TO:      All Eligible Regular-Status Employees that wish to elect/maintain the Maximum Allowable Contribution in the Calendar Year

On October 21, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced cost-of-living adjustments increasing the maximum dollar contributions for pension plans and other retirement-related plans for 2023. Effective January 1, 2023 maximum contribution limits will increase (see Table below):

Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA) Maximums – Effective January 1, 2023

	2022 Maximum	New 2023 Maximum
Under 50 years old	$20,500	$22,500
Additional catch-up contribution for individuals 50 years or older	$6,500 (Total $27,000)	$7,500 (Total $30,000)

New Participants (electing maximum allowable contribution):

• Read 3.560 RCUH Retirement Plans Policy.
• First enroll in an SRA account online with TIAA at https://www.tiaa.org/rcuh, or call TIAA at (800) 842-2252.
• Complete the Agreement for Salary Reduction Form (Form B-6) and submit via Employee Self-Service eUpload link no later than December 22, 2022. This will ensure contributions will begin effective December 16, 2022, which is the first pay period for the 2023 Calendar Year.

Current Participants (previously elected the maximum allowable contribution):

If you have previously elected the maximum allowable contribution, you must submit a new Agreement for Salary Reduction Form (B-6) if you wish to maintain the maximum allowable contribution amount for the TIAA Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA) plan if you have elected. The RCUH does NOT automatically adjust your SRA contributions to the revised IRS Maximums ($937.50 per pay period for individuals under 50 years old, $1,250 per pay period for individuals 50 years or older).

• Complete the Agreement for Salary Reduction Form (Form B-6) and submit via Employee Self-Service eUpload link no later than December 22, 2022. This will ensure contributions will begin effective December 16, 2022, which is the first pay period for the 2023 Calendar Year.

If you have any questions, please contact RCUH Human Resources Department’s Benefits Office via email at [email protected] or contact them at (808) 956-3100.

Relevant Links:

• IR-2022-188 (IRS Announcement)
• RCUH Policy 3.560 Retirement Plans

In our ongoing efforts to provide employees with early communication, please consider these Year-End Preparations as we near the end of 2022:

• W-2 Electronic Consent

Submit your consent to receive your W-2 electronically via the Employee Self-Service (ESS) Portal by Friday, December 23, 2022.  If you do not consent to an electronic W-2, a hard copy will be mailed to your mailing address on file. Please reference the Memorandum from Kira Higa, RCUH Director of Human Resources (RE: IRS From W-2 – Go Electronic: Safer and Faster Access to W-2s).

At this time, we would also encourage employees to review their Form W-4. Please note that any changes made will continue onto the 2023 calendar year. You may use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator for assistance with completing your Form W-4.

• Review Mailing/Email Address – Update contact information in RCUH Employee Self-Service (ESS)

Updates to your personal information can only be submitted via ESS during non-blackout dates (please refer to the 2022 HR Personnel Action & Payroll Calendar for blackout dates).

If you changed your address during 2022, please update your personal information in ESS to ensure it reflects your current mailing address by December 23, 2022, as this will be the address used when mailing the 2022 W-2 Wage and Tax Statement. Please remember it is your responsibility to ensure that your information is up-to-date.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the RCUH Payroll section at [email protected]. 

• Update Security Questions in RCUH Employee Self-Service (ESS)

Please set up Security Questions in your Employee Self-Service. This feature, while optional, will enable system security features such as password resets. Users will have the ability to create individualized responses to the questions.

Those who do not complete the security question(s) will need to call RCUH Human Resources for assistance with password verification.

You may set this up in the Employee Self-Service> Personal Information > Personal Information Summary > Security Questions. Please set one question minimum.

If you require assistance logging into your Employee Self-Service Portal, please contact [email protected] or 808-956-8900.

• Vacation Forfeiture (if eligible): Plan now to avoid losing accrued vacation hours

The vacation plan year is January 1^st through December 31^st. RCUH has supplied your Principal Investigator with a report listing their employees who may face a year-end vacation forfeiture. Please meet with your PI to plan and schedule the use of your accrued vacation hours to avoid forfeiting them at the end of the plan year.

