The

Human Resources

Messenger

July 2004     Volume 2                 www.twu.edu/humanresources

From the Director's Desk

Don Yeck, Susan Testa. Photo by Magan Bailey                                                                       North Texas Job Fair. Photo by Amy Hall

Plan Year 2005 Insurance Changes

ERS has posted the PY2005 Insurance Changes. 

1.    HealthSelect will remain the only health care provider for Dallas, Denton and Houston

o        HealthSelect premiums will increase 5.13%

o        The State will continue to pay 100% of the cost for full time (100% FTE) Employee/Retiree premiums

§         2005 premiums for full time employees

o        The State will continue to pay 50% of the cost for part time employees (50%-99% FTE)

§         2005 premiums for part time employees

2.    Optional Life insurance premiums will go down 15%

3.    Short-term disability insurance premiums will increase from a rate of $0.23 to $0.32 per $100 of monthly salary.

4.    Dental, LTD and AD&D  premiums will remain the same

5.    There are some changes to the prescription drug program:

o        Implement cost-savings programs for the following drug categories:

§         Cholesterol-lowering agents

§         Anti-inflammatory agents

§         Anti-depressants

§         Non-sedating antihistamines

o        Changing the program from Generic, Preferred Brand and Non-Preferred Brand to Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3

Summer Enrollment Information

 For Plan Year 2005

Summer Enrollment this year will be from July 26 through August 20, 2004.  (Please note that this is only a 4 week period of time which is a shorter period of time than we've had in the past.)

Passwords:  We encourage you to be sure to get your password BEFORE summer enrollment begins to avoid delays in accessing the ERS OnLine system:

1.    For employees who have used ERS OnLine in the past

A.    Make sure you have your correct password by signing in to ERS OnLine

B.    Click on the button on the left of this page "ERS OnLine"

C.    Enter your User ID (your SS#)

D.   Enter your password

2.    For employees who have not used ERS OnLine:

A.    You can either:

a.    Sign in to ERS OnLine

b.    Click on the button on the left of this page "ERS OnLine"

c.     Enter your User ID (your SS#)

d.    Click on the link "Need a new password"

                                                                               i.            ERS will send a password to you by US Mail

                                                                            ii.            This will enable you to enter your e-mail address, customize the password and secure quick entry into the ERS OnLine system at any time

B.    Or you can call the Office of Human Resources at x81-3552

a.    Request that your e-mail address be entered in the ERS system

b.    Sign into ERS OnLine

c.     Click on the button on the left of this page "ERS OnLine"

d.    Enter your User ID (your SS#)

e.    Click on the link "Need a new password"

                                                                               i.            ERS will send a password to you by e-mail

                                                                            ii.            This will enable you to customize the password and secure quick entry into the ERS OnLine system at any time.

3.    Once you have your password and are able to sign in to ERS OnLine we encourage you to check the "Personal Information Summary" section of ERS OnLine to ensure your contact information is current.

When Making Changes in ERS OnLine we encourage you to:

1.    Be sure to complete the process by receiving the ERS confirmation page before logging off.

2.    Review your Earnings Statement to make sure that the changes are reflected on your paycheck

3.    If the change is not reflected on your paycheck, contact the Office of Human Resources (x81-3552) immediately

A.    If errors are reported to ERS within 60 days, ERS will allow us to correct the error with a "date of discovery".

B.    If errors are not reported to ERS within 60 days, ERS will consider that the change was not made and the employee will have to wait until the following Summer Enrollment period to make the desired change.

Changes that can be made during Summer Enrollment:

·         Add coverage without proving EOI for:

o        Employee's Dependent Health (IF employee is already covered)

o        Dental

o        AD&D

·         Apply through EOI to add coverage for:

o        Employee Health

o        Dependent Health (if employee is applying for coverage)

o        Optional Term Life

o        Dependent Term Life

o        Short Term and Long Term Disability

·         Drop coverage for:

o        Health

o        Dental

o        Optional Term Life (may also reduce coverage)

o        Dependent Term Life

o        Short Term and Long Term Disability

o        AD&D

·         Enroll/Reenroll in TexFlex

o        REMEMBER:  You MUST RE-ENROLL in TexFlex each year if you want to continue in the program

·         Apply/Reapply for SKIP

o        REMEMBER:  You MUST RE-apply for SKIP each year if you want to continue in the coverage for your children.

o        If you DO NOT receive approval to re-enroll in SKIP for the 2005 Plan Year, your premiums will increase September 1 to the normal employee/child premiums.

New TWU Employees

If you are a new employee (or a long-term employee) who would like to review your benefit options, we have provided a New Employee Power Point Presentation on the Benefits Website under “Benefits New Employee Orientation” at:  http://www.twu.edu/humanresources/benefits/benefits.html. 

