HR Connect

We all agree that saving is a good idea. That’s the easy part. Figuring out how to manage your expenses so you can save, or save more? That may not be so easy. America Saves Week is your opportunity to commit—or recommit—to saving for today and for later in retirement. Saving is more than just a good idea. It’s possible!

America Saves is a national campaign that encourages individuals and families to assess their savings and take financial action. This is a great opportunity to expand your financial knowledge and set some new savings goals.

The University of Wisconsin is a partner in the America Saves campaign. In the upcoming weeks be on the lookout for in-person workshops and interactive webinars, videos, handy tips and information on saving and financial wellness. Look forward to more information as we encourage savers – or potential savers – just like you to set a goal, make a plan, and save automatically.

Pursuing your financial goals, that’s what saving—and America Saves Week—is about.

Source: UW Service Center

The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) has scheduled additional “Group Appointment” retirement seminars in Green Bay for March.  An afternoon seminar is scheduled from  to 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM on Wednesday, March 22, 2017; a morning seminar is scheduled from 9:00 AM to 11:30 on Thursday, March 23, 2017 .  The seminars are being held at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College – Green Bay.  Registration is required, and can be done by calling 1-877-533-5020.  Directions and room number are provided when one registers for a seminar.

 To attend a retirement session, a Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) member is required to have their retirement packet in hand upon arrival to the session.  It is certainly NOT too late for a member interested in attending to request a packet.  One can do so by calling the ETF call center at 1-877-533-5020.  (IMPORTANT:  Getting a retirement packet from ETF does NOT obligate one to retire.  The member simply has their application and packet in case they do decide to retire sometime over the coming year.)

 Any WRS member who is within one year of reaching their minimum retirement age (age 55 for non-protective job categories, age 50 for protective categories) or older is welcome to contact ETF to order a retirement packet.  Requesting a packet can be done while registering for the retirement seminar.

 The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds has tailored Group Appointment retirement seminars for members planning (or considering) retirement over the next several years.  Topics covered include the WRS retirement pension, health insurance, life insurance, return-to-work rules, etc.  The Group Appointment seminars offer a WRS member the opportunity to ask questions of knowledgeable, experienced ETF staff.

 To see a listing of upcoming ETF retirement presentations and group appointment sessions in Northeast Wisconsin, you can use this link: http://etf.wi.gov/members/northeast.htm            

You can also receive automatic e-mail updates of upcoming retirement presentations and group appointment sessions by registering at this link: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIDETF/subscriber/new?topic_id=WIDETF_24

The 2016 W-2 Wage and Tax Statements are now available online in the MyUW portal. Your statement is located under the Tax Statements tab in the Payroll Information app. Paper copies of the W-2 will be mailed via U.S. mail and postmarked by January 31, 2017.

A printed Form W-2 from the portal is a valid document for tax filing. However, if you are filing a paper tax statement, you must write your Social Security number or Individual Tax Payer Identification number in the ‘a’ field at the top of each Form W-2 section. In order to increase the security of sensitive information online, any U.S. Social Security or Tax Payer Identification number has been removed from the online statements.

Additional Tax Forms to be Distributed

Some employees will also receive additional tax forms from the University (Examples: 1095-C, 1042-S, Fellowship/Scholarship Letter, 1099-Misc Form).

• The 1095-C Form will be mailed via U.S. mail to employees in early February and available on the portal by mid-February.  All UW employees who were full-time for some or all months of 2016 will have a 1095-C form to document that health insurance coverage was offered to them.  Employees will need the 1095-C Form as part of their documentation requirement when filing 2016 taxes.
• The 1042-S Forms will be available in the Glacier Online Tax Compliance System for those who chose the option of electronic delivery; others will have them mailed to their home address.  The 1042-S forms will be posted on the portal sometime in March.
• The Fellowship/Scholarship Letter and 1099-Misc Forms will be mailed to your home address.

Filing Your Taxes

Please remember to use your W-2 Form, not your final 2016 Earnings Statement, to file your taxes. Some employees have had adjustments made to their 2016 taxable earnings since the last 2016 payroll was paid. These employees may have an additional earnings statement generated reflecting these adjustments. These adjustments will already be reflected on the W-2 Form that the employee receives.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will begin accepting returns on January 23, 2017 for the 2016 tax filing season. To minimize your chance of a fraudulent return being processed using your Social Security number (SSN), or Individual Tax Payer Identification number (ITIN), you may want to consider filing a return as early as you are able and once you have received all necessary tax forms. More information is available on the IRS website.

Late February HR System Outage Will Affect Availability of Tax Forms on Portal

Please note that the UW’s Human Resource System (HRS) will have a multi-day outage towards the end of February in order to implement a technical upgrade of HRS.  During this outage all electronic statements on the portal, including the electronic copies of all tax forms, will be unavailable.  We anticipate that statement access will be restored when HRS comes back on-line on the morning of Monday, February 27^th.  If you need an electronic copy of a statement during the outage, please contact Human Resources during normal business hours; we will be able to retrieve copies of your statements on your behalf.

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