Your accrued vacation balance can be found on your eTimesheet as of payroll processed for the pay period ending October 15, 2022.

We hope this information helps you effectively plan over the next few months.

Per RCUH’s Vacation Leave Policy (3.620 IV.,B.,12) Vacation Forfeiture states: “All vacation hours exceeding the maximum carry-over of an employee’s applicable vacation plan will be forfeited on December 31^st of the plan year.”  The “plan year” is January 1^st to December 31^st.  As of today (Thursday, October 27) there are five pay periods left (including the current pay period) to accrue and use your vacation hours before the Vacation Forfeiture action.

The project’s Principal Investigator (PI) have been supplied with reports of employees that may face a year-end vacation forfeiture. The PI reports include/account for accrual calculations through the end of the year. It is recommended that PIs meet with employees who may be forfeiting vacation hours to plan ahead. 

Maximum Carry-Over Hours Depends on the Employee’s Vacation Plan:

• Vacation Plan A: Up to a total maximum carry-over of 10 workdays (*80 hours based on 100% FTE)
• Vacation Plan B: Each plan year you may carry-over not more 15 workdays (*120 hours based on 100% FTE), but may carry-over a total maximum accumulated total or 45 workdays (*360 hours based on 100% FTE)
  (*Hours are prorated if less than 100% FTE.)

December 31, 2022 Vacation Forfeiture Hours:  Vacation Forfeiture Hours are any unused accrued vacation hours as of the close of business on December 31, 2022 exceeding the total maximum carry-over hours of Vacation Plan A or Vacation Plan B, whichever applies to you. 

How to find your Vacation Plan and Accrued Vacation Balance: 

Option 1: Log into Employee Self-Service (ESS). Go to the left navigation bar and select Payroll and Compensation > View Pay Statement.

Select the most recent Pay Statement. Look at the lower left side of the pay statement and you will see a box labeled VAC HOURS and your plan will be listed under LEAVE PLAN. The “End Balance” is your current balance of accrued vacation hours as of October 15, 2022. Please keep in mind that if eligible, you will still accrue vacation leave for five pay periods this calendar year prior to the forfeiture action. For example, employees at 100% FTE will accrue an additional 35 hours.

Option 2: Log into Employee Self-Service (ESS). Go to the left navigation bar and select Benefits > Benefits Summary.

Under Plan Description it will show your Vacation Plan and current balance of accrued vacation hours.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:

RCUH Employee Benefits

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (808) 956-2326 or (808) 956-6979

All RCUH Human Resources online systems will be down on Saturday, 10/29/22 at 5:00 AM (HST) to 10:00 AM (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 (808) 956-6318 or [email protected].

Due to a newly enacted state law (Act 165, 2022), all State employees must complete mandatory ethics training offered by the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission (HSEC). The training is intended to help increase awareness of the Ethics Code and provide an understanding of how the code is interpreted by the State Ethics Commission.

This requirement applies to all RCUH employees, regardless of employment category, status, or FTE (Full-time Equivalent). The State Ethics Code (HRS Chapter 84) has always applied to RCUH employees, who are State, non-civil service employees.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS are responsible for ensuring that project staff complete this training once every four years.
• RCUH EMPLOYEES must complete the HSEC training by January 1, 2024*. Effective January 1, 2023, all new employees must complete the training within 90 days of employment. Ethics training for ALL RCUH employees must be completed once every four years.

*Unfortunately RCUH’s existing online training on the Hawai‘i State Ethics Code does not count towards this new law, therefore RCUH’s training will be sunset October 31, 2022. However, if an employee has already completed the Ethics Training course from the HSEC website within the last three years (between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022), the 2024 deadline does not apply; certificates should be sent to project supervisors and [email protected] to ensure compliance.

HOW TO COMPLETE THE TRAINING:

State employees who are not required to file public financial disclosure statements (which applies to the majority of RCUH employees), may opt to complete the 30-minute online self-directed training. Individuals may also opt to register for the live videoconference training, which usually runs about 90 minutes long.

