New tax-qualified retirement plan for eligible employees to be implemented in 2006

Later this fall, the University of Florida will be implementing the Retirement Special Pay Plan. This plan is part of a two-part offering previously approved by the Faculty and Staff Benefits Committee, the President, and the Board of Trustees. The FICA Alternative Plan for OPS employees was the other part of the offering and was implemented in January of this year.

What is the Retirement Special Pay Plan?
The Retirement Special Pay Plan is a mandatory retirement plan available to eligible employees for sick and vacation payments at the time of separation.

Who is eligible?
Faculty, TEAMS, and USPS employees participating in a university retirement plan who have over $2,000 in sick or vacation leave payment upon termination will be included in the Retirement Special Pay Plan. Employees entering DROP after implementation will also be eligible.

How does it work?

• The payments from sick and vacation leave at the time of separation will be invested in a 401(a) plan – either fixed or a mutual fund investment option. In addition, the employee will invest the 7.65 percent of income that would otherwise have gone to Social Security and Medicare Tax. The contributions from these payments are pre-tax, and the federal income tax on this is deferred until distributions are taken.

Advantages of the plan include:

• Participating employees do not pay Social Security taxes for the funds invested in this plan, and Social Security taxes are never due on these funds .
• Any benefits previously earned under another retirement plan (including Social Security) will not be reduced by participation in this plan.
• Contributions to this plan are pre-tax. Therefore, the total amount of taxes paid will be reduced. No taxes are paid on the contributions until they are withdrawn.
• The account balance is portable, and there are no administrative fees.

What's Next
Additional details about the plan, including the effective date and a schedule of educational sessions, will be available in the July InfoGator.

Medical coverage for work-related injuries available

Workers’ compensation medical care coverage applies to all employees who are authorized to perform their assigned job duties - no matter what time of day or what day of the week it is. University of Florida employees in the Gainesville area who are injured on the job are still able to seek treatment even if First Care or the Student Health Care Center is closed.

The University’s Workers’ Compensation Office has an arrangement with North Florida Immediate Care Center, Inc. to provide UF employees with workers’ compensation medical care during normal business hours and also on most dates and times when First Care and the Student Health Care Center are closed.  By using the North Florida Immediate Care Center for non-life threatening injuries instead of a hospital emergency room, employees can receive faster and more personalized medical attention.

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The Associate Provost for Faculty Development announces a revised and expanded New Faculty Orientation! The new two-day fall orientation offers scheduling flexibility and a variety of information rich, interactive session choices.

It all begins on Wednesday, August 16, 2006, with an 8:00 a.m. continental breakfast and general session featuring the Provost and Senior Vice Presidents in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom. This assembly is followed by a series of concurrent and repeating, interactive sessions focused on topics such as “Demystifying Tenure, Promotion and the Academic Personnel Board,” “Managing Your Grants,” “UF Library Services,” “Research Support, Opportunities and Services,” “Instructional Technology,” and “Cyber-Security.”

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Register today for free summer seminar: Managing from the Inside Out

Research indicates that the number one reason why employees leave their jobs is because of their managers. Don’t let that happen to you!

Do you want to sharpen your managerial skills?  Want to gain new tools to help move your team forward?  Are you ready to find new ways to hire the best people, retain them, and motivate them to move UF into the “top 10?”

If so, take advantage of this free summer seminar!

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ePAF is live on campus; new training classes available

Human Resource Services and Bridges released Electronic Personnel Action Forms (ePAF) to campus in a phased rollout during February, March, and April. During this time, over 600 UF employees attended the Introduction to ePAF course and learned how to use the Hire an Employee, Edit Existing Job, Change Employment Status, Submit Leave Cash-out, and Additional Pay forms.  Please reference the ePAF home page for frequently asked questions, instruction guides, and information about ePAF.

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Employee Education Program information session offered in July

The Employee Education Program (EEP) is a popular benefit made available to eligible UF faculty and staff. The program covers the matriculation fees of up to six credit hours of covered college-level courses for eligible employees. To better inform employees of the procedures and paperwork associated with participating in the EEP, the Office of Human Resource Services, in collaboration with the Registrar’s Office, will provide a short information session on Thursday, July 27, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in Room 316 Stadium West.

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New information security web site

Updated content, a sharp layout, and a crisp graphic all adorn the newly revamped IT Security Team web site which went live on May 30.

As part of the University of Florida Web Administration’s goal to have all UF web sites comply with the American Disabilities Act standards, the UF IT Security Team has redesigned its web site to include accessibility features such as appropriate labels, titles, scripts, descriptions and other site information.

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Summer is a great time to attend training workshops:  Register today!

Registration is currently underway for Training and Organizational Development’s summer schedule. This summer's schedule includes computer application training, myUFL workshops, and more. To register, log on to myUFL and follow the links to “My Self-Service,” and “Training and Development” or visit www.hr.ufl.edu/training for more information as well as a schedule of courses.

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