The University of Kansas Medical Center

The University of Kansas Medical Center

Policies of the University Support Staff (USS)

Effective January 19, 2012

Preface

The information that follows constitutes the official policies of The University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) for positions in the University Support Staff (USS). Positions intended to be covered by these policies include all classified positions transitioned to USS classified status.

In accordance with KSA 76-715a, these policies are intended to become effective in a rolling fashion, as adopted by employee vote during a proposed conversion from Classified to USS, with the first vote occurring for the University Police Department on February 15, 2012, with a proposed effective date of April 1, 2012, assuming such policies are approved by an appropriate employee vote, and then subsequently by the Board of Regents, prior to the proposed effective date. Otherwise, these policies will become effective as of the date of the approval by the Board of Regents.

Applicability of Other Rules, Regulations, Policies and Agreements

These policies do nothing to abrogate any other existing University policy. These policies also do not abrogate or supersede other department-specific policies, rules, regulations or operating manuals, such as the University Police Department’s Manual of Operations. In the event there is a conflict between these policies and the rules, regulations or policies of a department (e.g., the University Police Department’s rules regarding Overtime), then the published, department-specific rules govern. Additionally, terms and conditions of employment currently in place within established Memoranda of Agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 37, as well as Public Service Employees Local 1290PE, shall both remain intact and in full force and effect. In addition, such MOAs and shall continue to be the subject of appropriate bargaining and future agreements between the represented employees and KUMC.

Classification

Position descriptions are required for all USS positions and must be entered in the online Human Resources system and reviewed and approved by Human Resources prior to recruitment. When departments want to establish new positions or reallocate existing, approved positions, they must submit revised position descriptions to Human Resources for review and determination of the appropriate classification, and they must similarly comply with the Position Management Policy and/or the Salary Adjustment Policy, as may be applicable.

Recruitment Policy

The University is committed to open, competitive recruitment for its job vacancies. The full policy can be viewed on KUMC Human Resources web site.

Criminal Background Investigation

When hiring managers select a finalist for a position they want to fill, they must first request that Human Resources conduct a criminal background investigation, along with other required background investigations. Individuals selected as finalists must provide the required information for further consideration and in order to facilitate such background checks.

Applicants with criminal records may be considered for employment in the USS. Any individual with a record of conviction for a crime other than minor traffic violations must acknowledge and describe their record on their application for employment. Failure to do so may be cause for dismissal at any time or refusal of consideration for employment.

The University may approve appointments of individuals who have prior convictions, taking into account the type of crime committed, the date of conviction, rehabilitation of the individual, and the proposed area of assignment within KUMC.

Some departments with employees in the USS may be required to, or may choose to, add additional mandatory or optional components to the otherwise standard background checks imposed on all other employees. For example, as mandated by state and federal law, employees of the KUMC Police Department are subject to pre and post-employment background investigations. Such investigations are in addition to those conducted by Human Resources and are conducted by Police Department staff because are necessary to validate that each person has met the essential and special qualifications for the position.

Benefits

The University provides a wide range of employee benefits including health, dental, life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement. No benefits obtained through classified employment with KUMC prior to the date of transition to USS shall be lost or forfeited, and all benefits shall remain at least the same as of the date of transition.

Leaves

Leaves including holidays, sick, vacation, shared, Family Medical Leave Act, military, and unpaid are found on the Human Resource’s website. No leaves typically or otherwise obtained through classified employment with KUMC prior to the date of transition to USS shall be lost or forfeited, and all accrued leave balances shall remain the same as of the date of transition.

Exempt/Non-Exempt Status for Overtime

The Human Resources Department determines whether or not positions are eligible for overtime/compensatory time by reviewing the work assigned with reference to federal guidelines. Eligible positions are termed non-exempt; exempt positions are not eligible. No position classifications shall change solely because of the transition from Classified to USS.

Compensation

KUMC recognizes the importance of providing fair and competitive compensation for its employees,as determined by the needs of the organization and an assessment of the relevant labor market. Accordingly,based on available funding, as well as organizational priorities, compensation and pay plans will be formulated based on a careful assessment of relevant, validated and approved salary survey benchmarking data.

Overtime/Compensatory Time

When a non-exempt employee works more than forty hours in a work week that time must be compensated either by providing compensatory time off at the rate of one and one-half hour off for all time worked over forty hours in the work week, or pay at one and one-half times the employee’s hourly pay rate. The decision to compensate using overtime or compensatory time is reserved to the department. No decisions to grant overtime or compensatory time shall change solely because of the transition from Classified to USS.

Scheduling Overtime

The Medical Center reserves the right to schedule overtime work as required. Overtime work, when required, is a condition of employment.

Overtime may be worked only with prior approval of an employee’s designated supervisor, department head, or administrator.

