Happy Holidays!  Important dates and deadlines announced for the holiday season

• “Non-essential” employees will not need to report their personal leave days via the Weekly Elapsed Time screen.
• “Essential” employees (i.e., those who will be working during the holiday period) will need to report the number of hours to be worked and any personal leave days to be used December 27 through 30 by December 3. This will prevent the four personal leave days from automatically loading for December 27 through 30.  Otherwise, manual entries will be necessary.

• All TEAMS non-exempt employees will report the personal leave days by using the “DPL-270 December Personal Leave” time reporting code through the Weekly Elapsed Time screen in the myUFL system.

Please note that personal leave days for exempt employees will not require approval from December 3, 2011, through January 5, 2012; however, personal leave days for non-exempt employees will require approval.

Non-exempt employees must report the December 26 and January 2 holidays via the Weekly Elapsed screen, using the “HOL” time-reporting code. Exempt employees should only report the holidays if the schedule for the workweek in which the holiday falls has been otherwise altered.

Please refer to the instruction guide for the holiday closing period in the myUFL Toolkits. 

Advanced Vacation Leave Available to USPS
USPS employees are not eligible for the four personal leave days; however, they may be required to use vacation or accrued compensatory leave during the holiday closing period if a department chooses to close or upon supervisory request. In the event a USPS employee does not have vacation leave to cover the period, he or she may request that vacation leave be advanced to cover that absence, in which case the department is obligated to provide it. USPS employees also may use leave without pay, in keeping with University of Florida policy, during this time.

As in the past, USPS employees who wish to be advanced vacation leave during the holidays should report all vacation leave usage in a timely manner through Weekly Elapsed Time in the myUFL system.  The system will allow vacation leave balances to become negative for USPS employees from December 27 through 30. The system will automatically prohibit vacation leave usage after January 5, 2012, until the vacation leave balance is positive again.

In order to be eligible for any paid holidays, employees must be in pay status for a reasonable amount of time (determined by each employee’s department) on their last scheduled workday before the holiday.  If you have further questions, please contact Leave Administration at (352) 392-2477 or central-leave@ufl.edu. Human Resource Services wishes you a joyous and safe holiday season!

2011 holiday season dates and deadlines

• Personal leave day hours will appear on employees’ balances
• “Essential” employees can begin to use and enter December Personal Leave

December 3                      
USPS

• Can begin to enter advanced vacation leave that will be used December 27-30

TEAMS/Academic Personnel

• Exempt employees - Personal leave days automatically applied to records and visible for exempt employees in the Weekly Elapsed System for December 27-30. Approval for the DPL-270 time reporting code for exempt employees is not needed and will be handled by the system.

• Non-exempt employees (non-essential) - Must enter DPL-270 leave into the system for December 27-30. This leave must be approved.

December 23                    
USPS

• Must be in pay status (work or paid leave) for a "reasonable portion of the workday" on this day (determined by the individual department) to be eligible to receive holiday pay for Dec 26.

TEAMS & Academic Personnel

• Must be in pay status (work or paid leave) for a "reasonable portion of the workday" on this day (determined by the individual department) to be eligible to receive holiday pay and December Personal Leave for Dec 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and Jan 2.                                

December 30                    
USPS

• Must be in pay status (work or paid leave) for a "reasonable portion of the workday" on this day (determined by the individual department) to be eligible to receive holiday pay for January 2, 2012.

January 5                            
USPS

• Last day to enter advanced vacation leave used between December 27-30.

*** All vacation accruing employees***
Due to recent changes in leave regulations, there will be no year-end conversion of accrued vacation over the maximum until December 2012.

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Sick leave payment changes approved for UF
staff employees

Upon separation from employment as a result of retirement on or before June 30, 2016, employees with ten (10) years of creditable service hired prior to April 1, 2010, will be paid for one-fourth of unused sick leave up to a total of 480 hours.

The year-end maximum vacation leave accrual for faculty members (Academic Personnel) changed from 480 hours to 352 hours and the maximum vacation payout for faculty members (Academic Personnel) changed from 352 hours to 200 hours.

For TEAMS and USPS employees, the payment for unused sick leave will be eliminated beginning January 1, 2012, with the exception of eligible staff who separate from UF as a result of retirement—or exit DROP—on or before June 30, 2016.

Changes related to vacation and sick leave benefits for faculty are delayed and are contingent upon the ability to provide a 3 percent salary increase to Academic Personnel who qualify for the increase. These changes will not be effective for—and will not apply to—Academic Personnel until notice is posted regarding the effective date of the salary increases and the implementation date of the associated changes.

Please note that faculty members in the collective bargaining unit will be governed by the terms of the agreement with the union. Negotiations are currently underway with the faculty union regarding changes in benefits and salary increases.

The regulation can be found on the University Regulations web site. Additional information, including a list of frequently asked questions may be found on the Leave Administration section of HRS's web site.

