Berkeleyan
News Briefs: Extra paid leave for staff, new retirement savings plan, and more...
09 September 2004
Staff to receive extra paid leave in December/January
The UC Board of Regents has approved a one-year bonus-leave program that gives eligible staff employees additional paid-leave time. The program is one of several efforts to recognize UC staff employees in the face of multiple-year budget cuts and no systemwide salary increases for staff.
The 2004-05 Bonus Leave Program will provide two additional paid leave days (16 hours for full-time employees, proportionately less for part-time employees) to PPSM staff employees not receiving a general salary increase (range or merit increase) in 2004-05.
The leave will, in most cases, be used during the December 2004 holiday period, specifically on Dec. 28 and 29. If absences on those days present operational concerns, managers will schedule alternative bonus leave days in December 2004 and January 2005.
The leave applies to staff employees with career, limited, or partial-year career appointments. PPSM contract employees who have holiday provisions in their contracts are also eligible. Employees with per diem or casual restricted appointments are not eligible, nor are academic employees. Application of the program to represented employees is subject to collective bargaining.
For details, including eligibility requirements, visit atyourservice.ucop.edu/employees/policies/other_programs/index.html or see your unit’s employee-relations specialist.
UC offers new retirement-savings plan
The University of California has announced a new voluntary deferred-compensation plan, which allows eligible faculty and staff to save more for retirement. Through the 457(b) plan, which became available Sept. 1, employees may contribute pretax dollars via payroll deduction. Contributions and earnings grow tax deferred until they are withdrawn. All UC employees, except students who normally work less than 20 hours per week, are eligible to enroll in the plan at any time.
Information on the new 457(b) plan is available on UC’s At Your Service website (http://atyourservice.ucop.edu), as well as from Fidelity Investments, which will be handling all enrollments. Fidelity may be reached at (800) 343-0860 (weekdays, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. PST), or online at www.fidelity.com/atwork. Berkeley campus employees are also invited to attend an informational meeting on the plan, offered by the Benefits Unit of the Office of Human Resources, on Friday, Sept. 10, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., in Room 150 University Hall. No registration is required.
People’s Park seeks community advisory board members
Public Affairs’ Office of Community Relations is looking for members of the campus community to join the People’s Park Community Advisory Board, which reviews and makes recommendations on park policies, programs, and improvements, and guides the implementation of the People’s Park Conceptual Long-Term Plan.
Past board members have included area residents; UC Berkeley students and staff; park users; members of community organizations and neighborhood associations; and area merchants. During the past year, the board worked on such projects as physical and safety enhancements, the Roots of Peace Garden, and improvement of the children’s play area.
Community Advisory Board members are appointed for one-year terms, renewable to a maximum of three years. Regular attendance at monthly meetings, held at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month, is critical to the board’s success.
Applications and information are available at the People’s Park office (642-3255), the Office of Community Relations (643-5299), and via e-mail to pplspark@berkeley.edu. Applications will be accepted through September.
For the record . . .
In last week’s Berkeleyan, an incorrect date was provided for the dedication ceremony for Ida Louise Jackson Graduate House. The ceremony took place on Monday, August 30.