hr update july 2010 georgia - | department of natural … hr update… · program may be found in...

HR Update July 2010

GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

HR Update July 2010

Transactions Processing Reminders: • Personnel / Position Action Request Form (PAR) - A few sites continue to use the old version of the

PAR. Please discard the old form and begin using the new form. PAR information (including the form) can be found on the agency intranet in the Human Resources section > Personnel/Position Action Requests.

• PAR accuracy - Accurate information is critical for proper processing of Personnel / Position Actions. Those completing PARs must verify the data by utilizing Peoplesoft or the Employee Position Budget Status Report (EPBS).

• New hire packages - Upon receiving approval of a selectee for hire, a new hire package must be submitted to the Office of Human Resources no later than the 1st to be effective on the 1st or the 16th to be effective the 16th of the month. Late hire packages may cause the employee's paycheck to be late or may delay the employee's start date. If a package is submitted for a new hire but the selectee declines the offer notify OHR, Transactions Unit, ([email protected]) as soon as possible so that the processing of the new hire package can be stopped.

• Terminations - It is very important that OHR be notified immediately regarding full-time employee terminations (voluntarily or involuntarily). If OHR is not notified immediately overpayments may occur. Email the OHR Transactions Unit (Vicki.Robinson(S)dnr.state.ga.us) and the OHR Payroll Unit ([email protected]) then follow up by completing and forwarding the termination PAR and associated documentation. It is not critical that OHR be notified immediately regarding part-time employee terminations. Part-time employees are paid on a lag therefore overpayments are not as likely.

• Leave of Absence - A PAR must be submitted when placing employees on LOA. This includes short-term LOA such as docking an employee for a few days.

• Faxing of PARs - The faxing of PARs and associated documentation is not preferred. Faxed new hire documentation is frequently difficult to read and may delay processing. Additionally, faxing PARs without associated documentation requires unnecessary calls to the field regarding the missing documentation, additional time spent matching the PAR to the documentation, etc. Emailing scanned documents or regular mail/courier is preferred.

• Last day in pay status - The effective date will be the day after the employees last physical day at work regardless of if it's a weekend. This informs HR of the last day the employee actually worked and in turn will be used to determine the effective date of termination

ePerformance: ePerformance in DNR is underway as of 6/15/10. Remember August 16. 2010 is the deadline for all managers to have drafted performance plans for each of their employees. By 8/16/10 managers must also meet with their employees to discussed the plan and have the plan approved by their manager.

As new employees are hired or transfer-in to DNR or when employees are promoted from one job to another the Office of Human Resources will create new ePerformance plans for these employees. New

1

HR Update July 2010

annual and mid-year plans will be created for each employee hired/transferred during each pay period. Division HR Representatives are responsible for notifying managers that they must access these plans, modify them, discuss them with the employee and have them approved by their manager within 45 days of the effective date of the hire, transfer-in or promotion of the employee.

It is important to remember that any time reporting relationships change as a result of organizational structure changes, promotions, transfers, etc. a "Reports To" change must be made in Peoplesoft. Therefore division personnel representatives must submit a PAR and an Organization Chart or a Reports To Accuracy Form to change the Reports To position number for the affected employee and any affected subordinate employees. If "Reports To" accuracy is not continually monitored supervisors will not have access to the performance plans for their employees.

2009 - 2010 Performance Evaluations: It is time to evaluate the performance of employees for the 2009-2010 plan year. Please review the 6/30/10 memo from the Office of Human Resources for details and deadlines.

GDCP on-line: Effective July, 2010 the Georgia Defined Contribution Plan (GDCP) new hires and plan members will move to on-line enrollment and change of beneficiary updates through the ERS website as the ERS enrollment and beneficiary designation did in July, 2009.

• This change will require modifications to the hourly hiring package as there will be no GDCP enrollment form. A ERS memo addressing the new process will be added to the package.

• New hires will be notified via Plan Welcome Letter to make their designations online after their first contributions are received.

• All current members will be able to update their beneficiaries online by accessing their accounts at www.ers.ga.gov after they have been entered in the system.

Two new SOPs: Two new Standard Operating Procedures are effective 7/1/2010. HR009, Taxable Income from Use of Official State Vehicles and HR017, CBI for Completion of the State Financial Management Certification Program may be found in the Human Resources section of the Intranet. Please ensure that employees in your division are aware of these new SOPs.

