| University of North Carolina
Employee Forum |
Personnel Issues Committee
Committee Chair: James Holman
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| Report Prepared by: Y. S. Dunlap
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Last Meeting Date:
September 24, 2013 |
Delegates in Attendance: Christina Rodriquez; Jill Crowder; Clifton Webb; Kenneth Davis; Yvonne Dunlap; Shelby Long; James Holman; Jim Fuller, David Fraley; Arlene Medder; Charles Streeter
Guest: Rudy Jones; Jessica Moore; Gena Carter and Brenda Malone
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| Next Meeting Date: October 22, 2013, 134 E. Franklin Street, Room 207
Time: 11:30 a.m.
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Key Points
Updates and Comments from the chair of the Personnel Issues Committee included:
- The chair posed questions to Gena Carter in regards to a temporary employee moving into a permanent position.
- A letter was received from Steven Hutton and copied to Charles Streeter; and then routed to the Personnel Issues Committee. This issue was tabled due to the time provided attending guests, Rudy Jones and Jessica Moore to speak with the group in reference to Career Banding and the ADA policy.
Rudy Jones – ADA (American Disabilities Act)
Mr. Jones, an Associate Director, ADA was an invited guest who spoke with us at length about the ADA Policies and how, when, why employees are encouraged to move through the appropriate channels when seeking restricted work plans. This was a learning session for the PIC. Some key points of the discussion included:
- UNC is required to offer reasonable accommodations in Employment
- UNC cannot discriminate or retaliate with employees due to long-term/short-term disabilities
- Employees with disabilities may self-identify, but if requesting restrictions, must apply and move through the process
- Interactions between supervisors and employee seeking work restrictions is encouraged
- Temporary conditions (pregnancy, broken leg, arm, etc.) are not covered by ADA Policy
- JAN (Job Accommodation Network) is a helpful tool that defines types of accommodations and types of disabilities
- Employees who can no longer perform the core duties of their jobs may be moved but UNC is not required to replace them
Jessica Moore – Class and Classification
Jessica Moore, HR expert on Career Banding spoke with the group at the request of Shelby Long, Benefits and Compensation Lead on the issue of SPA stagnation with this system. Career Banding is a system used to identify competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities needed by organizations to accomplish its goals and objectives. Several questions were provided to Ms. Moore form the group to include:
- How does Career banding work?
- Are outside candidates who do not work for UNC or the State of NC not included in career banding and not limited in salary but can be offered the full amount of a job position allowing them to come in at rates higher than current long term employees?
- Does HR know of any long term goals in revising the career banding system?
The conversation was interesting and engaging but the bottom line message was that career banding, which replaced the Grade system is an example of a labor based system that went belly-up because it did not work. Additionally, the State budget does not allow appropriate funding and this system has been abandoned.
Employees seeking promotions would have to apply for higher level positions in order to move upwards in this UNC system.
Vice Chancellor Brenda Malone, Gena Carter joined the meeting and engaged in the conversation. During this conversation, Ms. Malone spoke of HR Representatives being assigned to all areas of the University system, but found that most people in the room did not know their representative and the tremendous lag in effective communications could be improved if the HR representatives made themselves known and engaged with the staff to which they are assigned. Ms. Malone indicated that improvements would be encouraged in HR rep interactions.
The cell Phone Usage Policy created by Energy Services was reviewed and discussed with Lisa Daley, HR Representative of Energy Services. Jim Fuller representing the fuel handlers received the response and wanted additional discussion. The typewritten Cell Phone Policy established by Energy Services was provided to Gena Carter and Ms. Malone for review and further discussion with Ms. Daley.
Prior to the meetings adjournment, Ms. Carter expressed interest in the tabled agenda item. This item was in reference to a letter written to Nellie Riley, NC Office of State Human Resources by Steven Hutton criticizing the EEO reports submitted by UNC. Ms. Malone had been copied on this letter dated September 19, 2013, which gave some examples of what the writer suspected to be inaccuracies and requested that UNC produce accurate EEO reports.