Penn Faculty Benefits News: October 25, 2018

Financial Wellness Workshops

While mind, body, and interpersonal relationships are obvious aspects of wellbeing, it’s also important to consider financial literacy and security. That’s why Penn has partnered with MetLife to present two workshops on practical personal finance:

Investing 101
Monday, November 12, 12pm – 1pm, Houston Hall, Ben Franklin Room
This workshop will include a basic overview of investing that explains the difference between saving and investing, asset classes and investment styles, stocks and bonds, and types of mutual funds.

Smart Money Moves Early in Your Career
Tuesday, December 11, 12pm – 1pm, Houston Hall, Golkin Room
Learn 10 relevant tips, including creating a budget, establishing an emergency fund, and making the most of your retirement savings.

Both workshops will be led by Albert Corrato, Jr., Certified Financial Planner Professional from Creative Financial Group, MassMutual.

Visit www.hr.upenn.edu/calendar for more financial literacy and wellness programs. For information about retirement planning, go to www.hr.upenn.edu/retirement.

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Be in the Know Biometric Screenings and Flu Shots

Penn’s Be in the Know 2018-2019 wellness campaign is underway. The campaign, part of Penn Healthy You, encourages you to maintain or improve your health while earning extra cash. This year, you can receive up to $300.*

Participation involves 3 Steps to Success:

Step 1: Biometric Screening
Step 2: StayWell’s Online Health Assessment
Step 3: Bonus Actions

The biometric screening and online health assessment – Steps 1 and 2 – are the two Core Actions required to earn your first 100 points and $100.

Start with a Free Biometric Screening
Take the first step to learning more about your health by registering now for your free, confidential biometric screening. This screening provides you with key indicators of your health status, including blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar. Last year, we broke our record and completed over 6,100 biometric screenings!

Quick and convenient screenings are available at various Penn locations through November 30. If you miss this window, look for a select number of on-campus screenings in 2019. You can also choose to submit results obtained by your own physician between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019. To earn credit, submit a Biometric Screening Consent Form with your results to AREUFIT Health Services, Inc.

Complete StayWell’s Online Health Assessment
The online health assessment is a brief questionnaire administered through Penn’s wellness portal partner, StayWell Health Management. It’s the second step to earning your first $100* Core Actions incentive. Complete StayWell’s online health assessment at StayWell’s portal.

Take Charge of Your Health with Bonus Actions
This year’s Be in the Know campaign offers more Bonus Action options making it easier for you to earn an additional 200 points for a total of $300 this year.

Bonus Actions are health-related action steps to maintain or improve your well-being, plus earn additional points and incentives. Choose from a variety of activities on campus, at home, and through StayWell. Choose any action steps to earn up to an additional $200* in Bonus Action incentives.

Flu Shots Earn Points for Be in the Know
You can earn 10 Bonus Action points when you prepare for influenza season with a flu vaccine. No-cost flu vaccines are available on-campus at these convenient clinics along with biometric screenings.

Wednesday, November 7
9am – 2pm
Houston Hall, Hall of Flags

Tuesday, November 27
9am – 2pm
Houston Hall, Hall of Flags

Pre-registration is required for these flu shots and biometric screenings. Register online at http://www.hr.upenn.edu/wellness-events.

Other Highlights This Year
In addition to our 3 Steps to Success model, this year’s Be in the Know campaign offers new Bonus Actions, including a focus on financial wellness, meeting with the Registered Dietician of your choice, additional StayWell online programs, and more.

Again, you may choose to collect all of your Be in the Know incentives as a Penn Recreation credit or in your paycheck.

Returning biometric screening participants can earn extra points through the “Bring a Friend” bonus. Find a new participant and attend the same screening appointment together to both earn 10 Bonus Action points, after verification by AREUFIT Health Services. In order to be eligible, the new participant can’t have completed a biometric screening from Fall 2017 - Summer 2018.

