Greetings GMA SHRM Members –

Welcome, spring!  Let’s hope our spring weather settles in and we can officially move past winter.
 
Our 13th annual Human Capital Conference will be held Tuesday, May 15th at the Alliant Energy Center. This year, GMA SHRM is proud to present David Horsager as our keynote presenter in 2018! David Horsager, MA, CSP, CPAE is the CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute, national bestselling author of The Trust Edge, inventor of the Enterprise Trust Index™, and director of one of the nation’s foremost trust studies: The Trust Outlook™. He is the leading expert on trust and how it’s built into everything.  He has advised leaders by delivering life-changing presentations on six continents, influencing audiences in companies ranging everywhere from FedEx, Toyota and global governments to the New York Yankees and the Department of Homeland Security.  I invite you to watch his welcome video to learn more about him.
 
The Human Capital Conference Committee has planned a full day of diverse programming topics, starting with David’s morning keynote on The Trust Edge™:   Building the Business Case for Trust. In this session, we will explore the newest research on developing trust – or go extinct in the new economy and Apply the How? How? How? Strategy™ to spark momentum, see immediate results and inspire trust in your workplace.  His lunch session will be focused on The Trust Edge™:  Making the Pillars of Trust Your Competitive Advantage where he will share how to use the Pillars of Trust framework to create competitive advantage.  Additional breakout sessions for the day include:

• The Winning Team:  Leveraging People for Organizational Success
• Building Political Acumen for Human Resource Professionals:  A Simulation Approach
• Say Hello to Exit Interviews – Leveraging an Employee’s Parting Thoughts
• Don't Borrow Jacks!  Controlling Anger Before It Controls The Team
• Big Data Can Help You Win the War for Talent
• Building a Culture of Trust
• The Future of HR:  Promoting Business Success in a Changing Workplace,
• Employment Law Update

Early bird registration ends May 1, so register today!
 
Applications are still being accepted for the professional award – the process is as simple as writing a one-page statement on what you would use the $1,000 towards, providing a resume and volunteer activities.  The application period closes April 13, so apply today!
 
April 15 – 21 is “Thank a Volunteer” week and I want to say a special thank you to all of our board members and current and past volunteers for your commitment and dedication to our chapter.  We wouldn’t be the organization we are without you – so thank you.  I know many of our members have organizations that are near and dear to them and I also thank you for the time and dedication you provide to those organizations and giving back.
 
As always, if you have comments or any feedback to share regarding the membership, please reach out.

Best Wishes,

Melissa Chadwick
President
GMA SHRM

What are the benefits of being a Board member?

Submitted by: Tammy Wacek, GMA SHRM President Elect 

There are so many reasons to get involved on the Board of Directors for our Madison chapter of SHRM and I’m not sure our members know about the benefits. First of all, you will have the opportunity to get your name out there in front of Human Resources professionals in the Madison area and be part of a great group of HR leaders. Getting involved and taking part in the leadership team, provides opportunities to network, develop your leadership skills and support and improve our chapter. I have personally found it very rewarding to have a say in what our chapter is doing and how we are doing it. I feel honored to serve the membership and take part in moving the HR profession forward.  
 
There are also many more tangible benefits of being on the Board. You receive free local membership while serving on the Board including no cost to attend our Annual GMA SHRM conference. You will have the opportunity to attend leadership conferences paid at no cost to you or your organization. You will gain recertification credits just for being in a Board position. We also provide GMA SHRM logo attire for all Board members.  
 
We redesigned our Board structure in 2017 to ensure each Board leader was focusing on the right things and to ensure the responsibilities are evenly spread out among the various positions. Our new board structure is below. If you have questions about our Board positions or anything else about the chapter, please feel free to reach out to me at (608) 977-7018 or tammy.wacek@wpsic.com.  