Overtime work should be scheduled in advance, except when an emergency situation arises.

Overtime work must be distributed fairly and equitably among employees capable of performing the given work, as determined by the relevant KUMC leadership.

Employees who desire overtime may volunteer, in writing, for future overtime opportunities, and that written request must be fully considered.

When not enough employees volunteer to work overtime, employees will be assigned to work on an overtime basis.

Refusal by an employee to work overtime, when mandated, may be cause for disciplinary action.

In the event of an emergency and for its duration, KUMC may suspend such sections of this policy as required to handle the situation. However, employees will always be compensated appropriately for work performed during these emergency situations, in accordance with the mandates of State and Federal law, and applicable policy.

Compensatory Time:

If a department elects to use compensatory time the following guidelines apply.

A maximum accumulation limit of 160 hours worked (1.5 x 160 = 240 total) will be allowed. Any compensatory time off earned in excess of 160 hours will be paid.

There is a limit of 13 pay periods on the use of compensatory time.

Each hour of compensatory time off earned must be used within 13 pay periods of the date it was earned or it will be paid out as overtime.

Examples of Overtime Calculation

In this example* an employee may be given time off on an hour-for-hour basis for extra hours worked in the first week of the pay period, provided this time off is also scheduled during that same week.

U / M / T / W / R / F / S / U / M / T / W / R / F / S
- / 8 / 10 / 6 / 8 / 8 / - / - / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / -
= 40 hrs. / 40 hrs. = 80 hrs.

* This may be done only under one of the following conditions:

The department notifies the employee of the change in the employee’s normal work schedule for that work week at least five calendar days in advance of the day in which the employee’s normal work schedule is first changed; or

The department has furnished the employee a written statement of the circumstances under which the employee may be required to take equivalent time off, on an hour-for-hour basis, in the work week in which additional time is worked; or

The employee requests or agrees to take equivalent time off during the work week in which additional time is worked.

If the conditions above do not exist, the employee is compensated at the one and one-half time rate either with money or with time off.

U / M / T / W / R / F / S / U / M / T / W / R / F / S
- / 8 / 10 / 8 / 8 / 8 / - / - / 5 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / -
40 hours
3 hours compensated time earned
40 hours paid / 37 hours
+3 hours compensated time used
40 hours = 80 hour paid

U / M / T / W / R / F / S / U / M / T / W / R / F / S
- / 8 / 10 / 8 / 8 / 8 / - / - / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / -
40 hours
2 hours overtime pay / 40 hours = 80 hours at regular rate
+2 hours at overtime rate (or 3 hours compensatory time accrued)

Shift Differential

The Medical Center must staff some departments during hours it considers to be evening or night. Where applicable, employees who work evening and night shifts will be paid a “shift differential” of thirty cents ($0.30) in addition to regular pay, and in accordance with K.A.R. 1-5-28. Other departments may implement differing rates of compensation for shift differential, either as determined by the University based on the needs of a particular department, or in the amount agreed upon in an appropriate Memorandum of Understanding following meet and confer sessions for employees represented by a union.

The Medical Center has defined the hours worked between 7:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m. as eligible for payment of shift differential. Employees working 50% or more of their scheduled hours in the differential period shall have all hours during that shift paid at the differential rate. Conversely, employees working less than 50% of the shift in a differential period shall receive a differential for only those hours between 7:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m.

Employees working overtime into a shift differential period shall receive only the overtime rate and not the differential.

Work Week, Work Hours, and Timekeeping

The work week begins at 12:00 a.m. each Sunday and ends at 12:00 midnight the following Saturday.

The normal work week consists of five 8-hour days, for a total of forty (40) hours.

Alternate work schedules may be permitted with advance written approval through Human Resources.

Hours of Work

Time counted as “hours worked.” Non-exempt employees must be compensated for all time worked if they are engaged in any way in any of the following activities:
Fulfilling job duties
Covering a duty station (if so required)
Training
Learning a job
Hanging clothes and/or washing up (if it must be done at the place of work)
Getting ready for work at the station (i.e., cleaning and setting up equipment, laying out work, assembling materials)
Waiting for and receiving medical care for job-related injury on the date of its occurrence if the employee becomes injured or ill at work and reports to health services as long as they remain on the clock
Waiting for equipment repair due to breakdown
Traveling (but only if required by the job)
Pursuing formal grievance procedures
Taking required examinations
Taking authorized rest breaks
Taking meal breaks when required to work concurrently or given less than thirty (30) minutes
Attending meetings
Reviewing email, documents, or other written materials and/or instructions; and
Other activities for which compensation must be made to fulfill the requirements of applicable wage and hour laws.

