Author Archives: Benjamin Rackliffe

Middlebury Vermont Campus Special Notice Regarding Year End Payrolls

Human Resources Business Partner job with Middlebury College | 1827967

Note: this information applies only to the Vermont campus. Please the other post for information on Monterey.

In preparation for year-end please review the payroll schedule below and plan your time entry and approval. Taking time to plan submission and approval in advance will be critical to successful and timely payrolls!

Pay PeriodStart DateEnd DateDEADLINE for submission and approvalCheck Date
2611/30/202012/13/202012/14/202012/18/2020
2712/14/202012/27/202012/18/202012/31/2020(Thursday)
112/28/20201/10/20211/11/2021 (Or 12/23/2020 if you are not working over break)1/15/2021

To reiterate: these are the upcoming pay period deadlines:

26: Monday 12/14/2020

27: Friday 12/18/2020

1: Monday 1/11/2020 (Or Wednesday 12/23/2020 if you are not working over break)

A few key notes:

  • Hourly employees will find Holiday and Holiday worked in their Oracle timecards instructions are available here.
  • Salaried employees do not need to make any entries in Oracle they will continue to receive their salaries throughout the winter break.
  • Absences and time worked can be entered early, please plan ahead and submit time entries to avoid missed pay during the winter break.
  • Preparation for W2s: Please verify your mailing address in Oracle.

Pay Period 27 (2020)

  • There are 27 pay periods in 2020, the 27th pay period will not have many of the standard deductions calculated over the 26 standard pay period.
  • The deadline for pay period 27 is early due to the winter break. All submissions and approvals must be done by Friday 12/18/20 at 3:00 pm.

Pay Period 1 (2021)

  • If you are not working, please enter your time before leaving for the holiday (12/23/2020).
  • The standard deadline is immediately following the winter break, it is imperative that all time and approvals are complete on January 11th by 3 pm.

Monterey Campus Special Notice Regarding Year End Payrolls

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Note: this applies only to the Monterey, CA campus. Please refer to the other post for information on the VT campus.

In preparation for year-end please review the payroll schedule below and plan your time entry and approval. Taking time to plan submission and approval in advance will be critical to successful and timely payrolls!

Pay PeriodStart DateEnd DateDEADLINE for submission and approvalCheck Date
2612/07/202012/20/202012/14/202012/24/2020(Thursday)
112/21/20201/03/20211/04/2021 (If you are not working over break – 12/18/2020)1/08/2021

To reiterate, the upcoming pay period deadlines are:

26: Monday 12/14/2020

1: Monday 1/4/2021 (Or Friday 12/18/2020 if you are not working over break)

A few key notes:

  • Hourly employees will find Holiday and Holiday worked in their Oracle timecards instructions are available here.
  • Salaried employees do not need to make any entries in Oracle they will continue to receive their salaries throughout the winter break.
  • Absences and time worked can be entered early, please plan ahead and submit time entries to avoid missed pay during the winter break.
  • Preparation for W2s: Please verify your mailing address in Oracle.

Pay Period 26 (2020)

  • The deadline for pay period 26 is early due the winter break. All submissions and approvals must be done by Monday 12/14/20 at noon (12:00 pm PT).

Pay Period 1 (2021)

  • If you are not working, please enter your time before leaving for the holiday (12/18/2020).
  • The standard deadline is immediately following the winter break, it is imperative that all time and approvals are complete on January 4, 2021 by noon (12:00 pm PT).

Thanksgiving Break Reminder

This is a reminder that the 2020 Thanksgiving holiday break extends from 12:00am Monday November 23rd through 11:59pm Friday November 27th. The break has been extended to the full week to show gratitude to all members of the Middlebury College community during this difficult time. Please note that this change does not affect the time entry deadline. For information on entering holiday time in Oracle, please refer to the following page on our website:

http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/business/hr/staffandfaculty/time/ht

We hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy holiday.

What’s on tap for well-being…weeks of 11/23 and 11/30?

Please check the GMHEC Well-being calendar for changes to the regular schedule due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  The calendar password is GMHECWell-Being

Yoga will be operating on a reduced schedule which you can find here or on the TCY Facebook page.

From the GMHEC family to yours, we want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. 

Be well.  Take care.  Stay safe.

COVID-19 Vaccine FAQ

COVID-19
UNDERSTANDING THE COVID-19
VACCINES LANDSCAPE
Cigna creates client FAQ to answer the top questions
From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cigna has focused on delivering peace of mind and made health care easier for the people and businesses we serve. With headlines indicating that some vaccines are seemingly nearing the final stages of testing, we recognize that many clients will begin looking for guidance to help support and respond to their employees. Some of the areas we know are top of mind include:

-Availability of vaccine
-How those in your workforce fit into the phased vaccine rollout
-Vaccine costs for you and your employees
-Understanding what you can do now to prepare

With the support and expertise of our clinical team, we created an Understanding COVID-19 Vaccines FAQ to provide some grounding in what we know today. (Note: clicking this link will download the fact sheet as a PDF.) The FAQ also includes links to valuable resources and tips at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and other sources.

Click here to download the Understanding COVID-19 Vaccines FAQ

For other aspects of a Return to Worksite strategy, please visit our Cigna Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information for Employers and Brokers page, which offers helpful guidance and support you may need leading up to key decisions. Partnering with Cigna’s clinical team, we can help provide insights into worksite openings and how to keep them open.

