From: HR/Payroll Department Contacts [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Janet P Walker
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2015 3:14 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Instant HR/Payroll: Telework Week Coming, Financial Well-Being in March, Anthem Cyberattack Reminder, Summer Camp Resources Available, Timesheet Procedure Change, Address Change Update, Spring into Well-Being, the IRS "Dirty Dozen" and more
Spring Telework Week at Mason: March 9-13, 2015
If you have ever contemplated teleworking or wondered how your office may benefit from it, now’s the time to try it out! From March 9-13, Mason will be celebrating its very own Telework Week and there is an
abbreviated telework agreement just for this special week. Questions about telework? Check out our
FAQs at flexwork.gmu.edu.
Please note that employees who participate in Telework Week are doing so under the terms of the
Flexible Work Policy, #2202. Signing the abbreviated Telework Week agreement binds the employee/supervisor to the terms and conditions of the complete telework agreement.
If you have additional questions, feel free to email
[log in to unmask] or check out flexwork.gmu.edu.
Financial Well-Being Seminar Series
March financial education classes are just a click away! Financial Well-Being programming runs across many different financial topics. On-site classes for March (videoconferenced to Arlington and Prince William) include:
All Sessions at Noon
March 4: Getting the Most Out of Your Mason Benefits Package with Courtney Ashmore of the HR & Payroll Benefits Team
March 9: Getting on the Right Path With Your Workplace Savings with Jeff Jones of Fidelity Investments
March 17: Designing Your Financial Roadmap with Jeff Jones of Fidelity Investments (live from the Arlington Campus)
March 20: Life/Work Connections for Parents, with a panel from HR & Payroll, the Child Development Center, the Working Moms Support Group, and the Working Dads Brown Bag Group
March 30: Ahorre para el manana empezando hoy (Saving for Life's Milestones) with Conchy Perez of TIAA-CREF (in Spanish)
For a description of each session and to register, please visit
http://hr.gmu.edu/learning/hr.php. Visit the
Financial Well-Being page for lots of resources and upcoming seminars.
Reminder: Anthem Cyberattack
According to the Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM), if you were enrolled with Anthem medical coverage at any point from 2004 to the present, you should consider your personal information compromised. Receiving an email or
letter through the United States Postal Service from Anthem will further confirm this. If you receive an email or letter from Anthem, look to see a reference to
www.anthemfacts.com. If the notification does not reference this website and this website only, it is not authentic. Please be advised that members whose personal information was
in the compromised database were affected, and if you were an enrolled with Anthem medical coverage from 2004 to the present, you should consider yourself in that population.
Summer Camp Resources
Summer will be here before we know it! If you have young ones, summer camp can be a great option. We’ve put together a
summer camp resource list to help you get started.
Paper Timesheet Processing Change
To help us process payroll in a more efficient and timely way and to address the drastic increase we’ve seen in paper timesheets for wage and student wage employees, we have instituted a new process with respect to paper timesheets that are
submitted to payroll after the timesheet approval deadline. If paper timesheets are received after the timesheet approval deadline has passed, they will be returned to the timesheet approver. HR & Payroll will ensure that the approver then has online access
to the late timesheet(s) via PatriotWeb. The timesheet approver can then enter the hours for the impacted employee(s) in PatriotWeb. Those hours will then be paid
in the following pay period per
University Policy 2205, Staff and Faculty Recording and Submitted Hours Worked.
While we don’t want anyone's pay to be delayed, we cannot continue to hold up the processing of the entire payroll to manually process paper timesheets received after the approval deadline.
Please encourage your staff to enter their hours online and submit them for approval by the timesheet submittal deadline.
Please note: Paper timesheets for corrections and other adjustments from previous payrolls (prior to the current one being processed), will continue to be accepted.
Address Change Update
Faculty and staff participating in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) whose addresses were recently standardized will receive a letter from VRS notifying them of an address change. This is a standard security process followed by VRS
when an address correction occurs or a new address is added. If you have any questions or concerns,
please contact
the Benefits Team at
[log in to unmask].
