W-2 Forms Now Available Online

The University of Houston is pleased to announce that 2008 W2 forms are available online effective January 14, 2009. Faculty, staff and student employees can choose to receive their 2008 W-2 form, Wage and Tax Statement, online through the PASS website instead of by regular mail.

In order to be able to access and print the W-2 form electronically, employees must accept the consent agreement. This consent agreement does not roll over to the following years, so employees must agree to receive the form electronically each year. This election must be made by January 21, 2009.

Employees who do not agree to the Electronic Consent will receive their paper W-2 form via U.S. Postal Service. These forms will be mailed out by January 31 as required by the Internal Revenue Service.

If the information on the 2008 W-2 form is not correct, please contact Renee Chang in the Payroll Office at 713.743.8773.

How to print the W-2 form? Follow the quick and easy steps below:

1. Log on to the UH Portal at http://my.uh.edu




2. Click on PASS




3. Click on Payroll Information.



4. Click on W-2 Reprint.



5. The W-2 Print screen appears. Select the required Tax Year from the list. This will take you to the Consent Agreement Page.




7. If the Refuse to Electronic Consent option is checked, you must agree to the Electronic W-2 Consent Agreement button to enable the electronic W-2 function. Click the Agree Electronic Consent option.




8. The Electronic W-2 Consent Agreement page will display. Read the agreement and click Accept Agreement to accept the terms or No Thanks to decline them.




6. Once the Agree to Electronic Consent option is checked, click on "Click Here to Proceed to W-2 Printing".




9. On the W-2 Results page, two links will appear. Select Click Here to View and Print your 2008 W-2 to print the front . If you would like to print the Reverse side of the form, select Click Here to View and Print the W-2 Instructions. Your browser must allow pop ups  and the latest version of Adobe Reader to view the forms.




10. In order to open the W-2 form, you will be required to enter a password. This password is your Social Security Number in the following format... 999999999. No dashes please. Click OK.




11. The W-2 appears in a new window. Print as many W-2s as needed.




For assistance with PASS, please contact the Employee Services Center at 713.743.3988.

The University of Houston has announced a deadline extension to complete the FY09 Mandatory Training. The original deadline of December 31, 2008 has been extended to January 31, 2009 to allow employees to complete their required training. All mandatory trainings are available on the UHS Online Professional Development and Training Website which can be accessed at www.uh.edu/onlinetraining.

All  mandatory trainings must be completed by all existing university employees including faculty, staff, student workers, and temporary employees who are paid through the payroll system. All new employees as of September 1st must complete the trainings within 30 days of their hire date.

Any System employee who fails to complete the required training for fiscal year 2009 by the published extended deadline of January 31, 2009, will not have met their job expectations and will therefore not be eligible for merit increases as stated in SAM 02.A.11 and SAM 02.A.26.

For assistance, please call the Human Resources Employee Services Center at 713.743.3988.

Departments can now order recycling bins for their offices and suites online through the Green UH website at http://www.uh.edu/af/greenUH/ using the “Order Recycle Bins” link.

The University has announced enhancements that will make on-campus recycling easier; furthermore the university is in the process of installing more than 240 outdoor recycling bins located throughout the UH campus.

“Recycling and being good stewards of the environment are about changing behavior,” said Emily Messa, assistant vice president for university services. “In order to change that behavior you need to make recycling easy and convenient for people so they’ll be inclined to do it.” says Messa

For convenience, the bins are strategically placed next to existing outdoor trash receptacles, but these bins are for aluminum cans and plastic bottles. In order to recognize which bottles, or aluminum cans are capable of being recycled, located on the bottom of the container will be a number one or two inside of a triangle.

A map of the current outdoor recycling bins is now available on the “Green UH” web site.
  

Upcoming Changes to the Compensation Program

We are pleased to announce that as a result of a two-year study, HR Compensation is revising policies and procedures to ensure that employee compensation is administered fairly and consistently. As part of this new compensation program, new pay range structures will be implemented within the next few months.

The new program also includes a total compensation philosophy which will assist the university in achieving its goal to attract, retain, motivate and reward a highly competent workforce.

History – In 2006, UH partnered with Deloitte Consulting to conduct a market study of all UH staff jobs. For every staff job, we identified a job match or a comparable job in the local or regional market. A new salary range structure was developed by Deloitte aligned to the Houston metro market. A market-based job classification system was developed because of its simplicity and straightforward approach. With this new structure, the midpoint of the pay range will accurately reflect the “going rate” for jobs. During the study, we found that average salaries for jobs at UH are in line with the market.

How this affects you – The new pay ranges will be used to guide future planning and administration of staff salaries including merit increases and promotions. Current staff pay will not be affected.

