WELCOME: UMBC's Recently Hired Staff
Please join the Department of Human Resources in extending a warm welcome to the University's recently hired staff:
Dana Fulcher, Shriver Center
Morgan Handwerger, Shriver Center
Morgan Hines, Shriver Center
Ethan Ide, College of Engineering and Information Technology
Danielle Lynch, Shriver Center
Dwayne Perry, Facilities Management
Graeme Thistlewaite, Shriver Center
Ana Laura Zandarin, Office of Vice Provost & Dean
*Update July 16, 2020: The state moved up the deadline for these transactions to be submitted in workday. The original deadline was 7/31/20, the new deadline is 7/29/2020 at 3:00 pm.
From: Employee Benefits Division (EBD), Department of Budget and Management - May 28, 2020
On May 12, the IRS issued two notices, Notice 2020-29 and Notice 2020-33 that affect Benefit elections and Flexible Spending Accounts due to the impact of COVID-19. Under this guidance, the State of Maryland may adopt some, all, or none of these election changes. After careful consideration, the State Employee and Retiree Health and Welfare Benefits Program is pleased to extend the following mid-year election changes, which fall into two categories:
- Allow employees to make prospective mid-year election changes related to health coverage, prescription, health FSAs, and dependent care FSAs; and
- Allow employees to apply amounts in a health FSA or dependent care FSA from 2019 that are unused as of the end of a grace period (March 15, 2020) to pay for or reimburse qualified medical care or dependent care expenses incurred through December 31, 2020.
Changes allowed under these new rules for State Program Participants
Employees may make the following Medical and Prescription Drug changes ONLY:
- make a new election for medical and prescription drug coverage on a prospective basis, if the employee did not enroll in the 2020 plan year previously; (the Mid-Year Attestation form will be required in SPS Workday, please see instructions at the bottom of this message)
- make a new election changing enrollment from self-only coverage to family coverage on a prospective basis; (the Mid-Year Attestation form will be required in SPS Workday, please see instructions at the bottom of this message)
- may drop an existing plan election for medical and prescription drug coverage on a prospective basis, provided that the employee signs and attaches the Waiver attestation that the employee is enrolled, or immediately will enroll, in other health coverage not sponsored by the State as the employer.
Note: Changes will be effective on the 1st of the month on or after the election event date and remain in effect through December 31, 2020.
Changes cannot be made: from one health plan to another, to dental plans, or to life insurance or AD&D coverage.
Employees may make the following Health & Dependent Care FSA changes:
- stop the FSA election(s) so that no further salary contributions will be required; (the Mid-Year Attestation form will be required in SPS Workday, please see instructions at the bottom of this message)
- make a new FSA election if none was made during the open enrollment period; (the Mid-Year Attestation form will be required in SPS Workday, please see instructions at the bottom of this message)
- reduce the FSA election amount. (the Mid-Year Attestation form will be required in SPS Workday, please see instructions at the bottom of this message)
Note: Changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the election approval by EBD and remain in effect through December 31, 2020.
The IRS changes do not include FSA account balance refunds for participants who have been unable to access the services of medical services providers and dependent care providers due to the coronavirus. However, FSA elections may be stopped so that no additional salary contributions are required to maintain the FSA account.
Extension of the Deadline for Incurring Eligible FSA Expenses
Under normal IRS rules, FSA account balances at the end of a plan year and any applicable grace period must be forfeited. The new relief makes it possible for a plan to limit the potential for 2020 FSA forfeitures by allowing unspent FSA balances to be used to reimburse eligible expenses through December 31, 2020.
Here’s an example:
A plan with a plan year ending 12/31 also has a 2 1/2-month grace period. So, the last day for incurring eligible expenses for the plan year that began 1/1/2019 normally would be 3/15/2020. With the relief, the last day to incur an eligible expense for the 1/1/2019 plan year would be 12/31/2020.
Additional Notes:
- Changes may be processed between today and July 31, 2020 and remain in effect through December 31, 2020. Use Benefit Event Type: Employee: Mid-Year Election Change (COVID)
- Employees may not change the medical carrier or plan; any change will be reversed by EBD
- Employees requesting mid-year changes on August 1, 2020 or later will be subject to the standard Life Events in SPS.
- All Medical and Prescription Drug Mid-year elections are effective on the on the 1st of the month on or after the event date.