IRS Reduces 2018 Annual Maximum Family HSA Contribution Limit

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

On March 5, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Internal Revenue Procedure No. 2018-18 (the “Revenue Procedure”), which modified the 2018 annual limits for certain employee benefits, including:
 

• Reducing the maximum allowable contribution for Health Savings Accounts (“HSAs”) linked to family-level coverage under a high-deductible health plan (“HDHP”) from $6,900 to $6,850; and
• Reducing the maximum amount that can be excluded from an employee’s gross income for qualified adoption expenses from $13,840 to $13,810 and reducing the adjusted gross income threshold after which the adoption exclusion begins to phase out from $207,580 to $207,140.

 
The reason for the changes is that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Bill that was passed near the end of 2017 modified the way the IRS calculates cost-of-living increases with respect to certain fringe and other employee benefits.  Whereas the IRS used to use the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”), it is now required to use the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“Chained CPI”).  Chained CPI grows at a slower pace than CPI-U and will impact indexes for inflation in 2018 and future years as well.
 
Importantly, however, the following benefit limits were not affected by the Revenue Procedure:
 

• The HSA annual contribution limit for account holders with self-only coverage through an HDHP did not change and remains at $3,450;
• The maximum statutory limit for health care flexible spending accounts did not change and remains at $2,650; and
• Qualified transit benefit deductions for parking and transit/vanpooling expenses for employees did not change and remain at $260 per month.

 
The changes required by the Revenue Procedure have retroactive effect back to January 1, 2018. 
 
With regard to the change in the maximum HSA contribution limit for employees with family-level HDHP coverage, employees and employers planning on making periodic contributions for the remainder of the year may want to modify those contribution amounts so as not to exceed the new limit.  Employees who may have already made the maximum contribution for the year will want to contact their HSA trustee/custodian to request a distribution of $50 plus attributable earnings and should include this amount in their taxable gross earnings for 2018 when filing their income tax reports next year.  Excess contributions to an HSA must be removed by the taxpayer’s filing deadline (April 15th for most taxpayers).  If not removed timely, a 6% excise tax will apply to any excess contributions.
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Advocacy, Human Resources….and Cheese?

Submitted by: Jeff Palkowski, SHRM-CP, SHRM Advocacy Captain for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, Director of Government Affairs for Greater Madison Area SHRM
(Reprint from SHRM Policy Action Center – 3/6/18)

So, what event brings together advocacy, engaged human resources professionals, legislators…and deep fried cheese curds?  If you guessed Wisconsin’s 2018 Day on the Hill, you would be correct!
 
For the 4th consecutive year, the Wisconsin State Council of the Society of Human Resource Management (WISHRM) has organized one of the premier human resources legislative and advocacy events in the nation, WISHRM Day on the Hill in Wisconsin’s state capitol city, Madison, Wisconsin.
 
This year’s event, held on February 21, 2018, was built on the success of previous “Day on the Hill” events and provided nearly 70 human resources professionals from both Wisconsin and surrounding states with timely employment law and legislative updates along with the opportunity for attendees to meet with Wisconsin State Representatives and State Senators to discuss current HR-related legislation currently being deliberated in the Wisconsin State Legislature.  For many of our human resources professionals, the event served as their first introduction to “advocacy in action.”
 
Planning and hosting an event of this nature takes months of advance work and could not be done successfully without the work of a team of dedicated SHRM volunteers committing their time and talents as part of a “Day on the Hill” planning committee.  WISHRM has been fortunate to have a hard-working committee led by WISHRM Legislative Director, Elise Rommes, and WISHRM Government Affairs Director, Tony Renning, as well as a number of committee members from local SHRM chapters all across Wisconsin.
 
Along with in-state resources, WISHRM also relies on the expertise of Meredith Nethercutt, Senior Associate for Member Advocacy at SHRM.  In addition to supporting us with best practices from other states and updates from DC, Meredith also works with the offices of our state legislators in scheduling the multitude of meetings that take place during the afternoon visit to the Wisconsin State Capitol for advocacy meetings.
 
