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February 21, 2001July 10, 2018

Designating FMLA-Qualified Leave

neof the DOL’s FMLA regulations, 29 C.F.R. §825.208, requires employers to alertemployees when an absence is being counted as FMLA leave, to provide that alertprior to the commencement of the leave, and states that only after thisnotification has been provided may an employer begin counting an employers daysoff as applying against the 12-week entitlement.

The regulation states that, “In all circumstances, it is the employer’sresponsibility to designate leave, paid or unpaid, as FMLA-qualifying, and togive notice of the designation to the employee as provided in thissection.”

It is significant that the regulation places the responsibility on the employerto designate that requested leave qualifies under the FMLA. If an employer failsto give prior notice that an absence will be counted as FMLA leave, theregulations says that the time off simply does not count against the employee’s12-week FMLA entitlement. If an employer fails to notify employees that time offis considered FMLA leave, than that employer is then obligated to allow 12 weeksof FMLA leave in addition to any other leave provided.

The courts do not necessarily agree with the DOL on this point. In McGregorv. Autozone, Inc., 180 F.3d 1305 (11th Cir. 1999), the 11th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appeals – with federal jurisdiction over Alabama, Florida and Georgia -struck down that regulation for employers within these states, declaring theregulation to be “invalid and unenforceable,” because it placesburdens on employers that are beyond those set forth by the FMLA statute.

In McGregor, an employee returned from a 15-week leave, learned that herformer position was no longer available to her, and then sued her employer forviolations of the FMLA. Referencing the language of the regulation, she claimedthat she was entitled to 13 weeks of employer-provided paid disability leave andthen up to 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave. She based her suit on the fact thather employer failed to notify her, prior to her absence, that the two leavesmust run concurrently as FMLA leave.

The 11th Circuit rejected the DOL regulation and stated that the employee did nothave the right, under the FMLA, to be restored to her prior position, becauseshe had been absent for more than the statutorily protected amount of time (12weeks). In upholding summary judgment in favor of the employer, the Court didnot permit the DOL’s regulation to create an entitlement to an extra 12 weeks ofmedical leave to the employee.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – which has jurisdiction over federalmatters in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North and SouthDakota–recently became the second federal appellate-level court to declareunenforceability of the DOL’s regulation.

In Ragsdale v. Wolverine Worldwide, Inc., 218 F.3d 933 (8th Cir. 2000),the employee asked for and was provided medical leave so that she could receivecancer treatment. Before she took her leave, her employer did not specificallydesignate any part of her time off as FMLA leave. The company had a policystating that employees requiring time off for a medical condition were entitledto seven months of leave. When the employee was unable to return to work afterseven months, her employment was terminated based on company policy.

Upon learning of the termination, she asked for twelve additional weeks of leaveunder the FMLA. When the employer denied her request, she sued the company forviolating the FMLA. A federal district court granted summary judgment in favorof the employer, which the employee then appealed.

On appeal, the 8th Circuit upheld judgment in favor of the employee, statingthat the DOL regulation improperly expanded the FMLA’s guaranteed minimum leavetime into an unearned “entitlement” of 12 extra weeks of leave.Further, the Court stated that 12 weeks of leave is both the minimum and maximumamount of leave that am employer is required to provide under the FMLA.

Nota trap for employers
These cases aside, the courts have not invalidated every DOL regulationrequiring employers to designate leave as FMLA-related. In fact, the courts haveruled that there may be circumstances under which an employer’s failure toprovide advance notice of FMLA might deny an employee intended to mandate a minimum of 12 weeks of leave for employees, andthat Congress, “did not intend to construct a trap for unwary employers whoalready provide for twelve or more weeks of leave for their employees.”

It’s also important for employers to note that one federal appellate court hasmade decisions that are in direct conflict to those reached by the 8th and 11thCircuits. In Plant v. MortonInternational, Inc., 212 F.3d 929 (6th Cir. 2000), the 6th Circuit,encompassing federal courts in Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky, upheldthe DOL’s guidelines stipulating that employers are legally obligated to notifyemployees in advance of the leave if that leave is to be designated under theFMLA. The Court based its decision on the fact that the FMLA itself is silentregarding the issue of advance notice.

