Announcements

IWU Health Care Advocacy Committee presents Benefit Hacks!

Feb. 13, 2026

Get paid for going to the doctor!

Member Rewards pay you cash for preventative care like mammograms, but most employees don't know they exist!

Here's the hack: Before you schedule your next preventative appointment (mammogram, colonoscopy, annual physical), spend 3 minutes checking if that provider offers Member Rewards through IWU's BCBSIL insurance.

If they do? You'll get a check in the mail after your appointment. No forms. No hassle. Just money back for taking care of your health.

1. Before scheduling -> Search the provider on the BCBSIL website

2. Look for the green "Earn" button -> It'll show if there is a rebate possible.

3. Book your appointment -> Same as usual

4. Get your check -> Arrives 4-6 weeks after your visit.

Payroll and Leave Time Changes - Timeline and FAQs

Aug. 7, 2024

To: All Employees
From: Human Resources

As announced in May this year, IWU will be making some changes to pay and leave time at the conclusion of 2024 summer 4:00 hours.

To help make the timing of changes more clear, HR developed a timeline of pay and leave time changes. As a reminder, there is also a list of FAQs on the HR website.

FAQ's Compensation/Benefit Time/FLSA

June 5, 2024

To: Staff and Faculty

We understand that recent legislative changes and university policy adjustments have led to some concerns and questions among our employees. These changes aim to establish consistency, equity, and compliance with new regulations across the Illinois Wesleyan workplace. The following FAQs provide detailed answers to common questions and help clarify the specifics of these adjustments. We hope this will alleviate any misunderstandings and ensure everyone is well-informed about the upcoming changes.

FAQs - Compensation/Benefit Time/FLSA

Paid Leave for All Workers Time Off

March 28, 2024

To: Staff and Faculty

Reminder: Illinois Wesleyan University made the decision to grant 5 days of time off in a new category of paid leave time under the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. This time off becomes available March 31, 2024.

Paid Leave for All Workers (PLAW) Leave Specifications:

PLAW Leave Allocation: IWU will provide eligible employees with 5 days of PLAW leave annually, starting January 1, 2024. This allocation will not affect existing sick and vacation time accruals. PLAW leave will become available for use starting March 31, 2024, and will renew on January 1 each subsequent year.
Exclusions: Please note that student workers are exempt from this provision.

Instructions

Non-Exempt Employees (Non-Physical Plant)
Beginning March 31: In Banner Self Service, “Paid Leave for All Workers” will be an Earn Code you can use to record using this leave on your timesheet.

Non-Exempt Employees (Physical Plant)
Beginning March 31: In TimeClock Plus, PLAW leave will be a category of time you may record in TimeClock Plus.

Exempt Employees
Beginning March 31: In Banner Self Service, “Paid Leave for All Workers” will be an Earn Code you can use to record using this leave on your leave report.

Faculty Employees (all classifications, including tenure track, non tenure track, teaching track, adjunct, instructional staff)
We understand leave reporting will be new to you! Beginning March 31: This Quick Guide will provide the steps to report use of this new paid leave. You are not required to submit a leave report if you do not have any occasions of PLAW time to record.

Feel free to contact HR with questions, at (309) 556-3373.

Cindy Lotz
Director of HR & TIX Coordinator

Expansion of Paid Time Off

December 15, 2023

To: Staff and Faculty

Earlier this year, Governor Pritzker signed a new law called the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA). This law, effective January 1, 2024, ensures that all Illinois workers have access to paid leave. At Illinois Wesleyan University, full-time staff and faculty already receive more generous paid leave than will be required by the state. However, we’re happy to share this update which outlines an expansion of paid time off benefits!

PLAWA Leave Specifications:

IWU will provide 40 hours of PLAWA leave annually to full-time employees* starting January 1, 2024, without affecting existing sick and vacation time accruals. This time will be available to use beginning March 31, 2024. PLAWA leave will be available January 1 in subsequent years.
Student workers are the only employees at IWU excluded from this law.
Beginning August 1, 2024, the annual accrual of 2 personal days for staff will be discontinued, in exchange for the adoption of 5 PLAWA days.

Notice Requirement:

You can use PLAWA leave in standard increments for any reason. When possible, please provide your supervisor with written notice, preferably a week before using it.

No Carryover or Payout:

Similar to the current policies for personal time, any unused PLAWA leave at the end of the year will not carry over to the next year. Please use it within the same year it's granted. Accrued but unused PLAWA leave is not paid out upon exit from employment.

Recordkeeping:

This new leave type will be recorded in Banner, and employee balances will be viewable in the Employee Dashboard of Banner Employee Self-Service by March 31, 2024. Instructions on reporting time will be released in 2024.

If you have questions, please contact Human Resources at ext. 3373.

*Note that part-time employees, including adjuncts, will have a prorated amount of paid leave front-loaded.

BCBS Medical Coverage Change: End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

April 19, 2023

The Biden Administration has announced its plan to end the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023.

