HR News

HR Team - Remote Summer Friday's

Beginning Friday, May 27^th [Memorial Day weekend] through Friday, September 2^nd[Labor Day weekend], the HR team will be working a hybrid remote schedule Monday-Thursday, with no on-site coverage at Nobska on Friday’s. Many of our staff live off Cape and this will make a difference during the busiest period of visiting tourists. All HR meetings on Friday’s during this time will be conducted virtually, and on-site if required. Please visit our contact page with information on how best to reach each of us.

2020 Employee Appreciation Celebration Update - Recording Available

Congratulations to all of our service awardees and performance award winners! The 2020 virtual Employee Appreciation Celebration was a success! To view the full ceremony, please click the link above. For questions, please contact Paige Santos (paigesantos@whoi.edu, ext. 3730)

COVID-19

WHOI COVID-19 Guidelines and FAQs

WHOI Emergency Leave Policy FAQ's

State of Massachusetts Public Health Advisory FAQ's

Our first priority is to ensure the health and well-being of our staff and community, while also making sure that we continue to provide operational service and support to our employees. With this in mind and in light of ongoing health concerns presented by COVID-19, the HR Office at Nobska House will be closed to walk-ins for the time being beginning March 16^th. However, if you have an urgent issue and need to meet with a staff member, we will continue to be easily accessible through phone and email and in person if urgent need arises. Please visit our contacts page for information on how best to reach each of us. We will coordinate with you to determine the soonest available appropriate time to meet with you. We recognize this may cause some inconvenience; however, our first priority must be to keep the members of our community as safe as possible. We appreciate your patience during this time.

2020 Retirement Trust Town Hall

On Thursday, April 9^th, Bob Ducommun, chair of the Retirement Trust trustees, presented the annual Retirement Trust Town Hall with support from the defined benefit plan’s actuaries, Willis Towers Watson, the Plan’s investment management team at Cambridge Associates, and the WHOI administrative team. The presentation provided detailed information regarding the state of the defined benefit plan, specifically the Plan’s certified funded status and the trustees decision to retain the current restrictions on lump sum benefit payments for the current plan year. This decision reflects the trustees’ obligation to care for the interests of all Plan participants, ensuring the Trust’s future financial health and vitality for years to come. To listen to this year’s Town Hall Presentation, as well as view the corresponding PowerPoint, please visit the Retirement benefits webpage HERE and click on the link to the right under “Recent Presentations.”

Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Law (PFML)

Please click here for information and resources on PFML.

Reporting Concerns: WHOI Anonymous Tip-line and Other Resources

We encourage you to seek out your internal resources to resolve conflict and to report concerns; however, we recognize that there are times that you may be more comfortable reporting concerns anonymously. The Institution provides an integrated telephone and web-based anonymous hotline reporting service which is available to all members of the WHOI community to confidentially report concerns about their workplace environment, unethical activities or violations to Institution policies.

Employee Appreciation Celebration

Thursday, June 20, 2019 • 3-5 p.m. • Fenno Lawn
» RSVP by Friday, June 7, 2019

Retirement Trust Town Hall

If you were unable to attend the Retirement Trust Town Hall on April 10, 2019, you can watch it in its entirety on YouTube HERE.

2019 Benefits Fair and Open Enrollment for Active Employees - SAVE THE DATES!

WHOI’s annual Benefits Fair will be held on Thursday, October 25, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in Clark 507. Vendors will be available for you to ask questions and evaluate options, while a Flu Shot Clinic will be onsite in Clark 509. This year’s Fair will also offer great raffles, a healthy snack sample table, Dermascan skin evaluations, a hand grip strength test, and seated massages!

Please note that flu shots will be administered by Rite Aid on a first come, first serve basis. With this in mind, we encourage you to complete the Screening Questionnaire and Consent Form beforehand. You may obtain this form by downloading the form from the 2019 Open Enrollment webpage or by stopping by Human Resources in Nobska House.

Finally, the 2019 Open Enrollment period for active employees will be held from October 31 through November 16, 2018. As in previous years, all benefit elections will be made using the Employee Online portal, which is accessible from any internet connection (VPN access is not required!). However, if you do not enroll by November 16, 2018 you will be deemed to have elected “No Coverage” for all benefits beginning January 1, 2019. More information on this year’s Open Enrollment Period, as well as information on the annual WHOI Benefits Fair can be found on the HERE.

