UW System Benefit Enrollment and Change website www.uwservice.wisc.edu/2012, as well as the fall enrollment flyer: http://www.uwgb.edu/hr/documents/FallOpenEnrollmentFlyer.pdf.

New this October – Make Your Benefit Elections Online:  This the first year that we are eligible to make our benefit elections online through HRS self-service.  Beginning on October 3rd, we may use self-service by logging into My UW System and going to the Benefit Information module and clicking on the Open Enrollment link.  Please refer to the Open Enrollment Quick Start Guide and the Open Enrollment Knowledge Base document for additional information.

If elections are not made through HRS self-service, employees will need to submit paper applications to the UW-Green Bay Human Resources office.

The Following Benefit Plans Will Offer Enrollment and/or Change Opportunities October 3 – October 28

  • State Group Health Insurance – see the It’s Your Choice Decision and Reference Guides for details:  http://etf.wi.gov/members/benefits_state_health.htm
  • Dental Wisconsin Dental Insurance
  • EPIC Benefits+ (graduated dental benefits if you enroll during special enrollment)
  • VSP Vision Insurance
  • Anthem DentalBlue Dental Insurance (change period only)
  • UW Employees, Inc. Life Insurance
  • Individual and Family Group Life Insurance (annual increase period only – no new enrollments)
  • Employee Reimbursement Account (ERA) Program – you cannot use HRS self-service to enroll in ERA – you must use Fringe Benefit Management Company’s online enrollment process available at: http://www.myfbmc.com

Important Benefits Changes for 2012

  • State Group Health Insurance – true open enrollment period (can enroll if not currently enrolled); implementation of 10% coinsurance for non-preventive services (up to an annual maximum)
  • Anthem DentalBlue: change period only – no new enrollments allowed for 2012.  Plan will no longer be available in 2013.
  • EPIC Benefits+: removed excess medical benefit; added Surgery & Hospital benefit
  • Change to Adult Child Eligibility: adult children will be eligible for coverage under health, vision, dental and Benefits+ until the end of the month in which they turn age 26 (they were previously eligible until the end of the month in which they turned 27).
  • Employee Reimbursement Account (ERA) program:  the coinsurance that you pay under State Group Health Insurance for eligible services qualifies for reimbursement under the ERA program.
  • Change to Coverage End Date:  coverage under all benefit plans, except State Group Life Insurance, will end at the end of the month in which you terminate employment or retire.

Some of the Actions That May Be Taken During the Benefit Enrollment and Change Period Include:

  • Change health insurance plans and enroll in health insurance if not currently enrolled.
  • Change from single to family health insurance or add additional eligible family members to family health insurance.
  • Enroll in plans that have an enrollment opportunity.
  • Increase Individual and Family Life Insurance coverage if already enrolled.
  • Add or remove vision insurance from EPIC Benefits+ if already enrolled.
  • Cancel health, vision, dental or EPIC Benefits+ coverage for 2012.
  • Remove eligible dependent children ages 19-25 or a domestic partner from benefit plans.

Do not delay.   All benefit elections must be submitted by 4:30p.m., Friday, October 28, 2011.  Remember, the Benefit Enrollment and Change Period is typically the only time during the year when you are eligible to make benefit plan changes unless you have a life event (marriage, birth, divorce…) that allows you to add or change benefits.

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

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.

Health Insurance Changes

The implementation of the provisions of Wisconsin Act 10 will affect employees who are enrolled in the State Group Health Insurance program.  Please review “Changes Coming to State Group Health Insurance” http://www.wisconsin.edu/hr/benefits/ins/sgh2012.pdf to learn how you will be affected by these changes.

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

HRS Reports

Attention Student Supervisors:

Open Lab Hours – Reporting in HRS

If you are interested in learning how to generate reports in HRS relating to your student employees, please stop in during the following open labs.

     * Thursday, July 7
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
IS 1004

     * Friday, July 8
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
IS 1004

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

Act 10 Update

Below is communication from the Department of Administration’s Office regarding implementation of Wisconsin Act 10.  Please note the underlined/bolded sentences regarding deductions to paychecks and that health insurance premium deductions and WRS deductions will not be collected retroactively.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

DOA Media Line: 608-266-7362

Secretary Huebsch Statement on Implementation of 2011 Wisconsin Act 10

MADISON –Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch today released the following statement regarding the implementation of the budget repair bill:

“The Department is moving forward with plans to implement Act 10. In the coming days, I will be working with my staff to set a timeline and develop a plan for increasing state employee pension and health insurance premium contributions. Based on initial discussions, the soonest that the change could appear on state employee paychecks is late August.”

“With regard to local government employees, I will also be setting a timeline for pension contributions. However, the timing of changes to the health insurance premium contributions of local government employees will depend on when existing contracts expire and the status of any current contract negotiations.”

We will not be applying the provisions of Act 10 retroactively.”

http://thewheelerreport.com/releases/June11/0615/0615doa.pdf

Below is an e-mail message received from Alan Crist, Associate Vice President for Human Resources at UW System Administration, regarding the recent events surrounding Wisconsin Act 10.

As you have probably heard, the Wisconsin Supreme Court yesterday issued a decision that overturned the injunction that had been placed on the implementation of Wisconsin Act 10. The law will become effective following publication by the Secretary of State, which may be by the end of this month. We are awaiting clarification on implementation dates regarding increased contributions to the pension plan and health insurance premiums, as well as elimination of union dues deductions, and will pass that along as soon as we find out. We have contacted OSER and advised them that our HRS leadership will need to be given as much advance time as possible to make the transition as smooth as it can be.

Act 10 will also significantly affect or eliminate collective bargaining rights for university employees. The Faculty and Academic Staff Labor Relations Act (FASLRA) that gave rights to collectively bargain to faculty and academic staff was repealed in its entirety. The unions that were formed under the law will of course still have the right to be ‘associations’ of individuals; however, those groups will no longer have the statutory right to collectively bargain with the UW System. Shared governance is not impacted by the repeal of FASLRA and all practices and procedures that were in place before FASLRA are in effect.

The classified employees and graduate assistants who are represented by unions that were formed under the State Employment Labor Relations Act (SELRA) have had collective bargaining agreements in place for a number of years. Extensions of those agreements have ceased, but we will still abide by the letter of those agreements in a ‘status quo’ period until a compensation plan for represented employees is developed by OSER.  We do not have a clear sense from OSER how long it will be before the represented employee compensation plan is ready.  We will be able to provide input to OSER in development of the plan and will let you know when it may be issued. SELRA unions will continue to represent employees provided those unions go through an annual certification election in which 51% of the bargaining unit elect to continue that respective union as its exclusive representative. The unions that successfully go through a certification election will then have the right to bargain wages alone, and no other terms or conditions of employment. Once it is developed, the represented employee compensation plan, mentioned above, along with existing, applicable statute and administrative code, will cover all other terms and conditions of employment.

Please contact Human Resources at ext. 2390 or hr@uwgb.edu if you have any questions.