A BIG thank you for those of you who were able to join us on Tuesday (10/15/15) for a stimulating discussion about leave! We truly appreciate you giving two hours of your time and hope you found it valuable. The minutes are posted, along with a handout that we missed distributing which summarizes takeaways from the discussion.
For those who couldn’t make it, please take a look at the minutes and let us know if you have questions or want to discuss anything further (SEHDHR@ucdenver.edu). We are always open to feedback about the meeting, the minutes, or the handout (e.g. let us know if we did not capture something in the minutes or in the handout).
HR Discussion Group for SEHD Managers
Tuesday, October 13 at 12:00 – 2:00p.m.
LSC 700
In Attendance: Aswad Allen, Patricia Ball, Ted Bovey, Hilary Bruce, Ritu Chopra, Jason Clark, Christine Feagins, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Cindy Gutierrez, Rebecca Kantor, Namita Mehta, Kent Seidel, Barbara Seidl, Sandy Snyder-Mondragon,
Topic/Discussion Item
| Leave – | 12:15 – 1:50 |
Context: Leave is a hot topic at the moment across the CU system. To put it in context…
- Internal audit is currently conducting a system-wide audit of leave records, to which SEHD HR has already responded.
- Of greater concern, though, is that we recently discovered a fraudulent situation in our School where a student was falsifying timesheets in MyLeave.
- As a result, we’ve been told to expect a more comprehensive departmental audit of SEHD records and processes. We’re preparing to explain what we have learned, what we have changed, and how have we tightened up our processes.
- The MyLeave system has its limitations and issues, but fraud can happen with paper processes, too. There was a faculty member over at AMC who gave a trusted student employee a stack of pre-signed timesheets and the employee used them to submit timesheets even after they were no longer employed by the department!
- The department has had issues with extended leaves (like FML) where they might not be recorded properly. Especially pay attention to intermittent FML.
- It might not always be a fraudulent situation. People make mistakes, and sometimes there are system errors, making it really crucial that supervisors review leave requests and timesheets carefully before hitting “Approve.”
- The system is very dependent upon the supervisor’s review and approval. Jessica, Miguel, and Tricia can catch some things, but don’t have firsthand knowledge of employee’s schedules. SEHD HR runs reports and performs audits, but they are after-the-fact, so it is much better to catch mistakes up front.
Changing the culture of leave in the SEHD
- Rebecca Kantor discussed the importance of increased transparency among staff. Finding the right balance between flexibility and accountability.
- Have a method for knowing your employees’ whereabouts & schedule
- 14th floor uses white boards for transparency of when we are out/in and our whereabouts – the Dean strongly encouraged other workgroups to adopt this method, or something similar
- Leave usage – sick leave, vacation, comp time, flex time, flex place
- Sick leave should be used for your own or your child’s medical/dental appointments, and in those cases it should be requested ahead of time and are generally just for a couple of hours or so (NOT a whole day!)
- Sick leave is NOT to be used to stay home because one is “sick of work”, to take your pet to the vet, etc.
- If you are too sick to work in the office, you are too sick to work and it should not become a “work from home day”. The supervisor may not expect the employee to work when they are taking a sick day.
- Working from home (flex place agreement) is a privilege, not a right, and is dictated by business needs. The SEHD flexplace policy is posted on Impact:
- MUST be preapproved by the supervisor. An email is sufficient if it is just a day here or there. For a longer term arrangement, please complete a flex place agreement and send to Jessica for the Dean’s signature and for the employee file.
- Employee must be performing at a high level to be allowed this privilege.
- Establish expectations when working from home re: responding to email and voice mail, taking phone calls, attending meetings, knowing what is being worked on and what was accomplished, etc.
- Comp time is when an overtime-eligible employee (mostly classified staff and a few university staff) works overtime and they are given time off at time-and-a-half instead of OT pay. This is NOT an option for staff exempt from overtime!
- Flex time is basically a non-standard (standard is 8-5, M-F) workweek. Again, this would be a privilege that must be preapproved by the supervisor and isdictated by business needs. The SEHD flex time request form is posted on Impact:
- MUST be preapproved by the supervisor. An email is sufficient if it is just a day here or there. For a longer term arrangement, please complete a flex time agreement and send to Jessica for the Dean’s signature and for the employee file.
- Employee must be performing at a high level to be allowed this privilege.
- There are many different kinds of flex schedules, such as someone who regularly works four 10-hour shifts each week.
- Another example would be if your staff has an event to cover one evening or on a weekend. You could arrange with them ahead of time to flex their schedule and take Thursday off since they will work an 8 hour day on Saturday. It has to occur in the same workweek, though.
- Sick leave should be used for your own or your child’s medical/dental appointments, and in those cases it should be requested ahead of time and are generally just for a couple of hours or so (NOT a whole day!)