IMPORTANT: Upon completion of the online self-directed training, follow the instructions at the end of the program to obtain a Certificate of Completion. Employees must email the PDF certificate to their supervisor(s) and [email protected] to ensure compliance. See screenshot below.

To: All RCUH Employees

RCUH’s annual Aloha United Way Campaign has kicked off!  Our campaign starts today, October 24^th, and will run through Friday, November 18^th.

This year we invite you to participate in one of Hawai‘i’s largest workplace giving campaigns. Let us join the ranks to help raise money for all of the people in need here in Hawai‘i. RCUH invites you to be a part of the cause in any way you can!

How to Contribute:

We will continue to donate with electronic pledges through our new platform, IGNITE. Please see the instructions on navigating the IGNITE platform.

• Oahu: https://rcuh.auw.stratuslive.com/
• All Other Islands: https://rcuhoutofarea.auw.stratuslive.com/

You should receive an email today from [email protected] to your email address on file via Employee Self-Service (ESS). There will also be a list of the different partner agencies you may designate your pledge to, organized by island.

IGNITE provides all of the great ways that Aloha United Way has been impacting our community, like the ALICE Initiative and 211. Our goal here at RCUH is to invite you all to participate in our campaign with a pledge to help our community thrive!

Deadline to submit ePledge: Friday, November 18, 2022

ePledge Donation Options:

• Credit Card
• Bill me (Aloha United Way will send the invoice to you)

Here are some things to consider if you’re unsure about participating:

• Electronic pledges through IGNITE are easy to fill out, and you will be able to donate to any local charity of your choice (with a minimum donation of $20).

In the spirit of giving and saving, let us consider the ways in which we can extend our help to those in need by participating in this year’s Aloha United Way Campaign. We hope that you will consider donating to AUW. Let’s be “United Together” in creating change. If you have any questions, please contact Tori Nakagawa at (808) 956-3100 or Amber Kaneakua at (808) 956-6979 or email [email protected].

---

Great news! The online Job Description (JD) Library is now available via the Human Resources Portal. 

The JD Library is a new tool to drive efficiency and assist projects with job description management. Some key features of the JD Library include the following:

• Quick access and centralized storage for all established job descriptions that are unique to each project
• Comparisons of job descriptions
• Ability to view prior content from an ever-growing bank of job descriptions and competencies
• Ability to export job descriptions to Microsoft Word for editing purposes
• Ability to develop and standardize job descriptions

Please note that job descriptions are only available for Regular-Status positions.  Search results will pull up the most recent version of the job description and may be filtered by employee name or ID, job title, pay range, FLSA status, or education requirement. Individuals with HR Portal Access (e.g., Principal Investigator, Supervisory, Fiscal Administrator, and Administrative Authorities) will be able to access the JD library. If the project reviews their library of positions and would still like to create a new job description, please use the revised Job Description Template available in the Recruitment Document Library and Step 3 of a regular hire position request. This has been simplified to include a drop-down feature to further assist with the drafting process. 

To access the library:

1. Log in to the Human Resources Portal
2. Click on the “Hire Employees” Tab
3. Click on “Job Description Library”
4. Search for a specific position or filter results
5. Job descriptions may be downloaded as a PDF and converted to a Word document via Adobe Acrobat Pro by selecting Export PDF to Microsoft Word under “Tools.” This may be edited and directly uploaded to “Step 3 – JD & Posting Information” when initiating a regular hire request (under the “Hire Employees” Tab).

We appreciate your patience as we continue to improve efficiencies for our projects. We recognize that this is a new tool and would appreciate any feedback on the JD Library. If you have feedback, questions, or have difficulty accessing the JD Library, please contact RCUH Human Resources at (808) 956-3100 or [email protected].

TO:  Principal Investigators, Project Administrators, and Fiscal Administrators

The online Pay Award/Personnel Action Form (PA/PAF) is now available via the Human Resources Portal through October 11, 2022.

Please note this is only applicable for those who submitted Annual Performance Evaluations by the September deadline and are providing their eligible employees with pay adjustment or award (one-time payment). This is the second step in the annual performance evaluation period process to elect to provide the pay award/adjustments.

