To:      All RCUH Regular-status (50-100%) FTE Employees

RCUH’s 2019 Benefit Open Enrollment period is from May 1-15, 2019.

GOOD NEWS:  There will be no increase in cost for all HMSA Medical, Kaiser Medical, and HDS Dental Plans.  Also, commencing July 1, 2019, an additional, lower cost HMSA CompMed-Basic Plan will be available.

All relevant informational materials such as carrier videos (i.e., HMSA, Kaiser, HDS, NBS), Summary of Benefit Coverages, enrollment forms, premium rate sheets, as well as additional employee benefit information will be available by logging into your Employee Self-Service (ESS) starting May 1. If you need assistance logging in to your ESS, please contact RCUH HR Information Systems.

Why is Open Enrollment important? Open Enrollment is the one time in the year when you can change your current medical plan, change coverage of your family, enroll in supplemental long-term care insurance, and renew/update your flexible spending healthcare/dependent care deductions. All enrollments and changes made during Open Enrollment will have an effective start date of July 1, 2019.

Please note: For employees who are currently enrolled or wish to enroll in Healthcare FSA (Flexible Spending Account) and/or Dependent Care FSA, you are required to reapply every fiscal year (during this open enrollment period). These plans do not rollover into the new fiscal year.

** NEW: Employees who are currently waiving health benefits at this time must submit the RCUH Group Health Waiver Form to RCUH Human Resources as an agreement that he/she is still opting to waive health coverage at this time. Even if you have previously waived medical coverage with RCUH, a new waiver MUST be submitted if you are waiving the offer of medical coverage for the plan year 2019-2020 or corrective action may occur.

You may make changes to the following benefits at any time outside the open enrollment period without a qualifying life event:

• TIAA SRA Contributions: Enrollments, Changes, and/or Cancellations
• Update in Life Insurance Beneficiary
• FSA Transportation Expense Reimbursement
• FSA Parking Expense Reimbursement

Contact RCUH Benefits for general inquiries on Open Enrollment, eligibility, and assistance with forms.

Phone: (808) 956-2326 or (808) 956-6979
Email: [email protected]
Fax: (808) 956-5022

Contact carriers (i.e., HMSA, Kaiser, HDS, NBS, etc.) directly with any specific coverage inquiries or for assistance on current claims.

Commencing with the April 1-15, 2019 Pay Period you will be able to obtain your RCUH timesheets by logging into your Employee Self-Service Portal. Timesheets will be located under “Forms”.

We will continue to have the RCUH timesheet available on the RCUH website in the News Section: Human Resources Announcements on the first working day of each pay period.

Click here for the April 16-30, 2019 Timesheet
RCUH Payroll Deadline is May 1, 2019 12:00PM

Payday for this timesheet is May 7, 2019

**Project Payroll Deadlines may vary, please check with your specific project for timekeeping procedures and deadlines**

**Payroll Deadlines are strictly enforced – NO EXCEPTIONS**

Click here for the May 1-15, 2019 Timesheet

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or 956-3100.

The summer season is approaching!  If you are on a nonimmigrant visa and will be traveling during the holiday season, please remember to email RCUH Human Resources/Immigration ([email protected]) at least two (2) weeks prior to your departure so that we can ensure you have the proper documentation to travel and return to the United States to continue your employment with RCUH.  Please provide the following information:

(1) Dates of travel (departure and return dates)

(2) Who will be traveling with you

(3) Reason for travel

Once RCUH Human Resources receives your travel information, you will be provided with the proper employment verification documents you will need for travel.

IMPORTANT REMINDER(S) WHILE TRAVELING OUTSIDE THE United States:

• The I-94 admission record. Upon your return, please visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website to obtain your online I-94 record.  Submit a copy of your I-94 record to RCUH Human Resources.
• Check the entry stamp to ensure that the period of admission matches the expiration date of the approved visa status.  Be sure to check the validity dates of your passport before travel.  If the passport expires prior to your approved visa status you should renew the passport before you return to the U.S.  If you do not renew the passport, upon re-entry to the U.S., the immigration officer will issue an admission record valid only until the passport’s expiration.

If you are a nonimmigrant employee who has a pending “change of status” petition (i.e., change from F-1 to H-1B) with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), you must remain in the U.S. until a determination on the petition is rendered.  A nonimmigrant who travels abroad while an application for change of status is pending is considered to have abandoned the change of status portion of the petition.

Please email [email protected] or call (808) 956-0871 if you have any questions

Commencing with the April 1-15, 2019 Pay Period you will be able to obtain your RCUH timesheets by logging into your Employee Self-Service Portal. Timesheets will be located under “Forms”.

We will continue to have the RCUH timesheet available on the RCUH website in the News Section: Human Resources Announcements on the first working day of each pay period.

Click here for the April 1-15, 2019 Timesheet
RCUH Payroll Deadline is April 15, 2019 12:00PM

Payday for this timesheet is April 22, 2019

**Project Payroll Deadlines may vary, please check with your specific project for timekeeping procedures and deadlines**

**Payroll Deadlines are strictly enforced – NO EXCEPTIONS**

Click here for the April 16-30, 2019 Timesheet

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or 956-3100.

ATTENTION:  Principal Investigators & Regular-status employees 50-100% FTE

Perhaps you have been contemplating enrolling in RCUH’s Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA) but need more guidance? Or perhaps you already have a SRA and received a pay raise so, you are deciding whether or not you would like to increase your contributions? Regardless of your current status, we would like to invite you to attend the upcoming TIAA Individual Retirement Counseling Sessions at UH Hilo.

