Author: Jake Castillo

POLICY UPDATE AND NEW FORM- RCUH Policy 3.710 RCUH HR Portal System Access and Security

TO:  All Principal Investigators, Fiscal Administrators, and Project Support Staff

Effective immediately, the RCUH has revised Policy 3.710 RCUH HR Portal System Access and Security.

Major changes to this policy include:

    • Renaming of the HR Portal Access types:

Co-PI to Supervisory Authority
Supervisor to Administrative Authority
Fiscal Officer to Fiscal Administrator

Please see Policy 3.710 RCUH HR Portal System Access and Security for more details.

As a reminder, for the safety and security of your employees’ information, it is the Principal Investigator’s responsibility to ensure that his or her Distribution Code is always up to date. Anytime a non-RCUH employee leaves the project or no longer needs access to the HR Portal, please remember to notify our office promptly so we can cancel online access.

If you have any questions or if you need a listing of users who currently have access to your Distribution Code, please contact RCUH Human Resources Information Systems via email at [email protected].

Mahalo,
RCUH Human Resources

Vacation Forfeiture – “Use It Or Lose It”

Per section 8 of the 3.620 RCUH Vacation Leave Policy, ALL vacation hours in excess of the maximum allowable carry-over will be forfeited (at close of business) on December 31. There will be no vacation payouts from the RCUH Vacation Payout Reserve in lieu of these forfeitures.

To avoid the possibility of forfeiture of your earned vacation, be sure to plan your vacation schedule for the rest of calendar year 2015. Please remember that your Principal Investigator (or immediate supervisor) must approve your request for time off in advance.

What Do I Need To Do Now?

  1. Review your Vacation Balance and identify your vacation plan.

    2. You may view this information at the bottom of your online pay statements by accessing your Employee Self Service account.

    1. Click on Self Service
    2. Click on Payroll and Compensation
    3. Click on View Paycheck. Vacation information is on the lower right of the pay advice.

  2. Project your vacation accruals for the remainder of 2015 and add that to your “End Balance.” Regular Status employees at 100% FTE earn 7 hours of vacation per pay period. If you are less than 100% FTE, you should pro-rate your projected hours based on your respective FTE. There are 2 pay periods each month.
  3. Identify the maximum carry-over of your vacation plan:
    • Vacation Plan A: Employees may Carry-Over up to a maximum 80 hours (or 10 workdays) of vacation in a calendar year based on an employee’s FTE.
    • Vacation Plan B: Employees may Carry-Over 120 hours (or 15 workdays) of vacation hours in a calendar year based on an employee’s FTE up to a maximum cumulative of 360 Carry-Over hours (or 45 workdays).  The 120 hours and 360 hours is based on a full-time 100% FTE Regular status employee.

If you have any questions, please email RCUH Benefits at [email protected].

Updates to Procurement Thresholds

Updates:

  1. Threshold Increase for Purchases Without Competition,
  2. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Threshold Increases, and
  3. Timeline for the Implementation of New Requirements for Purchases above $150,000

Threshold Increase for Purchases Without Competition
Effective October 13, 2015, RCUH has raised the threshold for purchases that can be made without competition, from $3,000 to $3,500. This increase is being made in accordance with the recent Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) inflation adjustments. See http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-02/pdf/2015-16206.pdf.

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Threshold Increases
The FAR inflation adjustments also resulted in increases to the (a) Cost or Pricing Data threshold (from $700,000 to $750,000), (b) Cost Accounting Standard threshold (from $700,000 to $750,000), and (c) Prime Contractor Subcontracting Plan (from $650,000 to $700,000). See http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-02/pdf/2015-16206.pdf.

The above threshold increases only affect subcontracts/purchases made under federal prime contracts. Attachments 32(b), 32(c), and 32(d), reflect the above increases, which were made effective October 1, 2015.

Timeline for the Implementation of New Requirements for Purchases above $150,000
On October 29, 2014, RCUH made an announcement regarding the Federal Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Super Circular”). The announcement explained that the Super Circular (which became effective on December 26, 2014) allows for a grace period that defers the effective date of its new requirements for one full fiscal year, and that RCUH elected to take advantage of the grace period (which will end on June 30, 2016) with regard to certain requirements for purchases above $150,000.

