Greetings GMA SHRM Members –

Thank you to everyone that attended our Revealed/Networking event on November 1st! It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the tips provided by our guest speaker, D.P. Knudten, about how to leverage social media for your personal brand and networking. We had several new members attend.
 
Our Programming Committee is working hard to line up valuable, educational sessions for 2019. The details on dates and topics will be posted on our website in the near future. A huge thanks to our volunteers for ensuring timely topics and that we follow through on providing recertification credits for our members as part of our regular programs. For those that aren’t aware, we plan our topics based on the feedback provided from our members. Please make sure you fill out our annual membership survey that comes out each summer. We want to hear your ideas for programming content! 
 
I am excited to share a special end of the year offer for GMA SHRM members.  You can save $15 on a new or renewing SHRM membership by using promo code State18Q on or before November 30th, 2018. National SHRM membership provides really valuable tools and resources to help keep us compliant and current.    
 
I hope to see you at an upcoming event! 

Take Care,

Tammy Wacek, SHRM-CP, PHR
President
GMA SHRM

Click here to view the full GMA SHRM Board of Directors

 

IRS Issues Revised Model Safe Harbor Notices for Eligible Rollover Distribution

Submitted by: Abigail Darwin, GMA SHRM Government Affairs Committee Member and Employee Benefits Attorney at Quarles & Brady LLC

The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") recently issued revised model safe harbor explanations that administrators of qualified retirement plans (e.g., 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans) can provide to participants who are eligible for a rollover distribution from the plan after terminating employment or a plan termination.  These safe harbor explanations may be used to satisfy the requirements under Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") Section 402(f) for the notice that plan administrators must provide to plan participants about tax consequences related to taking plan distributions that are eligible for rollover.  These notices, often referred to "402(f) notices," must be provided to plan participants 30-180 days prior to the date a distribution is made. 
 
The last time the IRS issued model safe harbor explanations for plan administrators to use for 402(f) notices was back in 2014—in Revenue Procedure 2014-74 ("2014 Rev. Proc.").  The revised model safe harbor explanations contained in Revenue Procedure 2018-74 ("2018 Rev. Proc.") take into account certain legislative changes and guidance that have been issued since December 8, 2014, including:

• The extended rollover deadline for qualified plan loan offset amounts provided under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act;
• The exception to the 10% additional tax under IRC Section 72(t) for phased retirement distributions to certain federal retirees under MAP-21;
• The expanded exception to the 10% additional tax under IRC Section 72(t) for certain qualified public safety employees who have reached age 50 under the Defending Public Safety Employee's Retirement Act; and
• The self-certification procedures under Revenue Procedure 2016-47 for claiming eligibility for a waiver of the deadline for making rollovers into a qualified plan or individual retirement arrangement ("IRA").

 
The revised safe harbor explanations in the 2018 Rev. Proc. also:

• Clarify that the 10% additional tax under IRC Section 72(t) for early distributions applies only to amounts includable in income;
• Explain how the rollover rules apply to 457(b) governmental plans that include designated Roth accounts;
• Clarify that the general exception to the 10% additional tax under IRC Section 72(t) for payments from a governmental plan made after a qualified public safety employee separates from service after attaining age 50 is not available for payments from IRAs; and
• Recognize the possibility that taxpayers affected by federally declared disasters and other events may have an extended deadline for making rollovers.

 
The 2018 Rev. Proc. also contains two appendices--Appendix A and Appendix B.Appendix A provides two model rollover notices that can be sent to plan participants—one for distributions that are not from a designated Roth account and one for distributions that are from a designated Roth account.Appendix B provides amendments that plan administrators can use to update safe harbor explanations from the 2014 Rev. Proc. if they prefer to update those explanations rather than replace them with the safe harbor explanations contained in Appendix A of the 2018 Rev. Proc.
 
The 2018 Rev. Proc. can be found at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-18-74.pdf.   Plan administrators should carefully review the 2018 Rev. Proc. and update their 402(f) notices accordingly.Plan administrators can use the revised safe harbor explanations provided in the 2018 Rev. Proc. to satisfy the notice requirements of IRC Section 402(f) unless and until the explanations are no longer accurate due to changes in relevant laws.

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New Target for Updated FLSA Overtime Rule

Submitted by: Jeff Palkowski, Director of Government Affairs GMA SHRM and SHRM Advocacy Captain (Wisconsin 1st CD)

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is targeting March 2019 to release revisions to Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) after holding a series of listening sessions across the country (Atlanta, Seattle, Kansas City, Denver, Providence, R.I., and Washington D.C.) to gather feedback about how to move forward from the 2016 FLSA Overtime Rule which was promulgated and then subsequently blocked by a preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court of Eastern Texas, a few days prior to scheduled implementation on December 1, 2016.
 
Testimony was provided by various individuals and groups during the six listening sessions, with the majority of the comments centered around the exempt salary threshold and any updates to the current duties test.  The Obama administration had proposed an exempt annual salary threshold of $47,476 which would have more than doubled the current salary threshold of $23,660 established in 2004.  While most agree that the salary threshold is overdue for an update, many employers favor a smaller increase. U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta has previously shared that he believed a threshold between $32,000 to $35,000 would be more appropriate.
 