We encourage Principal Investigators to allow their employees to attend the TIAA Counseling Sessions if requested.  All employees must notify their PIs and supervisors if they would like to attend, as the sessions are being held during business hours.

If you are currently participating in RCUH’s Group Retirement Annuity (GRA) and/or SRA plans administered through TIAA OR if you are interested in enrolling into a TIAA SRA plan, the RCUH Human Resources Department is now coordinating one-hour Individual/Employee Retirement Counseling Sessions with TIAA.  During these meetings, you will be able to discuss your personal financial/retirement goals with a TIAA Financial Consultant on a free and confidential basis.

A TIAA representative will be able to assist you with planning for your retirement goals, including:

• Setting realistic goals for key life events and retirement
• Reviewing your investment mix and strategy
• Selecting your TIAA options
• Learning about TIAA retirement income flexibility

For employees unfamiliar with the SRA plan, it is considered a 403(b) tax-deferred annuity plan which allows an employee to make contributions via payroll deduction from his/her pre-tax earnings towards an individual retirement plan (i.e., SRA) through our third-party administrator, TIAA.  Enrolling or making changes to your SRA election may be done at any time during the year.

For more information about the GRA and SRA plans, please review Policy 3.560 RCUH Retirement Plans. 

We have reserved the following date and times for individual sessions:

To schedule an appointment, please see below: 

Click here to schedule a meeting with a Financial Consultant 

If you have questions or are unable to schedule an appointment online, please call TIAA’s Service and Scheduling Group at (800) 732-8353 Mon-Fri 6am – 3pm Hawaiʻi Standard Time.

Relevant Forms and Documents:

TIAA-SRA Supplemental Retirement Annuity – Agreement for Salary Reduction Form (B-6)

Meetings are accessible for individuals with disabilities.  Individuals who require special needs accommodations may request assistance in writing to [email protected] prior to the scheduled meeting. 

Future TIAA Individual Counseling Session Dates and Locations for CY 2019*:

May 14^th – 16^th (Hilo)

June 4^th – 6^th (Oahu – JABSOM)

July 23^rd – 25^th (Maui)

August 13^th – 15^th (Oahu – UHM Burns Hall)
September 10^th – 12^th (Hilo)

October 1^st – 3^rd (Oahu – JABSOM)

November 5^th – 7^th (Oahu – UHM Burns Hall)

December 10^th – 12^th (Hilo)

*Dates/Locations for TIAA Individual Retirement Sessions may be scheduled to change

All RCUH Human Resources online systems will be down from Saturday, 3/9/19 at 6:00 AM (HST) to Sunday, 3/10/19 at 11:59 PM (HST) for system maintenance.

This will include:

• Human Resources Portal
• Employee Self Service (ESS)
• Careers/Recruiting
• New Hire Documents (EHS)

We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.

If you have any questions, please contact Taylor Sumi at [email protected].

ATTENTION: Regular-status employees 50-100% FTE & Principal Investigators

Perhaps you have been contemplating enrolling in RCUH’s Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA) but need more guidance? Or perhaps you already have a SRA and received a pay raise so, you are deciding whether or not you would like to increase your contributions? Regardless of your current status, we would like to invite you to attend the upcoming TIAA Individual Retirement Counseling Sessions at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa Burns Hall.

We encourage Principal Investigators to allow their employees to attend the TIAA Counseling Sessions if requested.  All employees must notify their PIs and supervisors if they would like to attend, as the sessions are being held during business hours.

If you are currently participating in RCUH’s Group Retirement Annuity (GRA) and/or SRA plans administered through TIAA OR if you are interested in enrolling into a TIAA SRA plan, the RCUH Human Resources Department is now coordinating one-hour Individual/Employee Retirement Counseling Sessions with TIAA.  During these meetings, you will be able to discuss your personal financial/retirement goals with a TIAA Financial Consultant on a free and confidential basis.

A TIAA representative will be able to assist you with planning for your retirement goals, including:

• Setting realistic goals for key life events and retirement
• Reviewing your investment mix and strategy
• Selecting your TIAA options
• Learning about TIAA retirement income flexibility

For employees unfamiliar with the SRA plan, it is considered a 403(b) tax-deferred annuity plan which allows an employee to make contributions via payroll deduction from his/her pre-tax earnings towards an individual retirement plan (i.e., SRA) through our third-party administrator, TIAA.  Enrolling or making changes to your SRA election may be done at any time during the year.

For more information about the GRA and SRA plans, please review Policy 3.560 RCUH Retirement Plans.

We have reserved the following dates and times for individual sessions:

 To schedule an appointment, please see below:

 Click here to schedule an appointment with a Financial Consultant

 If you have questions or are unable to schedule an appointment online, please call TIAA’s Service and Scheduling Group at (800) 732-8353 Mon-Fri 6am – 3pm Hawaiʻi Standard Time.

Relevant Forms and Documents:

TIAA-SRA Supplemental Retirement Annuity – Agreement for Salary Reduction Form (B-6)

Meetings are accessible for individuals with disabilities.  Individuals who require special needs accommodations may request assistance in writing to [email protected] prior to the scheduled meeting.

 Future TIAA Individual Counseling Session Dates and Locations for CY 2019*:

May 14^th – 16^th (Hilo)
June 4^th – 6^th (Oahu – JABSOM)
July 23^rd – 25^th (Maui)
August 13^th – 15^th (Oahu – UHM Burns Hall)
September 10^th – 12^th (Hilo)
October 1^st – 3^rd (Oahu – JABSOM)
November 5^th – 7^th (Oahu – UHM Burns Hall)
December 10^th – 12^th (Hilo)

*Dates/Locations for TIAA Individual Retirement Sessions may be subject to change