We will provide additional announcements to keep you updated as the implementation continues. More details regarding the current phase of implementation are available on the HR Website at www.uh.edu/hr/compensation/index.htm.

Family & Medical Leave Statement

Family and medical leave is provided to eligible employees for any of the events or conditions listed below. Leave taken for these events must be reported as family and medical leave:

• The birth of a child and the care of the newborn.
• The placement of a child with an employee in connection with the adoption or state-approved foster care of the child.
• A serious health condition of the employee.
• The serious health condition of a child, parent, or spouse of the employee.

An eligible employee is entitled up to a maximum of 12 weeks of approved family and medical leave in a year, as defined in MAPP 02.02.01

An employee who does not meet the eligibility requirements for family and medical leave may be eligible for parental leave for the birth of a natural child or the adoption or state approved foster care placement of a child under three years of age.

Definitions of eligibility and who is an “employee, child, parent, etc.” are provided in MAPP 02.02.01


Brief Overview of the FMLA Process

1. Qualify FMLA event or notice of future event by employee to department; details need not be provided by employee to department.
2. FMLA Application and Certification of Health Care Provider form completed and submitted to Human Resources
   1. Use only the most recent version of these forms as found on the HR Forms website: http://www.uh.edu/hr/resources/hrforms.htm
   2. The Certification of Health Care Provider is to be submitted to HR directly by the employee or physician – the department should neither receive nor retain copies of this document
3. HR receives the application and Certification forms; reviews and either approves or denies the request.
4. A letter of approval/denial will be sent to the employee; it will include:
   1. Start and return to work dates (recertification date if request is intermittent)
   2. UH FMLA policy information
   3. Information on benefits while on FMLA
5. Department receives notice of approval/denial of FMLA via email; it will include:
   1. A copy of the letter to employee
   2. Start and end dates (recertification date if request is intermittent)
   3. Return to work date
   4. Vacation and/or sick time available totals given in “total number of days available with pay”
   5. Time that will be unpaid (if applicable)
   6. Reminder to complete ePAR for leave (if applicable)
6. For FMLA requests that will be non-intermittent 2 ePARs may be required:
   1. First: placing and returning the employee from paid leave (if vacation and/or sick time is available)
   2. Second: placing and returning the employee from unpaid leave (if vacation and/or sick time is unavailable or exhausted)
7. ePAR will be approved and finalized in HR.
8. Returning to work:
   1. Good practice to have employee provide a fitness to return to work notice from their physician (copy may be provided to HR)
   2. If more time is required (not to exceed the 12 weeks) HR must be contacted immediately.

Important FAQ’s

• Employees are entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks in a rolling calendar year.
• Certification of Health Care Provider is to be given directly to HR.
  • Do not copy or place a copy with ePAR.
• FMLA is unpaid time.
  • The university requires that all sick and vacation time be exhausted before time becomes unpaid.
  • If the employee has comp time available, the department cannot require the employee to use while out on FMLA.
• Eligible employees requesting FMLA due to pregnancy are entitled to the full 12 weeks regardless of time indicated by physician.
  • Employee may take time off before the pregnancy as well.
• Parental leave is for employees who do not qualify for FMLA but will be delivering or adopting a child.
  • Entitled to the same 12 week maximum which can only begin the day the child is born or adopted.
  • Employees are not eligible for both Parental Leave and FMLA.
• Employees continue to accrue sick and vacation time while out on FMLA; however, it cannot be used until they are returned from FMLA.
• Intermittent FMLA.
  • Does not require an ePAR.
  • Require department to keep track of time taken toward FMLA and record to ensure 12 week allowance is not exceeded.
  • Requires recertification every 6 months to remain active.
• Sick Leave Pool for catastrophic illness may be applied for by the employee when they go out on FMLA; however, payment will be provided only if eligibility requirements have been satisfied
  • http://www.uh.edu/hr/HRFORMS/sickleavepool.pdf.
  • SAM 02.D.02: http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/sam/2HumanResources/2D2.pdf.
• Disability may be applied by the employee when they go out of FMLA (if they have elected as part of their benefits)
  • http://www.fdl-life.com/ers/pdf/disab_claim.pdf.

If you have any questions, please contact Laura Stewart at 713.743.3689.




