TO:      All Regular-Status, 50%-100% Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) Employees

 

On October 23, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting the dollar limitation for pension plans and other retirement-related items for 2015.  Included in the cost-of-living adjustment changes was the increase to the maximum allowable contribution amount for 403(b) Tax-Deferred Annuity plans or the TIAA-CREF “Supplemental Retirement Annuity” plan.

 

The new 2015 contribution maximum limits are reflected below:

 

 

All eligible employees will receive an email from the RCUH Human Resources informing them of the maximum contribution limits for the tax year 2015, which will include instructions on how to make changes to their existing SRA contribution amounts or to enroll in their own SRA plan.

 

For more information on the IRS cost of living adjustment changes, you can visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov.  Should you have any questions, please contact RCUH Human Resources Department via email at [email protected].

 

Mahalo,

RCUH Human Resources

Unlike other paid holidays, the General Election Holiday is a paid holiday established by the Hawaii State Legislature to afford employees time off to vote on General Election Day.  Therefore, unlike other paid holidays, the General Election Holiday cannot be used as a floating holiday.

 

TO:                 All RCUH Principal Investigators and Employees

 

FROM:           RCUH Human Resources

SUBJECT:     OSHA Update: Ebola Safety Information

 

On October 15, 2014, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released general guidelines and information regarding occupational safety to the Ebola virus. This information is summarized below. Further OSHA information regarding Ebola can be found here: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/ebola/index.html. 

 

Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease in humans. The 2014 Ebola outbreak is widely considered to be the largest outbreak in history. At this time, there is not a widespread outbreak in the U.S. as it is limited to countries in West Africa. Regardless, it is important to incorporate measures to prevent any unnecessary exposure and control any potential spread of the Ebola virus.

 

A key factor in protection from any virus is to recognize the symptoms. Symptom recognition can assist in determining potential sources of the virus and taking steps to protect one’s self. Below is a list of signs and symptoms for the Ebola Virus. Please be mindful that symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure.

• Fever
• Severe headache
• Muscle pain
• Weakness
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal (stomach) pain
• Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)

The transmission of Ebola does not occur through the air or by water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that transmission only occurs through direct contact with the following:

• Blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with Ebola
• Objects (like needles and syringes) that have been contaminated with the virus
• Infected fruit bats or primates (apes and monkeys)

Please be aware that the most common routes of transmission are as follows:

• Contact of the eyes or other mucous membranes with blood or body fluids of a person or animal with Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF),
• Contact with contaminated equipment or other objects; and
• Ingestion of infectious blood or body fluids.

Certain occupations, such as lab and healthcare workers, are at a higher risk for exposure to Ebola, however, it is important to take steps to prevent exposure regardless of your occupation. Located below are a few general safety tips that can help reduce any exposure to the Ebola virus:

• Review your project’s Bloodborne Pathogens Plan (BBP) to refresh on relative policies and procedures. Ensure that you understand all relative policies and procedures for BBP.
• Always use proper personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, face and eye protection, when coming into contact with sources of transmission.
• After contact while wearing gloves, wash hands with soap and water and discard of gloves in properly labeled waste containers.
• Immediately clean and disinfect any visible contamination of blood or bodily fluids from surfaces.
• Avoid direct contact with any blood and bodily fluids, regardless of source.
• Practice good hand hygiene protocols (hand washing/sanitizing).
• Frequently wash your hands and wear protective masks when around people with an undiagnosed sickness.

Additional Links for Information

OSHA: Ebola Control and Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Ebola

NIOSH: Ebola Information

 

RCUH is accepting nominations for its annual Outstanding Employee of the Year Awards Program from now through November 13, 2014.

 

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): November 14, 2014

Please send all nominations to Evelyn Moss at [email protected].

 

 

The 2014 Outstanding Employee of the Year Awards Luncheon will be held on Friday, February 6, 2015 at the Japanese Cultural Center in the Manoa Grand Ballroom.

 

RCUH will be conducting a Workplace Violence Prevention Training session on the Big Island and Maui.  It is mandatory that all employees and supervisors of RCUH attend.  This is a 4-hour session.

