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Welcome to Deana Wesley, HR Associate, Payroll, and to Shelley Sheldon, Manager of Recruitment and Selection and TWU Alumna!! Congratulations to Joye Williams, HR's new Manager of Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity!! COMING MAY 16TH ~ TWU STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY! All Staff are invited and encouraged to attend Staff Development Day!!

Benefits

STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY

The Benefits area of the Office of Human Resources will be participating in the Annual Staff Development Day on campus on May 16. Two concurrent sessions will be held by members of the Benefits staff on “Planning for Retirement” and on “Use of Available Resources in Benefits”. Make your plans now to attend.

Part-Time Retiree Health Insurance Premiums

Effective January 1, 2006, state agency and higher education employees who are part-time when they retire will receive the part-time contribution for health insurance premiums in retirement – 50% for the retiree, 25% for eligible dependents. This is effective for retirements on or after January 31, 2006.

With this legislation, in order to be eligible for the full state contribution (100%) toward health insurance premiums at retirement, you must be eligible for insurance and classified as a full-time employee for the three consecutive months prior to retirement.

To qualify for insurance in retirement, you must meet the Rule of 80 (with at least 10 years service credit) or have at least 10 years service credit and attain age 65. For more information about insurance at retirement, please read Eligibility for GBP Insurance at Retirement.

2005 ORP Tables

The following link from the Texas Community College Teachers Association will allow ORP participants to check Company Rankings, Contract Expenses, TDA Loans, and Fixed Rates. The tables also allow the participant to view the performance of Mutual Funds and Variable Annuities for 2005.

http://www.tccta.org/publications/ORPStudy/orp_05f.htm

Plan Now for Summer Open Enrollment

It is not too soon to start planning for the next Open Enrollment on your benefit plans.

Summer Enrollment is when you have the opportunity to make changes to your benefits for the next plan year, starting September 1, 2006.

If you have not already done so, make sure that ERS has your email address and get a password for ERS OnLine. Go to http://www.ers.state.tx.us and follow the instructions on the ERS OnLine sign in page. A new password will be emailed to you, (if you email is already in the system) or otherwise it will be mailed to you.

If your email address is not in the system call 512-867-7711 or 877-275-4377 provide some identifying information and give them your email address to be entered in the system. Be sure to also update your mailing address to get all communications.

Just a reminder, if you are presently enrolled in TexFlex (Health Care Reimbursement Account or Dependent Care Reimbursement Account) you will have to reenroll. The same thing is true for participants in the SKIP (State Kids Insurance Program). Current participants will have to reenroll.

Dates for open enrollment will be posted on the Human Resources web pages as soon as the dates are confirmed.

Jana Bates, Manager, Benefits and Welfare

Training

SAVE THE DATE

Staff Development Day!

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Experience motivational speaker John Alston!

Attend informational breakout sessions!

Hear a performance evaluation panel!

Stop by TWU vendor tables!

Have lunch with a special guest, our President and Chancellor, Dr. Stuart!

Click here for more information

Down Ribbon: TWU Service & Retirement Recognition

All Faculty and Staff are invited to attend

Dallas, Parkland Campus

Monday, April 17, 2006

Room 277-278

3:00 p.m.

Houston Campus

Monday, April 24, 2006

Mary Gibb Jones Room 724

1:00 p.m.

Denton Campus

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Southeast Room, Hubbard Hall

2:00 p.m.

Supervisors......if you have a new employee that will need translation for NEO, please contact Susan Testa at x8-1-3558 or Monica Kozak at x8-1-3523 to make special arrangements.

Susan Testa, Manager, Training & Orientation

Employee Assistance Program

The TWU EAP offers a variety of topics for employees. Among these are a series of “Working Smarter” articles/learning materials. The series includes:

Accomplished Employee
Effective Manager
Career Development
Career Transitions
Training Development
Workplace Diversity
Workplace Productivity
Workplace Safety
Workplace Stress

Visit the website at www.alliancewp.com. Once at the web site, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “AWP HelpNet”. The next page will ask for a username; type in TWU. This will take you to the AWP HelpNet page. Scroll down on the left side-bar and look for “Working Smarter”.

The HR Benefits website also has info about our EAP. Visit the Benefits site at http://www.twu.edu/humanresources/benefits/EAP.htm .

Annette Johnson, Manager, Employee Advocacy & Performance Management

Oracle Update

The Oracle Human Resources Information System (HRIS) used at Texas Woman’s University consists of several products that are integrated into one application family. Many steps are involved in processing data through the Oracle HRIS modules in order for faculty, staff, graduate assistants and temporary (hourly) employees to be paid timely and accurately.

