The SLU Human Resource Office Newsletter



October 2006 Volume 4

The Southeastern Human Resources Office Newsletter

HUMAN RESOURCES HIGHLIGHTS

COMPREHENSIVE HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICES

|Contents |

|Crisis Leave Pool |Outside Dual Employment |

|Benefits News |Spring 2007 Employment Information for GA’s |

|Beneficiaries |Training |

|LASERS on line access |Comprehensive Public Training Program |

|TRICARE Supplemental Medical Plan |Coping with Holiday Stress |

|Open Enrollment ORPs |New Employee Orientation |

|Open Enrollment for Cafeteria Plans |Training Database |

|Crescent Dental & Vision Annual Enrollment |On-Line Programs Available to Faculty & Staff |

|Overage Dependents | |

|Workers Compensation | |

|Family and Medical Leave | |

CLASSIFIED CRISIS LEAVE POOL

Our Crisis Leave Pool is very low. This program is a means of providing paid leave to an eligible classified employee who has experienced a serious illness or injury to themselves or an eligible family member. Contributions to the Crisis Leave Pool are strictly voluntary. An employee donating to the pool may not designate a particular employee to receive donated time. Please review the full policy on the Controller’s Office website at:

To donate to the leave pool, the employee must complete a leave donation form and designate the leave as a “Donation to the Crisis Leave Pool”. This form is also located on the Controller’s Office website at:



B E N E F I T S N E W S

KEEP YOUR BENEFICIARIES CURRENT

Life-changing events such as marriage, children, divorce, and death will change your beneficiary coverage needs. Unfortunately, many individuals fail to update this information, creating unnecessary hardships for those left behind. To ensure your wishes are met, be sure to check your beneficiary designations for your retirement and life insurance policies annually and make changes as needed.

LASERS

Members are reminded that they can access their retirement-related information through the LASERS website. You will have access to your retirement information anytime. To obtain your pin number complete the form at: lasers.state.la.us/projects/pinrequest. Your pin number will be mailed to you.

TRICARE ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES

The Office of Group Benefits has contracted with the Association and Society Insurance Corporation (ASI) to administer a Supplemental Insurance plan for certain TRICARE and CHAMPVA eligible employees that will significantly reduce the cost of their coverage. This special program, known as the TRICARE Supplemental medical plan, may be available to you and your eligible dependents. The State pays the premium for you and your eligible family members to enroll.

If you are eligible for health insurance coverage under the Office of Group Benefits health plans and are also eligible for TRICARE or CHAMPVA, this is an opportunity for you and your eligible dependents to enroll in the new supplemental plan. Eligible employees include the following:

• Military Retirees of the uniformed services, their spouses under age 65, and unmarried dependent children up to age 21, or 23 if a full-time student

• Spouses, surviving spouses, some former spouses of Active Duty or Military Retirees, under age 65 and unmarried dependent children age 21, or 23 if a full-time student.

• Retired National Guardsmen or Reservists between the ages of 60 and 65 with 20 years of creditable service and their spouses and eligible dependent children age 21, or 23 if a full-time student.

• Spouses, surviving spouses, some former spouses under age 65 and unmarried dependent children eligible for CHAMPVA

• Military Retirees, their spouses and Active Duty spouses over age 65 but not eligible for Medicare. They must have received Statement of Disallowance from the Social Security Administration.

• Military Retirees, their spouses and Active Duty spouses who live or work overseas. They must be enrolled in Medicare Part B and eligible for Medicare Part A.

Eligibility for TRICARE depends on the individual’s registration in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). To confirm your TRICARE eligibility, update your DEERS records or register your family members in DEERS, you will need to call 1-800-538-9558. To enroll in the Group Benefits supplement individuals must also be enrolled in DEERS and have a current Military Identification card.

A special enrollment period has been set for plan members to enroll in the TRICARE Supplemental Plan. Plan members are encouraged to enroll between October 1, 2006 and November 30, 2006 with an effective date for the plan of January 1, 2007. Since November is the Annual Enrollment for the Cafeteria Plan, eligible members will be able to cancel their Group Coverage during the month of November to pick up the supplement for January 1, 2007.

