To: Principal Investigators and Project Administrators
From: Nelson Sakamoto, Director of Human Resources

Please find a memorandum applicable for projects planning  to work employees on the General Election Holiday (Tuesday, November 6, 2018).

Contact Nelson Sakamoto e-mail:  [email protected] or (808) 956-6965 with any questions.

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RCUH is excited to kick off this year’s United Way campaign!  We humbly ask for your continued support, because if each and every one of us comes together, we can make a transformative impact in our community.  As one of the largest non-profit organizations in Hawai‘i, Aloha United Way supports a network of 338 member agencies to meet a broad range of health and human service needs across the state.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE:

RCUH’s statewide United Way campaign allows our employees to donate to various United Way programs. You may contribute to any of the following islands’ United Way campaigns by completing the 2018 RCUH Employee Pledge Form:

2018 Pledge Form applies to the following:

• Aloha United Way (O‘ahu)
• Hawai‘i Island United Way
• Maui United Way
• Kaua‘i United Way

Please make a copy of the completed form for your records and return the original form via encrypted email to [email protected]; or via U.S. Mail to RCUH Human Resources at Burns Hall, 4^th Floor, 1601 East West Road, Honolulu, HI 96848.

Deadline: Wednesday, November 7, 2018 

Contribute via Payroll Deduction:  RCUH employees have the option to contribute to the various statewide United Way campaigns via payroll deduction.  Your payroll deduction will be collectively sent to the United Way Campaign specified by your completed pledge form.  Payroll deduction period is from December 16, 2018 – December 15, 2019.

For Tax Purposes:

• Anyone who donates more than $250 will receive a tax acknowledgement letter from Aloha United Way in February.
• A gift from $1 – $47.99 will receive a thank note via email.
• A gift over $48.00 will receive a thank you note via mail.
• If a payroll deduction pledge is made, please make a copy of your pledge form and use your last paystub of the year to show the charitable donation.

For more information about the individual island campaigns, click on the links below to visit their website or call:

Informational Brochure – Living United

Aloha United Way (808-536-1951)

Maui United Way (808-244-8787)

Kauai United Way (808-245-2043)

Hawaii Island United Way (808-935-6393)

If you have any questions, please contact RCUH Human Resources at (808) 956-6979 or email [email protected].

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 the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

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 use our secure website at:

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

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.

To: All Principal Investigators

From: Nelson Sakamoto, Director of Human Resources

Subject: National Science Foundation Article X – Notification Requirements Regarding Findings of Sexual Harassment, Other Forms of Harassment, or Sexual Assault published in the Federal Register on September 21, 2018 (Effective October 21, 2018)

Effective October 21, 2018 all projects receiving funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF) will be subject to the NSF’s Article X – Notification Requirements Regarding Findings of Sexual Harassment, Other Forms of Harassment, or Sexual Assault published in the Federal Register on September 21, 2018 (Attachment). The Research Corporation of the University of Hawai`i (RCUH) will cooperate with the University of Hawai`i’s (UH) efforts to comply with this NSF directive.

Any RCUH Direct Project receiving funding from the NSF is also subject to the NSF Article X. Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators of applicable RCUH Direct Projects will work with the RCUH to ensure compliance with this NSF directive.

Attachment: Memorandum from Nelson Sakamoto to Principal Investigators

Link to ORS Announcement: Notice of UH Temporary Protocol to Comply With New NSF Term and Conditions

IMPORTANT: PLEASE OBTAIN APPROVAL FROM YOUR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR BEFORE MAKING ANY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS.

The holiday 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 REMINDERS WHILE TRAVELING OUTSIDE THE U.S.:

• 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.

TO:  Principal Investigators, Project Administrators, and Fiscal Administrators

NOTE: This announcement is applicable to Principal Investigators who will be providing their employees with pay increases/one-time payments effective October 1, 2018 and submitted Annual Performance Evaluations by the September 14, 2018 deadline.

The online Pay Award/Personnel Action Form (PA/PAF) will be available for use via the Human Resources Portal from September 21, 2018 through October 5, 2018. All Principal Investigators who have submitted their employees’ performance evaluations by the September 14, 2018 deadline who would like to provide their employees with pay increases or a one-time payment effective October 1, 2018, must initiate and approve the online PA/PAF no later than October 5, 2018.

As a reminder, this is only applicable to RCUH Regular-status employees (regardless of FTE).

To access the online PA/PAF:

• Log in to the Human Resources Portal
• Click on “Manage Employees” Tab
• Click on “Annual Pay Awards (PA/PAF)”

The PA/PAF will include a retroactive one-time payment option for the July 1, 2018 through September 30, 2018 period if an increase to an employee’s base salary is provided.

If you previously submitted an online PA/PAF for July 1, 2018 for your program (distribution code), but  did not provide an award to eligible employee(s), you will need to submit a manual PAF for each employee for this action.  Please email the manual PAF to [email protected].  The deadline for the manual PAF is October 9, 2018.

If you have any questions, please contact the RCUH Human Resources staff listed below for further assistance.

Thank you!

All RCUH Human Resources online systems will be down from Friday, September 21, 2018 at 6:00 PM (HST) to Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 11:00 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 Stacie Kondo at [email protected] or Taylor Sumi at [email protected].