The 6th Circuit ruled that public policy is better served by requiring employers toprovide ample notice to employees of their rights under the statute. However,the 6th Circuit stands alone, to date, in this position.

Theinformation contained in this article is intended to provide useful informationon the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legalopinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

February 21, 2001July 10, 2018

Employee Eligibility and the FMLA

hecourts have also invalidated DOL regulation 29 C.F.R. §825.110, which statesthat “if an employer fails to advise an employee whether the employee iseligible [for leave under the Act] prior to the date the requested leave is tocommence, the employee will be deemed eligible [for FMLA leave].”

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeal – covering Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin – was thefirst to strike down the regulation. InDormeyer v. Comerica Bank-Illinois, 222 F.3d 579 (7th Cir. 2000), anemployee was deemed ineligible for FMLA leave because she had not worked for1,250 hours during the twelve months prior to her leave.

After working as a bank teller for less than two years, the employee was firedfor excessive absenteeism. The employee had been warned repeatedly and counseledregarding her absenteeism. Shortly before she was terminated by her employer,the employee became pregnant and requested FMLA leave, citing morning sickness.The bank’s lack of response to her request formed the basis of the employee’sFMLA claim. Though the employee recognized that she had not worked the required1,250 hours required by the Act, she used the DOL regulation to argue that theBank’s failure to respond to her request made her eligible to receive 12 weeksof leave.

The trial court dismissed the employees’ claim and the 7th Circuit upheld thedismissal. The 7th Circuit held that the DOL’s authority to provide guidance for interpretation ofthe FMLA and to issue regulations does not mean that the agency can alterthe language and meaning of the Act. Thelanguage of the FMLA clearly states that only employees who have worked for1,250 hours in the previous twelve months are eligible for leave. The Court thenutilized a hypothetical situation that could result in situation where “anemployee who had worked for eight hours before seeking family leave would beentitled to family leave if the employer neglected to inform the employeepromptly that he or she was ineligible.”

The 11th Circuit Court became the second federal appellate court to strike down the DOLregulatory guidance that creates automatic FMLA eligibility for any employee whohas not, prior to leave beginning, been alerted by his or her employer regardingFMLA eligibility. In Brungart v. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., No.99-14472 (11th Cir. October 24, 2000), the employee, who had first startedworking for her employee in 1991, began unpaid, non-FMLA leave on December 1,1994. The leave extended until September 1, 1996. On December 2, 1996, theemployee submitted a request for FMLA leave so that she could care for herailing mother and took her leave effective that same day.

She was absent for more than ten days December 2, 1996. However, it was notuntil nearly six weeks later when she was advised that she was ineligible forFMLA leave because she had not worked 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months. She inturn sued her employer for violations under the FMLA, saying that they theemployer had failed to inform her in a timely manner that her request for leavehad been denied. The lower court soon dismissed the claim, and the 11th Circuitaffirmed, in language strongly critical of the DOL.

The court determined that when an administrative agency seeks to”improve” legislation by altering the basic provisions of the law, ithas “gone too far.” TheCourt also stated that the DOL had, “attempted to pry apart the clear wordsof the act in order to create a gap into which it can wedge its policypreference.”

February 21, 2001July 10, 2018

Performance Appraisal

Pending

February 18, 2001July 10, 2018

Dear Workforce Can You Measure Goodwill

QDearWorkforce:

Forsome time we have been trying to find out how to measure the business benefit ofdoing the soft things like having cultural programs, employee satisfaction surveys and building employee brand. Is there a way to measure the benefitsof employee goodwill?

-Samit, from a software services company headquartered in Bangalore

ADear Samit:

It is quite possible to measure, as you state, “employee goodwill.”

However, employee goodwill, cultural programs,and other soft types of programs are usually measured by their effectiveness oroutcome on the employee population. For example, most companies measureemployee satisfaction as a gauge of employee happiness.

This only measures their “mood”; itdoes not measure their effectiveness in the organization or their contributionto the “bottom-line” of the company. A better measure might beemployee commitment, which measures the amount of discretionary time an employeewould spend to support the company in achieving the business objectives.

