POLICY GUIDANCE
Item 77 of Chapter 847, 2007 Virginia Acts of Assembly, states that, “for the performance cycle ending October 24, 2007, upward feedback regarding supervisors' performance shall be pilot tested in several agencies with above average employee turnover as determined by the Department of Human Resource Management. This upward feedback will be used only as a developmental tool and will include safeguards to facilitate anonymity of the employee providing feedback. The Department of Human Resource Management shall develop appropriate guidelines and training for those agencies designated to participate in an upward feedback pilot program. The Department of Human Resource Management shall report the results of this pilot program to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by December 1, 2007.”
DHRM has contacted several agencies during the last twelve months regarding this requirement, but no agencies have come forward to conduct pilots. If an agency has used upward feedback during the current performance cycle, or is able and willing to do now, at the end of the performance cycle, the agency should send a summary of how well the pilot worked and what it revealed to the agency’s assigned human resource consultant in AHRS. If DHRM is unable to report any pilot program results, there is some likelihood that a similar program will be required of all agencies in the future.
Telecommuting and Emergency Closings
Agencies are responsible for determining which employees are required to work during emergency office closings. This includes telecommuters.
Historically, employees have been affected by emergency closings based on the operating status of their central workplace and their designation under Policy 1.35, Emergency Closings. Employees attending business meetings away from their central workplace at locations unaffected by the emergency closing have always been expected to continue working.
Policy 1.61, Telecommuting, states that agencies may include the status of employees during emergency or weather-related closings that affect the central or alternate workplace in employee telecommuting agreements. If your telecommuting agreements do not currently articulate the agency’s expectations under these conditions, DHRM advises that you communicate those expectations to all telecommuters at your earliest convenience. You should consider what you’ve identified as the primary work location, the employee’s designated status under Policy 1.35, Emergency Closings, the nature of the work, whether the employee telecommutes on a permanent or sporadic basis, and if telecommuting is a condition of employment.
The purpose of telecommuting is to promote general work efficiencies and to allow work to be performed at alternate work locations, but it has also been identified as a key strategy for ensuring the continuity of agency and government operations during emergencies. Most agency COOP Plans are, in part, reliant on telecommuting to maintain essential services. For these reasons it is important to view telecommuting and office closings broadly and with respect to agency business needs.
Written Tests in Employee Selection
Written tests may enhance the overall objectivity and effectiveness of a selection procedure, but these effects must be carefully observed and analyzed by using professionally recognized standards. Agencies should be cautious when considering the use of written tests in their employee selection procedures and should not rely solely on the claims of a test’s publisher that a test is appropriate for the agency’s use.
Under federal law and regulation, if a selection test has adverse impact, it must be examined and its use justified according to the principles of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR 1607). Because the Commonwealth is absolutely committed to fair employment practices in its own selection procedures, no state agency should use a selection test without justifying its business need and demonstrating its appropriateness by applying the Uniform Guidelines, whether or not adverse impact has been shown.
As a general rule, adverse impact occurs in a selection procedure when the passing rate for any class of persons protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, is less than 80% of the passing rate for the group with the highest pass rate. For instance, if the passing rate for males is 90% and the passing rate for females is less than 72%, then there is an adverse impact against females. If evidence of adverse impact exists for any selection procedure, then each part of the procedure must be examined to determine the source of the adverse impact.
The Guidelines are technical and their application requires training and expertise. Agencies contemplating the use of written tests should contact their assigned AHRS consultant for further guidance.
Reminder: Code of Virginia § 2.2-2903 requires that passing numeric scores be augmented by stated percentages for veterans.
Conversion of Sick Leave to Disability Credits upon Change in Status
A classified employee who chose to remain under the Traditional Sick Leave Program recently accepted an administrative faculty position at a state university. This career move required the employee to participate in VSDP. The employee asked to convert his sick leave balance to disability credits. Because the VSDP publications and policy provide no direct reference to this situation the agency requested guidance from DHRM and VRS.