If you earn 250 Bonus Action points throughout the year, you’ll receive VIP status and a special gift on top of the maximum cash incentives, after the campaign year ends.

All returning Be in the Know participants will be entered into a prize drawing for an iPad.

Check www.hr.upenn.edu/beintheknow for complete program details and notices.

*You must be an active full- or part-time benefits-eligible faculty or staff member to participate.
All cash incentives are less applicable payroll taxes. Incentives will be issued in November 2018, and monthly from January – September 2019, in paychecks or as Penn Recreation credits. Payment times depend on when you complete the Core Actions and qualifying Bonus Action.

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Support for Changes at Home and Work

When change happens in one area of your life, it can impact others in unexpected ways. From new teaching and research responsibilities to a new member of your household, your career can affect family and vice versa. To support you during these times, Penn offers a wide range of benefits for you and your dynamic family.

Are you thinking about taking some time away from work when your family grows? If so, Penn is here to help with its recently updated Paid Parental Leave Policy.

The policy provides a maximum of four weeks (20 work days) of paid parental leave to eligible full-time faculty and staff following the birth or adoption of a child.

The leave is designed to give eligible faculty and staff members the opportunity to spend time away from work during a pivotal period in family life.

In order to be eligible for paid parental leave, staff must meet one of the following criteria within the last 12 months of the start of the leave: 

• Have given birth to a child;
• Be the partner or spouse of a woman who has given birth to a child;
• Be the biological parent, or spouse of the biological parent, of the child; or
• Have adopted a child who is 17-years-old or younger. This provision does not apply to the adoption of a stepchild by a stepparent or the placement of a foster child.

Eligible faculty and staff must also:

• Have been employed with the University for at least 12 months (the 12 months do not need to be consecutive) and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the date the leave would begin;
• Be a full-time faculty or staff member employed by the University (post-docs, part-time and temporary employees are not eligible for this benefit).

If you and your partner or spouse work at the University at the time of the birth or adoption of a child, you are both eligible for paid parental leave.

You can use Paid Parental Leave with other Penn benefits such as Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) or Short Term Disability (STD). For example, if you give birth to a child you generally would use STD while you are disabled, and would use paid parental leave following the period of disability. You cannot receive STD benefits and paid parental leave benefits at the same time.

If you are not eligible for disability, but are eligible for FMLA and Paid Parental Leave you can substitute Paid Parental Leave for a portion of your FMLA for a maximum of 12 weeks of unpaid time (four weeks paid and eight weeks unpaid).

Rest assured that if you choose to take paid parental leave you will maintain all Penn benefits during that time, the same way you would if you were taking any other paid leave such as vacation. 

Please contact your department chair or dean's office for specific information about how the Paid Parental Leave Policy coordinates with faculty policies in your school or center.

For details about Penn benefits for every stage of life, download the interactive Guide to Managing Life Events.

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Solutions One Call Away

The Penn Employee Solution Center can answer administrative HR and payroll questions, and more. Knowledgeable Solution Center specialists are available Monday through Wednesday, and Friday, 9am - 5pm; and Thursday, 9am – 4:30pm Eastern Time. Simply call 215-898-7372 or send an email to hcmsolutioncenter@upenn.edu.

Since launching in early 2018 and completing its roll out to all schools and centers, the Solution Center has solved thousands of inquiries – answering frequently asked questions, addressing complicated issues, and navigating Penn’s extensive resources on behalf of faculty and staff.

Solution Center specialists assist the Penn community with answers in a variety of areas ranging from tuition benefits, time reporting, paid time off, family and medical leave, and disability.

The Solution Center is part of Penn’s Human Capital Management Transformation Initiative, to improve our people-centered services and provide consistent, up-to-date responses to the Penn community’s questions. Workday, an industry-leading, cloud-based platform, will support the initiative. More than just a technology-replacement project, it will transform how we deliver HCM-related services, such as personnel and benefits administration, payroll, time management, and more. The project will result in simplified processes and enable more informed decision making at all levels. Workday@Penn goes live in July 2019.