Oracle Human Resources
- All new employees must report to Human Resources on the first day of employment to complete required forms. At this time, basic biographical information necessary to set up the employee for payroll is entered on the University's main frame computer system.
- The employing department will process a Personnel Transaction Form (PTF) for employees within the following categories:
  - Regular employees (full-time or part-time)
  - Faculty (full-time or part-time)
  - Adjunct faculty
  - Graduate assistants
  - Temporary (hourly)
- PTFs must be submitted according to the published PTF deadlines (http://www.twu.edu/humanresources/payroll/NonAcademicPTFDeadlines05_06)
Oracle Advanced Benefits
- Insurance and retirement elections of employees that are enrolled in benefits are entered and maintained in OAB.
Oracle Payroll
- Direct deposit and W-4 information is entered into Oracle Payroll. In addition, data from Oracle HR and OAB feeds to Oracle payroll for processing of checks.
Oracle Self-Service
- Time sheet entry, time card search and viewing pay slips is for Oracle is available through Oracle.
Oracle Time & Labor
- Employees are responsible for accurately reflecting work time and time off on time sheets. Oracle Time & Labor is a solution for requirements for time capture, validation, time management, and approval.

Amy Hall, SPHR, Director, HRIS & Reporting

Why Employment References and Background Checks Are Important

Two very important words to take into consideration when it comes to hiring people off the streets:

“Negligent Hiring!”

Scenario: You are the hiring manager. You have interviewed several people for a clerical or cleaning position, for example, and there is one person who really impressed you. You needed someone to fill this position last week, so you went ahead and made the job offer and asked the person to come in and start the next day. Then you decided, just to make Human Resources (H.R.) happy, you’d better call that person’s last employers. They were fired for theft! Or, they were fired for assault with a deadly weapon! Since you didn’t let H.R. check the criminal background first, as per policy, you also were unaware that the person has several felony convictions! Now what???? This is called negligent hiring. You neglected to check the person’s background PRIOR to hiring them and now they have a key and access to your office(s) on campus!!! Yikes!!!

Three employment references are required prior to sending the hiring paperwork to Human Resources. Then H.R. conducts the criminal background check. The offer of employment should come from H.R. to assure everything is handled in compliance with the laws and within the hiring policy of Texas Woman’s University.

On paper (a resume or employment application) a person can make themselves look great and shine above all other candidates. But are they really as good as “they" say they are??? That’s one reason it is so very important for hiring managers to call the final candidate’s employment references. It helps us to find out first hand, preferably from their previous supervisors, how the candidate REALLY performed in their last job(s).

One page of the employment application requires the applicant to list three most recent employer references. If self-employed they should list three most recent customers. If they are a student they could list teachers, professors, counselors, etc. Friends and/or relatives should never be accepted as an employment reference. There are not many friends or relatives who would give a BAD reference for an applicant!

A sample reference checking questionnaire is listed in the Recruitment & Selection Handbook and can be found at: http://www.twu.edu/humanresources/employment/ERCHiringDeptReference.doc

The employment application forms are in the Employment section of the TWU website, and can be found on the Table of Contents in the TWU Search & Selection Handbook: http://www.twu.edu/humanresources/employment/SearchandSelectionHandbook.htm

We are here to help make the search and selection process a smooth and successful encounter. If you have any questions regarding employment reference and criminal background checks, you can email our new Manager of Recruitment & Selection, Shelley Sheldon at Ssheldon@twu.edu or call 940-898-3759.

On a personal note, it has been my pleasure to help the hiring departments and search committees over the past couple of years in the role as Manager of Recruitment & Selection. I look forward to continue working with everyone in my new role as Manager of Equal Opportunity & Diversity in the Office of Human Resources. ~ Joye Williams, PHR

Shelly Sheldon, Manager, Recruitment and Selection

PAYROLL

TAX TIME

The tax filing deadline is quickly approaching!! The W-2 forms were distributed in January. If your form has been misplaced, the W-2 forms are now available on line through Phoenix.

If you have requested access to view your payslips, you can now view your W-2 forms at the same location. If you have not yet requested payslip access, please log into the Pioneer Portal and click on the link titled “Need Payslip Access”.

If you do not have Phoenix linked on your desktop, use the following URL:

http://oracle.twu.edu/prod

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. Click on either the TWU Payslip Only or TWU Self Service. On the next screen, click on the link titled W-2 Information. Your most recent W-2 will open up in a new window. To access your 2004 W-2 form, you can select the prior year by clicking on the Select Organization/Year at the top of the page.

Diane Taylor, Manager, Payroll