Some pro-worker groups would like to either see the originally proposed salary threshold amount retained or if not, the implementation of a “more stringent duties test” with a suggestion that no more than 20 percent of hours worked by an employee in a workweek could be performing nonexempt work to remain an exempt employee.
 
While it is anticipated that the DOL will release their updated rule in early 2019, there is no indication of when an updated overtime rule would be effective.  One concern from employers in regard to the 2016 overtime rule was the amount of time that employers were given to implement a new salary threshold within their organizations in a short period of time.  Employers are hopeful that the DOL will this time provide an adequate amount of time for employers to implement the new policy.
 
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2019 WI SHRM Day on the Hill

Submitted by: Jeff Palkowski, Director of Government Affairs GMA SHRM and SHRM Advocacy Captain (Wisconsin 1st CD)

Your GMA SHRM Government Affairs committee is excited to announce the 2019 WI SHRM Day on the Hill event is set for February 13^th and 14^th.   Registration will soon be open on the WISHRM website.
 
Prior to the Day on the Hill event, online training on how to conduct an advocacy meeting will be delivered. The day of the event will include an employment law update from Attorney Bob Gregg of the Boardman & Clark Law Firm, discussion on SHRM advocacy efforts from Meredith Nethercutt, Director for Member Advocacy at National SHRM, and other educational topics. Sessions will be submitted for preapproval of recertification credits.

The day will conclude with scheduled meetings with your individual Legislators and/or Legislative staff members at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Legislator meetings typically last about 15 minutes, at which you will discuss current issues pertinent to the human resources profession. If you are a first time attendee and unsure of the legislator meeting process, just tell us on your registration form and we will ensure we have someone to attend your first meeting with you! Business attire is recommended for legislative meetings.

The Day on the Hill will provide a great opportunity for you to advocate on behalf of WISHRM and the HR profession, to learn more about the political process, and to have a real impact on the public policy debate in Wisconsin involving critical HR and business issues.

Also, join us at the Top of the Park on Wednesday evening from 5:30pm to 7pm for a social/networking event.  Dress is casual.  If you are unable to attend the Thursday Day on the Hill event, but would still like to attend the Wednesday networking event, the cost to attend the networking event only is $25.

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Education and Development

GMA SHRM welcomes the following members who joined our chapter in September 2018!

Nena	Beier	UW Colleges & UW-Extension
Derek	Dailey	Paychex Inc.
Stacey	Dougherty	Carex Consulting Group
Elizabeth	Gelhar	The University of Wisconsin- Madison
Ashley	Grindle	New Glarus Home
Holly	Heuer	McFarland State Bank
Stephanie	Isaak	Community Action Coalition For South Central WI
Taylor	Maas	RenewAire
Sarah	Mar-Pohl	The Madison Concourse Hotel
Toril	Oien	Bendyworks, Inc
Augusto	Perez	Jack Link's Protein Snack
Andy	Yang	ATTIC Correctional Services, Inc.

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Movin' Up

Have you started with a new company? Has your organization recently promoted you to a new position? Or do you want to recognize a new person or promotion within your department? If so, we want to hear about it. Send us an e-mail, and we’ll publish your good news in the next HR InTouch!  
 

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In Transition

If you are a member who is in between jobs, or who is currently employed but seeking new positions or career paths, write us a brief description of your skill set, areas of expertise, what you’re looking for, etc. Send us an e-mail. We’ll publish your information in the next HR InTouch.

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HR InTouch Guidelines

Article Writing:

Do you have an interest in writing for the HR InTouch? We have an interest in learning more about your area of expertise!

Why should you volunteer? Top three reasons: 1) to share your knowledge and experiences to educate others; 2) to become more connected in the HR and Dane County communities; and 3) to contribute towards the advancement of GMA SHRM and the HR profession.

The first step is for you to choose a submission option: you can pre-submit an article to GMA SHRM at any time for us to use in any of the upcoming newsletters, you can sign up to write for a particular month, or we can put you on a list of people to contact in future months whenever we need articles.

Article length:

Because the HR InTouch is now in an online format, the size is flexible. The article should be engaging and hold readers’ attention. Include the core information in your article, and we will advise if it is too lengthy.

Solicitation:

GMA SHRM is conscious not to allow solicitation through the articles, in an effort to protect the interests of our partners and members. The nature of the article should be educational (i.e., what are the business advantages of having a product like yours) or informational. Otherwise, if you truly are interested in advertising through the HR InTouch, you can work with our Marketing Committee. As a rule of thumb for article writing, if the submission relates to a for-profit event, or specifically markets your company (vs. your industry), it is an advertisement, and should be purchased. If it is a not-for-profit event that your company is hosting, or an announcement (i.e., a SHRM member recently joined your company), it is an acceptable addition to the HR InTouch content. If you have any questions related to the appropriateness of your submission, please contact us.

If you have questions, or to submit an article, contact GMA SHRM at chapteradmin@gmashrm.org .