Volunteer Opportunity: Spring into Well-Being “Ask Me About Well-Being” Tents
Spring into Well-Being, a celebration of well-being at Mason, will run from March 19-April 30 this year. Currently over 30 departments are participating with events that range from classes and friendly competitions to charitable endeavors,
health & fitness expos, well-being practices, affinity groups, and much more. In addition to this diverse group of events, Spring into Well-Being will host two days of “Ask Me About Well-Being” tents featuring information about well-being at Mason including
the science behind it, Mason’s strategic goal of being a well-being University, and what is meant by the terms vitality, purpose, resilience and engagement. The tents will also include information about Spring into Well-Being events, the domains of well-being,
and resources at Mason.
The tents will be staffed by volunteers and you are cordially invited to join us for an hour or two (with your supervisor’s permission) to volunteer at the Ask Me About Well-Being tents. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet new people
and share information and resources about well-being with the Mason community. The five tents, strategically located around the Fairfax campus will be held on:
·
Thursday, March 19, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
·
Wednesday, April 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
To sign up to volunteer, please visit
http://mysignup.com/wellbeingaskmetent2015. A volunteer training meeting will be held on
Tuesday, March 3 at noon in Innovation 334 and videoconferenced to
Bull Run Hall 254 (PWC), Founders Hall 119B (ARL), Signal Hill 101 (Loudoun) and Academic 219 (Front Royal).
Regional campuses: The Spring into Well-Being Steering Committee is reaching out to the regional campuses about holding “Ask Me About Well-Being” tables on March 19 and April 29. If you are interested in volunteering
at any regional campus location, please email Janet Walker at
[log in to unmask].
IRS “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams for 2015
The IRS has put together a list of
“Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2015. Tax season can bring out the scammers; everything from identity theft to fake charities. When we came across this information, we wanted to be sure to pass it along…please share with your faculty and staff for their review.
9-Month Faculty Summer Benefits Deductions
The annual email went out last week to all 9-month faculty regarding how their benefits deductions will be handled for the summer months. It read:
Subject: Annual Notice: 9 Paid 9 Faculty Summer Benefits Deduction Information
Dear Colleague -
To ensure that there is no interruption to your health insurance and other benefits during the summer months, deductions are taken from your March - May pay checks to cover premiums for the summer. This year's process will be much the same as it has been in
the past and the additional deductions will begin with your paycheck of March 16, 2015. This email is just a reminder of how this process will be handled:
Health Insurance: Beginning with your March 16 paycheck, one additional deduction will be taken each paycheck to cover June, July & August premiums. For example, if your health insurance premium is normally $27.50 per paycheck, $55.00 will be deducted from
your March 16 through your June 1 paycheck. As a result, all your summer health premiums will be paid by your paycheck of June 1, 2015. When you return in the Fall, there will be a reconciliation adjustment on your September 16 paycheck to account for any
rate and open enrollment selection changes that take effect July 1.
Supplemental Retirement Plans: Summer research and teaching pay is eligible for contributions to your supplemental retirement accounts including 403(b) accounts and the 457 Virginia Deferred Compensation account. If you do not want to contribute to your supplemental
retirement accounts this summer, please complete a Salary Reduction Agreement for your 403(b) account or, if you have a 457 account, contact ICMA-RC at 877.327.5261 by May 31 to stop your 457 account deduction. If you do not complete a new
Salary Reduction Agreement or contact ICMA-RC, we will deduct contributions from your summer pay to your 403(b) and 457(b) plans. Please Note: If you have no summer pay, contributions
cannot be made to your 403(b) and 457(b) plans.
Optional Plans: These include UNUM Long-term Disability, Long-term Care, and other supplemental coverages. One additional deduction (two times the normal amount) will be taken from your March 16 through June 1 paycheck to cover June, July, and August premiums.
Please contact the HR & Payroll department at (703) 993-2600 and ask to speak with a member of the Benefits Team with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
The Benefits Team
Important Links:
Salary Reduction Agreement PDF -
http://hr.gmu.edu/benefits/documents/SalaryReductionAgreement2015.pdf