Employer-sponsored health plans have been required to comply with certain coverage requirements during the COVID-19 emergency periods, including the following:

Health plans must cover COVID-19 diagnostic tests and related services without imposing any cost sharing (such as deductibles, copayments or coinsurance) during the PHE.
Health plans must cover certain preventive services, including recommended COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, without cost sharing. During the PHE, this coverage mandate applied to COVID-19 immunizations provided by all providers, regardless of whether they are in-network or out-of-network.

When the PHE ends on May 11, 2023, coverage on the IWU BCBS-IL plans will be as follows:

COVID-19 diagnostic tests and related services will be covered like any other diagnostic testing, your cost share of deductible and coinsurance will apply.
COVID-19 immunizations will be covered as preventative services (covered at 100%); however, coverage will be limited to in-network providers.

Multi-Employer Plan (MEP)

April 18, 2023

The new IWU MEP Retirement Plan contract is now open.

Below is a recap of important retirement plan changes and next steps for you to take.

You are now able to make investment selections for the new retirement contract. This can be done by:

Accessing your account online at www.tiaa.org.
Calling TIAA at 800-842-2252

If you do NOT make selections from the new investment menu, all future contributions from April on will be default invested into an age-appropriate lifecycle model. You have the option to change your selections in the future.

*If you have retained Millennium to professionally manage your account(s), they will be making these selections for you based on your personal financial plan and no action is required by you.*

Assets invested in mutual funds in the former IWU retirement contract will transfer into the new IWU 403(b) MEP retirement plan contract later this month. These funds will be default invested into an age-appropriate lifecycle model unless you selected other investment options from the new investment menu.

Once the new retirement contract begins receiving contributions with the April payroll you will have the option of transferring the annuity assets in your former Illinois Wesleyan University retirement contract into your new Illinois Wesleyan University MEP contract to take advantage of the new investment options available. To do this, call TIAA at 800-842-2252 and request a cross contract transfer from the former Illinois Wesleyan University retirement plan contract into the new Illinois Wesleyan University MEP contract. These assets cannot be moved without your authorization.

Help is Available!

If you are unsure of what actions you need to take, decisions you will need to make, or if you have any questions regarding the Illinois Wesleyan University retirement plan transition, it is highly encouraged that you schedule a meeting with an Advisor from Millennium Advisory Services. They’ll be available to speak with you individually to:

Answer questions about the retirement plan changes.
Understand the new investment options.
Offer holistic financial planning to help guide you to use the Illinois Wesleyan University retirement plan to the best of your abilities to achieve your retirement goals.

Click Here to Schedule a Virtual Meeting

You can also reach Millennium’s Scheduling Team at schedule@mcmva.com or by phone at 877-435-2489 and select option 1.

Millennium Advisory Services | 877-435-2489 | www.mas-edu.com

Multi-Employer Plan (MEP)

February 23, 2023

As we have communicated in recent emails, Illinois Wesleyan University is planning to join a Multi-Employer Plan (MEP) for our retirement plan this spring. In the attached document you will find instructions to access a recording of one of last week's group meetings. There will also be instructions about signing up for an in-person or virtual meeting with a Millennium advisor.

View PDF

Suspension of Vaccination & Testing Policy

July 26, 2022

Governor Pritzker has not reissued mandated vaccination/testing for higher education employees effective July 12, 2022. In light of this change as well as the high percentage of vaccinated employees on our campus (93%), Illinois Wesleyan University will not be requiring either vaccination or surveillance testing for employees effective immediately. We will continue to collect vaccination information from new employees, and the university reserves the right to reassess and modify employment requirements as needed.

ESI's Employee Development Program

Jan. 31, 2022

Gallup: “57% of U.S. workers want to update their skills...” Your EAP offers a comprehensive Employee Development Program as part of your benefits! Get 24/7 access to thousands of online trainings for personal and professional growth. Short on time? Many courses are available in short micro-learning bursts!

10,000+ Training Center Courses
Sampling of course topics:

Personal & Career Development
Health & Wellness
Customer Service
Ethics
Working Remotely
Teamwork & Collaboration
Cybersecurity
Microsoft Office
General Safety

Key Features

18 one-to-one Certified Coaching Programs
100 new trainings added each month
Mobile-friendly, video-based content
Course length varies from 3 – 60 mins., depending on learning need
Variety of formats (role play, presentation, newscast style)
Certificate available upon completion
Improve productivity

View Flyer

Tuition Benefit Changes

Jan. 20, 2022

While the tuition benefit offered to exempt/faculty employees and to non-exempt employees is more similar than in the past, an inequity remains. Specifically, non-exempt employees currently have a two-year waiting period for tuition remission for dependents, while exempt staff/faculty have no waiting period.

To address this inequity, as of August 1, 2022, all new employees hired on or after that date will be asked to invest one year of service in order to earn this benefit.