In other words, the best approach is to measureoutcomes and to be thoughtful about which “soft” programs you put inplace. Always ask, “What is the purpose of this program, and how will itimpact the bottom line?”

Keep your eye on your WorkforceWeek e-mail newsletter – there will be more about this in the comingweeks and months.

SOURCE:David Sholkoff, Human Capital Advisory Services, Deloitte & Touche, December7, 2000.

E-mailyour Dear Workforce questions toOnline Editor Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforce.com,along with your name, title, organization and location. Unless you stateotherwise, your identifying information may be used on Workforce.com and in Workforcemagazine. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to answer every question.

February 18, 2001July 10, 2018

Moving People to Jobs UPS’s Transportation Plan

The economy is booming. New jobs arebeing created at a record pace – approximately 70 percent of them in thesuburbs. Yet despite these opportunities, many residents of urban neighborhoodsdon’t apply.

Why? The jobs are available. The peopleare qualified. Where’s the disconnect?

This was the situation faced by UnitedParcel Service in the late 1990s as the company tried to staff its largepackage-sorting plant outside Chicago. The problem was – and is -transportation. Without their own transportation, job candidates living in urbanlocations simply don’t have a way to get to work in the suburbs. They don’tapply for these jobs because they just can’t get there.

The solution to the problem is a bitmore complex. It involves issues that employers sometimes like to avoid:grass-roots politics, deep community involvement, working with public agencies.But over the past two years, UPS, the nation’s fourth-largest employer, facedthe challenge head-on and created a transportation solution – and a blueprintfor solving this growing dilemma.

Employee retention rate: five times greater than average

The result? Through this uniquepublic-private access-to-jobs transportation program, UPS now moves 3,300part-time employees per day from the inner city to the company’s sortingfacility in the suburbs. Turnover rates are low. Employees are thriving. UPS hasa motivated, dedicated labor pool.

For 93 years, UPS has been in thebusiness of delivering packages to people. In Chicago, the company has founditself in the business of delivering people to jobs.

Build it and they will come…ifthey can
The UPS Chicago Area Consolidation Hubis located in Hodgkins, Illinois, a suburb west of the city. It’s the largestpackage-sorting facility in the world, requiring a workforce of nearly 10,000part-time employees to staff its four daily shifts. UPS carefully chose thesuburban location for its proximity to rail lines, major interstates, and -presumably – a ready workforce.

Our research showed that the majorityof the population base needed to staff our facility resided outside theimmediate area. When we built the location, we knew that a natural pool ofapplicants lived in the inner city, on the south side of Chicago. They were onlyabout 35 miles away, but they didn’t have an easy, reliable way to get toHodgkins. Very limited public transportation to the site existed. But busesdidn’t run directly from the city to the facility, and existing schedulesdidn’t mesh with UPS shifts.

Yet the company was dedicated tofinding a solution. We needed people. Plenty of people in the city needed jobs.How could we bring the two together?

The concept of creating atransportation solution had been tossed about early in the life of the facility.So the idea was there, but UPS wanted to take it to a whole new level.

Routes: eight from Chicago inner city to UPS suburban hub

First things first
Although UPS had experience withsmaller-scale transportation initiatives in New Jersey and Philadelphia, theChicago project was a major undertaking. For others considering this solution,some initial homework:

Define corporate goals. Before anyprogram of this nature is launched,it is imperative to articulate the desiredoutcome. At UPS, the answer was simple and economic: the company believed thatproviding a transportation optionwould attract and retain quality employees.
Put someone in charge. Dan Bujas, a24-year UPS veteran skilled in workforceplanning, labor relations, and operations, was tapped for the job. Bujas, nowtransportation coordinator for UPS’s North Central Region, had two keyattributes: enthusiasm and determination. Ask Dan, and he’ll tell you, “Tomy knowledge, no company had ever done this. My only qualification for the jobof planning and implementing a transportation solution was that I’d been on abus before. But I was confident that the idea could work because logistics isour specialty at UPS.”
Learn a little abouttransportation. First, does existing public transportation address thereverse-commute needs of riderscoming from inside the city to the suburbs? And can it accommodatearound-the-clock shift workers in a safe and reliable manner? Second, afixed-route bus system is most cost-effective from a recruitingstandpoint.
Choose an area densely populated with potential employees, create atransportation “hub,” and move people from there. For UPS, this is afamiliar concept; it actually mirrors the UPS delivery principle ofconsolidation: bringing packages to one location and distributing them from thatpoint.

