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.
On Friday, December 29, 2023, the entire RCUH corporate staff will be off-site at an all-day staff retreat.
To ensure that East-West Center personnel are not inconvenienced, deliveries and pickups should not be attempted. While it remains a business day for us, responses to emails may be delayed until the new year. Please refer to our December 19 web announcement regarding the payment approval deadline for December 29.
For urgent matters, please call (808) 956-0503 or email [email protected].
We thank you for your understanding and wish you all the best in the coming year.
per hour. There are subsequent increases to the minimum wage through the year 2028 as outlined below:
Effective Date
Minimum Wage
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 $14.50/hour. Effective January 1, 2024, 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 established Student Assistant Pay Schedule reflects pay rates for subsequent changes in 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 $14.50 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 $14.50 per hour and work with the Principal Investigators to adjust their pay rates to ensure compliance with the new minimum pay rate.
Regular-Status Pay Schedule (Non-Exempt and Exempt):
RCUH Human Resources has reviewed and adjusted the Regular-Status Non-Exempt and Exempt Pay Schedule in relation to the January 1, 2024 minimum wage increase. Please refer to policy 3.330 RCUH Pay Schedules for the updated pay schedule. Compliance with the updated Pay Schedule will be implemented in two phases:
Effective January 1, 2024:
Current employees: All Regular-Status employees earning less than $14.50 per hour must receive a pay adjustment to meet the new minimum pay rate on the pay schedule. RCUH Human Resources will identify current employees who are making below $14.50 per hour and work with the Principal Investigators to adjust their pay rates to ensure compliance with the new minimum pay rate.
Pending recruitments and new hires: All new hires must conform with the new minimums of the applicable job’s pay range.
Principal Investigators with current employees making above minimum pay rate, but, do not currently meet the new minimum of their job’s applicable pay range will have the following options:
Provide equity adjustment for current employee upon recruitment for additional position (new hires will be subject to the updated pay schedule).
Effective no later than January 31, 2025: If no additional positions are recruited for, PIs will have until January 31, 2025 to provide a pay adjustment to employees to meet the new minimum of the pay range.
Should Principal Investigators have budgetary constraints, they may request that the employee’s job description be re-evaluated to a lower pay range or converted to a Non-Exempt (eligible for overtime) status.
Please contact the staff below if you have any questions:
To better enforce training requirements and to make mandatory training requirements easier to find, RCUH has published a new policy, 3.270 Mandatory Training for RCUH Employees. While this policy does not result in major changes for employees, it does provide a single location for employees and their supervisors to reference. It also provides guidance on disciplinary action after 30 days of non-compliance.
If there are any questions surrounding this new policy, please email [email protected].
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:
TO: All Principal Investigators Employing RCUH Regular Salaried Employees
Governor Josh Green has issued an Executive Memorandum authorizing eight (8) hours of administrative leave for Regular-Salaried employees on December 22 or December 29, 2023. Pursuant to the Governor’s and UH President’s memo, RCUH Executive Director Leonard Gouveia has authorized the following:
Regular, Full-Time, salaried employees will be given administrative leave with pay on December 22 or December 29, 2023. Part-Time, salaried employees shall be granted a proportionate amount, based off their Full-Time Equivalency (FTE), of administrative leave from their scheduled working time. For example, a Part-Time salaried employee at 50% FTE is entitled to four (4) hours of administrative leave.
The leave must be taken all at once on either day and shall not be split in any manner.
Employees paid on an hourly basis (not on a monthly salary) and employees on suspension or leave without pay status on both days are not entitled to administrative leave.
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to ensure that arrangements for administrative leave are fairly applied to all eligible employees.
Eligible employees required to work on December 22 and December 29 shall be given equivalent administrative time off at some other date determined by the Principal Investigator. This leave must be used no later than January 5, 2024.
Eligible employees on vacation or sick leave on December 22 and/or 29 should charge only the hours in excess of their applicable administrative leave. However, if adjustment to vacation credits would result in forfeiture, the employees should be allowed equivalent administrative leave off on other dates as determined by the Principal Investigator, not to be applied after January 5, 2024.
Despite the granting of administrative leave, the Governor reminded all Department Heads that the offices should be adequately staffed on December 22 and December 29 to provide necessary service to the public between the hours of 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Principal Investigators whose projects service the public should take appropriate steps to ensure compliance with this requirement.
Time Reporting: On the RCUH eTimesheet, please report Administrative Leave hours using the Holiday Administrative Leave with Pay Code “ADM” available as a drop-down option on the “Leave/Other Codes” row.
Please remember, the RCUH Core Offices will be closed all day on Monday, December 25, 2023 and January 1, 2024. RCUH will reopen for business on December 26, 2023 and January 2, 2024.
Any questions regarding this memo may be addressed to Director of Human Resources Kira Higa at [email protected].
In our ongoing efforts to provide our project staff with early communication, please note the following 2023 Year-End Important Dates:
Dates
Details
ePAF Deadline: December 13, 2023 (Wednesday)
Deadline for all retroactive payroll correction and adjustment requests for 2023. Pay period ending 12/15/2023 is the last payroll for the tax year 2023 and the last chance for retroactive payroll adjustments to be processed in the current payroll year. Any adjustments posted after pay period ending 12/15/2023 will be considered 2024 earnings/adjustments and will NOT be included in the employee’s W-2 form for 2023.
FINAL PAYROLL FOR THE 2023 TAX YEAR: December 18, 2023 (Monday) at Noon
Payroll deadline for the 12/01 – 15/2023 pay period. Please ensure that ALL eTimesheets are submitted and approved by the RCUH HR payroll deadline. Any late timesheets processed after pay period ending 12/15/2023 will be considered 2024 earnings/adjustments and will NOT be included in the employee’s W-2 form for 2023.
December 25, 2023 (Monday)
Christmas Holiday
December 26, 2023 (Tuesday)
Deadline to consent for electronic W-2 form and mailing/email address changes. We ask that Projects encourage all of their employees to consent to receive their W-2 electronically through the secure Employee Self-Service site.
January 1, 2023 (Monday)
New Year’s Day Holiday
First payroll for the 2024 Tax Year: January 2, 2023 (Tuesday) at Noon
Payroll deadline for the 12/16 – 31/2023 pay period
If you have any questions, please contact RCUH Payroll at [email protected].
Updates to your personal information can only be submitted via ESS during non-blackout dates (please refer to the 2023 Personnel Action and Payroll Calendar for blackout dates).
Employee Self-Service> Personal Information > Home and Mailing Address
Add Security Questions in RCUH Employee Self-Service
This feature 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
Employee Self-Service> Personal Information > Personal Information Summary > Security Questions [email protected] (808) 956-8900
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.
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