Employee Relations
Toolkit
F.A.Q.
Compensation
Will my salary increase
to market as a result of the
Compensation Study and new
compensation structure?
Only employees with salaries
below the new grade minimums
salary increases as a result
of the Compensation Study.
Most staff are paid
appropriately to market. The
study will be used to guide
future planning and
administration of employee
salaries.
Can I hire a new employee
as non-benefits eligible,
full-time for 6 months?
No. State regulation
requires that any staff or
faculty employee hired for
at least 4 1/2 months at 50%
FTE or greater must be
benefits eligible.
What do I have to do to
hire a new employee at a 3rd
Quartile rate?
The Standard Hiring Range is
Minimum to Midpoint. Any
hires or promotions above
Midpoint must have Vice
President and HR prior
approval. Candidates at this
level should have at least 5
years of education or
experience beyond the
minimum job requirements.
My Director wants to
promote a staff member, what
do I need to do?
Promotions to the next step
in the approved career
ladder require a Position
Request Form with a
justification memo from the
director. The memo should
cover the following areas:
- Performance contributions
to the department or
university that warrant
promotion
- New job duties assigned on
or before the date of
promotion
- Employee in current job
for at least one year, and
meets all qualifications for
the new job
What is the current
minimum wage?
The current hourly minimum
wage is $6.55. On July 24,
2009, the new minimum wage
will become $7.25.
The current monthly minimum
wage is $1971.66 regardless
of FTE. An employee,
regardless of part-time or
full-time status, must be
paid at least the monthly
minimum wage in order to be
considered “exempt.”
How long do I have to be
in my position before I can
apply for a transfer to
another department?
Generally, you must be
employed in your position
for six months before
applying for another
position outside of your
department.
I owe money for some old
parking tickets that I just
became aware of and now I am
being told that I can not
receive my promotion until
the tickets are paid in
full. Is this true?
Per Finance policy, all
financial holds must be
removed from an employee’s
record before there can be
approval for merit,
promotion, reclassification
or any other financial
benefit to the employee.
This can only be done by an
employee paying all
delinquent debts in full.
Benefits
What is HIPAA?
HIPAA was a sweeping piece
of legislation passed by
Congress in 1996, parts of
which are just being enacted
now. Health care privacy
falls under the
Administrative
Simplification provisions of
HIPAA. It requires covered
entities to take measures to
protect personal health
information (PHI). Covered
entities include health
plans, health care
providers, and health care
clearinghouses. The UH
Program was included as a
covered entity in the
regulations.
My child is in college.
How long can my child stay
covered under my insurance?
Your child can be covered
under your self-and-family
enrollment until he or she
marries or turns age 25. It
does not matter whether or
not your child attends
college.
I recently retired but my
spouse is still employed. If
I cancel my UH enrollment to
be covered by my spouse's
Benefits, will I be able to
enroll in a self-only
enrollment in the future?
Yes, you will be able to
reenroll in the future
because you are canceling
your enrollment to be
covered by another plan.
After I retire, can I
enroll in a family plan or
do I have to be enrolled in
a self only?
As a retiree, you can enroll
in a family plan during the
open season or when a
qualifying event occurs that
permits a change to the
family plan.
Can I change my primary
care physician at any time?
Yes. You do not need to
wait for open enrollment to
change your primary care
physician. Contact your
healthcare provider.
Typically, the change will
be effective the month
following the change.
I want to add/increase
some of my Benefit options.
When is the next time I can
change plans?
You can change plans during
the annual UH Open
Enrollment and whenever you
have a qualifying life
events (QLE), i.e. marriage
or birth of a child.
Becoming aware of another
plan that has better
benefits even if you didn't
expect to want the extra
benefits when you had a
chance to change plans
before does not qualify as a
QLE that allows you to
change plans.
What should I do with my
FMLA/Parental Leave forms?
The FMLA/Parental Leave
application is completed
first by you, the employee,
and then you provide it to
your supervisor/DBA for
completion of the second
page. Once the department
has completed the second
page, the application will
be forwarded to HR for
review. The Certification of
Health Care Provider form is
provided by you to your
doctor for completion and
then may be faxed to HR,
mailed to HR, or returned to
you for delivery directly to
HR. The Certification of
Health Care Provider does
not go to your department.
If my department approves
my absence for FML, does
this mean I’ve been approved
for FML?