- All FSA Mid-year elections are effective on the 1st of the month following the event approval date in SPS. The IRS Notice prohibits an employee from seeking a refund of contributions that have already been made to a health or dependent care FSA.
- For the addition of dependents, the State’s dependent documentation requirements remain in force. For a list of acceptable documents, see Pages 39-40 in the State of Maryland Benefits Guide, or in the Job Aid for Required Supporting Dependent Documentation.
- If you are not able to produce the required document(s) immediately due to COVID-19 reduction in services, the deadline is extended until 30-days following the end of Maryland’s State of Emergency.
- If documentation is not received, Dependents will be dis-enrolled retroactively to the original effective date.
- All transactions require either the Mid-Year Election or Waiver Attestation Notice. The attestation should be uploaded as documentation to support the change in SPS. (please contact hrbenefits@umbc.edu for these forms).
- FSA changes will be matched to claim data to date and will be limited to amounts no less than the amount already reimbursed prior to approval.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning that supports you in navigating complex challenges in personal and professional life, helps you to increase your effectiveness, and to improve your relationships. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Beating Procrastination by Boosting Your Creativity and Drive (19 min)
Everyone could benefit from
a boost in creativity. Whether you're in marketing and advertising,
management, or software development, all professionals need to be able to come
up with original ideas and think outside the box every now and then. But
sometimes the pressure to think creatively is the very thing that blocks the
flow of fresh ideas and results in the type of procrastination that is an
obstacle to efficient time management. This course focuses on the relationship
between procrastinating and creativity.
You'll learn about how the
optimal amount of procrastination actually boosts creativity and efficiency.
You'll also learn how to use creativity boosters to help you past those times
when you procrastinate a little too much.
Participants will learn to:
- describe the optimal amount of procrastination that a person should strive for
- recognize strategies for overcoming personal tendencies and conditions that inhibit creativity
- identify activities that promote creativity during a period of procrastination
- use collaboration as a way to boost creativity and overcome procrastination
- overcome procrastination by using techniques to take charge of your life
TO LOGIN:
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes. Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning that supports you in navigating complex challenges in personal and professional life, helps you to increase your effectiveness, and to improve your relationships. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is The Art of Staying Focused.
The Art of Staying Focused (30 min)
Even if you know what's important to do, losing focus can stop your progress. No matter who you are or what job you do, focusing at work can be hard. Even with great schedule management and organizing skills, it's easy to get off track if you're not careful. In this course, you'll learn how to stay focused and stay on top of your schedule. You'll learn strategies for dealing with focus challenges and distractions at work. You'll also find out how to beat fatigue, manage your time, and decline work-related requests. And you'll explore how to adjust your focus to deal with change, and how to regain focus when you've lost it.
Participants will learn to:
- recognize tactics for avoiding procrastination and temptation and keeping focused
- recognize tactics to beat fatigue and manage multitasking to maintain your focus
- identify strategies for minimizing distractions in your environment
- select the most effective response for declining a request
- strategically adjust your focus in response to changing circumstances
- recognize techniques for regaining focus
- maintain your focus on a task despite internal and external challenges
TO LOGIN:
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes. Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning to help you more masterfully manage yourself personally and professionally, improve your effectiveness in managing your work, and support you in skillfully leading your teams. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Positive Atmosphere: Establishing a Positive Work Environment.
Positive Atmosphere: Establishing a Positive Work Environment (26min)
A positive workplace is paramount to your organization's long-term success. As a manager, you play a key role in establishing a positive work culture, and noticing when negativity takes the place of positivity. As a leader, you can foster a positive work environment by communicating honestly, respecting, supporting, engaging others, and maintaining a good attitude. This course will introduce you to best practices for creating a positive work environment. You'll learn the benefits of establishing a positive and engaged workforce, its characteristics, and concrete steps to create one. You'll also explore how to recognize the signs and impacts of negativity, and how to take corrective action if necessary to engage employees.
Participants will learn to:
- identify the characteristics of a positive workplace
- identify management techniques you can apply to create a positive work environment
- select techniques of interacting personally with employees to foster a positive work environment
- recognize the signs of a negative work environment
- identify the impacts of a negative work environment
- choose managerial behaviors that can improve a negative environment
- recognize tactics that create a positive workplace
TO LOGIN:
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.