It was recently announced in the Federal Register that a second year has been added to the grace period for certain requirements. Thus, the following will not be required until July 1, 2017:

  1. Public Advertising: Under the Super Circular (2 CFR § 200.320), all IFBs and RFQs above $150,000 must be publicly advertised. The Super Circular does not define public advertising. RCUH will require that all IFBs/RFQs above $150,000 be posted on the State Procurement Office’s website. This is consistent with the existing practices of other state agencies, including UH. SuperQUOTE may still be utilized for solicitations, provided that the IFB/RFQ is posted on the State Procurement Office’s solicitation website and reference is made to the SuperQUOTE listing.
  2. Sealed Bids/Quotes: Under the Super Circular (2 CFR § 200.320), all submitted bids and quotes above $150,000 must be kept sealed and confidential and must be opened publicly at the location/date/time indicated in the IFB or RFQ. Bids/quotes cannot be opened, even by project personnel, before the date/time specified in the solicitation. SuperQUOTE may still be utilized, provided that the bids/quotes obtained through SuperQUOTE are kept sealed and are not opened until the public opening date/time (we understand that UH and CommercePoint are working on this capability).
  3. Independent Cost/Price Estimate: Under the Super Circular (2 CFR § 200.323), projects must make an independent cost/price estimate before going out for bid/quote for all purchases above $150,000. Documentation of this estimate must be kept in the procurement file. The estimate may take various forms, including (a) simple market research on similar goods or services, (b) comparison to previous or similar purchases, and (c) internally estimating the general range for the purchase price.

Questions may be directed to Erin H. Yoda at (808) 956-3969 or [email protected].

FINAL REMINDER: Last Chance to Submit Pay Award/Personnel Action Form (PA/PAF) for October 1, 2015 – Deadline is Monday, October 12, 2015

TO: All Principal Investigators and Fiscal Administrators

NOTE: This announcement is only applicable for Principal Investigators who missed the July 1, 2015 pay adjustments but submitted Annual Performance Evaluations by the September 11, 2015 deadline and will be providing their employees with pay increases effective October 1, 2015.

The deadline to submit the Pay Award/Personnel Action Form (PA/PAF) via the Human Resources Portal is Monday, October 12, 2015.

Principal Investigators who missed the July 1, 2015 pay adjustment deadline and would like to provide their employee’s pay adjustments effective October 1, 2015:
You must initiate and approve the online PA/PAF no later than Monday, October 12, 2015.
The PA/PAF will allow for the following options:

  • Pay Increase/Award (General and Merit) to Base Salary effective October 1, 2015
  • Retroactive One Time Lump Sum Payment (General and Merit) for the duration of July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015 (optional)

A PA/PAF for October 1, 2015 may not be initiated online if a PA/PAF was previously submitted and approved for July 1, 2015.

Principal Investigators who have submitted PA/PAFs for July 1, 2015 but missed eligible employees:
All Principal Investigators who have submitted and approved a PA/PAF effective July 1, 2015 but had missed an eligible employee(s) must provide a signed memo from Principal Investigator with approval from Fiscal Administrator with justification to RCUH Human Resources at [email protected] by today, Friday October 9, 2015 in order to provide pay increases for employees on October 1, 2015. Please provide the employee’s name/employee ID#, requested pay increase/award to base salary, and request for retroactive one time lump sum for July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015 (if applicable).

Please see below for the 2015 Pay Adjustment Guidelines:

2.0% Satisfactory General Pay Award or Adjustment For employees performing at least at a Satisfactory level
3.0% Commendable Merit Pay Award or Adjustment For employees whose performance is consistently at a Commendable level of performance. Total pay award or adjustment will be 5.0% of employee’s base pay rate.
4.0% Distinguished Merit Pay Award or Adjustment For employees who performance is consistently at a Distinguished level of performance. Total pay award or adjustment will be 6.0% of employee’s base pay rate.

If you have any questions, please contact Renee Doi, Assistant Director of Human Resources at [email protected].

John A. Burns Hall Closed on Monday, October 12, 2015 – RCUH Will Be OPEN

In observance of Columbus Day, John A. Burns Hall will be closed on Monday, October 12, 2015. The front doors to the building will be locked. If you need to drop something off to RCUH Human Resources, please call (808) 956-3100 to let an RCUH Representative know you are coming. One of our staff will meet you downstairs to let you in.

For New Hires Completing Paperwork: Please contact Chris Fabian via email at [email protected] or via phone at (808) 956-7106 to make an appointment.

2015 RCUH Outstanding Employee of the Year – Accepting Nominations

RCUH is accepting nominations for its annual Outstanding Employee of the Year Awards Program now through October 31, 2015.

