Due to recent Minnesota state legislation, a $34 million appropriation to the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS) pension plan will reduce employee contributions from 6% to 5.5% for two years (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2025). Employer contributions will remain at 6.25%. 

The first paycheck that will be affected by this change will be July 26, 2023. 

Additionally, the vesting period will change from five years to three years for any Civil Service or Labor-represented employees who are active as of July 1, 2023, or hired after this date.

Learn more on the MSRS website (under “General Plan/Unclassified Plan”) and contact MSRS directly with any questions.
 

Hiring template letters on the OHR website have been updated to reflect the discontinuation of the University’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. All references to COVID-19, the vaccine mandate, and steps employees had to take to be in compliance with the policy have been removed from the letters. We recommend anyone with questions regarding COVID and the University’s position review the Safe Campus website.

Due to start-of-year business needs and scheduling conflicts, the date of the 2023 HR Summit has been postponed to October. All HR employees systemwide will be invited to attend with the one-day event focused on reconnecting with HR colleagues, reflecting on what we've learned during the past year, and building knowledge regarding relevant issues facing HR professionals and today’s workforce. Registration will open in September and updates can be found at z.umn.edu/HRSummit2023.

Follow up on “Guidance on Graduate Assistant Employment Offer” Email

An updated list of principal investigators that is searchable by system campus and college is now available. The link has also been updated in the email sent last week.

As previously communicated in the "End of COVID Public Health Emergency" email, the employee COVID vaccine mandate ends on July 1, 2023. On Friday, June 30, the vaccine requirements section of each open job post in PeopleSoft will be automatically removed–no action is needed on your part. 

However, please note that if you clone a closed job post that includes COVID vaccine requirement language, you will need to manually remove the language from the “Employment Verification” section of the job post.

In preparation for the Board of Regents' potential approval of the FY24 operating budget, including the recommended merit increase budget, units should plan to provide employees who receive pay increases with a wage change notice. Minnesota law requires employers to provide written notice to employees when their salary or pay rate changes. These instructions provide options for units on how to do this. 

Wage change notices should not be sent to employees until the Board of Regents approves the fiscal year 2024 operating budget and pay increase decisions are final.

The University has retired the required approval process for any individual hires of Tenure or Tenure-track faculty, job offers with a starting salary of $100,000 or greater, and retention offers. Deans will still be expected to submit a hiring plan describing their intended postings for tenure-stream faculty each year to the Provost's office. The report should describe the positions the department intends to fill and confirm the budget available for the new hires. No approvals for contract or other faculty types is required.

Members of OHR and the HR community are finalizing the location and date for an in-person HR event in mid-to-late July on the Twin Cities campus. All HR employees systemwide will be invited to attend the one-day event focused on reconnecting with HR colleagues, reflecting on what we've learned this year, and refreshing knowledge on important topics as we head into the new academic year. A save-the-date email will be sent once details are confirmed.

Effective May 28, 2023, non-exempt 9 and 10-month University employees will no longer be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits between academic terms. This includes Teamster, AFSCME, and some Civil Service employees (those in job codes that are identified as non-exempt in the job class specification). They must be able and available to work as well as meet other eligibility requirements.

The Canvas-housed Fundamentals of Disability Accommodations and Inclusive Course Design has a completion deadline of June 18, 2023, for all instructors. The University has experienced a significant increase in students seeking disability accommodations in our courses and, to meet this need has rolled out the one-hour course for all faculty, instructional staff, and graduate teaching assistants systemwide. HR Leads have access to the course status of individuals and are encouraged to place reminders in newsletters and other appropriate online and in-person opportunities. Learn more at inclusivecourse.umn.edu.