Did You Know?

Posted on March 18, 2009

Did You Know?

New Federal Income Tax Credit Takes Effect This Month
Outstanding Performance Award Nomination Deadline Is May 1
SSEAC Election to Be Held March 30 Through April 1
FCPS to Honor Retirees on April 22, RSVP Deadline Is April 3

ERFC Trustee Election Scheduled for May 12-14, Nomination Petitions Due April 17
Be Green: Fairfax County Public Schools' Recycling Program
Maintaining Confidentiality for Students and Staff Members
Understanding Your 2008 W-2 Form

New Federal Income Tax Credit Takes Effect This Month

New federal income tax withholding tables reflecting changes from the recently enacted Making Work Pay tax credit were released electronically by the Internal Revenue Service. The withholding allowance amounts (value of each exemption claimed) remain the same under the new tables, but the withholding rates in the new tables were adjusted to account for the $400 credit for single filers and $800 for joint filers.

The IRS is instructing employers to implement the updated withholding amounts as soon as possible. The tax credit will phase out for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of more than $75,000, or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

The IRS instructions indicate that is not necessary to submit a new W-4 form. Be aware that employees with multiple jobs or married couples whose combined incomes place them in a higher tax bracket may elect to submit a revised W-4 to ensure enough withholding is held to cover the tax for their combined incomes.

These new tax amounts will be effective for the biweekly payday of March 27 and for the monthly March 31 payday. Please refer to www.irs.gov and Publication 919 for more information.

Outstanding Performance Award Nomination Deadline Is May 1

The Outstanding Performance Award (OPA) Committee will meet on May 21. All unified-scale employees (except school-based administrators) and instructional assistants are eligible for nomination. An OPA recipient may receive a maximum payment of $1,000, net after taxes. All nominations should be sent to T. G. Bowen, director, Office of Salary Services, Gatehouse Administration Center I, suite 2400, and must be submitted by May 1.

In addition to the original OPA nomination, 14 copies should be submitted for distribution to committee members. Additional information pertaining to the OPA can be found in the current version of Regulation 4670.

SSEAC Election to Be Held March 30 Through April 1

Nominating petitions have been verified for the 2009 Support Services Employees’ Advisory Council (SSEAC) election. The voting for the SSEAC election will be held March 30 through April 1. The following candidates will appear on the ballot:

Group 4—custodial and plant operations: Steve Rorls and Leon Haynie.

Candidates in the following job groups ran unopposed and will be the newly elected representatives:

Group 1—bus drivers and attendants.
Group 3—food and nutrition services.
Group 7—management and administrative.
Group 8—educational support.

Employees eligible to vote will receive an e-mail to vote electronically on March 30. Employee identification numbers will be needed to cast votes.

If you have questions, contact the Office of Employee Performance and Development at 571-423-3252.

FCPS to Honor Retirees on April 22, RSVP Deadline Is April 3

If you plan to retire this year and want to participate in the spring 2009 retirement ceremony, We Honor You—Celebrating Your Service to FCPS, you should submit your Notification ofResignation/Retirement form (HR-2) as soon as possible.

Invitations are being mailed. The retirement ceremony will be held on Wednesday, April 22, at Robinson Secondary School at 7 p.m. The ceremony will be shown live on Channel 21 and will be rebroadcast on Monday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. Invitees are asked to respond to the invitation by Friday, April 3.

More information about the retirement ceremony, including retiree testimonials and photos from previous ceremonies, is available at www.fcps.edu/DHR/wehonoryou.

ERFC Trustee Election Scheduled for May 12-14, Nomination Petitions Due April 17

An electronic election to fill one trustee position of the Educational Employees’ Retirement System of Fairfax County (ERFC) Board of Trustees will be held May 12 through May 14.

Notice 4771 outlines the election process and includes a petition for candidates to use in qualifying for the election. Notice 4771 is available on the ERFC web site at www.fcps.edu/ERFC. Candidates must also submit a statement of no more than 100 words for inclusion in election materials as to why they would best serve in the position.

Petitions and statements must be returned to the Office of Employee Performance and Development (OEPD), Gatehouse Administration Center I, suite 2512, by April 17.

