TO: All Principal Investigators and Fiscal Administrators
The Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi (RCUH) is announcing updates to the RCUH Fringe Benefits Schedule for Fiscal Year July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The following fringe rates have changed:
Fringe Benefit Type
Fiscal Year 23-24 RateJuly 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024
NEW Fiscal Year 24-25 RateJuly 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025
Change
Vacation Payout Reserve
0.99%
0.45%
-0.54%
Unused Sick Leave Payout Reserve
0.16%
0.24%
0.08%
Unemployment Insurance Reserve
0.36%
0.30%
-0.06%
Life Insurance
$0.137 per $1,000
$0.147 per $1000
Long Term Disability Insurance
$0.221 per $100
$0.179 per $100
Please refer to the RCUH Monthly Health Insurance Premium Rate Sheet for health insurance monthly premium rates which are applicable effective July 1, 2024. Actual employee enrollment (medical plan and tier) will affect fringe rate charged to projects.
The updated Fringe Benefits Schedule is posted on the RCUH Home Page > About > Policies & Procedures > Policy 3.510 Fringe Benefits.
PowerUP! RCUH Open Enrollment Election period is now live!
Annual Election Period:
This year’s annual benefit Open Enrollment (OE) period will be April 24, 2024 – May 17, 2024. This marks your opportunity to elect, waive, or change certain benefit elections for the upcoming plan year: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025.
ACTION NEEDED: Unlike previous years, we are requiring all benefits-eligible employees to complete the new electronic RCUH Open Enrollment form to confirm their elections for the new plan year.
Open Enrollment Electronic Election Form:
The all-electronic RCUH OE form will allow employees to initiate and save their elections/changes and submit when they are ready through the deadline of Friday, May 17, 2024. Employees may recall their submissions and resubmit up until the deadline on May 17th. Elections/Changes will be effective July 1, 2024.
IMPORTANT: If you receive an error message to update your Primary Beneficiary Contact Information, then click on Life Insurance to bring up the Beneficiary Designation Section.
NOTE: The Open Enrollment form is accessed from a different location than eUpload. Please do not submit Open Enrollment elections via eUpload. All other benefit change requests may still be submitted via eUpload.
Level Up your financial education game with the MetLife Retirewise Financial Wellness Workshop! This four-part series can play a fundamental role in directing your basic financial and retirement planning. In its 15th year, Retirewise has offered over 14,000 workshops to more than 3,000 companies in all 50 states.
A broad spectrum of financial and retirement-related issues will be covered in these one-hour sessions, including budgeting, investment principles, Social Security, and estate planning – there is something here for everyone. Each session includes different topics and employees are able to choose which session they want to learn more about. However, to make the most out of this special opportunity it is recommended to attend all sessions, as each session build on the previous week’s content and employees will also be asked to do homework to assess their own personal finances.
This virtual series is offered (at no cost) to all RCUH employees and registration is forthcoming. The workshop will be from 12noon – 1pm HST for the following Tuesdays in April:
April 9: Building the Foundation: Understand your financial and retirement planning basics by creating a budget, learn about compound interest, tax diversification and inflation.
April 16: Creating and Managing Wealth: Review the principles of investing including how to get started, different types of investments and their common risks and strategies.
April 23: Establishing Your Retirement Income Stream: Learn how to examine risks, manage assets and structure a retirement income stream to address your retirement needs and wants.
April 30: Making the Most of What You Have: Review your employer’s benefits and how they can fit into your plan while also covering estate planning, Medicare options and life and disability income insurance.
With Retirewise, you’ll be on your way to making smarter financial decisions and creating an action plan that works for you.
Because these sessions are being held during the middle of the day, all employees should notify their PIs and supervisors if they would like to attend. We encourage Principal Investigators and Supervisors to allow their employees to attend these sessions, if requested.
Taxes are one of life’s certainties, and no one likes giving up some of their hard-earned cash. While some tax strategies are easy to accomplish, others may take some planning. The Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH) is pleased to offer MetLife’s Tax Strategies: The Basics and Beyond; a complimentary 60-minute webinar where you will learn about the tax planning steps, including tax basics, diversification, cutting your tax bill, and when to call a professional.