Common Errors on Vouchers

No one likes to have their voucher denied. Please help Accounts Payable approve your voucher the first time by reviewing for the following items:

1. Enter the invoice number in the Invoice field exactly as it appears on the invoice. If there is not an invoice number, enter a description in the Invoice field that will help the payee recognize the purpose of the payment.
2. Complete all of the dates in the Calc Basis Date link (next to Invoice Date): Invoice Date, Invoice Receipt Date, Goods Receipt Date, and Acceptance Date.
   • If the Invoice Receipt Date is not indicated on the invoice, Invoice Date should be entered as “Invoice Receipt Date”.
   • For employee, student, and regent reimbursements, all of the above dates can be the date the voucher was created.
3. For subscriptions, membership, leases, and other payments covering a period of time, the Good Receipt Date is the end of the period (i.e., end of subscription, end of membership, end of lease, etc.)
4. Complete the Voucher Line Description for state vouchers (required by the Comptroller’s Office).
5. Change the PCC on the UHS Data Line page if one of the following applies:
   • Travel reimbursement – PCC 1
   • Transferring travel expenses between state and local funds – PCC 2
   • Payment to another Texas state agency with state funds – PCC 6
   • Transferring non-travel expenses between state and local funds – PCC 8
6. Select the remit to address on the Payments page that matches the invoice.
7. Change the Handling code on the Payments page to “EN” if an enclosure must be mailed with the check, and send the enclosure to Treasury with a copy of the voucher. (Very few payments require an enclosure.)
8. Change the Schedule Due Date on the Payments page if payment is required before the Net Due Date. NEVER change the Payment Terms from “Net 30” to “Due Now,” which causes interest to be paid by mistake.
9. Always verify that backup documentation is complete and can be read.
10. Always upload a copy of the contract for the first contract payment and include the voucher number in Voucher Comments on future contract payments.
11. Select the appropriate workflow path
    • Dept-AP (If none of the criteria below apply)
    • Dept-Scholarships and Financial Aid-AP (If using a scholarship account. See Voucher Workflow Matrix at: http://www.uh.edu/finance/pages/References.htm.
    • Dept-Tax-AP (If using a tax-related account. Refer to the Voucher Workflow Matrix)
    • Dept-Office of Contracts and Grants-AP (If reallocating grant expense from state to local or local to state or purchasing equipment in last six months of grant)
    • Dept-Research HEAF-AP (If using fund 1043)

If you have any questions, please contact Cissy Bean at 713.743.8711.

UH/UHSA departments with 90% HUB use or higher that spent at least $100 in December 2008

The above percentages include HUB-eligible voucher and P-Card payments. However, HUB subcontractor payments are not included in the monthly HUB statistics but are included in the semi-annual and annual HUB reports. For departments with more than one DeptID, all DeptIDs were combined to determine the above ranking.

HUB reports by college/division and department are posted on the web at: http://www.uh.edu/finance/pages/HUB_Reports.htm

Please call Carla West at 713.743.5661 or Alan Philips at 713.743.5671 if you need help finding a HUB vendor.

UHDPS Website Renovation

The University of Houston Department of Public Safety (UHDPS) recently renovated their website. The new website reflects a format that makes browsing and navigating much easier. We encourage everyone to take a few minutes and review our new website. The website contains vital information for the Police Department, Fire Marshal’s Office and the Parking Enforcement Department.

Visit the UHDPS website at www.uh.edu/police.

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a device about the size of a thick laptop computer that analyzes the heart's rhythm for any abnormalities and, if necessary, directs the rescuer to deliver an electrical shock to the victim. This shock, called defibrillation, may help the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm of its own.

Here at the University of Houston Main Campus we have 29 AED’s spread throughout the campus, and have another 12 AED’s assigned to the University of Houston Department of Public Safety. Each patrol vehicle operated by the Department of Public Safety is equipped with an AED. The University of Houston System Sugar Land Campus and University of Houston System Cinco Ranch each have an AED. Once a month the AED’s are inspected and tested to make sure they are in proper operational order.

At the meeting held on February 16, 2008, the UH System Board of Regents approved the implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for the entire UH System.

“This is an emergency management system that works on all levels,” said Malcolm Davis, assistant vice president for public safety and UHDPS chief. “It gives specific duties to specific entities, but at the same time is scalable, allowing responders to address the intricacies of any emergency.”

In 2003, President George W. Bush directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer a system designed to help prevent, prepare, respond, and recover from incidents, regardless of their size or complexity. In 2005, Texas Governor Rick Perry designated NIMS as the incident management system for Texas. At the time, it was not clear if institutions of higher education were included in this mandate, and would be required to have their emergency management plans based on NIMS guidelines.

Davis recognizes the value of implementing NIMS as the UH System standard and spearheaded an initiative to formally adopt NIMS as the standard for emergency management for all the component institutions of the UH System.

A revision of the Emergency Management Plan is currently underway that will incorporate NIMS standards.

JANUARY CALENDAR