Everyone (including non-RCUH employees) is welcome to attend.  Seating is limited.  Priority for seating will be given to RCUH employees and supervisors of RCUH employees.

 

TRAINING SCHEDULE

 

HILO

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

IFA Auditorium

640 N. A’ohoku Place

 

MAUI

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 (NEW DATE)

8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

UH Maui College, Laulima 225

310 Ka’ahumanu Avenue

 

Seating is limited.  To sign up for training, click on RCUH Training Enrollment located on the RCUH home web page.  Training materials will be emailed to attendees prior to the session.

 

Meetings are accessible for individuals with disabilities.  For more information or to request an accommodation due to your disability, contact (808) 956-6965 or email [email protected] at least one week prior to the meeting.

 

TO:                 Principal Investigators & Project Administrators

FROM:           Nelson Sakamoto

                       Director of Human Resources

 

SUBJECT:     November 4, 2014 General Election – Guidance relating to Voting

 

Under Hawai’i Revised Statutes § 11-95, any employee registered to vote, and who normally does not have a free two-hour period, excluding lunch/rest periods/breaks, while voting polls are open, MUST BE allowed two hours paid time-off from work in order to vote in the upcoming Primary and General Elections.  This requirement is not applicable to employees whose work schedules begins work after 9:00 a.m. or is finished by 4:00 p.m. 

 

General Election Day

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

 

“Voting Time” – “Employees entitled to leave on election day for voting” as provided under Hawai’i Revised Statutes § 11-95: Any voter shall on the day of the election be entitled to be absent from any service or employment in which such voter is then engaged or employed for a period of not more than two hours (excluding any lunch or rest periods) between the time of opening and closing the polls to allow two consecutive hours in which to vote.  Such voter shall not because of such absence be liable to any penalty, not shall there by any rescheduling of normal hours or any deduction made, on account of the absence, from any usual salary or wages; provided that the foregoing shall not be applicable to any employee whose hours of employment are such that the employee has a period of two consecutive hours (excluding any lunch or rest periods) between the time of opening and closing the polls when the employee is not working for the employer.  If, however, any employee fails to vote after taking time off for the purpose the employer, upon verification of that fact, may make appropriate deductions from the salary or wages of the employee for the period during which the employee is hereunder entitled to be absent from employment.  Presentation of a voter’s receipt by an employee to the employer shall constitute proof of voting by the employee.”

 

Time Reporting Procedures (Only for RCUH Required to Work on November 4, 2014): November 4, 2014, General Election Day is a paid holiday for (only) Regular status RCUH employees.  Regular status employees working on November 4, 2014 will receive their Holiday Pay, plus straight-time pay for all hours worked.  Any employee excused from work to vote on November 4, 2014 must present a “Voter’s Receipt” as proof of voting.  Report these “2.0 hours voter time allowance” as REGULAR work hours on their timetables.

 

TO:      All Regular-Status, 50%-100% Full-Time Equivalency (FTE)

t    Employees

 

Effective October 21, 2014, TIAA-CREF, RCUH’s third-party administrator for retirement plans, Group Retirement Annuity (GRA) and Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA), launched a new website enhanced feature.  In order to streamline the withdrawal process for participants and plan sponsors, eligible participants are now able to request and process transfers, rollovers, and withdrawals via My TIAA-CREF online.

 

Click here for the TIAA-CREF Guide to Online Withdrawals for step-by-step instructions and further information.  If assistance is needed with the process, contact TIAA-CREF directly at 1 (800) 842-2252, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (ET) and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (ET).

 

Should you have any questions, please contact RCUH Human Resources Department via email at [email protected].

 

Mahalo,

RCUH Human Resources

The Employee Self Service (ESS) and Human Resources Administrative Management Portal (HR AMP) is now accessible again. Thank you for your patience while we were resolving the problem, and we apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused.

If you continue to have difficulty logging in to our systems or have any questions, please contact Kellye Yamamoto at [email protected].

We have been experiencing unforeseen system errors in the Employee Self Service (ESS) and Human Resources Administrative Management Portal (HR AMP) that have been preventing users from accessing the system.

We are actively looking into the problem, and hope to have it resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused.

If you have any questions, please contact Kellye Yamamoto at [email protected].