2019 Open Enrollment 10/31 - 11/16

The Human Resources Benefits team is happy to announce that this year’s Open Enrollment period will be held from Wednesday, October 31 through Friday, November 16, 2018. As in previous years, all benefit elections will be made using the Employee Online portal, which is accessible from any internet connection (VPN access is not required!). If you do not enroll by November 16, 2018 you will be deemed to have elected “No Coverage” for all benefits beginning January 1, 2019.

Sun Safety

Did you know that the sun’s ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays can damage your skin in as little as 15 minutes, even on cool and cloudy days? According to the American Cancer Society, too much sun exposure is the cause of most skin cancers. In fact, several articles across the medical community have recently identified Cape Cod as having the highest incidence of skin cancer in the nation. Learn more about how you can protect your skin HERE.

Emergency Room Alternatives

You should always go the nearest emergency room in a life-threatening situation. But, in certain circumstances, including urgent care, you have options that save you time and money. Click HERE to learn about emergency room alternatives that could save you a lot of time and money!”

Open Enrollment

Mark your calendars - Open Enrollment will be held 10/30/2017 - 11/15/2017.

To make your selections - click on the "Open Enrollment Form" available on Employee Online

Please join the HR team for an Open Enrollment Forum Meeting to learn more about benefit enhancements and changes for 2018.

Forum Meetings will be held:

*Tuesday, October 24th, 10:30 am - 11:30 am @ Clark 507

*Wednesday, November 1st , 10:30 am - 11:30 am @ Redfield Auditorium

These meetings weill be live streamed as well as recorded.

The live stream link is: Live Stream of Open Enrollment Forum

Benefits Fair with Flu Clinic

The Benefits Fair with a Flu Clinic will take place on November 8th, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm, on the 5th floor of Clark. Stay tuned for more informaiton, including a scheduler for the Flu Clinic.

Post Retirement Fair Survey Open

The survey will be available for completion through the end of September and we estimate that completion of the survey will take 10-15 minutes. Your feedback is very important to us even if you did not attend the Retirement Fair, and will help us understand whether or not the Retirement Fair was helpful or not. We look forward to and appreciate your feedback. To complete the survey, please click the following link: WHOI Retirement Fair Survey.

Well Connection

Do you know about Well Connection (formally know as Telehealth)?

If you are an active employee and are enrolled in a WHOI medical plan you should!

Click here to learn more.

Retirement Fair

As a reminder - the Retirement Fair will be held on Tuesday, June 13th in Clark 507, from 10 am - 2 pm. The Retirement Fair has been designed based on feedback we received from the community that many of our employees are not well prepared for the complexities of retirement. We are pleased to provide additional education and resources to help our employees prepare for retirement and navigate related issues, regardless of how far away (or close) retirement is.

Breakout sessions will be held from 9:00 am - 2:30 pm. Session topics are focused on three (3) segments of employees: Early Career, Mid-Career, and Late Career.

To learn more about these sessions, please click here. To register, please complete the Retirement Fair Registration Form. Seating is limited - so don't delay, register today!

Employee Appreciation Celebration

Our annual Employee Appreciation Celebration will be occurring Thursday, June 14 from 3-5 pm. Employees will be recognized for their service milestones with the Institution and chosen employees will be given awards of recognition.

We encourage you to nominate your colleagues that have gone above and beyond by taking our quick nomination survey.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Marina Hatch.

Fall Activity Challenge

Move your way toward better health while having fun with your coworkers! The 2017 Fall Activity Challenge begins September 18th! (Registration begins on September 11th.)

Individual Success

To successfully complete this challenge, you will need to log 600 moderate exercise minutes within the 4 week period, an average of 150 minutes per week. Moderate exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking or dancing. Exercise must be entered on AHealthyMe or on the HealthyNow app to be counted toward the challenge goal.

Team Success
Team rankings are based on the team’s exercise minute average.

HR Pop-Up Office

In an effort to increase accessibility to employees on the Quissett campus, a member from the HR Department will be available on Wednesdays from 11a.m. – 1p.m. in the Clark Lobby.

Stop by with a question or just to say hi!

