Announcements from the Senior Vice President

Dear Colleagues,

The 2025 Open Enrollment Period for the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) and NJ Tax$ave Program runs from October 1, 2024, to October 31, 2024. This is your opportunity to review and adjust your medical, prescription, dental, and pre-tax flexible spending account choices for the upcoming year. The deadline for making modifications is October 31, 2024, with changes becoming effective on January 1, 2025.

Dear Colleagues,

I am very pleased to announce that Rutgers University will offer free leadership training to our university community. The training, developed by the non-partisan Citizens Campaign, features 10 short videos with accompanying chapters from a citizen leadership manual, published by Rutgers University Press.

It is designed to train members of the community in No Blame, Pragmatic Problem-Solving skills and provide opportunities for them to put their training to use as pragmatic “citizen leaders,” working to better their communities and our country. Participants who complete the training will receive a certificate in Leadership and No-Blame Problem Solving.

I invite you to enroll in this free, self-paced course. Participants will be able to:

Dear Colleagues,

We write to provide an important clarification regarding the recent flexible work arrangement communication sent on August 27th, and the associated deadline to resubmit new applications.

As of August 31, 2024, all flexible work arrangements in the FlexWork@RU Application System expired, as the system was unable to accept future-dated applications beyond the end of last year’s pilot program period. This means that all flexible work arrangements that were in place have expired as of that date. As a courtesy to ensure that we did not provide a deadline that conflicted with the start of the Fall semester activities, we provided a two-month grace period for the review and resubmission of applications to commence or continue flexible work arrangements.

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the extension of the FlexWork@RU Pilot Program. Under this extension, flexible work arrangements will not be automatically renewed. Staff employees who wish to commence or continue a flexible work arrangement must submit a request according to the process outlined below. While all existing flexible work arrangements expire on August 31, 2024, we will extend the request deadline through October 31, 2024, to allow for sufficient review, resubmission, and approval time.

Staff Employees Currently in Flexible Work Arrangements

By October 31, 2024, all staff employees with flexible work arrangements must:

Dear Rutgers Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce several new services available via the HR and Payroll Support Portal designed to facilitate requests for assistance and guidance from University Human Resources (UHR). Services now available include:

Dear Deans, Directors, and Department Heads,

Below please find the Salary Increase Implementation Schedule for FY’25 for aligned employees.

The information below is only for increases being implemented in July with additional details forthcoming for other units. 

Dear Rutgers Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that President Holloway has authorized a salary improvement program for eligible non-aligned employees for fiscal year 2025 as detailed below.

Regularly appointed non-aligned staff employees who are on the Rutgers payroll in an eligible non-aligned position as of June 30, 2024, and who continue in such a position through the date of payment of the salary increase are eligible to receive a 3.5% increase to their base annual salary effective July 1, 2024. This includes individuals in non-aligned positions designated as Executive/Administrative/Managerial.

The 3.5% increase to the base annual salary will be calculated using the June 30, 2024, base annual salary and will be in the paycheck dated July 5, 2024.

Dear Rutgers Colleagues:

As part of our ongoing “Planning for the Future” educational programming, we are pleased to announce the next series of webinars focused on Social Security and financial wellness. These webinars are intended to provide employees with the tools and education necessary to manage finances and help make the best financial decisions for themselves, their families, and their futures. Webinars are available to all Rutgers employees and are free of charge.

Dear Colleagues,

President Holloway has called for us to create a beloved community defined by a commitment to work together to embody, reflect, and respect the complexities of all our parts. We recognize that promoting inclusion and equity is critical to advancing inclusive academic excellence.

To further our efforts, we are inviting you to voluntarily self-identify your race/ethnicity demographic information, as well as your veteran and disability status.  You may do this by logging in here.     

Below are FAQs that may answer some of your questions and address your concerns about sharing your demographic information.

Dear Rutgers Colleagues:

As we approach the end of the current fiscal year, I am writing to remind you that, pursuant to university policy and negotiated agreement, staff employees who are eligible to accrue paid time off may only carry forward into the next fiscal year the equivalent of one year of accrued vacation days. In order to avoid forfeiting credited vacation time in excess of the carryover cap, staff members are encouraged to work with their supervisors now to review workload and staffing requirements for their department, and to develop a plan to use excess vacation time prior to June 28, 2024.

Dear Rutgers Colleagues,

As a reminder, on February 4, 2019, Governor Murphy signed legislation that progressively raised the minimum wage in New Jersey to $15 per hour by the year 2024.  Effective January 1, 2024, the New Jersey minimum wage is $15.13 per hour.

For individuals employed on January 1, 2024, no further action is required.  As is our practice, UHR automatically brought all hourly employee salaries up to the new minimum wage effective January 1, 2024.  For newly appointed hourly employees, including student workers, hiring units must ensure that appointments are processed with salaries at or above the new minimum wage.

Dear Rutgers Colleagues,

Through the State of New Jersey, Rutgers is pleased to offer plans to allow employees to shelter a part of their wages from federal income taxes while saving for retirement. These plans include the IRC Section 457 New Jersey State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan and the IRC Section 403(b) Tax Savings Plan.

The New Jersey State Employee’s Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan) is a voluntary investment program that provides retirement income separate from, and in addition to, your basic pension plan. The IRC Section 403(b) Tax Savings Plan (tax-sheltered annuity plan) is a voluntary investment program that lets employees defer some of their salary into individual accounts, including designated Roth accounts.

Dear Rutgers Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well and that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Below are several important UHR announcements and reminders regarding employee discounts, university holidays and closures, and holiday gift guidelines.

Employee Discounts and Caregiver Support

Dear Colleagues,

As a reminder, University Human Resources will be hosting in-person 2023 Open Enrollment Benefit Fairs starting next week. Below are the details of each session (please note the time change for the Rutgers University—Camden session):

Sincerely,

Vivian Fernández
Senior Vice President for Human Resources

Dear Rutgers Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well and that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Below are several important UHR announcements and reminders regarding employee discounts, university holidays and closures, and holiday gift guidelines.

Dear Colleagues,

Please save the date for the 2023 Open Enrollment Benefit Fairs hosted by University Human Resources:

Sincerely,

Vivian Fernández
Senior Vice President for Human Resources

Dear Rutgers Colleagues:

As part of our ongoing Planning for the Future education programming, we are pleased to announce the next series of webinars focused on Social Security and financial wellness. These webinars are intended to provide employees with the tools and education necessary tomanage finances and help make the best financial decisions for themselves, their families, and their futures. Webinars are available to all Rutgers employees and are free of charge. Below is a list of the Planning for the Future webinars and links to register.

Dear Deans, Directors, and Department Heads,

Below please find an updated Salary Increase Implementation Schedule for FYs ’23 and ’24 for aligned employees.

Dear Deans, Directors, and Department Heads,

We are pleased to announce the implementation schedule for the second phase of salary increases and payments for the recently ratified EOF and Academic unions agreements as detailed below.