Establishing a triangle of support
An effective access-to-jobs programrequires three key players: a company with jobs, a community with interest, anda transportation entity willing to work with both. Putting together – andnurturing – this triad is the most important and perhaps most difficult step.Equal commitment from all three “legs” is required for the program to stand.And it is the company’s responsibility to maintain the relationship.

As UPS assessed the communitysituation, it became clear that a lack of personal transportation often isolatedresidents from good-paying, career-oriented jobs. In the Chicago area, thiseffect was most dramatic in the Seventh Congressional District.

“Local employment opportunities havediminished dramatically in my congressional district,” says RepresentativeDanny K. Davis. “We estimate that the district has lost about 130,000 jobsover the past 30 years. Furthermore, studies show a current unemployment rate of40 percent in my particular area.

“Many of our citizens are hardpressed to find employment because a significant number of available jobs are inplaces away from where the people live. Because you can’t always bring thejobs to the people, we had to figure out a way to get the people to where thejobs are. People view a lack of reliable transportation to and from work as arecipe for failure. They don’t apply if they’re not sure they can get thereregularly.”

Riders: approximately 3,300 per day – one-third of hub workforce

At UPS, we took Davis’s words toheart. Our mission reflected a philosophy to develop an access-to-jobs plan thatwould remove the perception that alack of transportation was a barrier to employment. Our solution was to develop,implement, and communicate a reliable, affordable, and safe mode oftransportation. If we didn’t meet those three criteria, it would fail.

The Seventh Congressional Districtwould be the initial focus of the UPS effort. And Congressman Davis and hisconstituents would be the crucial community partners that UPS needed to begindesigning a workable long-term transportation solution.

The next step: the transportationagency. Pace Suburban Bus System, the public agency serving Hodgkins, originallywas not interested in participating. “We were a newly formed agency, and wewere not interested in any major route restructuring,” says Thomas J. Ross,executive director of Pace. “We already had two routes serving the facility,but they didn’t carry many people. The relationship with UPS was stormy.”

Dan Bujas worked to normalize andsolidify the partnership. His sensitivity to Pace’s overall mission andbusiness needs was reflected in his expansion proposal. He edged the UPS programforward by developing the preliminary sketch of a proposed bus route.

UPS unit cost: about 70 cents per day per employee

Dan’s team identified suggested stopsand departure and arrival times, with no commute longer than one hour. They thenpresented the plan to Pace, which performed afeasibility study, emphasizing route compatibility, connecting service, andother factors. Pace then determinedan operating cost for the implementation of the new service. UPS agreed to coverthe cost of the dedicated routes.

In exchange, UPS received that samevalue in monthly transit passes, valid all over the city 24 hours a day.Employees do not have to buy the passes; they can continue to pay cash. But theUPS employee discount is compelling. The face value of the card is $75; UPSoffers it to employees for $50. If the person rides only Pace to and from work,a monthly commuter pass is $49. We offer that to our employees at $25.Basically, it works out to a little over $1 per day that the riders pay to getto and from work.

This arrangement is a winner. Thetransit agency expenses are covered. UPS can recoup some of its seed money byselling the passes to employees. And riders have access to bus transportationcitywide.

The cost to UPS? About 70 cents perrider per day.

Davis couldn’t be happier about thebenefits for his constituents.

“The bus is a reliable, safe andaffordable means of transportation, and effectively breaks down the barriers toemployment for our community,” he says.

“What really pleases me is the kindof work that our citizens are able to secure with UPS. They receive good pay andexcellent insurance benefits. They are also able to receive tuition assistancefor school or college. This provides workers with the opportunity to grow andmove beyond where they are to get where they really want to be.

“This has been a successful programbecause UPS has empowered people with the responsibility to coordinate,facilitate and take a hands-on approach to make this initiative happen. I feelthat through this program, UPS has bettered the lives of people within mycommunity and given them hope for a brighter future.”

