HR News Updates | February 2018

CSUN will celebrate the 52nd Annual Staff Service and Recognition of Excellence Awards Event Wednesday, May 2, 2018. This event recognizes employees who have achieved milestones in five-year increments of dedicated service to the University.  At this year's event, we expect to honor approximately 330 employees recognized for collectively providing more than 4,000 years of service to the University!

Is it your time to be recognized? Please review the following list of employees scheduled to be recognized at 2018 Staff Service Award Honorees. 

If you believe that your name should be on the list, but it is not, or, your name is on the list and you believe it should not be, please submit the 2018 Staff Service Award Honoree List Inquiry Form, or contact Rosemary Martin at  by April 6, 2018.

Recognize a colleague or colleagues who exhibit the Matador Spirit and help elevate CSUN - Make a Nomination Today!

The Annual Staff Service and Recognition of Excellence Awards Event also provides us the opportunity, through the Recognition of Excellence Awards, to recognize both staff members and teams for outstanding efforts made over the course of the calendar year. Those awards are the:

• Presidential Award
• Award of Merit
• Alumni Award
• Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award
• CSUN Leadership Award, and the
• Jolene Koester Team Award

Descriptions and eligibility criteria as well as links to the nomination forms, area available at: https://www.csun.edu/enrichment/staff-service-awards.  Nominations must be received by Noon, Thursday, March 15, 2018.

The CSU Employee Fee Waiver and Reduction Program provides for the waiver or reduction of tuition and certain fees for eligible employees. In addition, an eligible CSU employee may transfer their fee waiver benefit to a spouse, domestic partner, or eligible dependent child. CSUN employees who want to complete a bachelor’s or graduate degree, enhance job skills, or even prepare for a future career, are encouraged to participate in the program.  Eligible employees or their eligible dependent may have tuition and fees for a maximum of two (2) courses or six (6) units, whichever is greater, waived/reduced each semester.

The CSU Fee Waiver module is currently available for Fall 2018 applications. In order to ensure timely processing, please submit your application no later than April 20, 2018.

Partnering with Admissions & Records and Student Accounting, we will be offering a workshop on the Fee Waiver and Reduction Program on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 from 12 to 1 pm in the HR Training Room, Oviatt Library, Room 30. Join us and get your questions answered!

For more information, visit: http://www.csun.edu/benefits/fee-waiver-reduction-program

W-2s were issued in January 2018 by the State Controller's Office (SCO) and mailed to an employees’ home address on file in SOLAR HR as of the close of business on December 11, 2017. Employees who did not receive their W-2, should contact Payroll Administration at (818) 677-2101 after January 31, to inquire if their W-2 was returned to the campus by the post office.

For W-2s that are not returned to the campus, or if a duplicate copy is needed, submit a request for a duplicate copy using Standard Form 436 (Request for Duplicate Wage and Tax Statement). Additional information and the duplicate W-2 request form are available through the SCO at http://www.sco.ca.gov/ppsd_empinfo_dpw-2.html. Please note that there is an $8.50 processing fee per tax year for duplicate W-2s. All requests for duplicates should be sent directly to the SCO at the following address:

State Controller's Office
Personnel / Payroll Services Division
ATTN: Duplicate W2
P.O. Box 942850
Sacramento, CA 94250-5878

For assistance in requesting a duplicate W–2, please call the State Controller’s Office at (916) 445-2847. 

The 2018 Health Plan Rates are available on the Benefits Administration webpage. Please remember to check your January pay warrant for your premium deduction and report any discrepancies to your Benefits Representative. If you made any changes during the Fall 2017 Open Enrollment Period, your new plan(s) and premium should be reflected on your January 2018 pay warrant. In addition, you should receive written confirmation and identification cards (as applicable), which were expected to be mailed out in mid-December. Watch out for these in your home mailbox.

As a reminder, you can view your benefit elections under the Benefits Summary and the Dependent and Beneficiary Coverage Summary in the portal.

If you are a new part-time faculty member or returning faculty and are benefits eligible* for the Spring semester, we invite you to click here and view information on plan options, eligibility, and how to enroll. Benefits Packets are also available in the Office of Human Resources, UN 165.

*To be eligible for benefits, part-time faculty must have an Academic Year (AY) classification and have an appointment of at least six units (.4 time base) for one semester.

Faculty currently enrolled in Medical/Dental/Vision benefits or FlexCash who fall below six units should notify Benefits Administration regarding continuation of coverage. COBRA coverage may be available. For information on COBRA please visit http://www.csun.edu/benefits/cobra.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the State of California is required to file annual reports with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and furnish a statement to full-time employees with information about the health coverage offered to the employee and their dependent children, using IRS Form 1095-C.  Health coverage providers are also required to file annual reports with the IRS and furnish a statement to individuals with information about those who had minimum essential coverage for at least one day during the preceding calendar year, using IRS Form 1095-B.

By January 31, the State of California, via the State Controller’s Office, will issue a Form 1095-C to its full-time employees with information about the health coverage offered, if any, to the employee and their dependent children.  The state’s health coverage providers will also issue a Form 1095-B to employees who were enrolled in state-sponsored health coverage for at least one day during the preceding calendar year.

For answers to frequently asked questions about these forms, visit: https://www.csun.edu/benefits/aca-annual-health-coverage-statements

The CSU provides for the 2 ½-month grace period extension allowed by the U.S. Department of Treasury for flexible spending plans. Participants (as of December 2017) with balances as of December 31, 2017 in the Health Care Reimbursement Account Plan and/or the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plan will be allowed to utilize remaining 2017 balances toward reimbursement of eligible medical and/or dependent care expenses incurred from January 1, 2018 through March 15, 2018.

Now is a good time to ensure that your emergency contact information is up to date and easy to access.

CSUN Portal

Having your emergency contact information up to date on the portal will help in the event of an incident on campus. To review your information and to easily update it, visit: http://www.csun.edu/payroll/updating-personal-information

Mobile Device

Having your emergency contact information up to date on your mobile phone will help in the event of an incident on or off campus. If you became incapacitated but had your mobile device with you, first responders could access your family/emergency contact information without your help.  Its easy to set this up on most mobile devices.

Is it time for a Financial Wellness Check-up? The CSU offers you additional ways to save for your future.

• For the 2018 tax year, the contribution limits are increasing from $18,000 to $18,500 to a 403(b) or 401(k) plan, subject to the 415(c) limit, AND $18,500 to a governmental 457(b) plan, for a total contribution of up to $37,000.
• To view additional information on our Retirement and Savings Programs, please visit the Savings Plus Program page for information on the 401(k) and 457 plan, or the Tax Shelter Annuity Program page for information on the 403(b) plan.

In addition, check the Spring 2018 Professional & Personal Development Calendar to find out when retirement savings specialists from from Fidelity, CalPERS and Savings Plus will be on campus.

Did you receive your Winter issue of CalPERS Perspective?  You can view the current issue at: www.calpers.ca.gov or https://www.calpers.ca.gov/docs/forms-publications/perspective-winter-2018.pdf