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HRM: Pay, leave and benefits important end of year reminders

November 15, 2023
Banner: HRM Update.
  1. Every employee is responsible for reviewing their Earnings and Leave Statement for accuracy each pay period and promptly reporting any errors to HRM. To access your ELS, please visit the National Finance Center’s Employee Personal page. 
  2. Thrift Savings Plan reminders: Employees who elect to contribute the maximum funding towards TSP, please review your ELS to determine the TSP contribution amount or percentage that works best for you. As a reminder, the annual elected total TSP contributions limit for 2023 is $22,500 for regular contributions. Employees 50 years or older can contribute $7,500 in catch-up contributions. For 2024, the TSP contribution limit will increase to $23,000 for regular contributions. Employees 50 years or older can also contribute $7,500 in catch-up contributions. When updating contributions for 2024, please note that the pay period beginning Dec. 17, 2023 (Pay Period 26), will be the first salary payment in 2024.  You can update your contributions through the Employee Personal Page TSP link under “Personal Info.”
  3. Extra pay period for the 2023 leave year: The 2023 leave year will end on Jan.13, 2024, which means there is an extra pay period for leave accrual purposes. Most employees will accrue an additional 4, 6 or 8 hours of annual leave. Although affected employees will earn an additional pay period’s worth of leave, the maximum carryover ceilings on annual leave remain in effect.
  4. Use or lose annual leave and restoration of annual leave: Employees who have use or lose annual leave must have it scheduled and approved in writing (such as using an OPM-71 form or an e-mail) prior to Dec. 2, 2023. For leave restoration information, please visit the HRM Leave Restoration website. Employees who may not be able to schedule and use all accrued annual leave over 240 hours by the end of the leave year may want to consider donating the extra leave to the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program. If you are interested in donating leave, please submit donations as early as possible, but no later than Dec. 20, 2023. VLTP Leave Recipients are posted on the HRM website.
  5. Verify Deductions on Your Earnings and Leave Statement: Review your ELS to validate the accuracy of your state income tax withholdings, Federal Employees Group Life Insurance, Federal Employees Health Benefits and other deductions. If you find an error, contact HRM immediately to request a correction. Delays in requesting corrections could affect the timely filing of your 2023 Income Taxes. To access your ELS, please visit the National Finance Center’s Employee Personal Page.
  6. Verify your mailing address in the Employee Personal Page: When you log into EPP, you will read this statement: “Welcome to EPP! Please take a minute to confirm your mailing address. Your current address is 123 Smokey Bear Lane Bear Park, NM 87105 is this information correct? Yes or No. Make changes if needed.” Review your mailing address and make changes, if needed.
  7. 2023 final paycheck: Employees will receive their final 2023 paycheck on or about Dec. 26, 2023. This paycheck will be for the hours worked for Dec. 3 – Dec. 16, 2023 (Pay Period 25).
  8. 2023 W-2 for tax purposes: W-2s issued for 2023 will show salary earnings for Dec. 18, 2022 – Dec. 16, 2023, equaling a total of 26 paychecks. W-2s will be available in mid-to-late January 2024.
  9. Employees who received a “Demand Notice for Payment” in calendar year 2023: Debts incurred from gross income adjustments for calendar year 2023 must be paid in-full by Dec. 31, 2023. Since year-end processing for W-2s begins on Dec. 24, 2023, all employees who received a “Demand Notice for Payment” related to gross income adjustments need to be aware that if payment is not received in full by Dec. 20, 2023, the outstanding balance of the debt will be added to the gross income amount on your W-2 per Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules. If payment is received after December 20, 2022, but not later than Dec. 31, 2022, it will be processed, and a corrected W-2 will be issued.
  10. Federal Benefits Open Season: Open Season is Nov. 13 – Dec. 11, 2023.  Employees may enroll, change, or cancel Federal Employee Health Benefits, Flexible Spending Account Program or Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program during this time. HRM will host several webinars to share Open Season information and host a question and answer session. Please refer to the Oct. 25, 2023 HRM Update, for more Open Season details.     
        

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