To enroll, please come by the Human Resources Office, Room 106. You will need to present your Military I.D. card for yourself and any dependents you are enrolling. There are no exceptions to this requirement. If you have questions, please contact the Human Resources Office at ext 5655, 2057 or 5451.

OPEN ENROLLMENT OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PLANS

The Open Enrollment period for Optional Retirement Plans (ORP) will be held in the months of November and December. All current ORP members may change carriers during that time, for an effective date of January 1, 2007. The current ORP carriers are ING-AETNA, TIAA-Cref and VALIC. Employees are reminded that all change documents must be signed and submitted to the Human Resources Office no later than close of business on Monday, December 18, 2006, in order to be effective for January 1, 2007. Employees may contact the current ORP representatives listed below, or visit the Human Resources Office to complete the ORP change document. It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure their account is setup and ready to accept contributions beginning in January 2007.

ING-AETNA Lynn deMedicis 1-800-873-2161

TIAA Cref Kenn Nwoke 1-800-842-2006 ext. 7041

VALIC Kathy Osborne-Davis 1-800-892-5558 ext 89070

CAFETERIA PLAN “OPEN ENROLLMENT”

The “Open Enrollment” period for Cafeteria Plan changes is the month of November. If you are interested in adding items to or releasing items from the cafeteria plan, now is the time. By tax-sheltering items, you are reducing your taxable income. Tax-sheltered plans cannot be dropped or cancelled during the plan year (January 1, 2007- December 31, 2007). Health insurance changes cannot be made at this time. Employees who do not wish to change, cancel, or add tax-sheltered items will have currently tax-sheltered items rolled over into the new calendar year; therefore, a new document need not be signed.

The Open Enrollment period is also the time for employees to enroll in one of the Flexible Spending Account (Medical Reimbursement or Dependent Care Reimbursement) plans offered at SLU. If you would like more information concerning these plans, please call the Payroll Office at 549-2305.

If you want to change any item that is currently tax-sheltered, you must complete a cafeteria plan enrollment form in the Payroll Office. Changes made during this time will be effective for January 1, 2007.

The “Open Enrollment” period will run from November 1, 2006- November 30, 2006. The deadline to make any changes will be Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. No changes will be made after this time. If you are unsure what you currently are tax-sheltering, please log into the Self Service feature of PeopleSoft. You can access the web site with the following link:



If you have any questions concerning your Cafeteria Plan enrollment, please call the Payroll Office at 549-2305.

CRESCENT DENTAL & VISION PLANS ANNUAL ENROLLMENT

Crescent Dental Insurance is available to new employees to enroll within 30 days of their hire date. Other eligible employees may enroll as late applicants during Crescent’s Annual Enrollment in the month of November. The plan offers the freedom to use the dentist of your choice. There are three levels of coverage. The Basic Plan features include a $100.00 lifetime deductible for preventive and basic service and a $1000.00 annual maximum. The Comprehensive and Standard Plans features include a 12 month waiting period for Type III and IV services, no deductible for preventive and orthodontia services, $50.00 deductible for Basic and Major Service and a $1,200 annual maximum with $1,000 Orthodontia lifetime maximum for the Comprehensive Plan and a $1,000 annual maximum with $1,000 Orthodontia lifetime maximum for the Standard Plan.

Crescent Vision Insurance is available to new employees to enroll within 30 days of their hire date. Other eligible employees may enroll as late applicants during Crescent’s Annual Enrollment in the month of November. The plan offers low premiums and low cost vision services using the Eye Med Network.

Employees interested in enrolling in the Crescent Dental and /or Vision plans should visit the Human Resources Office.