No. Your FMLA has not been
approved until you have
received an approval letter
issued by HR (a copy of the
letter will be provided to
your department for their
records).
I never looked at my pay
check on-line and now I
realize I am not having the
benefit deductions I
selected at open enrollment
several months ago, what do
I do now?
We strongly encourage all
employees to review their
paycheck on-line to make
sure their open enrollment
elections appear on their
October 1 paycheck, so that
any discrepancies can be
resolved timely. First, a
Benefits department staff
member will assist in
verifying that what is on
ERS is what is reflected on
PeopleSoft. The research and
resolution will be handled
by a Benefits staff member.
Should I elect the 9 or
12 payment TexFlex plan?
If your primary position is
staff, you should elect the
12 month plan. If you are a
faculty member the answer
depends on the paycheck plan
you elected.
Why does my health
insurance show “waived” in
Peoplesoft?
You will not be able to view
your elections in Peoplesoft
until the effective date of
coverage. However, if you go
to the ERS web site and
review your Benefits Summary
you will be able to see your
elections there.
Am I able to draw Social
Security retirement as well
as my retirement with TRS
and ORP?
Yes. UH employees pay full
Social Security taxes and
are eligible for social
security retirement.
When am I able to retire?
You are eligible for
unreduced retirement with
insurance benefits when your
age and total years of
service equal 80 or at the
age of 65 with at least 10
years of service. You can
take early reduced
retirement and not be
eligible for insurance at
age 55 with at least 5 years
of service.
Employee Relations
What types of employment
actions may an employee
grieve?
An employee may only grieve
suspensions, demotions,
terminations, or involuntary
transfers.
How many days of
bereavement leave is an
employee entitled to take?
An employee is entitled to
three (3) days of
bereavement leave for a
funeral that is taking place
in the area and five (5)
days for a funeral that is
taking place out of the
area.
Who is considered a
“relative” for purposes of
bereavement leave?
Parents or stepparents,
spouses, spouse’s parents or
stepparents, children or
stepchildren, brothers or
sisters, stepbrothers or
stepsisters, grandchildren
and grandparents are
considered “relatives” for
bereavement leave purposes.
HRIM
How do I check the status
of an ePAR?
1. Go into PeopleSoft
2. Select Department Self
Service (or HR Self Service
if in HR)
3. Select HR eForms Home
Page
4. Select View an eForm
5. Select ePAR
6. Select the type of form
(Hire, Job Edit, etc.)
7. Enter form ID number (or
Empl ID, or Name) and click
search
8. Click on the ePAR to view
9. Click next
10. The current status and
history is listed, as well
as the person who the form
is waiting on.
How do I change the FTE
on an employee's job?
Non-benefit hourly
employees: Submit a Job Edit
ePAR to change the standard
hours.
Non-benefit monthly
employees: Submit a Job Edit
ePAR to change the standard
hours and the comp rate.
Benefit eligible hourly
employees: Submit a Position
Request (PRF) to change the
FTE on the position.
Benefit eligible monthly
employees: Submit a Position
Request (PRF) to change the
FTE on the position then
submit a Job Edit ePAR to
change the comp rate.
Employment
I have applied for many
positions, but I never get
called for an interview,
what else can I do?
Make sure that you are
providing all information
and documents requested, if
the posting requests both a
resume and cover letter make
sure and do both. We also
recommend applying with
CoreStaff since many
temporary positions allow
you to gain directly related
experience and the
opportunity for UH
departments to get to know
your knowledge, skills and
abilities.
When I look at my job
application status in OJS it
says “in progress.” What
does that mean?
The application status
showing up “In Progress”
means that your application
was successfully received
and is currently residing in
the applicant pool.
Where can I apply for or
view available jobs? Or
email my resume?
All of our job postings can
be viewed and applied for
online via our career
website (http://jobs.uh.edu).
We only accept applications,
resumes, and cover letters
submitted to us online over
this website. We do not
accept emailed, faxed, or
hard copy versions; it will
not reach the hiring
department for
consideration. We also do
not match individual’s
resumes with current
available jobs. All
applications and additional
information must be
submitted by you (the
applicant) online over our
career website (http://jobs.uh.edu).
Please be sure to attach
your resume and/or cover
letter at the time of
application. Once an
application has been
submitted, and a
confirmation number
received, resumes and/or
cover letters cannot be
attached for consideration.
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