Uncategorized – Page 15

Employee Appreciation Week Winners Announced

As part of Employee Appreciation Week, celebrated May 8 – 12, employees could register to win daily preferred parking and free lunch with campus leadership. And the winners are… Drumroll please…

Lunch with Leadership

Tiffany Perez Ferrando
Crystal Williams
Mai Lo Lee
Dolly Jackson
Nelson Pouliot

Daily Perferred Parking

Monday, May 8, 2017

Tracy Van Erem
Andrea Felmer
Tiffany Perez Ferrando

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Loretta Rafter
Cindy Olson
Linda Peacock-Landrum

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Aaron Maternowski
Joy Ruzek
Holly Keener

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Jenny Charapata
Lauri Welhouse
Hannah Fameree

Friday, May 12, 2017

Amy Bartelme
Patti Cole
Ryan Stewart

Congratulations to all the winners!

“There’s No UWGB without U!”

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. At UW-Green Bay, students reported overall positive perceptions of the school climate in dealing with sexual harassment and working toward assault prevention, response and treatment, although University officials acknowledged that there is always room for improvement.

The university maintains a Sexual Misconduct Policy along with a dedicated Title IX and Clery website devoted to resources related to these areas.

For more information on sexual assault prevention and treatment among the student population, please see the Inside UW-Green Bay News Article.

Couch to 10K – Bellin Run Lunch ‘n Learn held on April 5th

Thank you to Nate Vandervest, Running Coach with Bellin and UW-Green Bay alumni, for presenting a very interesting and helpful lunch ‘n learn on Couch to 10K – Bellin Run, on April 5th!

He showed us the Bellin Run training plan, which includes a calendar outlining runs and walks of varying length and intensity leading up to June 10th (Bellin Run). Please click on the following link to view the training plan: http://bellinrun.com/uploads/bellin/BR17_TrainingGuide.pdf Surprisingly, he said that most people train too hard, which can not only cause injuries, but also increase the amount of time it takes for your body to get ready for the race. Rest days (as shown on the training plan) are very important, and actually help your body.

Nate also discussed common running-related injuries and how to prevent them. We shared some past injuries we or our family members incurred. He explained why the injuries happened, and how we can help our bodies heal and avoid future injuries.

If you would like to participate in the Bellin Run as part of the UW-Green Bay team, there is still time! Please sign up by May 1st: https://blog.uwgb.edu/hr/2017/02/bellin-run/

Human Resources System (HRS) Outage Started February 22, 2017 Employee Access Is Affected

Employees do not have access to their online timesheet, earnings statements and other related documents and services during a UW Human Resources System (HRS) outage that started on February 22, 2017 at noon. This outage will continue until a to be determined time on Monday, February 27.

The following self-service features that employees access through the MyUW portals, will be unavailable during the outage:

Online timesheet
Absence reporting
Web Clock
Benefits Self-service (‘e-Benefits’)
Updates to personal information
Access to electronic earnings statements, tax statements (W-2, 1042-S, etc.), leave statements and other HR, Payroll and Benefits documents.

The rest of the portal, with the exception of the HRS System related features and documents, will be available during the HRS outage.

Once the HRS System is upgraded, employees will experience the same functionality that they are currently accustomed to. The upgrade will have minimal impact on system users.

The HRS System manages UW Human Resources, Payroll and Benefits processing for all UW System institutions. The system is currently running on PeopleSoft’s Human Capital Management software version 9.0. The upgrade will move the system to version 9.2.

Welcome Myunghee Jun!

Myunghee Jun was welcomed as a new Assistant Professor of Nursing on January 17, 2017.

Prior to coming to UW-Green Bay, Myunghee was a visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for 5 years. She has a Ph.D. in Nursing Science from Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea.

Myunghee volunteers at the House of Peace and Korean Community in Milwaukee. She enjoys going to concerts with family, biking, and reading. She is married and has one son. Myunghee’s hometown is Seoul, South Korea.

Welcome, Myunghee!

FLSA conversions on hold following judge’s injunction

As previously communicated, a U.S. District Court judge from Texas issued a preliminary injunction postponing the effective date of the U.S. Department of Labor’s overtime threshold increase. Based upon this injunction, planned and previously communicated employee conversions from exempt to nonexempt status and other position adjustments have been put on hold. More information, including some helpful FAQ’s can be found below:

What happened?

After hearing arguements from the DOL and 21 states/50 or more business groups that had challenged the DOL’s change, judge Amos L. Mazzant issued a preliminary injunction against the changes.

Is this a final decision that permanently puts an end to the rule?

No. The overtime rule could still be implemented later down the road.

A preliminary injunction isn’t permanent, as it simply preserves the existing overtime rule—which was last updated in 2004—until the court has a chance to review the merits of the case objecting to the revisions to the regulation.

However, the revised regulation may face an uphill battle: The judge wouldn’t have granted the preliminary injunction unless, among other things, he thought the challenge had a substantial likelihood of succeeding.