The statute governing VSDP, as it relates to the conversion of sick leave to disability credits, does not provide for conversion of sick leave other than what was allowed during the two respective open enrollment periods. There is no statutory provision that allows for someone who elected to remain in the traditional leave program to convert sick leave to disability credits upon transfer into a position that does not provide for continuation in the traditional leave and disability retirement program.
When an employee leaves their classified position to take a non-classified faculty position with a Virginia institution of higher education, the accrued traditional sick leave balance must be paid out to the employee by his/her former employer.
- Wage employees may work up to 1500 hours per agency per year (12 month period from date of hire). Please refer to DHRM policy 2.20 Types of Employment, page 7.
- Exceptions to the 1500 hour maximum must be approved by agency heads.
- Wage employees may work in more than one agency. The maximum 1500 hour rule applies to time worked in each agency, separately. An employee could, theoretically, work 1500 hours in agency A and 1500 hours in agency B within the same anniversary year. If an employee is working in multiple agencies, check with your assigned AHRS consultant to determine if overtime provisions under FLSA do or do not apply.
Note: There are special rules that apply to VRS retirees who return to work in state agencies in wage positions. Most are familiar with the caveats (refer to AHRS Periodical dated January, 2007):
- must have a break in service of at least 30 days (between time of retirement and new employment as a wage employee),
- must not have a pre-arranged agreement to return for state employment, and
- must not be hired to perform the identical job duties from which the employee retired.
It’s important that retirees not be employed as wage employees with state agencies for more than 1,664 hours annually. Even if the agency head approves an extension, the 1,664 cap is imposed by IRS regulations. (IRS regulations dictate that such an employee must not work more than 80% of previous full-time job. 20% of 2,080 hours = 1,664.)
The following links refer to “return to work” related to retirees returning to state employment, not to “return to work” for employees who have been ill/injured/temporarily disabled.
http://www.varetire.org/Employers/ReturnWork/Index.html. There is detailed information at this VRS website, including the following:
- Return to Work Checklist for Employers:
http://www.varetire.org/Employers/ReturnWork/Checklist.asp - Return to Work Guidelines:
http://www.varetire.org/Employers/ReturnWork/Guidelines.asp - Return to Work Information for Retirees:
http://www.varetire.org/Retirees/Reenter/Index.asp - Request for Termination of Monthly Benefits (VRS–7):
http://www.varetire.org/Pdf/Forms/vrs-7.pdf
Wage employees are covered by FMLA policies. Since FMLA considers all individual state agencies to be one employer, it is important to check with the employee and any other agencies with whom that employee works or has worked within the past year when determining eligibility for FMLA.
Virginia New Hire Reporting Center
An agency recently received a notice from the Virginia New Hire Reporting Center indicating that the agency had failed to report one month. The Center is a part of the Department of Social Services (DSS) and they collect information on new hires for child support enforcement purposes. DHRM contacted the Center and was advised that the notice was probably sent to the agency in error, because DSS gets a file for state agencies from the Department of Accounts that contains this information. Therefore, agencies receiving similar notices in the future may disregard them or may contact the Virginia New Hire Reporting Center at 804 -771-9733 or 1-800-979-9014.
Proposed revisions to Policy 1.60, Standards of Conduct have been reviewed by the Office of the Attorney General and are under final review by the Policy Committee. The final working draft will be distributed to all human resource directors for comment prior to its submission to the Governor’s Office for approval.
The VSDP Policy Guidebook is in the final stages of review and will be published before the end of this year. This was a challenging assignment. The project team’s product will be a beneficial resource for all human resource officers involved in the administration of VSDP benefits.
The Employee Handbook review team has completed its assessment of the current handbook and has submitted suggestions for improvements. The Handbook will be updated by the end of this year. The Agency Head Handbook will be reviewed following the 2008 session of the General Assembly.
Agencies are encouraged to submit suggestions for 2008 policy priorities to Rue White at rue.white@dhrm.virginia.gov.