The blueprint for success
According to Bujas, the success of theprogram has spawned continued growth. “Northwest Indiana is one of our biggestopportunities right now,” he says. “And we’re also finding more ways totie in with UPS’s many employee-assistance programs. Transportation is thecatalyst to make improvements in the quality of life of our employees and theircommunities.”

UPS offers the following five lessonslearned:

Be willing to fund the project.Securing outside funding is often slow and cumbersome, with little or noguarantee of success. A successful, proactive organization must be willing toseed these initiatives, and that takes a substantial investment on the part ofthe company. This financial commitment is a tangible sign of the organizationallevel of dedication.

“You can’t expect something fornothing,” says Bujas. “Even at 70 cents a head, it gets into serious money.But we’ve demonstrated that we’re in it for the long haul. We need employeesnow and we’ll need them in the future. Our financial commitment gives us thecredibility we need.”
Develop a good working relationshipwith a public sector transportation agency. The arrangement with Pace has beenintegral to the success of the UPS model. “We recognize that partnering withUPS to provide access to these jobs satisfies our mutual goals,” says Pace’sRoss. “It’s been successful because neither side has been greedy. We knewwhat we needed to do, and so did UPS. We made a decision to communicate clearlyand quickly. Both sides have done a great job of developing the habit of sayingyes to each other.”
Identify and develop communitysupport. UPS and Congressman Davis had alreadyworked together on a pilot jobs program called ICAN, an acronym for Investing inCareers and Neighborhoods. Adding a transportation component was a natural nextstep. Congressman Davis’s support – and his relationship with other communityleaders – keeps the program vital.
“We approached Congressman Davis with aconcrete way to impact the unemployment problem in his district,” says Bujas.“His belief in the solution spread deep into the roots of the community. Thatongoing support is crucial because we are at the mercy of communityorganizations. We’re only as effective as they are in terms of getting ourmessage across.”
Market it. Once the program isestablished, ensure that the company’s human resources group is able toproperly “sell” candidates on the idea. In employment ads and at job fairs,UPS always notes that transportation is available. Plus, word of mouth andnetworking make recruiting much more effective. We want people to look at whatwe have to offer and say, “That’s the company I want to work for. Andthat’s the job I’m going to apply for first.”
Keep working. UPS is committed tothe transportation program for the long term. But to keep the programuser-friendly, the company has made a dedicated effort to stay aware of changingdemographics, political considerations, and funding opportunities.

To finally assess the success of theprogram, consider the bottom line. What are the benefits? For about 70 cents aday, UPS gets a dedicated, quality employee, with a retention rate five timesgreater than average. The community receives a transfusion of the economiclifeblood that keeps it vibrant. The public transit agency is fulfilling itsmission, with 2 percent of its ridership guaranteed and 100 percent costrecovery for the dedicated routes.

The program also has receivedrecognition from The Conference Board, which spotlighted UPS’s success in itsreport, Innovative Public-Private Partnerships: Easing the Path from Welfare toWork.

“Through grassroots efforts, thecompany developed an elaborate infrastructure comprised of local transportationagencies, community colleges, social service agencies, and local leaders,”according to the report.

“The program’s success hasencouraged state officialscollaborating on these initiatives to pursue additional funding to expandreverse commute programs. UPS’spartners assert that the company’s commitment level has created transportationand employment alternatives that have not developed when working with otherconstituents in the public or private sectors.

“By using a variety of communicationsmethods, the program has been widely received. Effective communicationsstrategies like the multimedia campaign…broaden the scope of the initiativesto reach larger audiences.”

It wasn’t an easy solution toconstruct; public-private partnerships rarely are. But for UPS, the benefitscertainly outweigh the costs. It’s a solution that works. For the company andfor the community.

Workforce, February 2001, Vol80, No 2, pp. 106-111 SubscribeNow!

February 17, 2001June 29, 2023

The HRMS Scavenger Hunt

The search for an HRMS is an ongoing cycle.

