Good Afternoon!

We wanted to share a few things that happened today in case you missed it.

1: Social Security Trax Deferral. Taken from today’s University Communications.

Social Security announcement
The university is not implementing the deferral/repayment plan for employee social security tax.
September 22, 2020, by Nicki Donnelson

On Aug. 8, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive memorandum directing the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to provide employers with the option of deferring the employee portion of the 6.2% social security payment obligations amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

If employers choose to participate, the deferral would start Sept. 1, 2020, and end Dec. 31, 2020, for workers earning less than $100,000 annually. The deferred social security payments would then be repaid by the employee from Jan. 1, 2021 through April 30, 2021, through additional payroll deductions.

What would this mean for eligible employees?
For example, an employee earning $40,000 annually would see an increase in their normal monthly paycheck of approximately $206 from September through December. However, the employee would see a decrease of approximately $206 in their normal monthly paycheck from January through April 2021. This is because the employee would, in effect, be “borrowing” $206 from their September through December paychecks, which they would have to repay January through April.

Let’s assume this employee’s take-home pay is normally $2,530 per month.

The four paychecks between September through December would then be $2,736 ($2,530 +$206)

The four paychecks between January through April would then be $2,324 ($2,530-$206)

This program, as designed, appears to create an undue financial risk and administrative burden for both the university and its eligible employees. For these reasons, the university has elected not to implement the deferral/repayment for employee social security tax.]

2: Extra Given Days for Staff Taken from today’s Clif’s Notes

Next Thursday and Friday, fall break will mark the midpoint of the fall semester. To mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, we will augment our ongoing efforts to clean and sanitize classrooms and certain other high-touch spaces by performing additional detailed cleaning.

To make this possible, we need to reduce the number of personnel on campus as much as possible. Accordingly, campus will be closed on Oct. 8-9.

In accordance with the School Cancellation Policy, staff are not to report to work on these days unless they are notified or have been given prior instructions to report as part of essential services. Exempt and nonexempt staff will be paid for these days in accordance with university policy on campus closures.

Folks, I know we have all been working really hard since March with very few days off. While this is very short notice, I would like to advise that all Zoom/virtual meetings scheduled for Oct. 8-9 be rescheduled in order to give everyone the break they deserve.

Be Well Bears!