Principal Investigators must complete and submit the PA/PAF no later than 4:30 P.M. on Tuesday, October 11^th. Employees will see the pay award or pay adjustment reflected on their pay statement on October 21^st (pay day for the pay period October 1-15, 2022).

To access the online PA/PAF:

1. Log in to the Human Resources Portal
2. Click on “Manage Employees” Tab
3. Click on “Annual Pay Awards (PA/PAF)”
4. A copy of the 2022 RCUH Pay Guidelines will be available for reference. You will only be able to initiate pay awards or pay adjustments for employees who meet the eligibility requirements.

If you have any questions or have difficulty accessing the PA/PAF, please contact one of the RCUH Human Resources staff via phone (808-956-3100) or email:

• Jennifer Lin: [email protected]
• Sharon Vong: [email protected]  

TO: Principal Investigators, Project Staff, and Fiscal Administrators

Effective October 1, 2022, the Hawai‘i State Minimum Wage will increase from $10.10 per hour to $12.00

per hour. There will also be subsequent increases to the minimum wage through the year 2028 as outlined below:

Effective Date	Minimum Wage
January 1, 2024	$14.00 per hour
January 1, 2026	$16.00 per hour
January 1, 2028	$18.00 per hour

As a result, RCUH will implement the below changes to remain in compliance and maintain labor market competitiveness.

Student Assistant Pay Schedule and Non-Recruited Employees (Intermittent and Temporary status):

Historically, the RCUH Student Assistant Pay Schedule aligns with the University of Hawai‘i (UH) Student Pay Schedule. The new minimum pay rate at the entry level (A1-1) is $12.50/hour.

Effective October 1, 2022, RCUH will adjust pay rates for all active Student Assistants, in accordance with their current pay grade and step. No action is needed from the PIs/projects. The pay schedule also accounts for subsequent changes in 2024, 2026, and 2028. Similar notices and actions regarding the pay adjustment process will be communicated and initiated to comply with the pay schedule. 

All Non-Recruited employees (Intermittent and Temporary status) must be compensated at least $12.50 per hour, consistent with the minimum pay rate for Regular-Status employees and Student Assistants.

RCUH Human Resources will identify current Non-Recruited employees who are making below $12.50 per hour and work with the Principal Investigators to implement the October 1, 2022 pay rate adjustments.

Regular-Status Non-Exempt Pay Schedule:

Pay ranges N05 through N09 will be eliminated. The Non-Exempt pay ranges will start at N10, up through N36. The new minimum pay rate starts at $12.50 per hour (minimum of pay range N10). This change also affects any pending recruitments and new hires. All new hires must be paid at the new minimums of the applicable job’s pay range.

RCUH Human Resources will identify affected employees and work directly with Principal Investigators to adjust pay rates and re-evaluate jobs (e.g., current employees in pay ranges N05-N09) as appropriate, which may also include equity adjustments for the employee(s) in the same or similar position. In the meantime, we recommend that budgets be reviewed in preparation for the change. Compliance with the updated Non-Exempt Pay Schedule will be implemented in two phases:

1. Effective October 1, 2022: All Regular-Status employees earning less than $12.50 per hour must receive a pay adjustment to meet the new minimum pay rate on the pay schedule.
   
   
2. Effective no later than January 31, 2023: Principal Investigators of all Regular-Status employees who earn $12.50 or more, but do not currently meet the new minimum of their job’s applicable pay range will have up until January 31, 2023 to adjust the pay rate as appropriate. Should Principal Investigators have budgetary constraints, they may request that the employee’s job description be re-evaluated to a lower pay range.

RCUH Human Resources plans to review and adjust the Non-Exempt and Exempt Pay Schedule in relation to the January 1, 2024 minimum wage increase (more information to be announced at a later date).

The Exempt Pay Schedule remains the same, with updates to the Midpoint values (no changes to the Minimum and Maximum values).

Please contact the staff below if you have any questions:

• Jennifer Lin: [email protected]
• Sharon Vong: [email protected]

Attachments:

• RCUH Student Assistant Pay Schedule
• 3.330 RCUH Pay Schedule