HR on the Move

I am happy to report that the Human Resources Department is now fully staffed. I’m eager for the WHOI Community to meet our staff and learn about the services the HR team provides to the community.

In an effort to increase staff awareness and accessibility, we are scheduling meetings with all departments beginning with the science departments.

In addition, we are piloting an HR Pop-Up office in the Clark Lobby to determine if employees at Quissett campus find this helpful. The Pop-Up office will be staffed on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., for three weeks beginning April 11. Stop by to see us during a Pop-Up session and have your name entered into a raffle for a Fitbit. One Fitbit will be raffled after each of our six Pop-Ups.

Presentation Regarding the WHOI Defined Benefit Plan Trust

On September 15^th, WHOI Trustee Bob Ducommun, the chair of the Defined Benefit Retirement Trust Committee, with the assistance of Larry Chang, of Cambridge Associates as well as Mark Rich and Joanne Mooney, of Willis Towers Watson, made a presentation about the WHOI DB Plan Trust, including an update on the funding status. Their presentation included several topics including: history of the Retirement Trust, the investment policy, how the assets are being managed by Cambridge Associates, the liability associated with managing the Plan, and how government oversight including potentially changing IRS rules may affect the overall management of the Trust. Many employees came to learn more about these important topics. The presentation was live streamed and taped. Please click on the heading of this notice to view the taped presentation.

Meeting By Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Commitee (DCRP)

On August 30^th, members of the Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Committee (DCRP), who are responsible for administrative and fiduciary oversight of the Plan, held an open forum meeting with the WHOI Community to provide an update on the Plan, seek feedback on the past five years with Transamerica (existing Plan record-keeper), and to inform the community about a Request for Proposal (RFP) currently in process. It is best practice to conduct an RFP at least every five (5) years to ensure that the plan fees for recordkeeping, employer and participant support are reasonable for the services provided. We were also interested in understanding whether participants are satisfied with the website and call-center support and whether we as the employer are satisfied with the back-end support for administration. Jeffrey Fernandez, Vice President of Operations and CFO; Kathi Benjamin, Director of Human Resources and EEO officer; Nicole Wright, Assistant Director of Benefits; and WHOI Fiduciary Advisor, Stephen Popper of Sageview Advisors; joined us along with the members-at-large Steven Jayne, Senior Scientist; Nanci Pacheco, Director of Business Systems; and Malcolm Scully, Associate Scientist. Please click on the heading of this notice to view the taped presentation.

Affirmative Action Programs

We need your help!

In order to comply with federal reporting requirements, we need your participation in this quick 1-minute questionnaire. As most of you are aware, the Institution is a federal contractor. As such, your funding depends in part on our meeting all requirements as a federal contractor. We are required to have Equal Employment Opportunity, absent of discrimination, as an important focus of our recruitment and employment policies and practices. To this end, we are required to prepare an Affirmative Action Plan on an annual basis. This plan includes analyzing and reporting on Institution demographics, such as veterans and individuals with disabilities and developing action goals. We have become aware that the data required to complete the Affirmative Action Plan and report to the government is not accurate and in many cases missing. We must report accurately and conduct analytics for purposes of ensuring we are fulfilling our EEO obligations.

This is where you come in.

We need every employee to participate in this survey which will provide us with the information necessary to complete the Affirmative Action Plan and required reporting. Please note, within the survey, you have the option to select Opt-Out. Please do this as soon as possible to avoid annoying reminder emails and phone calls. You will need your LDAP username and LDAP password to access the questionnaire. If you do not remember your LDAP password, please contact the Information Services help desk at ext. 2439 or helpdesk@whoi.edu.

Click here for your 1 minute Questionnaire to begin. You will receive a confirmation email of your responses upon completion.

We truly appreciate your assistance and we look forward to ensuring that the Institution is in compliance with all requirements.

Realizing some of our employees are on vacation or away from email we will anticipate everyone’s responses no later than 06-30-16.

Additional information regarding the purpose of Affirmative Action Programs is located on the HR Intranet – Click here to read: Affirmative Action Plan Purpose

THANK YOU!!