MyLeave
- System upgrade in November
- Looks and feels similar, but there will be improvements (e.g. the system will register late entries, whereas currently the employee has to notify us that they’ve made a late entry or we catch it in an audit, and then Jessica has to make a manual adjustment)
- Previewed the new MyLeave system in the test environment. We will share further guidance regarding the new system as it is available to us.
- Navigating MyLeave and what to look for
- It is possible to view monthly and annual calendars of your supervisees when you are in MyLeave.
- What are you looking for:
- Sick leave patterns (possible FML situations or leave abuse, especially with exiting employees trying to conserve vacation for payout)
- Reconcile what they’ve entered with your records
- If you will be out of town and will miss a payroll, then assign a delegate in MyLeave before you leave the office. Delegates can be assigned under the “Designate” tab and detailed instructions are on IMPACT.
Triannual Leave Report
- 3 times/year Jessica and Miguel send out the annual view snapshot of all of your employees’ leave taken. The accompanying email with the report gives you guidance on what to look for.
Strategies for Tracking/Reconciling Leave/Timesheets
- g. Tricia tracks when her supervisee is out of the office on her personal calendar, and she makes sure the timesheet matches before approving it
- Every time a leave request is generated an email is sent to the employee and supervisor that contains an Outlook appointment as an attachment. This can be then saved to the Supervisor calendar (auto-marked the time as “Free”) and also dragged and dropped to a shared team calendar
- Ask your staff to put reminders on calendars on last/first day of month to submit timesheets
- Put reminder on your calendar for some time between the 5th-10th of each month to go in and do approvals and ask for any missing timesheets
- All staff should be keeping their work schedule updated in MyLeave under the preferences tab
- Tricia and Jessica are currently developing a new supervisor training session that will be held once per semester (it will be open to ALL supervisors)
| What’s New | 1:50 – 2:00 |
- Student Work Hour Policy – 25-hr limit (or 50 hours max per biweekly pay period) applies to all students except for RAs working directly on a funded research project that is directly connected with, and part of their progress towards, earning a master’s or PhD.
- System Upgrade – Go-Live November 4th, for HCM, MyLeave, and the recruiting system.
- Recruiting system will no longer be Jobs@CU. It will be CU Careers (Taleo) and we will have to manage postings and applicants across two systems if posted before the go-live date.
- They’ve pushed out implementation of the performance evaluation module until 2017 because there will be huge changes to job descriptions so that they are competency-based.
- A new sexual harassment training course is being developed and EVERYONE is going to
have to complete it (current and future employees, all types). We do not know a time frame for this.
- Recruitment Services from Campus HR
- Full service – The Campus HR Consultant serves as a member of the search committee and consults on the process
- Consulting –The Campus HR Consultant is available as a resource throughout the search process.
- HR Recruitment service – *NEW*
- The Campus HR recruiter works closely with the hiring authority to understand the needs of the position and is responsible for active sourcing of candidates and deliver of finalists to the hiring authority. This process involves fewer stakeholders resulting in a faster hiring process. This option is similar to one CU Boulder uses, was recommended in the Towers Watson HR assessment report and is supported by CU leadership.
Suggestions:
Barbara suggested that we write up some of these “best practices” regarding leave and post them.
It was suggested perhaps the POA would be a good place for guidance like this.
See handout: LEAVE – Supervisor Responsibilities
LEAVE
-Supervisor responsibilities –
- Have systems in place to track when your employees and student employees are in/out of the office (e.g. white boards, shared calendars). Help create an open and transparent culture regarding staff schedules and availability.
- Make sure your direct reports enter their vacation and especially their sick leave appropriately.
- DELEGATE leave/timesheet approval if you will be out of the office and unable to do approvals for a payroll deadline.
- Double-click to OPEN your employee time sheets for review and RECONCILE with your records.
- Be aware of instances of potential FML or potential leave abuse and consult SEHD HR for guidance:
- Excessive use of sick leave – do we need to ask for a medical certification or doctor’s note?
- Patterns of sick leave (e.g. Fridays & Mondays)
- Keeping a low sick leave balance
- High use of sick leave prior to end of employment
- REVIEW monthly financial reports from Christine, and triannual leave reports that Jessica sends out with the annual view of your employee’s leave. The accompanying emails give guidance about what to look for.
- Put recurring reminders on your calendars for approval deadlines – approve all monthly timesheets by the 10th of the following month.
- Help report on-the-job injuries (workers’ comp) within 4 business days of the injury.
- Make sure your employees enter sick leave (and/or vacation, if they are out of sick leave) in the system when they are out on Family Medical Leave (FML). FML is not separate paid leave, but job protection for an employee under certain circumstances under the Family Medical Leave Act. FML can be consecutive days or intermittent.
- A medical certification is required if the employee is out more than 3 consecutive days.
- Ensure that alternate work arrangements (flex-time or flex-place) are pre-approved and documented appropriately. Policies and approval forms are located on Impact.