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HR Update; February 9, 2007

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Update on UC Healthcare Professionals Labor Agreement Negotiations

UC has been bargaining with the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) union since April 2006 on a new labor agreement for UC healthcare professionals.  While much progress has been made, the negotiations have slowed due to a handful of lingering unresolved issues.  Below is important information for UC healthcare professionals regarding the status of these negotiations and what the University is doing to resolve the remaining issues, reach a settlement, and most importantly, preserve uninterrupted service to our patients.

Competitive compensation and benefits

Recognizing the critical role UC healthcare professionals play in delivering the excellent patient care that UC is known for, the University continues to offer what it believes to be fair and financially realistic proposals to help maintain attractive compensation and benefits for healthcare staff.  Specifically, UC has proposed the following:

UCRP Contributions

UC’s pension benefits are among the most attractive in the country.  Contributions to the UC Retirement Plan (UCRP) from both the University and its employees are necessary in order to maintain a healthy pension and ensure payment of future benefits.  UC’s current proposal calls for HX employees to contribute to the UCRP at the same rate (to be determined in future negotiations) as employees in the RX and TX units (also represented by UPTE). 

Employees’ right to strike

The University fully supports the right of represented employees’ to legally strike.  In recognition of the disruption that strikes have on employees, organizations, and public service, the law as outlined in the labor relations act (HEERA) requires that both parties complete the entire bargaining process, including mediation and fact-finding, before a strike may be legally conducted in support of the union’s bargaining proposals.  UC and UPTE remain in the first stage of this process, and the University remains committed to utilizing the bargaining table as the proper place to resolve differences of opinion and work constructively toward an agreement

UC is committed to patient care and good faith bargaining
UC knows that its health care professionals take great pride in the exceptional patient care associated with University medical and student health centers.  Throughout the negotiations, UC has offered UPTE reasonable proposals that reflect and reward the many contributions made by UC healthcare employees.  Whatever differences arise during the course of bargaining, our focus and priority is to resolve issues at the bargaining table in a respectful, professional manner. 

For more information, please feel free to contact your local Labor Relations office, at 415-476-3905.

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UC Retirement Plan and UC Retirement Savings Readiness Education Program Workshop Schedules

Please pass this on to your colleagues, circulate invitations, post the actual schedules, or otherwise re-broadcast these weekly reminders about our valuable (FREE) education programs for faculty and staff. 

Usually there can be at least one (or more) workshop(s) per week scheduled at various UCSF locations around town. For more details and listings for upcoming scheduled presentations, please refer to our Workshops and Presentations Schedules menus found at our local UCSF HR/Benefits website. 

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Update on Using the New HCRA Spending Account Card

Here is some important information for those who enrolled in the Health Care Reimbursement Account (HCRA) program for 2007 during November Open Enrollment.

Spending account cards - You should have received your card in late December or early January. Please read the information that accompanied the card carefully. You can also find detailed information about the card and HCRA online at the At Your Service HCRA site.

The SHPS customer service number and website address (the company UC has hired to administer the program) are listed on the back of your card.

Save all your receipts - Remember that the IRS requires you to retain all receipts for purchases that you make with your HCRA account. In certain instances, SHPS will ask you to send them your receipts for purchases made with your card that require verification as eligible expenses.

Good news: you can use your card at grocery & discount stores this year - During Open Enrollment, we communicated an IRS regulation then in effect that would have prohibited use of your spending account card in 2007 at grocery stores and discount merchants, such as Safeway, WalMart, and Costco. HOWEVER, in mid-December, the IRS announced a change for its 2007 rules that will allow use of your card at grocery and discount stores this year. Remember to keep your receipts for all purchases.

Using up your remaining 2006 HCRA funds - As you should know, if you had any HCRA funds from your 2006 account remaining at the end of 2006, you may use those funds to pay for eligible expenses incurred through March 15, 2007. But, there are some important things to know now that 2007 HCRA participants have been issued spending account cards.

The card is set up to deduct 2007 year expenses - it cannot be used to draw on unused 2006 funds. You therefore have two options for using up 2006 funds:

  1. You can file reimbursement claim forms, as you did last year, until your 2006 funds are used up, and then begin using the card to draw against your 2007 account. You have until June 15, 2007, to file claims for expenses paid with 2006 funds.

  2. You may begin using your card immediately. Expenses will be processed against your 2007 account - but, after June 15, 2007, SHPS will check to see if there are any monies left over from your 2006 account. If so, they will apply the claims for services incurred to reduce or eliminate forfeitures. SHPS will then credit that same amount back into your 2007 account. If you select this option, be sure that you will have enough 2007 funds to cover your expenses until mid-year. If you run out of 2007 funds before the reconciliation process, you will have to wait until the 2006 funds have been credited to your 2007 account to resume using the card.

Register with SHPS - If you’ve not already done so, go to www.myshps.com and register so you can view your account activity online. Be sure to enter your email address so you can receive convenient monthly HCRA account statement via email.

Your online account information - Please note when you go online to the SHPS website to see your account activity that it may take a few business days for a card transaction to be posted to your account. However, the available balance showing in your account updates every business day and will show the actual balance you have remaining, reflecting transactions that have not yet been posted.

Summary Plan Descriptions - The new 2007 HCRA Summary Plan Description (SPD) is now available online; the 2006 HCRA SPD is also posted online - provisions in the 2006 SPD will apply to 2006 HCRA monies that are used to pay for expenses incurred through March 15, 2007. Both SPDs are available at the At Your Service “Summary Plan Descriptions” webpage.

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Hot Tips from Your Health Care Facilitator

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