Kathi Benjamin

Director, Human Resources and EEO Officer

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

266 Woods Hole Road, MS 15

Woods Hole, MA 02543

kbenjamin@whoi.edu

Office 508-289-2705

Fax 508-457-2173

Mobile 774-392-2147

New Web-Based WHOI Employee Self-Serve Defined Benefit Calculator

On December 28, 2015 the Human Resources Department together with Towers Watson will roll out a web-based benefit modeling calculator for current employees who are Defined Benefit (DB) Plan participants. This tool is called “Employee Self-Serve” (ESS); and it allows participating employees to formulate multiple retirement distribution scenarios/estimates at a time, save estimate history and revisit different scenarios of estimated DB plan benefits. The system is not accessible to current employees who have previously taken a distribution from the Plan, for past employees and for those hired on or after 1/1/2009 when the DB plan was closed to new participants. Once the site is available on December 28, 2015, current employees participating in the DB plan will receive an email with ESS access instructions.

MASSACHUSETTS EARNED SICK TIME LAW

Effective July 1, 2015, all employees who work in Massachusetts now have the right to take job protected sick time under the new Massachusetts Earned Sick time Law. For WHOI, this only impacts casual employees as employees who work half-time and above already receive Occasional Illness and Family Illness benefits. Casual employees who previously were ineligible for sick time will now be eligible for 40 hours of paid sick time per calendar year. WHOI has elected to provide casual employees in 2015 with 30 hours for the second half of the year and 40 hours beginning in 2016. Effective immediately, casual employees are eligible to receive paid sick time. Sick time can only be charged for time when employees are scheduled to work. Time reported must be in increments of no less than 15 minutes. For casual employees, sick leave can be used to care for physical or mental illness, injury or medical condition affecting employee, employee’s child, spouse, parent or parent of a spouse; to attend routine medical appointments; and to address the effects of domestic violence of employee or employee’s dependent child. For reporting sick time for casual workers, use the code, Casual Sick, in Unanet. Due to this law, for employees who work half-time and above, family illness will now be revised to allow for care of a spouse’s parent. For a summary of the new Massachusetts Earned Sick time Law, a Notice of Employee Rights will be posted to all employee bulletin boards and in the Human Resources website. You may also visit the Attorney General’s Office website.

Retirement Plan for Employees of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Effective June 8, 2015, the Retirement Plan for Employees of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will be administered by Towers Watson, a global benefits consulting and administration firm. There are no changes to the pension benefit you have earned as a result of this change and there is nothing you need to do. The change simply means that you will contact a new service center -- the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Defined Benefit Service Center -- for any actions you want to take regarding your pension benefit and for any questions you may have related to the Pension Plan.

Beginning June 8, 2015 please contact the new Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Defined Benefit Service Center whenever you have any requests or questions about your pension benefit:

By Mail:

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Defined Benefit Service Center

P.O. Box 5949

Hopkins, MN 55343-5892

By Telephone:

1.844.456.0037

By Fax:

1.844.733.5315

In addition, later this calendar year you will have access to a new online self-service pension modelling tool for you to use to estimate your pension benefit and to answer your general pension plan questions. You will receive further information in the fall of 2015, including the link to access the new online self-service site. You will be able to access the online self-service site from any computer with internet access.We know that you will find the new Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Defined Benefit Service Center helpful and knowledgeable about our Pension Plan and ready to assist you with your questions. In the meantime, please continue to contact the Retirement Administrator in the Human Resources office at 508.289.2253 through June 5, 2015 with any questions about your Pension Plan benefit.

WHOI President Search

On November 4, 2014, Chairman of the Board Newt Merrill announced to trustees, corporation members, and WHOI staff the news that Susan Avery had informed him of her desire to step down as President and Director on June 30, 2015. Subsequently, on November 14, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees announced formation of a committee to search for Dr. Avery’s successor.

The President Search Committee is pleased to share the WHOI President Position Paper, which was the result of a WHOI community effort. The Committee encourages sharing of this document, and requests that interested individuals direct their inquiries to WHOIpresident@spencerstuart.com. Please be assured that the Search Committee will seriously review all nominations, applications and suggestions.

One-on-One Meetings with Transamerica in 2016

Transamerica will be onsite at WHOI every month in 2016 beginning in January. Individual one-on-meetings are available in 25-minute time slots. You must schedule your appointment in advance by registering online using the Online Meeting Scheduler. Advance registration is allowed for up to 3 months and is available to you through the online registration site. If you feel you will need more than 25-minutes to meet with a Transamerica representative, you may sign up for more than one session, or you may want to sign up for the last session of the day.