Time counted as “hours not worked.” The following are examples of activities for which employees are not compensated:

Changing clothes and/or washing up away from the place of employment, for convenience only, or if the employee should have arrived at work in his or her uniform or other required gear that does not require changing at the work site
Taking meal periods free of duties and at least thirty (30) minutes long
Being absent without authorization; and
Any other activities for which compensation is not required by the requirements of applicable wage and hour laws.

Timekeeping

Non-exempt employees are required to complete a record of their work time through the use of the daily timekeeping method utilized by the department.

Employees must time in at the start of or prior to the start of their scheduled shift and time out upon completion of their assigned work hours for the day. Employees must not time in more than seven minutes prior to the start of their scheduled shift and not time out more than seven minutes following the completion of their working hours for the day.

All time worked must be recorded by the employee and be reported to the Payroll Office by departmental timekeepers. Time worked other than scheduled without advance supervisory approval may be cause for disciplinary action.

An individual employee does not have the option of “donating” hours of work without obligating the employer to record the time worked.

Completing or tampering with the time sheet/card/record of another employee will be cause for disciplinary action, as will any attempt to falsely manipulate or defraud with regard to hours worked through a time sheet/card/record or via improper or otherwise dishonest use of a time collection device or system.

Employees must report accurately all vacation, sick leave and holiday time used.

Exempt employees do not record time worked but do record their use of vacation, sick and holiday time.

Time sheets are completed in each department for all employees covering each pay period and approved by the department head.

Break and Meal Periods

Breaks

If the work situation permits, supervisors may authorize break periods for their employees.

Breaks, when authorized and/or required by law, will be with pay and should not exceed 15 minutes for each 4 hours of work.

The break period is intended to be work free, preceded and followed by an extended work period. Therefore, it may not be used to cover an employee’s late arrival, early departure, or to extend a lunch period. It is also not possible to forego breaks to accumulate extra time off in the future.

Break areas may be designated by the supervisor.

Meal Periods

One meal period of at least 30 minutes, unencumbered and without pay, is authorized for each shift of at least 5 hours.

The meal period should be scheduled as near to the middle of the work shift as possible. In emergency situations, a supervisor may re-schedule the meal period of an employee.

Meal periods are not counted as hours worked for pay purposes unless employees are required to work or are significantly restricted while on call during the meal (e.g., police and safety officers who take a working lunch while they are on patrol).

Employees may not elect to forego their meal period in order to have longer breaks, leave work early, start work late, or accrue time off.

Supervisors may designate areas where meal periods may be taken. Employees should not eat at their work stations.

Stand-By, Call-Back, Call-In

Stand-by

Non-exempt employees are placed on stand-by when there is a reasonable chance of their emergency recall due to their department needing their services. Employees on stand-by are required to be available to report to work within a reasonable amount of time if the need arises. Stand-by compensation is paid when this obligation does not significantly restrict the employee’s off duty activities (e.g., the employee carries a beeper).

Employees on stand-by receive compensation at the rate set by the Department of Human Resources. If called in to work, they are paid at their normal appropriate rate for the hours worked. They shall not be paid stand-by compensation for the hours they actually work.

Employees called in to work from stand-by are guaranteed at least one hour of work and accompanying pay.

Employees on stand-by who are unavailable when called and who present no adequate justification for their unavailability shall lose stand-by compensation for that stand-by period and may be subject to disciplinary action.

Exempt employees are not eligible for stand-by compensation.

If employees’ off duty activities are significantly restricted (e.g., they must remain at their home telephone), then this situation is no longer considered “stand-by.” During this time, they are considered to be working and are compensated at the appropriate rate of pay (which could result in an overtime situation).

Call-Back

Non-exempt employees called back to work after having left the workplace subsequent to completing an assigned work shift shall be provided a minimum of two (2) hours work. This two hour minimum shall not apply if the employee was called back during the two hour period immediately prior to the beginning of the employees next regularly scheduled work shift.

Call-back assignments are made from the list used to schedule overtime.

Overtime pay will be issued for time worked on call-back when employees have worked forty or more hours in one week. When scheduled time worked plus call-back time worked does not exceed the forty (40) hour limit for one work week, employees will be paid at their normal rate for call back time.

Call-in

Non-exempt employees who are called in to work on a day they are scheduled to be off shall be provided a minimum of two (2) hours work, unless the employee was on stand-by when called in or if the call-in was during the two hour period immediately prior to the beginning of the employees next regularly scheduled work shift.

Equal Employment Opportunity

KUMC fully supports Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action principles, practices, and programs. KUMC endorses Equal Employment Opportunity as the right of all persons to work and advance based on merit and ability without regard to sex, race, national origin, color, religion, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, ancestry, age, or any other illegal and non-merit-based reason. The Affirmative Action program’s ongoing mission is to attain a workforce representative of the state’s available workforce, in accordance with law. The full policy can be viewed on KUMC EO web site.