IPFW supervisory newsletter JANUARY 1987
ANALYZING EMPLOYMENT NEEDS
Supervisors should continually analyze their areas to meet both short-term and long-term employment needs. Good planning can save the department money that may be used for other purposes. It also will minimize unnecessary unemployment compensation costs. When analyzing employment needs, supervisors should answer the following questions:
1. Can the present work force absorb an increase in tasks to be completed?
2. Would the use of overtime eliminate the need to hire an additional employee? If yes, is this a cost-effective plan?
3. Does additional work require hiring a regular or a temporary/seasonal employee?
4. If a regular employee is required, should it be a 9-, 10-, 11- or 12-month employee? Does the job require the employee to work full-time or reduced hours (less than 100% FTE)?
Shortly, department heads will be going through the budget process. Even though the above questions should be answered throughout the year, budget time is often when changes can be implemented. The Wage & Salary Administrator (X6680) and the Payroll Supervisor (X6679) are available to assist supervisors in calculating costs and/or savings.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Questions are asked periodically about personnel and payroll policies and procedures. Many articles included in SUPERVISORY NEWSLETTER are the result of some of these questions. Many questions, however, do not require a lengthy explanation. Therefore, supervisors are requested to submit questions they would like to see addressed in this publication. Questions that may require a full article will be addressed as in the past. Questions which require a shorter response will be included in a “Questions & Answers" section.
SICK LEAVE - CLERICAL/SERVICE EMPLOYEES
Supervisors often inquire about the sick leave policy for clerical and service employees. The following information (taken from the Purdue Business Procedure Manual and the You and Purdue, Handbook for Clerical/Service Staff) should assist supervisors in understanding and maintaining this policy. Clerical and service employees accrue sick leave credits based on the hours they work. Employees who work full time (2080 hours) accrue 80 hours per fiscal year; employees who work less than full time or less than 12 months, accrue sick leave based on the actual number of hours they work, i.e. a half-time, 12 month employee will accrue 40 hours per fiscal year. Clerical/service employees do not lose these accruals if they are not used. The days/hours earned and not used build year after year to provide income protection and are intended to lessen the financial burden to a short-term or an extended illness. It is not intended to provide employees with additional "vacation" days. Regular clerical/service staff may use unused accrued sick leave for absence when approved by the department head/supervisor for the following reasons:
1. The employee's own illness/disability.
2. Illness/disability to the employee's immediate family. The maximum use of paid sick leave tor immediate family illness/disability is five normal workdays per fiscal year. For clarification of family eligibility, contact Personnel/Payroll.
3. The employee's own appointment with a physician, dentist, etc. when such appointments must be arranged during working hours.
It is the responsibility of the employee to assure his/her supervisor is notified of an illness resulting in absence from work. This notification should be made no later than the first hour of a normal work schedule and daily thereafter to qualify for sick leave payment. Failure to notify is sufficient reason for not granting sick leave payment. Supervisors/department heads decide whether or not proper notification was made. For short term illnesses, supervisors may ask for a statement from the employee's physician stating that the employee was ill and is now able to return to work. For extended illnesses - normally two weeks - supervisors must require physician statements at regular intervals describing the condition with regard to the employee's availability to return to work. An employee must have a doctor's statement in order to return to work after an extended illness to avoid University liability. Departmental reports on sick leave accrual and usage by employee are available in the Payroll Office. The Payroll Supervisor is available to interpret sick leave policies.
UPDATING IRS FORM W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate
As most everyone has heard, all employees are required to complete a 1987 IRS W-4 to assure that the appropriate amount of tax is withheld from each paycheck. The Payroll Office will be sending new forms to each department for distribution to all staff members. Information you and your employees should be aware of includes:
1. Few if any employees may claim "exempt" from withholding. This change may affect many student employees and is explained in the instructions included on the new form. Whoever is responsible for assuring students complete this form should be sure the students read and understand this new change.
2. Employees who have an employed spouse, more than one job at a time, or have nonwage income will need to complete the worksheet included in the instructions in order to determine their total withholding allowances.
3. If a new Form W-4 is not submitted, an employee most likely will not have the correct amount withheld for his/her tax situation. Taxpayers will be assessed a penalty if their tax withholdings are more than 10% under the amounts due. Penalties will not be assessed as long as 1987 withholdings are at least equal to 1986 tax liabilities.
Departmental support is requested to assure that all employees have received and returned their new tax forms to the Fort Wayne Payroll office.
UPDATING JOB DESCRIPTIONS
Job descriptions are intended to convey the types of duties and responsibilities included in a position as well as the qualifications necessary to perform the job. They are used to assist supervisors in evaluating an incumbent's performance, for recruitment and selection (by Personnel and individual departments), and for organizational design and analysis. A review of a description may result in a change in job class, job title, and/or job level. Supervisors and subordinates should periodically review descriptions to determine whether there have been significant job content changes. If a clerical or service job has changed significantly, a request to update a description should be forwarded to the Wage & Salary Administrator for review. If an administrative or professional job has changed significantly, the supervisor should complete an updated Administrative/Professional Position Description form and forward it to the Wage & Salary Administrator for review and submission to West Lafayette for evaluation.
EXEMPT VS. NONEXEMPT
Employees, regardless of staff, often ask what the terms exempt and nonexempt mean. These terms are used by personnel professionals to determine eligibility for overtime payments. The Fair Labor Standards Act identified certain kinds of work activities/jobs which require overtime pay when the number of hours worked in a workweek exceeds 40. This section of the Act is intended to protect employees from being required to work an excessive number of hours. Jobs which are eligible for such overtime pay are called non-exempt jobs. The same federal legislation identified other jobs which are exempt from overtime pay provisions. So that employers would be prevented from identifying all jobs as exempt and thereby avoiding overtime pay, the FLSA identified criteria which jobs must meet in order to be categorized as exempt. In addition, FLSA prohibits waiver of this benefit, and potential penalties for non-compliance are severe. This is why a position cannot be classified as exempt even if the incumbent in a position is willing to give up overtime pay. The four main exempt groups are executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales. Classification of new administrative/professional positions and review of updated A/P descriptions is performed by the wage and salary sections of the main campuses.
ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS FOR CLERICAL/SERVICE STAFF
It is time for supervisors of clerical and service employees to evaluate their employees' performance. The key to performance evaluation is good communications throughout the year. Supervisors who have discussed expected standards of performance with their employees should find this task easy. Evaluating individuals through earned praise and constructive criticism gives employees a chance to feel that they are a valued employee and a part of the University team.
Contributor: Linda Goebel