What’s next?

Employees and supervisors have been notified today and further information will be communicated as it becomes available. Supervisor and Employee question and answer sessions have been scheduled and communicated to affected parties.

For further questions, please contact Christine Olson at olsonch@uwgb.edu or (920) 465-2846.

FLSA Injunction Granted

A preliminary injunction has been issued to postpone the effective date of the U.S. Department of Labor’s overtime threshold increase. More information on the impacts of this injunction will be forthcoming. As soon as we have more information on the impact this will have on our employee population and determine appropriate next steps we will be in touch.

For further information, please see this article from the Society of Human Resources Management.

Important Year End Leave Information for University Staff

As we near the end of the 2016 calendar year, University Staff employees are reminded to review their leave balances.

Vacation Carry Over
Normally, vacation time must be used within the calendar year during which it is earned. Employees may carry over any unused earned vacation into the following calendar year. Any vacation carried over from the previous calendar year must be used by December 31 of the following calendar year.

The Human Resources System (HRS) will automatically take any vacation absences entered first from carry over balances before taking from the current year’s allocations.

Compensatory Time
Compensatory time is able to be carried into the following calendar year if approved by the immediate supervisor. If carried over, unused compensatory time must be used by April 30^th of the following year or it will be paid out on the pay period that includes May 1^st.

Personal and Legal Holidays
Personal and Legal holiday hours may not be carried into 2017 and if not used by December 31, 2016 will be forfeited.

Annual Leave Conversion Option (Banked Leave or Sabbatical)
Forms for all employees eligible for the Annual Leave Conversion Option are now available on the My UW System Portal, under the Time and Absence section, Leave Reports tab. All completed forms must be submitted to Human Resources no later than Friday, December 2, 2016.

Please contact the Payroll & Benefits office at 920-465-2390 or payrollandbenefits@uwgb.edu if you have any questions.

Updated I-9 Form Released

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published the revised version of the Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. The updated form includes a separate Instructions Page for Form I-9.

By January 22, 2017 employers must use only the new version, dated 11/14/2016 N.

Among the changes in the new version, Section 1 asks for “other last names used” rather than “other names used,” and streamlines certification for certain foreign nationals.

Other changes include:

The addition of prompts to ensure information is entered correctly.
The ability to enter multiple preparers and translators.
A dedicated area for including additional information rather than having to add it in the margins.
A supplemental page for the preparer/translator.

The instructions have been separated from the form, in line with other USCIS forms, and include specific instructions for completing each field.

The revised Form I-9 is also easier to complete on a computer. Enhancements include drop-down lists and calendars for filling in dates, on-screen instructions for each field, easy access to the full instructions, and an option to clear the form and start over. When the employer prints the completed form, a quick response (QR) code is automatically generated, which can be read by most QR readers.

For questions on the revised Form I-9, please contact HR at (920) 465-2390 or hr@uwgb.edu.

FLSA Updated Threshold Implementation- December 1, 2016

Various sessions were held earlier this month to communicate the implications of the U.S. Department of Labor revised provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) salary threshold. For reference, both sessions can be accessed below. Below is a recap of several action items to consider as the December 1 implementation date approaches:

Supervisors (Recorded Supervisor Session):

Provide employees with expectations for time reporting and work hours.
Be aware of the bi-weekly payroll schedule and the dates that both timesheets are due and hours need to be approved.
Define pre-approval process for overtime/comp time. Understand what your departmental stance is for OT/Comp.
Review guidelines for comp time (UW-Green Bay Compensatory Time Policy).
Ensure compensatory time doesn’t inhibit vacation/personal holiday use.
Evaluate work responsibilities if necessary and determine any adjustments that need to be made.
Discuss and define for your department:
- Standard work hours and expectations
- Work at home- what is acceptable and/or expected
- Break and meal periods
- Training, travel time, work while traveling
- Volunteering

Employees (Recorded Employee Session):

Direct Deposit– if you currently have multiple accounts, you may need to adjust the amount/percentage of payroll being deposited now on a biweekly basis.
W-4 withholdings– if you currently have certain amounts setup for withholding, you may want to consider revising for the updated biweekly payroll period.
TSA 403(b) Plans– elections that were setup to take monthly will still be taken biweekly unless a new Salary Reduction Agreement is completed.
Wisconsin Deferred Compensation- elections that were setup to take monthly will still be taken biweekly unless a change request is completed or by contacting WDC directly at 1-877-457-9327.
Any employee garnishments will be reviewed and re-distributed by the UW Service Center.

Our office will be sending out detailed instructions on the timesheet entry and approval process as we get closer to December 1^st.

If you have questions, please contact Human Resources at (920) 465-2390 or hr@uwgb.edu. If you are interested in a meeting regarding specific situations related to your department, please contact Melissa Nash at (920) 465-2103 or nashm@uwgb.edu.