All employees should review their first paycheck of 2018 to ensure their benefit plan deductions are correct. If you have questions about benefit plan deductions, please contact OHR Benefits at 919-962-3071 or benefits@unc.edu.
Your paycheck on Jan. 5 reflected new NCFlex & UNC benefit plan rates.
Your paycheck on Jan. 31 reflected new NCFlex & UNC benefit plan rates.
Starting with today’s bi-weekly payroll, it’s important to review your paycheck and benefit plan deductions to ensure accuracy.
For questions regarding benefit plan deductions please contact 919-962-3071 or benefits@unc.edu
As we approach the holiday season, this is a reminder of the 2017 holiday calendar published last year. We are also publishing at this time the 2018 holiday calendar. The calendars can be accessed on the Leave & Holidays page of this website.
Some departments have essential work that must be done (related to research, healthcare, safety, etc.) and designated employees report to work regardless of state, federal, or University holidays. SHRA employees who work on designated holidays will be paid holiday premium pay, in addition to hour for hour compensatory time up to 8 hours daily. Employees can use annual leave, bonus leave, or accrued compensatory time to cover University Closed Days, as State guidelines do not permit the University to pay premium holiday pay for University Closed Day(s) during Winter Break. Special arrangements will be made for employees hired just before a Winter Break who have not accrued sufficient leave.
If you have any questions about the holiday schedule, please contact the Benefits and Leave Administration unit in the Office of Human Resources at 919-962-3071 or benefits@unc.edu.
This message is sponsored by: Office of Human Resources | Workforce Strategy, Equity and Engagement Division
Retirement should be one of the most rewarding destinations of your career. But how do you know you’re on the right path to the future you want? Take a few minutes to meet with a representative from Prudential, CAPTRUST, Fidelity or TIAA to learn more about your contributions, investments, debt management and more.
Meet with Christy Kelly, your local Education Counselor, to learn more about the NC 401(k) Plan and the NC 457 Deferred Compensation Plan’s benefits, including:
Schedule your Appointment
Christy Kelly will be available to meet one-on one to help both with the enrollment process and those already enrolled who want to make changes or ask questions. Appointments will be every 30 minutes, and can be scheduled now. Please contact Christy at Christy.kelly@prudential.com or by phone, 919-602-8226 to schedule an appointment today.
CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, the independent advisory firm that works on the UNC Retirement Programs, will be visiting UNC-Chapel Hill to conduct on-site individual advisory sessions. Topics covered in the 45 minute individual advisory sessions include, but are not limited to the following:
Schedule your Appointment
Click here to schedule an appointment
Meet with Cleo Morgan, your dedicated Fidelity Retirement Planner, to:
Cleo visits the campus weekly, conducting one-on-one appointments and group workshops. This is a great chance to talk through the UNC investment lineup or get your questions answered on the Retirement Program options.
Schedule your Appointment
Schedule a free one-on-one appointment by calling 1-800-642-7131 or register for an appointment online by visiting fidelity.com/reserve.
Reservations are required for the one-on-one appointments. When scheduling, first choose UNC, and then choose your campus location or simply call 1-800-642-7131 and schedule by phone.
Please consider bringing relevant account statements and any paperwork to help address your questions and needs.
TIAA’s local Chapel Hill financial consultant, Logan Sharpe, will be available for personalized advice and education sessions. He can help you review your retirement savings by answering these important questions:
Schedule your Appointment
To set up your advice session, visit TIAA.org/schedulenow or call 800-732-8353. You can also get a personalized retirement action plan using the TIAA online Retirement Advisor tool at TIAA.org/retirementadvisor.
It’s not too soon to start thinking about your annual opportunity to update your health insurance coverage, which occurs each October. With that in mind, here are some changes for the 2018 plan year that were recently approved by the State Health Plan’s Board of Trustees. The State Health Plan said the changes are designed to provide members with predictability in their benefits and begin the task of improving the Plan’s financial stability.
Changes are effective for the benefit plan year beginning Jan. 1, 2018 and include:
Freezing family health care premiums
This provides an initial step toward improving the affordability of plan benefits for families. North Carolina does not subsidize dependent care coverage, resulting in 80 percent of plan members choosing individual coverage.
Eliminating the Consumer-Directed Health Plan (CDHP 85/15)
This change is being made to reduce complexity and provide long-term financial stability. As a result, current plan participants are encouraged to “spend down” Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) funds, as funds will not rollover for use in 2018. HRA funds will only be available for claims incurred in 2017 and submitted for processing before March 31, 2018.
Reducing the wellness premium credit activities from three to one
Also in an effort to reduce complexity and minimize enrollment errors, only the tobacco attestation wellness credit activity will be maintained in 2018.
