There will be NO PARKING allowed in Lots 14A and 32 from midnight to 6:00 a.m., November 1st to April 1st. Snow Removal Lots will be enforced during all weekends, holidays, and breaks even when no snow is in the forecast.
In the event of snow during a time in which parking is allowed, a SNOW EMERGENCY may be declared. If this occurs, there will be NO PARKING in the emergency declared lots. Signs will be posted in designated lots. Faculty, Staff, and Students will be notified by email and other means, when possible. It is the responsibility of the driver of the vehicle to watch weather conditions and take appropriate steps.
Annual NUFlex Benefits Enrollment began on Monday, October 25th and will end Friday, November 12th, 2021 at 5:00pm.Employees will be able to make any changes to their benefits plan during this time in Firefly. We encourage you to enroll early to avoid any last-minute complications.
Reminders:
If you contribute to the Flexible Spending Account – Health Care and/or Dependent Care, you will need to enter amount(s) for 2022.
Complete the Health Risk Assessment to receive enhanced wellness and preventative services benefits for 2022
Complete your Tobacco/Nicotine designation if you have the Voluntary Life Insurance
Human Resources will be available to answer questions regarding NuFlex Benefits Enrollment. For any questions, please call Renee Mitchell (308) 865-8522 or email benefitsunk@unk.edu
See and access your benefit coverage breakdown, insurance card, etc. through our health insurance vendors’ member portal sites. Our vendor’s direct links to their member login sites can found here: https://nebraska.edu/faculty-and-staff/health-benefits. Direct links will be located on the right side of the screen. If you have not already registered for an online account with that vendor, please do so first.
We have a new HRA provider. The assessment has many of the same questions but has a new look. The new HRA can be saved in the middle of completion and returned to at a later time (must be completed during open enrollment period). Additionally, one of the benefits of completing the HRA is a no-cost coverage for a routine preventative colonoscopy starting at age 50. Based on new medical guidelines the coverage for this enhanced benefit will start at age 45 in 2022.
Benefits of completing the HRA include:
Annual preventative care allowance of $400 (for insured age 2 and over)
$0 copay for flu shots administered at an in-network pharmacy and submitted to the prescription drug program
$0 copay for generic prescription drugs non-specialty through the CVS Caremark mail-service program with no annual deductible
100% coverage for a routine preventive colonoscopy once every 10 years beginning at age 45
You will be able to carry over an unspent Health and Dependent Care flexible spending care account amounts that you do not use during the 2021 year to the 2022 year. This action is permitted by federal COVID relief legislation and may not be permitted for the 2023 plan year, so please plan accordingly when making your 2022 elections.
Reminder that the University of Nebraska added an enhanced level of flu shot coverage under our pharmacy plan. Employees who have completed the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) will have a $0 co-payment for flu shots administered at an in-network pharmacy and billed to your CVS Caremark prescription program. If you choose to receive your flu shot in your medical provider’s office, the cost will apply towards your preventative care allowance. If you choose an out-of-network facility, the UMR claim form would need to be submitted.
Effective September 1, email addresses for all 4 NU campuses were combined into two functional group email addresses. We have also just created a third address specifically for PCard/TCard communications. We’ve had several questions related to previous communications and want to clarify how to use our new email addresses:
Please use PaymentServices@nebraska.edu for all general questions about payments that have already been processed, policy or “how to” questions, help with vendor create/setup/changes, IRB related items and any other questions for unique payment situations.
Please use Invoices@nebraska.edu for submitting all invoices that need processed. Includes visiting personnel/non-employee payments, eSHOP PO invoices, SAP PO Invoices, warrant requests, IBT invoices and supplier statements. Suppliers should also be directed to use this email to submit all invoices and statements and when applicable, the University PO number needs to be included on the invoice.
Please use pcard@nebraska.edu for all questions and requests related to new and existing PCard and TCard activity.
You can update your Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation via Firefly Employee Self Service (ESS) – Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation. This application allows you to electronically manage your life insurance beneficiaries. To update retirement plan beneficiaries, login to your online TIAA and/or Fidelity account.
The Thanksgiving holidays observed for staff members are Thursday, November 25th and Friday, November 26th.