For more information, call OEPD at 571-423-3252.

Be Green: Fairfax County Public Schools' Recycling Program

FCPS supports recycling. As citizens of the Earth and stewards of our environment, we recognize that recycling has many benefits to our community. Our recycling program serves several purposes:

Contributes to a cleaner environment.
Educates students on the benefits of recycling.
Diverts materials from the waste stream.
Generates financial savings from reduced waste disposal.

FCPS currently has two primary recycling efforts:

Recycling of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, and metal.
Recycling of fluorescent lamps.

The program to recycle paper, cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, and metal is a systemwide effort in which all schools and offices are required to participate. The recycling of fluorescent lamps is a program that can only be enacted by the custodial staff and trained staff members in the Office of Procurement Services. The School Board regulation requiring all facilities to recycle is Regulation 8541.

Interesting Facts

Paper recycling in 2007 prevented an estimated 3,144 tons of recyclable materials from entering the waste stream. This waste avoidance saved FCPS an estimated $173,958 in disposal fees.

More Recycling Resources

For more information about FCPS' recycling program, contact Scott Larson at scott.larson@fcps.edu.

Maintaining Confidentiality for Students and Staff Members

All Fairfax County Public Schools employees are reminded to protect confidential information pertaining to students and staff members, especially medical information. This includes information that is shared with you and any information that you come in contact with—either formally or informally—during your workday.

This can be accomplished by:

Not requiring an individual to disclose the nature of his or her medical condition (e.g, when calling in sick, when returning from medical leave, when having to be frequently absent from work to attend appointments, etc).
Not disclosing what you know or hear to others verbally or via e-mail without the individual’s or a parent’s permission.
Not making public any negative comments or inquiries regarding any accommodation(s) or assistance an individual maybe provided unless it is applicable to your work function.

An employee may share, with his or her program manager, anticipated prolonged medical absences to enable the program manager to meet business requirements; these can be shared on a need-to-know basis. If you observe an employee accessing or sharing confidential information that is or appears to be unauthorized or inappropriate, you must make sure that this use or disclosure does not continue. If in doubt, speak with your program manager or call the Office of Equity and Compliance at 571-423-3050.

Understanding Your 2008 W-2 Form

2008 W-2 forms were mailed to each employee’s home address on January 21. A self-sealing mailer was used for the 2008 W-2 forms, a change from previous years when the forms have been inserted into envelopes. Be sure to follow the opening instructions on the back of the form.

The following information will help employees interpret the W-2 when it arrives.

The yearly gross earnings figure reported in each employee’s last 2008 paycheck does not appear on the W-2.
W-2s report taxable wages, not gross earnings. Federal taxable wages in box 1 on the W-2 represent annual gross earnings from your December 2008 pay stub or pay advice (pay period 13 for biweekly employees) minus and plus the following:

Minus:

Retirement Fund Contributions.
Tax-Deferred Account, 403(b) Contributions (TDA contributions are also indicated in box 12, letter E).
Section 457 Plan Contributions (Section 457 plan contributions are also indicated in box 12, letter G).
Flex Fund Contributions (dependent and health care)* (Dependent care contributions are also indicated in box 10).
Health Insurance Premiums.*
Dental Insurance Premiums.*

Plus:

The taxable portion of employee-paid life insurance coverage in excess of $50,000. (This amount, if any, is included in taxable wages in boxes 1, 3, 5, and 16 and appears as letter C in box 12.)

* These items are also excluded from the Social Security and Medicare wages reported in boxes 3 and 5.

Employees who have had taxes withheld for more than one jurisdiction (e.g., Virginia and Maryland) will receive multiple W-2s (one for each jurisdiction).

Reissues

If you have not received your 2008, you may obtain a W-2 Reissue Request form (FS73-66) from your work location or on the web at http://www.fcps.edu/DIT/kam/docmgmt/forms/fs7366.pdf. A reissue will be mailed or available for pickup approximately five working days after the request is received by the Office of Payroll Management (OPM). Requests may be faxed to OPM at 571-423-3507 or sent through the pony to Payroll Management, Gatehouse Administration Center I, suite 2200. Reissues will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.