Reference documents updated: Effective 7/1/10 an updated DNR Department Number List and PAR Reference document have been placed in the HR > PAR section of the agency intranet. The documents were updated to reflect the changes made to department names in Administration and Finance and to reflect department number changes associated with the reorganization in the Parks Recreation and Historic Sites Division.

Updated new hire packages: The OHR is in the process of updating the hourly and full-time new hire packages. The packages are currently located on the Intranet in the HR section. We will contact you when the new packages are available.

2

HR Update August 2010



Reminder regarding part-time employees: Part-time hourly employees must be limited in work hours so that they are not eligible for benefits. Work hours of part time employees must be limited in one of two ways. They should not be permitted to work more than 29 hours per workweek or not exceed 1508 work hours in any 12 month period. Agency locations employing part-time employees should monitor hours worked by employees to ensure that they do not exceed the limits listed above.

An ePerformance Warning: When managers access current ePerformance documents through Manager Self Service they will see a screen similar to the one below. Managers are to access the Establish Evaluation Criteria section only. This section is shown by the green arrow below. They are not to access the complete Manager Evaluation section (shown by the red arrow). Managers are currently establishing the criteria (writing the ePerformance plans) not evaluating employee performance (which takes place at the end of the performance year.) If managers access the evaluation section at this time the system will lock them out and the document will be unrecoverable. If a manager is locked out, the document will have to be deleted, and they will have to start over. Also note that employees should not access the self evaluation portion of the plan at this time. Accessing this section by employees will also result in being locked out of the plan.

Current Performance Documents

Document Details

' Annual Performance Review; 07/01/2010- 06/30/2011

Performance Document Details

Employee: i

Document Type: Annual Performance Review

Manager: | |

Template Name: Annual Perfonnance Review

Document Progress

a n Establish Evaluation Criteria Review Self Evaluation Complete Manager Evaluation

Job Title: PS: Hum Res Qenerallst (SP)

Period: 07/01/2010 - 06/30/2011

Status: In Progress

Completed O Not Started O Not Started

Due Date

01/01/2011 07/31/2011 07/31/2011

V i e w " ^

Start

Yes

Return to Select Documents No

2010- 2011 ePerformance plans The deadline for all managers to complete ePerformance plans for the 2010-2011 plan year is this month (8/16/10).

1


Distribution of Performance Rating lists: Division offices will soon receive Performance Rating lists (formerly Salary Increase lists). Please refer to the 6/3/2010 memo - Evaluation Phase of the 2009-2010 Performance Plan Year for processing instructions and deadlines.

Transactions Update: Field reps should not substitute paid leave to complete the pay period for an employee who terminates in the middle of the pay period. When full-time employees terminate, it is very important that their leave record be brought up to date and verified ASAP so that the annual leave pay out for the terminated employee is accurate. All leave entry must be complete and notification sent to the Transactions Rep. within 1 week of the termination.

Who should you call? Do you know which Office of Human Resources Transaction Representative has been assigned to service your location? Each Division has been assigned a HR Transactions Rep. This rep is responsible for processing ALL full-time entries associated with your Division. Please feel free to contact them when issues arise within your Division.

• Bettye Doster is assigned to process all entries for WRD, HPD, Parks, and Sustainability.

• Vicki Robinson is assigned to process ail entries for A & F, CRD, and EPD.

Transactions Reps are assigned to process entries for part-time employees alphabetically by the last name of the employee.

• Vicki Robinson is responsible for employees whose last name begins with A- L

• Bettye Doster is responsible for employees whose last name begins with M - Z

New Forms: During August, updated forms will be posted in the Hiring Packages section of the Intranet http://dnrnet.dnr.state.ga.us/ > Human Resources > Hiring Packages. Use these forms to replace the outdated forms when completing a hiring package for new employees at your location. These forms will be part of the new hiring package when the process of updating the package is complete.

Upcoming SHBP Changes The State Health Benefit Plan has announced that, effective January 1. 2011, the following changes will take place as a result of Health Care Reform:

• Dependent children, no matter what their marital status or student enrollment, can be covered until they turn 26 years old unless they are eligible for coverage elsewhere.