Here’s a look at what some workforce management professionals have experienced and learned, including:

Identifying business needs

Small HR departments
300-person company
A telecommunications conglomerate

Making a vendor list and narrowing it down

Small HR departments
300-person company
A telecommunications conglomerate

Fighting for approval

Going back to the CEO
Possible limits of HR’s role

Future needs

Free agents, wireless devices, and portals

A system for start-ups
Shelley Tam, one-woman HR department for DragonFly Mobile in Marina Del Rey, California, needs a system, because if she’s gone, that means the whole HR department is gone. “If I go off on vacation, I’m not going to be reachable by phone. I told the company that.”

Tam has been on the job only since the fall of 2000, and the company has existed only since that spring.

“We don’t really have anything right now,” she says. Yet, the 17-person company could be primed to grow at any second, as funding comes in.

“We may very well be thrown into a situation where we may be growing rapidly,” she says.

What’s she looking for? Essentially, to “take care of the basics,” she says. Tam wants the system to manage employee information, benefits statements, payroll and hours data, and absenteeism. An added bonus would be to generate other reports, such as the cost of recruitment.

Self-service capabilities aren’t on her must-have list right now. “Not quite at that point yet,” she says. “It would be cool. Something we don’t need to do right now.”

Allison Banks is the HR manager at Perforce Software, another small (fewer than 50 employees) but growing company. Right now, they’re using Excel to capture important data.

“Obviously, this is cumbersome and ineffective,” she says. “I’m a one-person HR show, so I don’t have a lot of resources to spend on implementation and administration.”

The irony is, it’s a high-tech company. “We employ very technical folks who don’t like paper-oriented processes,” she says. “We embrace technology around here, so the more I can get online, the more successful I’ll be in managing my time and also the time of our employees.

“I’m hoping, while we are still small, to create a formless culture, with information available online in much the same way we sell our product,” Banks says. “I’m looking for a Web-enabled employee self-service/manager self-service system.

“We are looking for an HRMS that, ideally, will have the ability to capture general HR information–employee data, personal data, compensation, performance review information, 401(k), stock–and also administer benefits and new-hire paperwork,” Banks says.

“I would also like a time and attendance module that can interface with our payroll system, eliminating the need for paper time sheets. We don’t have a large non-exempt population, but I’d still like to see those time sheets disappear. I’d also like to give our exempts a way to record their time off online that would interface with our payroll system.”

Bi-coastal business needs
ITXC has 190 employees in Princeton, New Jersey, and recently acquired a 100-person company on the West Coast. The company has three HR professionals for the current 300-person workforce: an HR director, an HR coordinator, and an HR generalist, Karen Choff. Choff was given the job with the understanding that finding an HRMS would be one of her first and biggest responsibilities.

The search for an HRIS at ITXC has really been driven by the need to save time. Right now, they have a database in Microsoft Access, which is working okay but requires a lot of time for the HR staff to handle benefits changes and other things (such as address changes) that could be self-service.

“Having an HRIS really streamlines everything,” says Choff. “We’re at the next level, where we actually need to grow a little bit more. We want to streamline all the processes. Let’s say someone wants to move from New York to New Jersey. The address change that would normally go to HR would now go right online.”

Choff is looking for a system that will work for both coasts. “When we have employees at different sites, it will connect all of us together, which is huge.”

Complicated scenario
A far cry from a start-up, Acterna is an organization composed of a variety of companies bought and combined over the years. Nancy McLaughlin is the corporate benefits coordinator, and handles benefits enrollment and related matters for the 5,000 employees working for Acterna or companies owned by Acterna.

While Acterna did upgrade at the beginning of 2000 from its old DOS-based HRMS, McLaughlin says it wasn’t quite enough.

“We started looking last spring for an online system to help us with the open-enrollment process,” she says.

One of her unique needs was for a system that could handle the company’s propensity for acquisitions. If a company was sold off, Acterna needed a system that the departing company could take with it. McLaughlin wanted to find an open platform like that without a lot of additional costs.

The other key criterion was having “live data.” “With a lot of these online companies,” McLaughlin says, “the data is updated as much as you send them information, so if you only send them information once a week, that data isn’t live until week’s end.”

The “not having live data” thing poses a problem, with so many employees from so many places changing their addresses, benefits information, and so on. McLaughlin says it was important to not have a lag time between when employees change their information and when the data is made live because of a weekly update by her team in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Making the list and narrowing it down
Most Workforce members tell us their initial research is done online.