·        This presentation will take you through all your benefit options/eligibility.

·        The link to the ERS New Employee Guide to Benefits booklet is more detailed information regarding all your insurance options as a state of Texas employee.

·        The link to “Required Forms” is a listing of all forms required from new employees.

Exiting Employees

Did you know that if you terminate your employment with Texas Woman’s University that you have Exiting Benefits?  Please go to the Human Resources Website for more information at:  http://www.twu.edu/humanresources/ExitGuide.htm

                                 from

Compensation & Records:

• Departments need to notify Human Resources' Myrna Flores (mflores@twu.edu) of hire date of new employees that are hired in positions such as Temporaries, On-Calls, Adjuncts, GA's and Program Staff

• If departments are hiring a student assistant as temporary staff, they will need to send them to Human Resources to complete payroll forms because HR and Career Services do not share employee files

• If students are not enrolled during the summer, departments may hire them in temporary or on-call positions.  Just make sure to submit your PVF (Personnel Vacancy Form) and send them to HR to complete an application and payroll forms.

Current Clerical Support Positions:

• Clerical Assistant                $5.15

• Office Assistant                  $7.27

• Secretary                          $8.89

• Sr. Secretary                     $9.94

A Course Assistant title at $10 an hour was recently created for Graduate Assistants who are not currently enrolled during a semester.  Departments need to submit a PVF (Personnel Vacancy Form).  This position has the same minimum requirements as a Graduate Assistant.  Essential duties are as follows:

• Downloading and copying submitted assignments
• Recording grades in roll book and Blackboard
• Monitoring discussion board posting
• Research
• Acquiring materials
• Tutoring
• Making copies
• Assisting faculty with on-line course material

Please make sure to route any PVF's through proper signature channels:

• Department Head
• Dean
• Research & Grants (if grant funded)
• Vice President of Division

Greetings from employee advocacy and Performance management!

• Exiting Employee Guide and Forms

Employees no longer must come to the Office of Human Resources (OHR) to pick up an Exit Packet.  The Guide and related forms are now available on the OHR web site at www.twu.edu/humanresources. Select the last box in the lower right-hand corner of the table.  This will take you to the Exit Guide and from there you can click on related information and forms.  Please be sure to read the entire Exit Guide and print all related/applicable forms to be completed and returned to the OHR.  An Exit Packet should be completed and returned to the OHR by the last day of employment.

• Human Resources Related Policies and Guidelines

The Human Resources Related Policies and Guidelines will replace the policies that were located on the TWU Operating Policy Manual (the red three-ring binder located in each department.) Please visit www.twu.edu/humanresources to view these policies (they are located in the left-hand column.)

You will notice that some policies have been revised, some are under review and some policies have remained the same.  As these OP Policies are reviewed and updated the University community will be notified by e-mail.

If you have any questions, please give me a call at 8-1-3553 or send an e-mail to ajohnson2@twu.edu.

I-9's and Oracle

The Immigration Reform and Control Act makes all U.S. employers responsible to verify the employment eligibility and identity of all employees hired to work in the United States after November 6, 1986. To implement the law, employers are required to complete Employment Eligibility Verification forms (Form I-9) for all employees.  All offers of employment extended by the Texas Woman's University will be contingent upon the applicant's ability to supply the Human Resources Office with documents which provide proof of identity and eligibility for employment in the United States.  Applicants and new hires are notified of their requirements under the Act as well a list of acceptable identity documents for the Act.

Texas Woman’s University is responsible for the verification and retention of an I-9 form for each individual hired as an employee of the University. This applies to citizens and noncitizens.  On the first day of employment, new hires should complete the new hire paperwork in Human Resources which includes the required payroll forms as well as the I-9 form.   On the I-9 form, the Office of Human Resources must verify the employment eligibility and identity documents presented by the employee and record the document information on the Form I-9.  Proper documentation establishes both that the employee is authorized to work in the U.S. and that the employee who presents the employment authorization document is the person to whom it was issued.   The employer must examine the document(s) and accept them if they reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee who presents them.  The I-9 must be completely verified no later than close of business on the employee’s third day of employment.

Human Resources will begin utilizing an I-9 status report made available through the Oracle HR application that will track employees that do not have a completed I-9.  Employees with incomplete I-9s will not have a complete assignment record in Oracle.  