OVERAGE DEPENDENTS FALL 2006

The deadline to submit the Enrollment Verifications of Full-Time Student Status to the Office of Group Benefits for eligible dependent children, ages 21-24 for the Fall 2006 semester has come and gone. It is the plan member’s responsibility to provide this documentation each quarter or semester. If you have not yet submitted you dependents enrollment verification to either the office of Group Benefits or the Human Resources Office, please do so as soon as possible. Please be advised failure to provide the enrollment verification can lead to your over age dependent being dropped from your insurance. If your dependent is dropped you will have to reenroll him/her as a late applicant and Pre-existing Condition restrictions may apply.

WORKER’S COMPENSATION

Procedures to follow for all Employee Accidents/Incidents

1. If the employee has an accident/incident while at work, please complete the Employee Accident/Incident Report form (Form No. 118). This report is used whether the employee seeks medical treatment or not. Also, please have the employee complete the Medical Authorization form. If the employee needs medical treatment, please call the Human Resources Office at 549-5451 to report the accident/incident and obtain authorization.

2. Once the Employee Accident/Incident Report Form (Form No. 118) has been completed by the employee and his/her supervisor. The employee's supervisor needs to complete the ORM-Loss Prevention Form regarding the accident/incident. The ORM-Loss Prevention Form must be completed for every employee accident/incident that occurs, regardless if the employee received medical treatment. Once the Accident/Incident Report Form and ORM-Loss Prevention Form have been completed, please forward the forms with attachments to the Human Resources Office, SLU 10799 or North Campus NCHR (room 106) as soon as possible.

3. Once the employee has received medical treatment, the Employee Accident/Incident Report, Medical Authorization Form, and any discharge instructions, etc. are forwarded to the Human Resources Office, SLU 10799.

If you have any questions concerning the above procedures, please contact the Human Resources Office at 549-5451 or log on to:

FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

As per the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, Southeastern will grant a leave of absence to regular full-time and regular part-time employees (who meet the requirements described below) for the care of a child after birth or adoption or placement with the employee for foster care, for the care of a covered family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition, or in the event of an employee's own serious condition. A covered employee is entitled to twelve weeks of job protected leave in a "year." The State of Louisiana has designated that all agencies use a "first usage" year. This 12-month period begins with an employee's first usage of FMLA leave. For more information log on to:



OUTSIDE/DUAL EMPLOYMENT

OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT FORMS were mailed October 16, 2006 to employees who have not yet completed the form for the July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 reporting period.

SPRING 2007 SEMESTER EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION FOR GAs

Departments may submit ROEs for spring now

Last Day to Work for Fall: December 8, 2006.

Additional Duties: 5.01P forms are on the HR website (choose Graduate Program, choose forms, choose 5.01P). These must be completed and approved in advance. Dates GAs can perform additional duties are December 11 through January 5.

Exit Check-out Forms): Must be completed for all GAs who will not be returning as GAs. Forms are on the HR website (choose Graduate Program, choose forms, choose exit form). Forms are generated in the department and the department will sign off on section 1. The student must take the form to Physical Plant where they will sign off that keys have been returned, if keys were issued. HR will complete the remainder of the form. If the form is not completed and received in HR by Friday, December 8, checks and transcripts will be held. This could be a problem for GAs, especially those leaving town, since checks will not be available until January 2. The department must also verify that the student has certified his/her time or obtain a signed form from the GA for Payroll to certify their time.

Recommendation of Employment (ROE): Forms are available on the HR web site. Indicate the telephone number, building and room number where the student can be reached. Applications and pre-applications for new GAs must be attached to the ROE and forwarded to Dr. Kurtz for his approval.

Spring Semester Dates: Monday, January 8, through Friday, May 11.

Spring Semester Salary: Minimum - $2,200.

Application/Pre-applications: The department must obtain an application and a pre-application for new GAs. These must be attached to the ROE.

References: References must be checked by the hiring department. A reference check form is available on the HR Graduate Program website.

Telephone Verification of Employment (TVE): HR will complete the previous employment verification. Because of the large number of new GAs each semester, verifying previous employment may not be completed in a short time frame. Departments will be notified when the verification is complete and the GA can begin working.