• Lifetime maximums will be removed - currently, there is a two million dollar lifetime cap for coverage for all members of SHBP, and this cap will be removed on January 1, 2011.

• The exclusion for pre-existing conditions for dependent children under 19 years of age will be removed.

2

HR Update September 2010

4 g » GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES


Georgia Defined Contribution Plan enroHment In the July HR Newsletter we first informed you about the new on-line enrollment process for hourly new hires. Hourly new hires will receive a welcome letter from GDCP notifying them to go online to make their designations. This letter is generated by the ERS. At this time the old (obsolete) GDCP enrollment form is part of the new hire package. In the interim please remove the GDCP enrollment form from the new hire package before giving it to the employee to complete. Since this process is on-line it is no longer necessary for the new employee to complete the form. The obsolete form will be removed from the package when the package is updated.

Access to viewing Paychecks on Employee Self Service Effective September 15'^ only paychecks for the last 12 months and the last paycheck of each calendar year will be viewable via the View Paycheck in PDF option in Employee Self Service. At this time paychecks prior to the past 12 months are viewable in the PDF format. However, SAO will purge PDF version of paychecks each month beginning 9/15/10. Division HR Representatives should notify employees to save records of electronic paychecks (if they desire the PDF format) before they are purged each month.

Address changes in Employee Self Service (home address vs. mailing address) Although direct deposit is mandatory employees may still receive paper checks through the mail in some circumstances. Employees may change their home address and/or mailing addresses through Team Georgia Employee Self Service (ESS) to ensure direct mailings (paper checks, etc) are received at the correct location. However, the Human Resource system automatically identifies the home address (not the mailing address) as the address used for mailings. Therefore if the home address entered into ESS differs from the mailing address and the employee prefers that mail is received at the mailing address then the employee must notify the Office of Human Resources Cindy.ScheliPdnr.state.ga.us or [email protected] Not notifying the Office of Human Resources may result in a check being sent to the wrong location or to be lost.

Updated Reference documents: Two of the documents used to complete Personnel / Position Action Requests (PARs) have been updated effective 9/1/10. Look for the new version of the Maildrop ID listing as well as the PAR Reference Document on the agency intranet - Human Resources > Personnel/ Position Action Requests. Note: The latest version of the Personnel / Position Action Request Form is also located in this section of the intranet. Some sites are still using the PAR version used during the pilot phase of the new PAR (prior to April 2010). Sites should use the most recent version of the PAR located on the Intranet.

New Training section on the Intranet A new link is located on the Human Resources page of the DNR Intranet; dnrnet.dnr.state.ga.us/ > Human Resources > Training—Leadership/Management/HR. Course and registration information is available on this site for various training opportunities available through the State Personnel Administration (SPA) office and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVlOG). The information provides details such as who should attend the training, the dates and locations of the training and the course requirements / expectations.

Employees who want to attend training must obtain approval from their supervisor prior to registering for a training class.

1


On-going ePerformance Document Creation Process As we complete the Planning process of ePerformance all full time employees will have a performance plan. However, it is important for Personnel Representatives and supervisors to remember that new performance plans must be established for newly hired employees and those who transfer-in to DNR during the performance year. The system administrator will create the template document for the new employee within two - three weeks of the start date. At that time supervisors must remember to access the system, just as they did during the planning phase, to modify and complete the employee's performance plan. Division HR reps, should remind supervisors of the need to complete a performance plan when they orient a new employee.

If an employee's job title changes during the performance year due to promotion, demotion, etc. , his/her performance plan will be deleted by the system administrator and a new template plan reflecting the duties of the new job title of the employee will be created. Supervisors must remember to complete the new plan for the employee upon promotion/demotion.

Reminder to Division HR reps about Performance Management Deadlines: 10/1/10 is the deadline to have all completed and signed PMFs for the 2009-2010 performance plan year to the OHR file room and to return completed Performance Ratings list for the 2009-2010 plan year.

Customer Service Awards Program - HR SOP #013 The Customer Services Awards Program Standard Operating Procedure is effective September 1, 2010. A highlight of this SOP is the various levels of awards and recognition available for nominated employees. There are three levels of internal awards and two levels of external awards that employees are eligible to receive certificates, trophies and/or monetary rewards. The initial nominations will be reviewed at the Divisional level. The winners at this level will then be eligible for other awards up to and including being awarded the agency Annual Customer Service Award through the Governor's Office of Customer Service. Information about the Customer Service program may be found on the agency Intranet in the Human Resources Standard Operating Procedures and Customer Service Sections.