Oracle Self Serve

The Office of Human Resources is in the process of personalizing Oracle’s self-service applications.  Self-service is a group of Oracle applications that are designed for secure, self-service transactions across business intranets.  Oracle HR, which has been implemented, is a necessary prerequisite for Oracle Self-Service HR because the two products are fully integrated.  Users are granted access in self-service to employee information based on their roles as employees and managers.   For example, employees will have access to employee self-service functionality that will allow them to view and update certain personal information such as addresses.  A manager will have access to manager self-service functionality.  Using the manager self-service feature, managers can perform day-to-day processes for employees under their management, such as initiating personnel transaction forms that will be routed through the defined approval process.  Once the information is approved, it will be updated in Oracle HR.  Since the self-service application and Oracle HR are integrated, they share data and security features.  When a user enters information, it is validated behind the scenes to ensure that information is accurate and consistent. 

Human Resources is excited about Oracle self-service and the positive impact it is expected to have on many of our processes.  Once the application is fully designed and implemented, future communication regarding the application and training opportunities will be made available.

PAYROLL

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING PAY SLIPS

Please follow the instructions below to view your pay slip online.  If you need additional support, contact the Information Services Help Desk at 940 898-3971.

If you do not have Phoenix linked on your desktop, use the following URL and login using your PIONEER PORTAL username/password. http://oracle.twu.edu/prod
If you are unable to get into Phoenix with your username/password, please see below for instructions for resetting your password.


For security reasons, Phoenix can only be accessed from a computer that is on-campus.

After logging in, if you have a BLANK SCREEN, click on the Main Menu tab on the right side.  You will have a link called TWU Pay slip Only.  On the next screen, click on the link Pay slip Information.  Your most recent pay slip will come up in a new window.  At the bottom of the pay slip, you can select which month you want to view.  Only pay slips after January 1, 2004, are available online at this time.

LOGIN PROBLEMS?  If you are attempting to login to Phoenix using your Pioneer Portal username and password but are still unable to get in, please try the following to reset your password:

Login to the Pioneer Portal

            Click the link called MY SETTINGS

            Click the link called CHANGE MY PASSWORD

You can “change” your password to the same password you just used to login, it does not have to be a different password.  You will be asked to type the new password in twice, then click SUBMIT.

If you continue to experience problems logging in to Phoenix, contact the Information Services Help Desk at 940 898-3971.  Remember:  Phoenix can only be accessed from a computer that is on-campus.

Timesheet update 

Since our previous timesheet problems seem to have been resolved, we are working to get the overtime and comp time accruals updated.  We will let you know when you can check your balances.

Did you know you can view the status of a submitted PTF?  After following the below link, click on the View PTF status report button in the upper right corner.

https://portal.twu.edu/ptf/

Vacation Carryover

We know that you are all wondering how much vacation you have to use this summer or if you will be having any of your vacation balance transferred to your sick leave balance because you will be over your limit.  We are diligently working toward getting the Oracle balances updated, and I believe we are close to having our Oracle Time and Labor problems corrected where we will be able to post the remaining timesheets to get your balances updated.  In the meantime, we will be sending a sheet to each of you who accrues vacation, showing your balance as of 5-31-04.  You will need to review this and make sure that all of your usage is listed, subtract any vacation that you know you will be taking in June, July and August to get your vacation balance as of August 31, 2004.  Compare this balance to the chart below:

 If your remaining balance will be over the allowable limit for your category, you will have to use those hours before the end of August.  Any balance remaining at that time will be automatically added to your sick leave balance.

Oracle iRecruitment

Oracle iRecruitment is on the way!  iRecruitment will fully automate the entire recruitment process allowing the candidate, recruiter, and hiring managers to integrate more efficiently.  Human Resources and our team of Consultants are currently working on the design and flow for both the application process as well as the vacancy process.  For more information please email me at mmarkham@mail.twu.edu, or call x3523.   

Hiring Summer Help

During the summer months Employment is inundated with requests for new temporary positions.  We try our best to make this a smooth process for both the department and HR.  Below are some tips that will help in the hiring of summer temporaries:

• Have the new employee fill out an application and send it with the completed Personnel Vacancy Form (PVF)

• If you are hiring more than one temporary for the same position please make sure that each person has an application completed

• Send the new employee to Human Resources to complete necessary payroll forms on or before their first day of employment

EEO ONLINE SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING

Thanks to all employees who participated in the EEO Online Supplemental Training Program.  Approximately 480 employees have successfully completed the program.  If you have not yet taken the training program and the start date of your benefits-eligible position is prior to May 1, 2002, please access the training module at www.twu.edu/humanresources/training/intro.html. If you have trouble accessing the program or have questions regarding the content, please contact me at stesta@twu.edu.

Do you have questions about supervising, customer service, sexual harassment, hiring and firing?  The Training area has videos available for viewing to provide guidelines and offer suggestions for these and many other areas.  For a listing of available videos, please access www.twu.edu/humanresources/training/videos.htm or contact stesta@twu.edu.