HR Update; June 6, 2008
Subscribe to HR Update with RSS
In this Edition
- Facts about UC’s negotiations for a new contract for patient care technical employees
- Facts about UC’s negotiations for a new contract for service employees
- Announcing a Re-Organization of HR Compensation and Recruitment Services
- UC Retirement Readiness Education Programs
- June 15, 2008 - Deadline To Submit Flexible Spending Account Claims
- Farm Fresh Weekly Farmer’s Market
Facts about UC’s negotiations for a new contract for patient care technical employees
The University of California has been negotiating with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees for a new contract for the University’s 11,000 patient care technical employees since August 2007. The union has rejected a UC proposal that would have provided approximately $18 million to UC patient care employees in annualized wages and related costs in the first year of the contract alone. The parties concluded the fact-finding hearings in May and are currently involved in post-fact-finding mediation. UC’s patient care technical employees provide excellent patient care in a number of diverse roles throughout the medical center, and over the course of bargaining the University’s proposals have reflected the important part they play in keeping UC medical centers at the top of their field. Proposals made in the course of bargaining included:
- Salary: 4-15% raises depending on location and title, designed to ensure employees at each location earn competitive wages as compared to other California hospitals and movement to an experience based step structure.
- Healthcare and Retirement Benefits: The same high-quality health care and retirement benefits as other UC employees at the same affordable cost or re-open this issue for bargaining with the union in years 2 and 3 of the contract.
- Compromises and Settlement Efforts: A number of comprehensive proposals responsive to union concerns and offers to renegotiate wages and benefits in 2008 - all rejected by AFSCME.
Facts about UC’s negotiations for a new contract for service employees
The University of California has been negotiating with AFSCME for a new contract for the University’s 7,000 service employees since October 2007. The parties concluded fact-finding hearings in May and are currently involved in post-fact-finding mediation. UC’s service employees provide vital custodial, transportation and related basic support services at all UC campuses and medical centers. UC’s last proposal included additional wage increases for service employees worth approximately $6.8 million. AFSCME rejected this offer. Proposals made over the course of bargaining included:
- Salary: Approximately $6.8 million in wage increases through an increase in minimums, transition to step structure and increases for various titles at various locations to be implemented in the current fiscal year, in addition to increases of 4.5% as well as other increases already provided to this bargaining unit under previous agreements.
- Healthcare and Retirement Benefits: The same high quality health care and retirement benefits as other UC employees at the same cost (which included cost decreases for many employees in 2008).
- Compromises and Settlement Efforts: An offer to implement $6.8 million in wage increases and an offer to reopen wages after finalization of the State budget.
For more information about UC’s negotiations, please visit the sites below:
Patient care technical employees
Service employees
Announcing a Re-Organization of HR Compensation and Recruitment Services
As you may be aware, based on feedback and input that we have received from the Employee Opinion Survey, town hall meetings, and recent client focus groups we have re-engineered our compensation and recruitment functions. We have divided and anchored these functions into two cohesive units: Compensation and Strategic Awards and Recruitment and Workforce Planning. Our re-organization is grounded in enhanced training for existing staff, and hiring additional staff in response to client requests for enhanced and more focused compensation and recruitment services. Below is a summary list of the services that our new units will be providing:
Compensation
Short-Range Objectives
- Focused, improved services:
- Job evaluation
- Market pricing
- Internal and external benchmarking
- Enhance department resources to develop salary ranges and wage parameters
- Proactive compensation strategies linking current staff vs. internal comparators and external comparators to assist in recruitment and retention efforts
- Linking turnover and recruitment issues to compensation
- Salary administration
- Clearer, more transparent classification system
- Institution-wide annual equity review process – considering both internal and external comparators
Recruitment
Increased outreach
- Sourcing candidates (both passive and active)
- Workforce planning
- Integrated outreach and candidate screening
- Improved services
- Screening questions with postings
- Interview questions for Supervisors
- Interview questions/packages for Supervisors
- Screening interview services
- Expanded analyst temporary staff
- Hire runner up candidates through TEP to keep active applicant pool
- Market UCSF as an employer of choice
- Increased consultation services to educate supervisors on current job market and advertising trends
- Hire TEP employees and post jobs on Kenexa/BrassRing for easy referral to career positions
A new Service Directory as well as updated organizational charts for the new Compensation and Recruitment units displaying the new reporting structures. Individual announcements will be emailed to departmental HR Representatives and Administrative Directors early next week. If you have any questions, please feel free to direct them to either Susan Wright, Manager Compensation and Strategic Rewards () or Frank Tastevin, Manager Recruitment and Workforce Planning ().
UC Retirement Readiness Education Programs
Are you ready for retirement? Are your ducks all in a row? Start to plan now-it’s never too early.
Please pass this on to your colleagues, circulate invitations, post the actual schedules, or otherwise re-broadcast these weekly reminders about our valuable (FREE) education programs for faculty and staff. Bring your lunch; your questions; your spouse/partner…
- UC Retirement Plan (UCRP)-UC’s Defined Benefit Plan
- “The Features of UCRP”
- Coming Again Soon
- Refer to these schedules for details and future workshops
- The Future of UCRP
- UC Reitrirement Savings Plan—the 403(b), 457(b) and DC Plans
- “Enrolling in Your UC Retirement Savings Program”
- June 10, Laurel Heights, LHts - 382, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
- June 12, SFGH, Carr Auditorium, 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
- “Determining Your Right Investment Strategy”
- June 10, Laurel Heights, LHts - 382, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
- “Achieving a Sound Retirement”
- June 10, Laurel Heights, LHts - 382, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- June 12, SFGH, Carr Auditorium, 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
- “Understand the How-to’s of Fidelity’s NetBenefits Website”
- June 12, SFGH, Carr Auditorium, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
- Refer to these schedules for details and future workshops
- Arrange to have these workshops for faculty/staff in your department
- Focus on Your Future!
Usually there can be at least one (or more) workshop(s) per week scheduled at various UCSF locations around town. For more details and listings for upcoming scheduled presentations, please refer to our Workshops and Presentations Schedules menus found at our local UCSF HR/Benefits website.
June 15, 2008 - Deadline To Submit Flexible Spending Account Claims
Employees participating in the Health Care Reimbursement Account and/or Dependent Care Account have until June 15, 2008, to submit claims for plan year 2007 expenses. Claims must be postmarked by the June 15 deadline.
Please also carefully review your FSA statements for either your HCRA and/or DepCare account to determine if all of your purchases have been validated. If you do not have the requested receipts you may submit receipts for other eligible expenses incurred during 2007, or the grace period, or you may reimburse your HCRA by sending a check to SHPS for any transactions you are unable to validate.
Contact SHPS directly (1-800-800-678-6684, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time) if you have any questions about your account or need specific information about the type of documentation needed to validate a particular expense.
Farm Fresh Weekly Farmer’s Market
Enter to win a FREE reusable tote filled with fresh, local produce!
Stop by the UCSF Farmers’ Market on Parnassus every Wednesday. Drop your business card, or a completed entry form, into the raffle box for a chance to win a reusable shopping tote filled with fresh, local produce from the UCSF Farmers’ Market.
The UCSF Farmers’ Market is located on the Parnassus campus in the ACC Breezeway between Millberry Union and the Ambulatory Care Center and operates every Wednesday from 10am – 3pm.
############################################
HR Update is distributed weekly to individuals on the following listservs: Campus Administrators, Managers and Supervisors, HR Policy, Payroll Administrators and Benefits Representatives.
You can also sign up for the HR Update Mailing List
For more information, including on how to be removed from this list, please read more about UCSF Distribution Lists