Additional SOP Changes: In addition to the new Customer Service SOP, the following changes were made to existing SOPs effective 9/1/10. All SOPs including the latest changes to the SOPs and attachments may be found on the DNR Intranet at dnrnet.dnr.state.ga.us/> Human Resources > Standard Operating Procedures.

• HROOl, FMLA - minor change to attachment #1 • HR002, Secondary Employment - minor change to attachment #1 • HR004, Filling a vacant fuiltime position - minor changes to the SOP • HR005, Appropriate Use of IT Resources - minor changes to the SOP • HR006, Donated Leave - minor changes to the SOP • HR006, Donated Leave - minor changes to attachment #3

Annual Enrollment (formerly open Enrollment) Dates: Annual Enrollment is just around the corner. Dates for AE are 10/12/10 - 11/10/10. Look for more information regarding Annual Enrollment coming soon.

2

HR Update October 2010



Open Enrollment: The 2011 Plan Year Open Enrollment for Health Insurance and Flexible Benefits begins at 4:00 AM on October 12, 2010 and ends at 4:30 PM on November 10, 2010. Employees must visit the following websites to review and/or change their options for the 2011 Plan Year: Health Insurance - www.oe2011.ga.gov Flexible Benefits - www.GaBreeze.ga.gov

Health Insurance Changes Effective January 1, 2011 the following changes take place:

• The OAP Plan will no longer be offered. • The Tobacco Surcharge increases to $80 and the Spousal Surcharge increases to $50. • Pre-existing conditions will no longer apply to SHBP Health Insurance options. • Premiums will increase 10 to 16 percent with changes to co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket

limits. • Life-time maximum benefits removed. • Dependents can be covered until age 26.

Flexible Benefits Changes • Added coverage levels of 8x and 9x benefit salary for AD & D Insurance. • No Evidence of Insurability required to enroll or increase coverage in AD & D Insurance. • No Evidence of Insurability required for current employees. • $130 retail allowance replaces $50 wholesale for Private Practice Providers in Vision Insurance. • IRS regulations prohibit over-the-counter medications as an eligible expense under the Health Care

Spending Account.

A Open Enrollment Webinar will be hosted on October 12**̂ for HR Reps, and periodic communications regarding OE will be distributed throughout the Open Enrollment period.

Building Access/Parking/Transportation (Atlanta): A new section has been added to the HR section of the Intranet. The section is primarily for use by DNR employees located on Capitol Hill in Atlanta. The section consolidates information regarding access to the buildings, parking and transportation. Employees may access the information at; http://dnrnet.dnr.state.ga.us/hr, click on Building Access/Parking/Transportation.


New Fair Labor Standards Act provision: A new provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to provide reasonable unpaid breaks to nursing mothers so they can express breast milk for their infants took effect March 23'^. The U.S. Department of Labor has provided a fact sheet regarding the provision.

Under the new provision, employers must provide unpaid breaks to a nursing mother for one year after her child's birth. The breaks must consist of a "reasonable" amount of time for expressing milk and must be given "as frequently as needed by the nursing mother."

The employer must provide a space that is "shielded from view" and "free from intrusion" from coworkers and the public. A bathroom is not a permitted location.

New Standard Operating Procedures effective 10/1/10: The following SOPs are effective 10/1/10 and can be accessed at http://dnrnet.dnr.state.ga.us/hr. click on Standard Operating Procedures:

• HROOO-Table of Contents • HR003 - Employment of Family Members/Special Relationships • HR008-Telework • HR015 - Harassment • HR018-Social Media

SOP Acknowledgement Statement: This month each employee will be required to sign an SOP Acknowledgement Statement. Details regarding the Acknowledgement statement has been distributed via memo to Division Directors from Jim Laine. Division HR Reps must ensure each employee signs the acknowledgement statement. The signed statements must be collected and sent to the Office of Human Resources by October 29'^.

2

HR Update November 2010

<i8» GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

HR Update November 2010

December Pay Checks: Pay checks in December will reflect the deductions for the 2011 Health Insurance and Flexible Benefit selections. Health Insurance rate changes will be reflected in the deductions on the 12/15/10 pay check and Flexible Benefit rate changes will be reflected in the deductions on the 12/31/10 pay check.