Orientation: Mandatory for all new GAs. An orientation session will be held Monday, January 8, at 9 a.m. in UC133. Please advise your GAs that they MUST bring the original and a XEROX copy of their social security cards and driver’s licenses and a check from their own checking account for direct deposit. International students MUST also bring the original and a XEROX copy of their passport (all pages with notations), visa, I-94, I-20 and a work permit from Josie Mercante. GAs will not be processed for pay until all documents are presented to HR.

Pay dates: GTFs and RAs are paid the last working day of each month EXCEPT January. The January check will be paid February 15. AAs and TAs are paid bi-weekly. Refer to the online payroll calendar for dates.

Work Permits: International students must obtain a work permit each semester from Josie Mercante and present it to HR before beginning work.

Social Security Number: Citizen GAs will not be processed for pay until a social security card is presented.

Because of new Social Security Administration guidelines for international GAs, their cards may be delayed one to three months. GAs without a social security number will not be able to clock—a manual time sheet must be maintained by the employing department for those on the bi-weekly pay.

TRAINING NEWS

COMPREHENSIVE PUBLIC TRAINING PROGRAM SCHEDULED ON CAMPUS IN OCTOBER

The Comprehensive Public Training Program, a section of the Louisiana Division of Administration, is sponsoring a supervisory training program on campus during the month of October. A training program entitled “Documenting for Performance & Discipline” will be held on Thursday, October 26th from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The class will be held in Room 139 of the University Center. The program is open to classified supervisors or supervisors of classified employees. Advance registration is required for these programs and space is limited. For more information, please contact Jan Ortego at Jan.Ortego@selu.edu or at extension 5771.

COPING WITH HOLIDAY STRESS

The University Counseling Center and the Human Resources Office are jointly sponsoring a program on coping with the stresses of the upcoming holiday season. Two sessions of this workshop will be offered on Thursday, November 9th. The first session will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and an afternoon session will be offered from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Both sessions will be held in the University Center, Room 139.

The program is designed to offer techniques to minimize the typical holiday stressors as well as offer practical tips for enjoying the holidays economically. Pre-registration for this program is encouraged by phoning extension 5435 in the Human Resources Office or by emailing Jan.Ortego@selu.edu

NEW EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION

The next orientation for new classified and unclassified employees will be held on Tuesday, December 5th in Room 139 of the University Center. Attendance is mandatory for classified employees and unclassified employees are expected to attend. For more information on the program, please contact Jan Ortego at Jan.Ortego@selu.edu or at phone extension 5771.

TRAINING DATABASE

In an effort to maintain accurate employee professional development and training records, faculty and staff are asked to inform the Training Section of any conference, seminar or other training attended. A training questionnaire can be found on the Human Resources website at



Once the form is completed, it may be emailed to Jan Ortego at Jan.Ortego@selu.edu or faxed to the Human Resources Office at 549-2308. Additionally, if the training resulted in a license or certification, a copy of that document should be faxed to 549-2308 or sent via campus mail to SLU 10799. If there are any questions, please email Jan Ortego or call at extension 5771.

ON-LINE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO FACULTY AND STAFF

The State Division of Administration, through its CPTP program, offers a state of the art, e-learning program for state employees called “MindLeaders”. This is a computer-based source of interactive courses available over the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The three categories of courses offered online are Computer Skills Courses, Professional Development Courses and Business Skills Videos.

In order to access these classes, employees will need an enrollment key that they can obtain by contacting Jan Ortego via email at Jan.Ortego@selu.edu. Graduate assistants and student workers are not eligible to use these courses.

IF YOUR SUPERVISOR MANDATES THIS TRAINING, IT WILL NEED TO BE COMPLETED DURING WORK HOURS. IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO THIS TRAINING AFTER WORK HOURS, IT WILL BE CONSIDERED VOLUNTARY AND WILL NOT BE COMPENSATED.

For more information about these classes, please check out the following website:



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