This awards program is to encourage, recognize, and reward RCUH employees who have made demonstrable, significant and outstanding contributions to their project during the previous year.

Any Regular RCUH employee or groups of RCUH employees are eligible for the program. Principal Investigators may nominate up to two employees from their respective project per category. No more than one Group or Team nomination will be accepted from a Program, Project, School or Institute. Group or Team nominations are limited to no more than 5 individuals. If a Principal Investigator has more than two nominations, he/she will need to determination which two are the best nominations to be submitted to the RCUH Human Resources Department.

2 NOMINATION CATEGORIES (Maximum of 2 nominees per category):

  1. Outstanding Researcher/Project Manager/Professional (Exempt status position)
  2. Outstanding Project Support Staff (Non-Exempt status position)

Click here for the nomination form

For more information on the program, please refer to policy 3.450 Outstanding Employee of the Year Award.

Deadline to submit nomination(s): October 31, 2015
Please send all nominations to Evelyn Moss at [email protected].

RCUH Timesheet for October 1-15, 2015 pay period

In order to minimize searching for the RCUH timesheets each pay period, we will have the current RCUH timesheet available in the Current News section of the RCUH website on the first working day of each pay period.

Click here for the October 1-15, 2015 Timesheet
PAYROLL Deadline is October 16, 2015 noon
Payday for this timesheet is October 22, 2015

Next Announcement: October 16 (October 16-31)

Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data Requirement

This past August, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) conducted a Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) of both UH and RCUH.  During a review of a subaward, the ONR auditor found that a project did not have a Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data form on file.  The UH Office of Research Services (ORS), as the processor and signor of subawards, followed up and obtained the missing certification.  In connection with the finding, ORS committed to post an announcement regarding the requirement for this certification (FAR 15.406-2) in its newsletter.  This requirement applies to subawards/subcontracts over $700,000, which are issued under federal prime contracts.  The ORS announcement can be found on pages 4 and 5 of its September 2015 newsletter.

“The High Road” – The Hawaii State Ethics Commission’s Newsletter

The September 2015 edition of the Hawaii State Ethics Commission’s newsletter, “The High Road”, can be viewed on their website using the following link:

http://ethics.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HR-2015-4.pdf

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Hawaii State Ethics Commission at (808) 587-0460 or [email protected].

THE RESOURCE

TO:  All Principal Investigators and Fiscal Administrators

 

NOTE: This announcement is only applicable for Principal Investigators who missed the July 1, 2015 pay adjustments but submitted Annual Performance Evaluations by the September 11, 2015 deadline and will be providing their employees with pay increases effective October 1, 2015.

 

The online Pay Award/Personnel Action Form (PA/PAF) will be available for use via the Human Resources Portal on Tuesday, September 22, 2015.

 

Principal Investigators who missed the July 1, 2015 pay adjustment deadline and would like to provide their employee’s pay adjustments effective October 1, 2015:

You must initiate and approve the online PA/PAF no later than October 12, 2015.

 

The PA/PAF will allow for the following options:          

  • Pay Increase/Award (General and Merit) to Base Salary effective October 1, 2015
  • Retroactive One Time Lump Sum Payment (General and Merit) for the duration of July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015 (optional)

A PA/PAF for October 1, 2015 may not be initiated online if a PA/PAF was previously submitted and approved for July 1, 2015.

 

Principal Investigators who have submitted PA/PAFs for July 1, 2015 but missed eligible employees:

All Principal Investigators who have submitted and approved a PA/PAF effective July 1, 2015 but had missed an eligible employee(s) must provide a signed memo from Principal Investigator with approval from Fiscal Administrator with justification to RCUH Human Resources at [email protected] by October 9, 2015 in order to provide pay increases for employees on October 1, 2015. Please provide the employee’s name/employee ID#, requested pay increase/award to base salary, and request for retroactive one time lump sum for July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015 (if applicable).

 

Please see below for the 2015 Pay Adjustment Guidelines:

2.0%

Satisfactory General Pay Award or Adjustment

For employees performing at least at a Satisfactory level

3.0%

Commendable Merit Pay Award or Adjustment

For employees whose performance is consistently at a Commendable level of performance. Total pay award or adjustment will be 5.0% of employee’s base pay rate.

4.0%

Distinguished Merit Pay Award or Adjustment

For employees who performance is consistently at a Distinguished level of performance. Total pay award or adjustment will be 6.0% of employee’s base pay rate.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Renee Doi, Assistant Director of Human Resources at [email protected].