December Holiday closedown for 2021 begins on December 24, 2021 and concludes on Sunday, January 2, 2022. Staff will return to work on January 3rd, 2022. Staff can enter their floating holiday requests after November 11th (Veterans Day – the last floating holiday to accrue for 2021).
Paid holidays will be December 24th and December 31st. For staff who have been employed for the entire calendar year, you will need to use your 4 accrued floating holidays for the time from December 27-30th. All leave-eligible employees should submit their leave requests through Firefly. If you have questions or you do not have enough leave time to cover this time period, please contact Human Resources at 865-8184.
The University of Nebraska system allows all employees to opt to receive their W-2 through Employee Self Service (Firefly). Please consider opting for the electronic version to save paper and distribution time. Those that choose to receive an electronic W-2 through Firefly will receive their W-2 statement about a week earlier than those who receive paper W-2 forms. Only employees who elect an electronic W-2 will be able to view their W-2 form throughout the year. To enroll, log into Firefly>Employee Self Service>W-2 Form>Enroll for W-2 Online Delivery. Please contact Human Resources at 865-8184 with any questions.
This is also a good time to review your address listed in Employee Self Service (About Me - Personal Information>Address & Emergency Contact) to confirm that your contact information is current. The address listed in an employee’s “permanent address” is where all benefit and payroll related information is sent, so it is important that the information is correct.
P2P is working to refine and unify trainings and ask each campus to continue with their current training processes until we are able to announce the use of new training deliverables. Questions on how to receive training can be sent to PaymentServices@nebraska.edu referencing the campus that the new user works from.
P2P is currently working with the NeBIS group to define deadlines for year end payments and will communicate those as they are completed. Generally, Payment Services will not be posting new invoices after December 17, but that is subject to change and may have some flexibility on a case-by-case basis. Our office will follow the University Holiday Shut-Down schedule and will be closed December 24 through January 2, returning to the office on Monday, January 3rd.
Please consider donating to the crisis leave program. This program allows any employee who earns vacation leave to donate up to five accumulated vacation days per calendar year. The donated leave goes to a pool of crisis leave hours that are used to help an employee who is experiencing a crisis and does not have sufficient leave to cover their absence period. Donation forms can be accessed through SAPPHIRE or the following link:
Please submit completed forms to the Human Resources Office.
Winter in Nebraska typically brings several bouts with large amounts of snow or subfreezing temperatures, as well as strong winds, ice or sleet that can limit travel and cause power outages, sometimes for days at a time.
Prepare For Winter Weather
Prepare your car for winter:
Store blankets to keep you warm in case you're stranded on the roads.
Keep your gas tank full.
Consider carrying a small shovel and kitty litter for traction to help free your car if stuck.
Other items to have along: Ice scraper, flashlight, coat, hat, gloves, cell phone and car charger.
Familiarize yourself with the terms that are used to identify winter weather:
Sleetis rain that turns to ice pellets before reaching the ground. Sleet also causes roads to freeze and become slippery.
Winter Weather Advisorymeans cold, ice and snow are expected.
Winter Storm Watchmeans severe weather such as heavy snow or ice is possible in the next day or two.
Winter Storm Warningmeans severe winter conditions have begun or will begin very soon.
Blizzard Warningmeans heavy snow and strong winds will produce a blinding snow, near zero visibility, deep drifts and life-threatening wind chill.
Frost/FreezeWarning means below freezing temperatures are expected.
Make A Plan
Plan to stay inside and make it on your own, at least for a period of time.
Have some food on hand in your room in case the residence halls are unable to provide food service.
Know of both a cell and land line phone you can use to call home if service is affected in one or the other.
Stay Informed
During winter weather season, notices concerning UNK's operation will appear on the home page. UNK Alerts will be sent to announce closings, be sure to register for text messages to receive this information.
Listen to NOAA Weather Radio to stay informed of winter weather watches and warnings.
Also monitor commercial radio, television and the Internet. For a full description of what to listen for, and an explanation of different weather terms, refer to the NWS guide.
Keep in mind that during a severe winter storm it could be hours, or even days, before emergency personnel are able to reach you.
Employees and Departments/Groups of Employees can be nominated for different awards. The awards are presented monthly during the Staff Senate meetings.
Please consider nominating a staff member or group who has demonstrated excellence. It’s time to show our colleagues how much we appreciate what they do and why we’re so very proud to be Lopers!!
