Human Resources
April 2004
HR Advisory Group -
Meeting Minutes
Attended: J. Ford; S. Thorp; B. Rusch; C. Green; J.
Etz; J. Welsh; E. Sandbrink; S. Simpson; C. Park
Absent:
From: Jim Ables, Office of
Human Resources
Date:
Subj: HR Advisory Group
Meeting Minutes - April Meeting
Cc: Seth Patton; Bill Acklin
New Items
1. Employment of Relatives
Policy Review - We discussed the current "Employment of
Relatives" policy for support staff to determine if HRAG had any
recommendations on improving the policy. We discussed the fact that the policy
for faculty is different than the one for support staff. Faculty
relatives can be employed within the same department. There are joint
appointments in the faculty. Obviously, there are different recruiting
strategies necessary to meet the needs of faculty departments, needs that
don't exist on the support staff or administrative staff side. In terms
of what might be changed to improve the support staff policy, two changes are
recommended: 1) define what a close relative is to eliminate confusion, and 2)
create a clause to deal with emergent situations on a case by case basis, with
the intent of preserving the employment of both employees, if possible.
An example of an emergent situation is if two employees in the same department
get married. These recommendations will be passed on to the Personnel
Committee, where this policy is also being discussed.
2. Purpose/Goals of HRAG
Review - The group discussed the kind of items that are
appropriate to bring to the group. The group discussed that there are some
items from time to time that are brought to the group that really should be
brought to the concerned person's supervisor. Sometimes it is difficult
to determine if there is a broader issue that HRAG should discuss or if it is
simply a matter of directing an employee to the appropriate person or office
for resolution (e.g. someone had too much vacation deducted from their check - person should discuss with Payroll, not an HRAG issue). The goals of
HRAG are: 1) to provide invaluable input to the University on behalf of all
Support Staff in the development of personnel programs; 2) to serve as a
sounding board on any proposed or new initiatives or revised programs in the
personnel arena; 3) to provide informal feedback to members of their areas, and
4) to provide a communication link on institutional planning activities.
The Human Resources Communication meetings are part of this process. The
meeting report will be discussed in September, as the report from the spring of
2003 was discussed last September. Lastly, not only do employees bring
issues for HRAG to discuss but the Office Human Resources also brings issues to
the group for discussion.
3. Administrative Staff
Handbook Review - A committee of administrative staff is
working with the Office of Human Resources to produce an administrative staff
handbook. We currently do not have a personnel policies handbook for
administrative staff. We are using the support staff handbook as a basis
for creating the administrative staff handbook. We hope to have a
handbook ready for publication in the fall.
4. Out of State Funerals
- Issue - Are there any special provisions to assist an employee who has to be
away for a funeral that is out of state. With the death of a near
relative, it is impossible to take only one day off work, which is what the
policy provides. While there are no special provisions under the policy,
a staff member can use a personal day, floating holiday, and/or vacation days
to supplement the funeral bereavement day.
Updates
1. HRAG Elections - There are three
openings on HRAG. Two of the openings have been filled. Lynn
McIlyar will replace Steve Simpson, representing Physical Plant Office and
Trades. Belinda Carr will replace Connie Park, representing Admission,
URPA, and the
2. HR Communication Schedule - Review
- We reviewed the meeting schedule and reminded representatives to attend the
meeting for their group.