 

TO:  All Principal Investigators and RCUH Employees

 

Effective immediately, the RCUH has amended Policy 3.678 RCUH Administrative Time Off to Attend Parent-Teacher Conferences.

 

Pursuant to Section 78-31, Hawai’i Revised Statutes when using Parent-Teacher Conference Leave, employees are allowed up to two (2) mutually-scheduled conferences per child within a calendar year (January – December) versus during the regular school year (August – June). Click here for the amended policy.

 

In addition to this policy change, the RCUH Form B-1 Administrative Leave for Parent-Teacher Conference has been revised to reflect this change. Please remove any local copies your office may have saved and replace with the revision dated 08/28/15.

 

If you have any questions, please contact us via email at [email protected].

 

ATTENTION:  Regular status employees 50-100% FTE

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

A TIAA-CREF 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-CREF options
  • Learning about TIAA-CREF 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-CREF.  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 go to our website, www.rcuh.com and review the RCUH Retirement Plans Policy (3.560).

We have reserved the following dates and times for Individual Sessions:

Dates

Location

Times

October 6, 2015

UH Maui College, Ka Lama Room 102 310 Kaahumanu Ave., Kahului, HI 96732

9:00am – 4:00pm

October 7, 2015

Pacific Disaster Center

1305 N Holopono St., Suite 2, Kihei, HI 96753

9:00am – 4:00pm

October 8, 2015

West Maui Mountains Watershed Project 310 Lahainaluna Road, Lahaina, HI 96761

9:00am – 4:00pm

 

To schedule an appointment, please use our secure Web site at: 

 

http://www.tiaa-cref.org/schedulenow

 

If you have questions or are unable to schedule an appointment online, please call our Service and Scheduling Group at 800-732-8353 Mon-Fri 6am – 3pm Hawaii time.

Meetings are accessible for individuals with disabilities.  For more information or to request an accommodation due to your disability, contact YeeYeng Lim at (808) 956-6979 or email [email protected] at least one week prior to the session.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER (OCTOBER 2015)

 

10/1/15

Payroll Deadline Noon

10/7/15

Pay Day

10/7/15 – 10/11/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #1

10/9/15

PAF Deadline

10/12/15

HR AMP Deadline

10/12/15 – 10/13/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #2

10/13/15 – 10/20/15

ESS Black-Out Period

10/14/15 – 10/15/15

HR AMP Web Time Reporting Period

10/16/15

Payroll Deadline Noon

10/22/15

Pay Day

10/22/15 – 10/26/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #1

10/26/15

PAF Deadline

10/27/15

HR AMP Deadline

10/27/15 – 10/28/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #2

10/28/15 – 11/4/15

ESS Black-Out Period

10/29/15 – 10/30/15

HR AMP Web Time Reporting Period

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER (NOVEMBER 2015)

11/1/15 – 11/4/15

ESS Black-out Period

11/2/15

Payroll Deadline Noon

11/4/15 – 11/8/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #1

11/6/15

Pay Day

11/6/15

PAF Deadline

11/9/15

HR AMP Deadline

11/9/15 – 11/11/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #2

11/10/15 – 11/18/15

ESS Black-Out Period

11/11/15

Holiday – Veteran’s Day

11/12/15 – 11/13/15

HR AMP Web Time Reporting Period

11/16/15

Payroll Deadline Noon

11/19/15 – 11/23/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #1

11/20/15

Pay Day

11/23/15

PAF Deadline

11/24/15

HR AMP Deadline

11/24/15 – 11/26/15

HR AMP Web Time Preview #2

11/25/15 – 11/30/15

ESS Black-Out Period

11/26/15

Holiday – Thanksgiving

11/27/15 – 11/30/15

HR AMP Web Time Reporting Period

 

TIMESHEETS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER

October 1-15, 2015

October 16-31, 2015

November 1-15, 2015
November 16-30, 2015

 

 

EEO/AA POLICY

RCUH IS AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT opportunity/affirmative action employer.  It is the policy of RCUH to afford equal employment opportunity to all individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, arrest and court record, handicap, marital status, or status as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.  RCUH’s Affirmation Action Plan describes the programs/procedures developed to ensure employment opportunities for women, minorities, handicapped, disabled, and Vietnam era veterans.  The Plan is available for inspection at the RCUH Human Resources Department.