Personal Leave Conversion: In December employees who have accumulated 120 hours or more of sick leave as of November 30, 2010, may be eligible to convert a maximum of 24 hours of sick leave to personal leave. Personnel Administrators must ensure that leave entry is complete and that sick leave balances reflected in Peoplesoft are accurate. More information regarding the Personal Leave conversion process will be distributed soon.

HR Procedure in the event of an Employee's Death: Managers must notify the Office of Human Resources in the event of the death of a DNR employee. Immediate notification of OHR (Benefits Unit) is essential for timely payment of outstanding wages to the employee's beneficiary. OHR will also provide information to the Outstanding Wage Beneficiary regarding potential benefits due to them through GaBreeze, and the Employee Retirement System.

Georgia Defined Contribution Plan enrollment form (reminder): We will soon have an updated new hire package placed on the intranet. However in the interim please remove the obsolete GDCP enrollment form from the new hire package before giving it to the employee to complete. Since this process is on-line it is no longer necessary for the new employee to complete the form. Do not include this form in new hire documents sent to OHR.

Leave Program Guide: A new Leave Program guide was placed on the intranet at dnrnet.dnr.state.ga.us/leave. This document is intended to serve as a reference/resource for HR administrators/leave keepers to ensure accurate maintenance of employee leave balances. Leave keepers should contact their Division HR representative or the Office of Human Resources with any questions regarding leave keeping.

SOP Acknowledgment Statements: Thanks to Division HR reps, for obtaining signed acknowledgement statements from all employees. We will follow up with you soon regarding any forms that have not been received.

State Charitable Contributions: 2010-2011 State Charitable Contributions Program Deadline has been extended to December 1̂ \o access online enrollment go to Team Georgia or https://state.uwma.org/epledge/Begin.isp . This link will take you to the online enrollment site. Enter your PeopleSoft employee identification number as your User ID and your date of birth (Password format: 1/1/1979) as your Password to logon to the system.

1

HR Update December 2010

4 i » GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

HR Update December 2010 Updating Beneficiaries: On 12/2/10 a Beneficiary update flyer was emailed to all employees. Personnel Representatives should remind employees to update their beneficiaries and should make paper copies of this flyer available at their location. iVIid-vear performance reviews: 12/31/10 is the midpoint of the 2010-2011 Performance year. In January managers must evaluate employees using the Mid-Year ePerformance documents that they created as part of performance planning beginning in June 2010. A Mid-Year Evaluation Memo and detailed instructions will be distributed soon and will be placed on the agency Intranet at dnrnet.dnr.state.ga.us/hr/pm W-2s: W-2's will be generated the weekend of January 21, 2011 and subsequently be delivered to the DNR Office of Human Resources. DNR OHR will distribute W-2s during the week of January 23"*.

Beginning February 1, 2011, "REISSUED" 2010 W-2s for forms that are lost or destroyed will be available. They will be printed on Tuesday and Friday nights through April 15th. After April 15th, reissued W-2s will only be printed on the last business day of each week.

Employees currently have the option to request reissued W-2 statements thru Employee Self-Service under the Payroll and Compensation page. Tax years 1999 thru 2009 may be ordered now. Please note that if employees request a re-issue of their W-2 and their address has changed they need to contact the office of Human Resources Payroll unit and provide the new address. Employees are encouraged to keep their home and mailing addresses updated by accessing Employee Self Service. Personal Leave: Instructions regarding the conversion of Sick leave to Personal leave have been distributed to all employees. Employees must make their personal leave election via Employee Self Service beginning 12/8/10 through 12/31/10 as indicated below. Personnel Representatives should ensure that employees understand their option to convert sick leave to personal leave.

instrgctigns fqr CQmplgting Person?! t,eave CQnvgrjign

1. Log Into employee self service r ESS) ; Click Personal ^eave Election" (left side toolbar or center of the screen ) 3 Enter the number of desired hours to convert from sick leave to personal leave In the election tiaWCS "ox 4. Click Save

Click •Personal Leave Election" in one of these two locations

Enter the number of desired hours

- M iMt i « K aMjM iM a n a 4* > I 91 c<

1