What’s on tap for well-being…weeks of 11/9 and 11/16

You will find all the information about these events on the GMHEC Well-being calendar.  The calendar password is GMHECWell-Being

“Be selectively ignorant. Ignore topics that drain your attention. Unfollow people that drain your energy. Abandon projects that drain your time. Do not keep up with it all. The more selectively ignorant you become, the more broadly knowledgeable you can be.” – James Clear

Beth’s morning intention setting:  One of the best ways to gain control of your time & energy is to set an intention.  Setting and living your intentions allows you to focus on who you are in the moment, to recognize and live your values, and to raise your emotional energy, which in turn raises your physical energy.  Join Beth Umba, yoga and meditation instructor as she guides you through a powerful session to help you set an intention that will move you into your day with focus and energy.  Mondays and Wednesdays.  7:30-8:00 am EST. Zoom Meeting ID: 510 175 4836

Plant-based cooking with Nancy Wind:  Join health & lifestyle coach, Nancy Wind, for a fun, dynamic cooking workshop right from your own kitchen.  She will lead you through the preparation of a plant-based dish as you learn how to nourish yourself and your family for the upcoming holiday season. The meal will be gluten free and recipes will be provided in advance.   Monday, November 16th 6:00-8:00 pm EST.   Preregistration required.  Register here.

The Edge Six Week Focus on You:  Join the team from The Edge for this comprehensive six-week program aimed at supporting you through the holiday season.  Get support from your peers, a Registered Dietitian and a health coach in this remote program.  Discussion topics will include maintaining a balanced eating plan, creating sustainable habits and strategies to effectively manage stress.  Mondays, November 16th through December 21st.  Noon-1:00 pm EST.  Cost may be as low as $45 depending on your insurance.  To learn more or to register, contact genavix@edgevt.com or call (802) 951-2320.

Getting and keeping good credit.  Credit scores influence personal finances in more ways than most people realize. Whether it’s your auto insurance premium or the interest rate on your mortgage, you want your credit score to be deemed “excellent”.  Join the experts from My Secure Advantage and explore the criteria that determines a credit score, as well as how to establish new credit, how to recover from credit challenges, and best practices for maintaining an excellent credit score. Tuesday, November 10th noon-1:00 pm EST.  Register here

Working with Emotional Intelligence: Join Arnold Sanow, author, keynote speaker and executive coach to gain an understanding of what emotional intelligence is and to communicate in a positive way to improve your relationships.  Tuesday, November 17th.  1:00-2:00 pm EST.  Preregistration required.  Register here.

Supporting a remote workforce:  With an increasing number of employees working remotely, managers are tasked with developing diversified strategies to support remote workers. Explore the characteristics and dynamics of the remote worker. Develop an appreciation for the needs of remote workers and specific support recommendations.  Brought to you by New Directions Behavioral Health.  Wednesday, November 11th.  noon-1:00 pm or 3:00-4:00 pm EST.  Click here to register. 

Waving Worry Goodbye: Strategies to manage anxiety:  Anxiety can be an occasional visitor, or a long-term guest. Research shows that most anxiety is best managed with behavior intervention. This training will empower individuals to assess their personal anxiety and integrate specific behavior practices to increase relaxation and calm. Brought to you by New Directions Behavioral Health.  Wednesday, November 18th.  noon-1:00 pm or 3:00-4:00 pm EST. Click here to register. 

Leading in the face of adversity:  2020 has been a particularly challenging year, but the job of leading in the face of hardship never goes away. In this session, Snow Academy founder Shane Snow breaks down the surprising psychology of good crisis leadership, how to maintain people’s trust when things are going wrong, and how to deliver news that people don’t want to hear (but need to). Snow will connect his business psychology research to ancient philosophy to teach how you can better deal with leadership dilemmas when the stakes are high. Tuesday, November 17th 2:00-3:00 pm EST.  Register here.

Need tips on how to make your remote workstation work better for you and your body.  Check out this webinar from the ergonomics experts at The Rising Workplace.

Resilience might just be the word of 2020 and understandably so. With all that is going on in the world, we need to be able to bounce back and recover from challenge, set back and trauma.  How resilient are you?  What can you do to build more resilience?  Check out these resources from Cigna.  

Peak performance in work and in life depends on personal energy and teams who manage their energy individually and collectively report higher levels of health, well-being and engagement. We so often hear about the importance of time management, but time is finite. Time is the one thing we can never make more of. Energy, on the other hand, is a renewable resource and learning how to manage our energy is the key to health, happiness and peak performance. If you are interested in bringing this thirty minute presentation to your team, contact Rebecca Schubert at Rebecca.schubert@gmhec.org to schedule a time that works for you.  Come away with practical strategies you can implement to help you and your team avoid an energy crisis and which will enable you to thrive in work and in life.

With the colder weather coming in, now is the perfect time to allocate some time mid-day for some movement.  Check out our lunch time fitness classes which are suitable for all fitness levels.  Details are posted on the calendar.  The password is GMHECWell-Being.

Please note that we will not be holding our lunch time workouts during the week of Thanksgiving but yoga classes will still be available.  Take care & stay well.

TIAA Communication, Education, Advice Update

File:TIAA logo (2016).svg - Wikimedia Commons

November 2020

Financial Essentials live webinars
November Webinars
Making gifts to loved ones and charities November 10 at 12 pm (ET)
Money at work 1: Foundations of Investing November 10 at 3 pm (ET)  
The Power of Saving November 11 at 12 pm (ET)  
Making it easier for you: Online tools and resources November 11 at 3 pm (ET)  
Retiring in the ‘New Normal’ November 12 at 12 pm (ET)  


December Live Webinars
Inside Money: Managing Income and Debt December 8 at 3 p.m. (ET)  
Lifetime income–market proof your retirement December 9 at 12 p.m. (ET)  
Strategies for staying on track December 9 at 3 p.m. (ET)  
Postcards from the Future – A woman’s guide to financially ever after December 10 at 12 p.m. (ET)