Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefit Change 

There are changes coming to the University’s time away administration of benefits prompted by the new Minnesota State law: The Minnesota Paid Leave Law. It gets a bit complicated to balance all of the benefits that relate to UMN’s time away benefits options package. 

The accrual of our traditional UMN sick bank is not changing. The definition of how Civil Service employees can use our sick bank is expanding. In response to the MN Paid Leave Law, four University policies will be revised: ESST, FMLA, Parental Leave, and Academic Medical. The HR Office will plan on distributing more detailed information regarding these changes around December 1st. Keep an eye on your email and MyU notices for this communication and training. You will also want to keep the below resources on file to get the most factual and up to date information if you have questions.

Leave Administration Email: [email protected]

HR Contact Center email: [email protected]

HR Contact Center Phone : 612-624-8647 or 1-800-756-2363, Option 2

UMN Paid Leave Website

Take a look at the website to learn more about for uses and eligibility under the program. It entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks (and in some circumstances up to 20 weeks) of partially paid, job protected medical or family care leave.

UMN and MetLife have partnered to administer the time away from work payment to ensure our employees have a user experience that allows for an easier transition and a friendlier experience. 

The Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) accrual is ending for civil service employees with this change as the MN Paid Leave Law supplements pay for time away from work. There will be a one year grace period to use any accruals currently banked in this account. The sick bank policy and definitions are expanding to include what the ESST use policy covered in the past. 

The policy changes are being made because state law changed and UMN is required to participate. This state-required program is not specific to the UMN benefit package; therefore we do not have direct control of the Minnesota Paid Leave Law, only the state legislature has this control. To fund this program all employees in MN plus their employers, which includes The University, will be paying a new payroll tax starting on your January 7th paycheck.

Professional Development Goals

It has been a busy year so far as your Chair-Elect; who knew so many productive meetings could happen in so little time? Much like our Chair, Rosemary, I was put into my position outside of the regular election cycle. This means I have been catching up at the same time as serving all you. 

One of my primary focuses this year is creating professional development opportunities for you all. I have solicited ideas from the Civil Service Senate and am moving forward with exploring how we can implement these ideas over the next couple years; I am hoping to launch the first one in December. Just as P&A offers all of us the opportunity to attend their sessions (see below), we will be returning the favor. 

I am excited to see where else this year takes us and hope that you all explore how to get further involved with us! 

Daryl Richard Lawrence, Chair Elect

Professional Development Opportunity + Well Being Points

This opportunity is offered to the Civil Service employee group as a partnership with our P&A colleagues. 

Promoting Integrity & Preventing Research Misconduct: Every Role Matters

Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 from 12:00-1PM (via Zoom)

Register at z.umn.edu/ResearchConduct 

(Attendees are Eligible to Earn Wellbeing Points!)

Note: If your email ends in @crk.umn.edu, @d.umn.edu, @morris.umn.edu or @r.umn.edu, please remove the campus designator and use @umn.edu as the ending of your email when signing up for this Zoom presentation! Questions about this event may be directed to the event co-organizers: Alex Bajcz ([email protected]) and Colleen S. ([email protected]). This event will be recorded and the recording distributed to all registered attendees once it is ready. 

This session will explore the foundations of responsible conduct of research and how every member of the university community (grants administrators, certified approvers, bench scientists, research administrator, etc.) plays a role in maintaining integrity in the research process.

What does it mean to conduct science responsibly? We will provide an overview of our recently updated Research Misconduct Policy and discuss how it applies across all stages of the research lifecycle. Participants will learn practical ways to recognize, prevent, and report potential misconduct, helping to ensure our research remains ethical, compliant, and impactful. Find out more on the presenters and this webinar. 

Civil Service Governance Updates 

Meeting Notes

Minutes are available to view on the 2025-26 Civil Service Consultative Committee webpage. Past Civil Service Senate minutes are available in the Minutes and Documents section of the Civil Service Senate webpage.

Interested in learning more about serving in University Senate governance? Civil Service Senate meetings are open for any Civil Service member to attend. Meetings are generally scheduled via Zoom. Connection information will be provided on the agenda in advance of each meeting.

Communications and Outreach Subcommittee 

Extending a sincere thank you to our subcommittee members this year: Daniel Arzola, Alanna Bailey, Lori Endsley, Heidi Eschenbacher (chair elect), Isaac Johnson, Crystal King, Jennifer Manole, Brianna Rosen, Katherine Seelam, and David Zarubin. These dedicated civil service members are serving the group in ways to support and improve our communication and outreach for the CS Senate this year. Please reach out to any of these members if you have a topic or idea you would like addressed in the CS Senate newsletter.

Our subcommittee met on October 16th and set the following priorities: (1)To revive our newsletter for you, with a publication four times per year, (2) enable our Senators with better access to the group list-serv that connects civil service employees with information timely and directly from their civil service colleagues, and (3) reestablish new employee engagement resources. 

The Civil Service Senate is a living body created by us collectively.

Sarah Backman

Chair, CS Communications and Outreach Subcommittee 25-26

Civil Service Rules Subcommittee 

Civil Service Employment Rules Changes

The Civil Service Consultative Committee (CSCC) and Employment Rules Subcommittee have proposed revisions to the University of Minnesota Civil Service Employment Rules. A public hearing was held on November 7, 2025 to gather constituent feedback. The changes will come before the Board of Regents at their December 2025 meeting.