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New hires and employees with qualifying status event changes should complete benefit transactions early
All benefits enrollments, changes, and payroll deductions affecting January 1, 2012, coverage must be received by University Benefits by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 16.  This includes all new hires who wish to begin their health insurance effective January 1, 2012.

Enrollment paperwork received between December 19 and 22 (prior to the holiday closing) may still request health coverage for January 2012; however, new hires may be unable to access their actual coverage until approximately mid-January, once all premiums have been collected and sent to the state for posting.

If you cannot meet this deadline, please contact University Benefits at benefits@ufl.edu or (352) 392-2477 to discuss the earliest possible effective date. For assistance or questions regarding insurance during the holiday closing, please contact the People First Service Center at (866) 663-4735. 

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Employee Education Program accepting applications for spring semester
The Employee Education Program (EEP) is a popular benefit available to eligible UF faculty and staff. The program provides tuition assistance for up to six credit hours of eligible college-level courses per semester.

Employees interested in participating in the EEP during the spring semester should register and complete their applications by the following deadlines:

UF students must register between 9:00 a.m. December 22, 2011, and 11:59 p.m. January 13, 2012, for the spring semester. All completed applications must be turned in to the University Registrar’s office located at 222 Criser Hall or by fax to (352) 846-1126 by 5 p.m. on January 16, 2012. No late applications will be accepted.

Santa Fe College students should register during regular registration, which ends December 15, 2011. All completed applications should be turned in to the Santa Fe cashier’s office by this date. Registration after December 15, 2011, is permitted, but those applications must be turned in to the cashier’s office by 4 p.m. the next business day after registration.

For program participation requirements, eligibility, and application deadlines, please visit the Education section of HRS's web site. For questions about this program, please contact Kenya Williams, UF Training and Organizational Development, at (352) 273-1761 or kenya-williams@ufl.edu.

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Review Open Enrollment changes and check your payroll deductions this month
Before the New Year begins, please review any changes you made during the fall benefits Open Enrollment period. To access your benefits information log onto the People First web site with your user ID and password used during Open Enrollment.

Due to the late Open Enrollment period, the payroll cycle for various “state”-sponsored plans was changed. Normal state plan deductions, including any new Open Enrollment elections, will be taken on the December 16 and 30, 2011, paychecks to pre-pay for coverage effective January 1, 2012. See last month’s issue of the InfoGator for more details on December deduction changes.

Supplemental state coverage being carried over—such as state-sponsored dental, hospital insurance, etc.—may include slight increases based on elected options and company rate increases for the new plan year. If you enrolled in a plan that requires underwriting (i.e., medical approval), coverage is pending until People First receives notification from the insurance company. If approved, enrollment will be processed and premium deductions will begin. You should also receive notification of approval or denial from the company.

Employees who made Open Enrollment changes to the UF Domestic Partner, Term Life, Long Term Disability, and Long Term Care plans will begin deductions with the January 13, 2012, paycheck. Because state reimbursement accounts (i.e., Medical, Dependent Care, Limited Purpose Medical, and Health Savings Accounts) provide tax savings based on the tax year, these deductions will also begin January 13.

Please review all deductions carefully. If your earnings statement does not reflect proper deductions for the plans you currently have, or for those you elected during Open Enrollment, please contact University Benefits and Retirement at (352) 392-2477 or benefits@ufl.edu, as soon as possible.

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Cell phone reimbursement policy revised
UF is revising its cell phone reimbursement policies according to recommendations from the IRS.  Two major changes are:

• Reimbursement for cell phone service or for the cell phone purchase will not be considered taxable; therefore no gross up is needed.
• Reimbursement will be made via Disbursements instead of through Payroll. 

Departments will enter a voucher once a year (July) and set up monthly payments for the reimbursement through June of the fiscal year.  Due to the transition, in 2012, departments will need to enter a six-month voucher through the end of this fiscal year, and set up a new voucher in July for the new fiscal year. For more information, please visit http://fa.ufl.edu/uco/cell-phone-reimbursement-policy.asp.

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Pay attention to chest pain — get it checked out at the new Chest Pain E.R. at Shands at UF
Shands at UF's new chest pain emergency room is set up for fast, thorough evaluations with an interdisciplinary team of emergency medicine specialists and cardiologists ready to quickly make a diagnosis and deliver appropriate treatment. <more>

The EAP is ready to help you fulfill your New Year’s resolutions
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) wants to help you start the New Year right by assisting those who want to quit tobacco products.<more>

©2011 University of Florida Office of Human Resource Services. The InfoGator is a monthly e-publication produced by the University of Florida’s Office of Human Resource Services. It is distributed electronically to UF faculty and staff and is available online. Please direct questions or comments to its editor, Angela Gould; Human Resource Services; P.O. Box 115006; (352) 392-4626; TDD 800-955-8771. The InfoGator is available in an alternative format upon request.
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