Setting employee-only base premiums for the Traditional 70/30 Plan at $25 per month, and for the Enhanced 80/20 Plan at $50 per month
This aligns the state of North Carolina more closely with other, comparable states and creates a more balanced approach for spreading cost increases across the population. These rates assume completion of the tobacco attestation wellness credit activity. Non-Medicare primary retirees will not be required to complete the tobacco attestation or pay a premium for the Traditional 70/30 plan.
Visit the State Health Plan’s website for information and updates. Information on annual enrollment will be available in a few months.
On Monday, May 8, faculty and staff from all over the UNC-Chapel Hill campus joined together at the Carolina Inn to honor those who have given 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 – and yes, even 50 – years of service to the University. The celebration included high tea and hors d’oeuvres, a keynote address by Chancellor Carol Folt, and an awards ceremony lead by Vice Chancellor Felicia Washington, J.D.
The North Carolina State Health Plan is constantly working to provide the best return on investment as well as reducing complexity and building value for all of its members. As an important step towards managing costs, the State Health Plan is conducting an audit to verify eligibility of dependents covered by the Plan.
This audit will focus on all subscribers with dependents under the age of 75 as of April 19, 2017. Subscribers with enrolled dependents will soon receive a request to provide documentation of their dependents by July 31. If you receive mail from the State Health Plan, please open it and take action. Documentation that supports dependent eligibility may be uploaded in the eEnroll system through the ConnectCarolina Self Service portal. Failure to respond and produce the required documentation will result in termination of the dependents’ coverage under the Plan effective August 1, 2017.
Personalized 2016 Total Compensation statements from the Office of Human Resources are coming soon to mailboxes across campus. Each benefit-eligible employee will receive a statement showing the combined value of your salary plus employer- and employee-paid benefits as components of your total compensation. Statements show your annualized salary and enrolled benefit plan data as of December 2016. Contact benefits@unc.edu or 919-962-3071 with questions about the 2016 statements.
The North Carolina State Retirement System is also preparing 2016 annual benefits statements for active plan participants who contributed to their Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS) accounts as of December 31, 2016. To prepare for 2016 statements, 2014 TSERS statement data will be permanently removed from ORBIT on March 31, 2017.
If you are a TSERS participant and you want to keep a copy of your 2014 TSERS statement, download the information from ORBIT, since the State Retirement System will not retain the data. If you have a question about your TSERS statement, contact the NC State Retirement System at nc.retirement@nctreasurer.com or 877-627-3287.
Now is also a good time to check your individual Social Security statement. The Social Security Administration no longer mails hard copy statements to your home address, making it a bit easier to overlook these valuable benefits. Since Social Security retirement benefit amounts are based on earned taxable income (which is transferred from the employer to the IRS to the Social Security Administration), it is a good habit to check your individual Social Security statement data each year.
No matter how near – or far – you may be from that magical date called “retirement,” consider creating a “My Social Security” account to see your annual data. Call 800-772-1213 or contact Social Security with questions about Social Security data, benefits or statements.
CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, the independent advisory firm that works on the UNC Retirement Programs, will be visiting UNC-Chapel Hill conducting on-site individual advisory sessions on February 27, March 1, March 2, March 28, March 29 and April 21 at the Administrative Office Building located at 104 Airport Drive, Chapel Hill, in room 1501-C.
Topics covered in the 45-minute individual advisory sessions include, but are not limited to the following:
You also will have an opportunity to create a Retirement Blueprint, CAPTRUST’s new interactive retirement readiness tool. To learn more about the Blueprint you can view a short, informative video by clicking here.
These one-on-one sessions are offered to you solely as a benefit; be assured that CAPTRUST’s role is not to sell you anything, but purely to help you make sound investment decisions.
Schedule an AppointmentTo best be prepared for these sessions, please make sure you have the information you want to include in your Blueprint calculations, such as retirement account balances and current contributions to retirement accounts. You will also want to bring login information for your retirement website.
If you cannot make a live session, but still want to create a Blueprint or need further advice, the CAPTRUST Advice Desk is also available. Appointments can be made with the Advice Desk by visiting www.captrustadvice.com
If you have any questions or need assistance, please call CAPTRUST at 800.967.9948.
Join the UNC-Chapel Hill and Fidelity Investments for an educational web workshop focusing on strategies for managing your financial future with confidence. The next workshop, “Get Started and Save for the Future You” is on Feb. 15. Registration is now open.
February 15, 2017: “Get Started and Save for the Future You”
March 15, 2017: “Take the First Step to Investing”
April 19, 2017: “Make the Most of Social Security”
If you want to get started in your workplace savings plan or save more:
Learn the benefits of saving in your workplace savings plan, how to enroll, and small steps you can take to save more.
Wednesday, February 15
10:00AM Eastern time – Register now or
6:00PM Eastern time – Register now
Can’t make it to an event?
Visit Fidelity’s Event Registration System to learn about and register for other workshops.
Call 800.603.4015 for a complimentary one-on-one consultation with a licensed Fidelity representative.