Changes

• Removal of Affirmative Action Language (Rules 6.3.2 and 6.5.1): The Equity and Title IX Office recommended removing two outdated provisions:
  • Rule 6.3.2: Eliminates language allowing the University Equal Opportunity Officer to change the order of preference for applicants based on affirmative action policies of the Board of Regents.
  • Rule 6.5.1: Removes the requirement that appointments be ratified by the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office.
• Policy Title Update (Throughout Document): All references to "Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Other Forms of Sex Discrimination" are updated to "Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Stalking and Relationship Violence" to align with current Board of Regents policy.

Justification for Changes

• No Board Policy Exists: The Board of Regents removed its affirmative action policy statement several years ago.
• No Current Role: Equal Opportunity & Title IX (formerly EOAA) has no role in ratifying appointments.
• Federal Executive Order: President Trump's January 21, 2025, Executive Order "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity" revoked Executive Order 11246, which previously required federal contractors to take affirmative action and set hiring goals for women and minorities. Compliance ceased on April 20, 2025.

Charles Rank, Chair, CS Employment Rules Subcommittee ‘25-’26

Civil Service Compensation and Benefits Subcommittee

Wellbeing Program - Compete in Challenges!

Do you want a quick way to get involved in the Wellbeing Program and challenges? Join a group and earn points!

Under Social > Groups > Browse, look for the public Civil Service Employees group and click join. Anyone can join this group. After joining the group, you may use it as a quick way to compete with others in Challenges. Anyone can create a challenge and add individuals or a specific group. 

Hannah Bergquist, Comp & Benefits Chair

Did You Know?

• Rule 3.1.2 of the Civil Service Employment Rules: President Cunningham sent a message out to all Supervisors of Civil Service employees, On Oct. 28th, 2025 as a reminder of the Employment Rule allowing Civil Service employees up to 24 hours per year to participate in University Governance activities..
• We need more Civil Service Senate Members!
  • Nine out of 37 Civil Service Senate Seats open in the following areas: Morris-1, Rochester-1, TC Academic Affairs-2, TC Health Sciences-2, TC Central and Admin-3
  • There are 12 University Senator seats open representing Civil Service, which you must be a Civil Service Senator first to represent the group at University Senate.
• Get involved - signing up is easy! You can participate in four ways to participate in the CS Senate, and they all have varying levels of responsibility and impact.
  • Subcommittee participation is open to any Civil Service employee. You do not have to be a Senator or have a leadership role. Share your talent to move goals forward.
  • Civil Service Senator: Senators are elected every year. This is a way you can take more of a leadership role. Attend senate meetings twice a year, give input on civil service actions, and ensure the flow of information to your colleagues.
  • University Senate: You represent the CS employee group in the University Senate six times per year. The University Senate is where our voices are heard by the larger university community and where you have a vote on university matters. A person must be a Civil Service Senator (Senate meets twice a year) in order to serve as a University Senator.
  • Civil Service Consultative Committee (CSCC): you help lead the Civil Service Senate directly and have even more input into what happens on a monthly basis. 

Because you asked…

Q: What is the status of allowing dependents or spouses to participate in the Regents Tuition Benefit program?

A: During academic year 2025, a university-wide Benefits Work Group was formed as part of the Workforce Reinvestment Governance Committee (WRGC) to review requested benefit changes (including the Regents Tuition Benefit for dependents) and newly mandated benefit offerings (including MN Paid Leave). The team acknowledged that compensation adjustments should be the first priority over benefit enhancements, and that the uncertain financial environment may affect what the University can provide in terms of benefit enhancements. The group recommended that if the University determined it could offer more substantial changes to benefits, that the Regents Tuition Benefit for dependents be considered, with the acknowledgement that any recommendation for an additional benefit that represents significant cost to the University may also require a similar cost reduction of another benefit program. If trade-offs would be needed, the group felt assessing the benefit preferences of all employees using a conjoint analysis would be advisable. This recommendation was delivered to the Executive Sponsors of the WRGC and President Cunningham. The compensation issues raised by the WRGC Compensation Work Group were ultimately moved forward and implemented for FY26, more paid leave time will also be provided effective January 1, 2026 via the new MN Paid Leave program.

The June 2025 meeting of the Special Committee on the University Workforce mentioned the Regents Tuition Benefit Program (45 minutes into the meeting recording) stated: “The Benefits work group recommended that the University perform benchmarking on the prevalence of tuition discount programs for dependence among other higher education institutions and a cost benefit analysis on that topic as well.” The work group concluded that “before any benefit changes are made, the University should conduct an employee survey of benefits to ensure that the proposed program changes are responsive to what the preponderance of our employees would want. The group agreed however, that this type of survey should only be conducted if the University determines it's able to offer substantial changes or substitutions to our benefits and that our employees would also be ready for that degree of change.”

Submit a question to “Because You Asked…” Fill out this Google form if you have a topic you would like to see addressed in this section of the newsletter. The communications subcommittee reviews these submissions for common themes and timely topics for publication to best address the inquiring minds of our civil service work group.