Access to tuition exchange programs through Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and Tuition Exchange (TE) will continue to be effective upon hire for all employees.

Human Resources would like to thank Staff Council for bringing this inequity to our attention and for its advocacy for our valued staff employees.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact the Human Resources office at 556-3536.

MEP Information

Dec. 10, 2021

MEP: On November 29 and November 30, Vice President for Business and Finance Matt Bierman provided a Zoom presentation for IWU stakeholders, to inform them about the opportunity to become a member of an Illinois Multi Employer Plan (MEP) for the retirement program. A recording of one of the sessions can be found here. The slide deck for the program and an FAQ page can be found here.

Non-Exempt Compensation Update

Nov. 17, 2021

We appreciate all of our employees and the dedication and service you continue to provide, especially in the face of the challenges experienced throughout higher ed for the past several years.

The labor market continues to provide challenges for Illinois Wesleyan at all levels and across all divisions. This, coupled with the upcoming minimum wage increase (effective Jan. 1, 2022), causes us to analyze the current starting wages for non-exempt (hourly paid) positions. To carry out this analysis, we compared market data for higher education institutions and data reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Bloomington/Normal area.

In response, non-exempt starting wages have been adjusted to account for the minimum wage increase, and those who are under the new minimum for their level will be adjusted to it. In addition, to mitigate wage compression, all non-exempt staff who were employed as of July 31, 2021 will receive a 2% increase. New rates are effective November 7, 2021 and will be reflected on the November 26 pay date. No later than Tuesday, November 23 your new rate will be in Banner. You can find your hourly rate in Employee Self Service on your web time entry timesheet, or under the Job Summary/Job Information drop-down menu on the right.

Efforts to assess and address compensation concerns for our employees must and will continue to be made. This will be ongoing work – with ongoing analysis and review on behalf of all employees. Similar evaluation of exempt employee salaries will begin in January, 2022.

May 2021

EAP Benefits to Help Improve Your Personal Finances

April 2021 - Exempt Leave Reporting

Exempt Staff, 12-month Faculty and eligible Instructional Staff will begin reporting leave (sick, personal, vacation or other time used) through Employee Self-Service.
* The leave reporting period will be from the first day of the month through the last day of the month.
* Reporting for each month will be due from the employee by the 5th of the following month.
* Supervisors will approve the leave report by the 10th of the month.

See the Leave Reporting Guide for details.

EAP Employee Benefit Summary flyer

Information on Fraudulent Unemployment Claims

Fraudulent Unemployment Claims announcement

July 14, 2020 Update: BCBS and the Schnucks/CVS Pharmacy transition

As you may be aware, Schnucks Pharmacy has recently been acquired by CVS Pharmacy. Even though CVS is an out-of-network provider on the BCBS plans, Schnucks will remain in-network for the rest of 2020. If you are currently filling a prescription at Schnucks Pharmacy, you may continue to do so through 12/31/2020.

Earlier this year, the Schnucks grocery chain announced CVS would be taking over their pharmacy business. We have been waiting for additional communication regarding the timing of this change.

We learned this past weekend that the change went into effect Sunday, June 28.

The IWU Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) plans exclude coverage at CVS pharmacies. Therefore, the former Schnucks pharmacy, now CVS, will no longer be a covered option for your prescriptions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Human Resources Office.

June 25, 2020: Health Insurance Update - Carle Health System Network Status

Earlier this year, the Carle health system announced plans to acquire Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal and Advocate Eureka Hospital and affiliated sites in Central Illinois. In early May, Carle announced important regulatory approvals had been received for the Advocate BroMenn and Advocate Eureka acquisition, with the transaction scheduled to close on July 1, 2020.

While Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) has not yet updated their network data systems – which means BCBS cannot yet confirm network status if members call in to verify – we've learned that Advocate Bromenn & Eureka hospitals as well as employed physicians will all remain in our Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) network. Affiliated professional providers who were contracted with Advocate Physician Partners will also remain in our PPO network. BCBS was unsure when their network systems will be updated to reflect the transition.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Human Resources office.

Mental Health Services

COVID-19 has caused many personal stressors. Please remember that our Employee Assistance Program is available to employees who are in need of assistance. For covered employees, Blue Cross Blue Shield continues to offer mental health services – both in-person and via telehealth with MDLive.

June 2020

We have launched version 9 of Banner Self Service, which can be accessed from MyIWU. New modules now include My Profile Dashboard and Employee Self Services.

For quick access follow these steps:

MyIWU
Banner Self Service
4 white squares upper left hand corner
Banner
Personal Information Menu - Personal Information Details
Employee Menu - Employee Self Service

The new Employee Dashboard includes employee pay stubs, leave balances, and earnings history. This secure dashboard will also allow you to view and update your Direct Deposit information. Please note: access to your pay stub through this dashboard will replace the emailed version. You will no longer receive an email with your pay stub each pay day, but can access the information through this Dashboard.