This year, Meredith also prepared our attendees by facilitating a pre-conference webinar one week before the event.  Attendees were provided with information about advocacy best practices, how to conduct a meeting with elected officials, and information about SHRM’s advocacy efforts.  Tony Renning also offered an overview of the legislative issues that attendees would be advocating in support of on behalf of WISHRM.
 
An evening reception was held the day before the Day on the Hill to provide an opportunity for attendees to network with each other and prepare for the next day events in a casual, social environment.  Several attendees also chose to take a brief tour of the Wisconsin State Capitol and were able to view the Wisconsin State Assembly in session from the Assembly Gallery.  The highlight of the evening for many was the “post reception” to partake in a Wisconsin delicacy, the famous deep fried cheese curds, made with locally crafted Wisconsin cheese!
 
Our event day began bright and early at 8:00am with a special welcome message.  I had the honor of reading a welcome letter to our attendees from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.  In his letter, Governor Walker recognized the importance of the human resources profession and our critical role in the future growth and development of the growing Wisconsin economy.

Meredith Nethercutt then provided an informative update, highlighting the many accomplishments of the SHRM Advocacy Team (A-Team) in 2017.  These accomplishments included: “reach outs” by policy makers, invitations to congressional and state roundtables, and member testimony before congressional, federal agency and state committees.  Attendees were also given an overview of the SHRM A-Team, and how our collective HR voices can make a difference at all levels of government through member advocacy.
 
The remainder of the presentations included:

• A legislative update from Chris Reader, Director of Health & Human Resources Policy at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) regarding the issues that we would be advocating for in legislative meetings.
• Legal updates and the “strangest employment cases of the year” from Attorney Bob Gregg of Boardman & Clark Law Firm and WISHRM Legislative Partner.
• A ‘How a Bill Becomes a Law” session (for those of you seasoned HR professionals, think “Schoolhouse Rock”, and yes, we did play the video…) conducted by Attorney Tony Renning, WISHRM Government Affairs Director.
• An Affordable Care Act (ACA) update by Susan Sieger, Senior Compliance Consultant with Employee Benefits Corporation.
• A behind the scenes look at the Wisconsin State Capitol presented by Jessie Opoien of the Capital Times Press Corps.

• Harmonization of Wisconsin’s Family Medical Leave Act with the federal Family Medical Leave Act
• Worker’s Compensation Cost Containment Reform
• Legislation proposed to ensure consistent, statewide human resources standards, preempting local governments from creating local standards

 
With the Wisconsin State Assembly in session, representatives were on the Assembly Floor throughout the afternoon but several members took time out to meet with our advocates personally to acknowledge our advocacy issues.  Some attendees met with legislative staff to provide information to be shared with the legislator.
 
Overall, the efforts of our Wisconsin SHRM advocates have made a positive impact upon the legislative process.  Several of the issues that were discussed in previous sessions have moved forward and the annual visits and ongoing dialogue with the elected officials has strengthened the relationship between our Wisconsin SHRM members and their elected officials.
 
For those SHRM members across the country that have not participated in a similar “Day on the Hill” in your state, I strongly encourage you to do so.  While it may be a different and unique experience from other human resources professional development opportunities, it is one that can help to open new insights to an element of our profession that can be often overlooked.
 
Each year we have a mix of new attendees as well as those that return each year.  Their experiences have helped our members to learn more about the lawmaking process and provided them with the knowledge and confidence to make their collective voices heard on issues that are important to our employers, employees and the overall human resources profession.
 
When asked about the solid commitment WISHRM has made toward hosting this event each year, WISHRM Legislative Director Elise Rommes said, “I feel fortunate to be in a state where the SHRM Council invests in a conference like this each year.  It is truly a great opportunity to not only provide our members with legal updates, but to help make an impact on key issues affecting business and our human resources profession.”
 
NOTE: The 5^th Annual WISHRM Day on the Hill is tentatively being planned for February, 2019.  More information will be provided when available.




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Professional Development

Welcome New Members!

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

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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 .