2016 403(b) IRS Limits

The IRS recently announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for tax year 2016. These changes will occur for the first payroll of 2016 which is the period December 27-January 9, 2016 for pay date January 15, 2016. You can make changes to your 403(b) Defined Contribution employee amount anytime during the year through the Transamerica site . Those turning age 50 or older in 2016 are eligible for the Age 50+ Catch-Up throughout the year.

For more information on the limits, please refer to the link above. (2016 403(b) Limits).

Retirement 101 Workshop - April 22, 2015

If you are interested in learning more about the importance of investing in your retirement and the benefits of WHOI's Defined Contribution Retirement Plan, please consider registering for the upcoming Retirement 101 Workshop on Wednesday April 22nd in Clark 507 from 2:00PM to 3:30PM. Pre-registration is required! For more information about the workshop and registration instructions, please click on the hyperlink above.

Annual Open Enrollment for 2015

OPEN ENROLLMENT 2015 EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 12th
This year’s open enrollment will take place October 20 through November 7, 2014 and a new on-line benefits enrollment form will be provided to employees through Employee Online account to choose and submit on-line elections for the medical plan, HSA, and FSA voluntary elections and the dental plan. More information will be provided once the rates have been set.

2014 ANNUAL BENEFITS, HEALTH & WELLNESS FAIR - OCTOBER 20th

Please join the HR staff at this year’s Benefits, Health and Wellness Fair. The event will be held on Monday, October 20, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., on the 5th floor of Clark and will kick off our Annual Open Enrollment period, which runs through November 7th. Our benefit vendors will be available to speak with you and provide information about the WHOI benefit programs available to you. At this event, we will be holding a special onsite flu clinic, so don’t forget to bring your BCBS ID card to receive the shot for free (for BCBS of Massachusetts members). We hope to see you there!

New Employee Orientation

All new employees to WHOI are invited to attend New Employee Orientation which is held the third Thursday of each month throughout the year. Presentations will be given by various departments across the Institution. All new hires are encouraged to attend within the first month of arrival to gain the most from the day, but are welcome to any presentation throughout the year that fits their schedule. Contact Julie Fawkes at jfawkes@whoi.edu if you would like to participate.

November 21^st -8:30-3:00 Challenger Conference Room

2012 WHOI Annual Fitness Challenge

Official start date: Sunday, June 10th. The WHOI Fitness Challenge is back again for its fifth year! It's once again the time to "Chart Your Course" to a healthier lifestyle! This year is an 8-week event which runs from Sunday, June 10th through Saturday, August 4th. This is a friendly and competitive TEAM challenge where participants will earn points by engaging in a variety of wellness-related activities. Don't miss out on a great opportunity to have some fun while promoting a healthy lifestyle. Registration ends on June 9th.

Summary Annual Reports - WHOI Retirement Plans

Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), WHOI is required to notify all covered participants of the annual filing of the Retirement Plans at WHOI. The 2010 summary annual report of WHOI's Post-Retirement Medical Plan and Defined Contribution Retirement Plan have been filed with the Department of Labor. Please note a summary annual report is no longer required to be distributed for the Defined Benefit Retirement Plan as the Annual Funding Notice has taken its place which is distributed by April 30th each year. It is, however, still available to you on the HR site from the link above.

Defined Benefit Retirement Plan (DB Plan) - Notice of Plan Changes

Effective December 31, 2010, service accrual under the Institution’s DB Plan will be frozen, with benefits for future service after that date being provided through the new Defined Contribution Retirement Plan (DC Plan). On August 31, a special letter was mailed to the home addresses of all active employees who are participants in the DB Plan as of January 1, 2010. This letter serves as the official notice to Plan participants regarding the upcoming changes to the DB Plan. A copy of this notice has also been posted to the HR website.

Defined Contribution Retirement Plan (DC Plan)-Frequently Asked Questions

The new Defined Contribution Retirement Plan officially went into effect on August 1, 2010. As of this date, employees could begin making contributions into their new 403(b) account through Diversified. The official transition for most employees did not take place until January 1, 2011 – this transition affects those employees who were participants in the Defined Benefit Plan as of January 1, 2010. For more information about the new Plan, please visit the Retirement Plan information located in the Benefits section of the official Human Resources site.