Effective July 1, the rate to insure a Postdoc will increase to $254.75 per month.  Also the Campus Health fee will be increasing from $47.67 to $48.25 per month.  For those Postdocs with insured spouses, their monthly premium will increase to $280.24.  The monthly premium to cover children will be $203.81 (the child rate does not depend on the number of children enrolled). 

If a spouse and/ or children are not currently insured under this plan, the Postdoc may add them with an effective date of July 1 , during the open-enrollment period (July 1 through July 31).

An updated Postdoc enrollment packet will be available here by July 1.

Please remember:  Coverage for new postdocs will be effective on the first day of the month following the month when their appointment begins (e.g. if a postdoc has an appointment date of July 1, their coverage would become effective Aug. 1; if the appointment date is July 9, then coverage would be effective Aug. 1).

It will be imperative that all new hire actions as well as termination actions that you process for your postdocs through EPAWeb are entered in a timely manner so that established payroll deadlines for these actions are met each cycle. Click here for deadlines.

Please feel free to call BCBSNC at 967-5900 if you have any questions with regard to the UNC Postdoc medical insurance plan.

Given this uncertainty, the Office of Human Resources (OHR) is issuing the following restrictions, effective immediately, for SPA and EPA Non-Faculty salary increases:

– No salary increases should be communicated to current employees or processed with an effective date of 7/1 or later, with the exception of salary offers to internal hires that result from a competitive recruitment or a recruitment waiver. This applies to all permanent employees as well as non-student temporary employees.

– Salary offers to external hires and salary increases for student employees are unaffected, as are increases processed with an effective date prior to 7/1.

– In the case of salary increases related to internal hires, whether temporary or permanent, a salary offer can be communicated and processed effective 7/1 or later. However, the employee must be informed in writing that the salary is conditional, subject to approval of the State budget. While we do not recall any prior instance that hiring salaries made conditional to a new State budget have ever been rescinded or reduced, we are required to inform employees in these circumstances that such commitments do have this contingency.

If you have a circumstance where there is a critical retention situation, please contact OHR and we will address these on a case by case basis. If you have specific questions regarding these restrictions, please contact one of the following OHR units:

– SPA internal hire salary increases: Employment and Staffing Department

– All other SPA salary increases: Classification and Compensation Department

– All EPA Non-Faculty salary increases: EPA Non-Faculty HR unit

These restrictions will remain in place until a new State budget is passed and we receive formal salary increase guidelines for the new fiscal year from the Office of State Personnel (for SPA employees) and UNC General Administration (for EPA Non-Faculty employees). We will continue to keep you informed of any developments.

These guidelines do not apply to faculty; any guidance on faculty salary increases will come directly from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.

Memo submitted by:
Bruce Carney, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Brenda Richardson Malone, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources

Any permanent employee may nominate a University employee (including retired and deceased employees). To submit a nomination, please visit the link above. For more information, contact Benefits Services at 962-6008.

To register on-line, please visit the Training & Talent Development website or contact Training & Talent Development at 962-2550 for more information.

However, we will offer modified one-on-one training for legacy systems on an as-needed basis for new employees. To schedule a one-on-one session, contact Kim Currie. Monthly classroom training will still be held for PeopleAdmin and LawLogix/Form I-9. To see the schedule and register for these classes, visit www.training.unc.edu and click on “Training Catalog,” then select the category “HR Policy and Processes.”
Of course, we will continue to provide customer support as usual for HRIS and EPAWeb until the PeopleSoft HR/Payroll go-live in January 2014.

We appreciate your understanding as we all make this transition.

In addition, we are pleased to announce that the position feed from EPAWeb and HRIS to PeopleAdmin is now taking place three times each day. The daily schedule is 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 10 p.m. This will significantly reduce the delay that departments have experienced in being able to find position numbers and/or recent position updates in PeopleAdmin necessary to initiate a new posting. 

We hope you find these changes useful. If you have questions, please contact Corrie Mimms at corrie_mimms@unc.edu or 843-0501 or Rudy Jones at rudy_jones@unc.edu or 962-9980.

Memo sponsored by the Office of Human Resources:
Noreen Montgomery, Employment & Staffing, Office of Human Resources

Ann Penn, Equal Opportunity/ADA Office

For fiscal year 2013-14, the Composite Benefits rate will increase to 0.45%, and the Severance Pay rate will increase to 1.00%. The rate changes are effective with the July 2013 payrolls. The Composite Benefits rate is applied to both EPA and SPA salaries, and the Severance Pay rate is applied to SPA salaries. The rates are summarized as follows:

Severance Pay
Expense Object Code:  1251
Salary Base:  SPA Salaries paid from Non-State Funds [object codes 121x]
Rate Change:  Increase from 0.75% to 1.00%
Effective Date:  07/01/2013

Composite Benefits Fund
Expense Object Code:  1892
Salary Base:  EPA and SPA Salaries paid from Non-State Fund [object codes 11xx, 12xx, 13xx, 14xx]
Rate Change:  Increase from 0.35% to 0.45%
Effective Date:  07/01/2013

Benefit Updates 

Change In  Plan Year:  The current State Health Plan benefit year runs from July 1 – June 30 (fiscal year);  however, the State Health Plan Board of Trustees recently approved a change in the benefit year to a calendar year (Jan. 1 – Dec. 1).  To transition to the calendar year benefit period, the upcoming benefit period will only be six months:  July 1 – Dec. 31.  As a result, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums (including pharmacy) will be reduced by one-half during this shortened benefit period.   The deductible and out-of-pocket maximums will reset to the full amounts with the new calendar year benefit period (Jan. 1, 2014).   

Mental Health & Substance Abuse Co-pay Change:  Effective July 1, the mid-tier office co-pay for mental health & substance abuse will be reduced from $52 to $30 for the 80/20 plan, and from $64 to $35 for the 70/30 plan. 
 
Primary Care Provider Designation:  In preparation for health plan changes that will become effective Jan. 1, 2014, members are now given the option to designate a primary care provider (PCP) as they move through the enrollment portal.  Although the PCP designation will not become relevant until Jan. 1, 2014 (see next section), members can currently designate a PCP.    

New Plan Options for 2014: The State Health Plan has proposed new plan options effective January 2014.   The specific changes and premiums associated with the new options will be communicated this fall during a second annual enrollment period.   

To make changes to your health plan coverage, during this enrollment please sign in with your UNC Onyen and password at: https://unc.hrintouch.com/. 

For more information about the State Health Plan, please visit www.shpnc.org.

On Mar. 27, U.S. CBP published an interim final rule in the Federal register regarding automation of the Form I-94.  This rule will be implemented in stages starting on Apr. 30 and will only impact travel by air or sea.  An electronic Form I-94 will be created at the port of entry by a CBP official.  Review for accuracy the entry stamp which will be placed in your passport by CBP. Check the class of admission (F-1, J-1, H-1B, etc.), the date of entry and “admitted to” date (Expiry date of H-1B,TN, O-1 or E-3 status. D/S for F and J status) and bring errors to the attention of the CBP officer.

Travelers may access their Form I-94 on the CBP website by inputting their information (name, passport number and country of issuance, class of admission, and date of entry). There is also a list of frequently asked questions on the website. Travelers are encouraged to print their electronic Form I-94 from the website upon arrival, as a print copy will be needed for work authorization, driver license and social security applications, etc.

Travelers at land ports of entry to the U.S. will receive a modified paper version called the I-94A. Some individuals, such as refugees and asylees, will continue to receive a paper form I-94.