If you have any questions or need assistance registering, please contact RCUH Employee Benefits at [email protected] or call (808)956-2326.
Webinar Hosted by: MetLife
Please be advised this is not tax advice. For specific questions regarding an individual’s tax situation, employees should consult with their tax advisor.
TO: All Eligible Regular-Status Employees that wish to elect/maintain the Maximum Allowable Contribution in the Calendar Year
On November 1, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced cost-of-living adjustments increasing the maximum dollar contribution for pension plans and other retirement-related plans for 2024. Effective January 1, 2024, the maximum employee contribution limits will increase as follows: (see Table below):
Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA) Maximums– Effective January 1, 2024
2023 Maximum
New 2024Maximum
Employee contributions (pre-tax)
$22,500
$ 23,000 ($958.34 per pay period)
Additional “catch-up” contribution for individuals 50 years or older by December 31, 2024
$7,500 (Max TOTAL contribution $30,000)
$7,500for TOTAL contribution of $30,500 ($1,270.84 per pay period)
The RCUH does NOT automatically adjust your SRA contributions so if you have previously elected the maximum allowablecontributions, you must submit a new form.
To help our employees calculate their maximum contribution levels (per pay period) we are excited to introduce our SRA Maximum Allowable Contribution Calculator. This tool may be used at any point in the year and adjusts the contribution amount based on how many pay periods left in the tax year.
If you have any questions, please contact RCUH Human Resource Employee Benefits section at:
The RCUH Financial Portal is back in operation and Fiscal Administrators may resume approving transactions.
On Thursday, November 16, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end-of-day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on November 16 will be processed in accordance with our normal processing schedule.
RCUH transactions approved on November 16 for UH Extramural and SRRC accounts will be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System on November 17.
We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
Every employer covered by the nondiscrimination and Equal Employment Opportunity laws is required to post on its premises the poster, “Know Your Rights.” The notice must be posted prominently, where it can be readily seen by employees and applicants for employment. The notice provides information concerning the laws and procedures for filing complaints of violations of the laws with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which is administered and enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an undue hardship.
If you have any questions about reasonable accommodations, please contact Michelle Maeda or Tana Staub at RCUH Employee Benefits section at [email protected] or (808) 956-2326.
ATTENTION: Principal Investigators (PIs) & Regular-Status employees at 50-100% FTE
TIAA still has Individual/Employee Retirement (GRA/SRA) Plan Advisory Sessions available for the month of October and November! Schedule now for a virtual appointment with our new TIAA consultant based locally – Cody Ferrell.
Regardless of your current status – whether you are a long-time employee, just hired, or somewhere in between – it is never too early or too late to consider retirement planning. During these personalized sessions, you will be able to discuss your personal financial/retirement goals with a TIAA Financial Consultant on a free and confidential basis.
Because these sessions are being held during normal business hours, all employees must notify their PIs and supervisors if they would like to attend. We encourage PIs to allow their employees to attend the TIAA Advisory Sessions, if requested.
For employees unfamiliar with the SRA (Supplemental Retirement Annuity) plan, please note that unlike the GRA (Group Retirement Annuity) plan, there is no 12-month waiting period and you may enroll or make changes to your election at any time during the year. The SRA plan with TIAA is considered a 403(b) tax-deferred annuity (TDA) plan which allows an employee to make contributions via payroll deduction from their pre-tax earnings over and above the amount being accumulated under the RCUH basic retirement plan (GRA).
Click on the Schedule button under Discuss your financial situation with a TIAA consultant.
Employees will be prompted to login using their TIAA credentials, or create a guest login if they are not currently a participant.
Please select or enter “RESEARCH CORP OF THE UNIV OF HI”as the Employer which will then direct them to the open virtual meetings that are available for employees.
From there, select a date/time and confirm the meeting.
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 – 1pm Hawai’i Standard Time (HST).
Please contact the RCUH Employee Benefits Section with any questions or concerns at: [email protected].
Meetings are accessible for individuals with disabilities. Individuals who require special needs accommodations may request assistance in writing to rcuh prior to the scheduled meeting.
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