Shelley Tam, of DragonFly, started her research online. She then sent off e-mails to vendors that had systems of interest to her.

The biggest problem she has is finding a system that accurately tracks vacation, making it easier for her to calculate vacation when employees start midyear. She’s currently (February 1, 2001) looking at !Trak-it, Abra, and Icarian.

Tam is having each company get her a system demo, which she’ll test and then ask follow-up questions. She will try to make a recommendation to her boss in approximately two months.

Questions she’ll be asking herself during demos:

Is it easy to find the information you need immediately?
How user-friendly is it? “I might not be the only person who sees it,” says Tam. “A less-experienced person should be able to pick it up quickly.”
How easy is it to set up, and maintain?
What kinds of reports are available?

Tam, of the California start-up, is less concerned than some others we talked to about the number of years the vendor has been in business, or their number of clients. “I don’t really pay attention to that,” she says, “as long as they have a good product. I’m not a name-brand kind of person.”

Another HR manager in a small company, Allison Banks, is trying to find a vendor with a financial future that looks stable. “Internet companies are closing up shop left and right,” she says.

She gathered an initial list using “lots of research and process of elimination. I picked up the ‘Products and Services Directory’ (an annual print brochure) and started checking out the technology section. Based on our size, I was able to eliminate many of the big names out there.” She looked at a couple of “traditional HRIS” systems, but “realized we weren’t a traditional company in any sense, so why have a traditional HRIS? I couldn’t really define what I wanted until I got out there and saw what was offered.

“I’ve combed the Web for feedback on specific products but haven’t really found anything too worthwhile,” says Banks, who’s still in the hunt.

“What I’ve been doing is a lot of posting questions, just doing a lot of research on the Internet,” says Karen Choff of ITXC, “either submitting my name to get info or doing demos and then putting them together in an Excel spreadsheet.”

The components that Choff will be looking for in making a decision:

Web-enabled: “I’m looking for certain things we absolutely need,” she says. “One of them is [the ability to be] Web-enabled. That’s one of the biggest things. Every single employee will be able to go online and look at their information.” Choff says it’s critical that employees can access their medical information at home, outside the workday. Also, she wants this ability since she notices that spouses often make decisions on enrollment.
Price: “Price is definitely a big thing,” says Choff. “We’re not a small company, but we’re not a large company. We’re not looking for PeopleSoft, SAP,” she says, referring to vendors offering products popular with large corporations.
Ease of use: “Functionality is huge. It has to be something that is very easy for the casual user to go to. It has to be Windows-based, easy to navigate. I don’t want frustrated employees. That would be a step backwards.”
Customization: Not knowing exactly what her future needs will be, Choff is looking for a system with some ability to adapt. “Just in case we have something in place and then we want to customize to the company, that’s also really important.”
Vendor experience: “There’s a lot of competition,” says Choff. “Every week there’s a new one that pops up. I want to know how long has it been established? What is the revenue? How many clients? Look at their financials. When you implement something like this, you want to make sure it’s the right one … it’s affecting all your employee data.”

Experience is also manifesting itself in the decision about whether to choose an ASP solution or an in-house solution. “That’s another big decision,” says Choff. “A lot of these ASP people are new. I don’t know if I want to be one of the first they do this for.” With that in mind, she’ll be seeking advice from the IT folk. “That’s their expertise.”
Reporting: Choff is consulting with HR in the West Coast branch of the company, asking them, “What’s your ultimate wish list for an HRIS? What are you looking for here?” For them, the ability to do a wide variety of reports, from EEO to management reports, is critical. Also, they want the ability to churn out custom reports, things that go beyond the standard that comes with whatever system they choose.

Choff is hoping to narrow it down to three to five finalists, and hoping to have that list within about four months. Then, she and the HR director will go through demos of each of the systems, and bring the CFO and IT into the process–folks who aren’t yet involved. “I’m kinda just running with it right now.”

Marilyn Schenk, director of human resources at GameTech Int’l in Reno, Nevada, looked at ASPs but found that they weren’t for her. “We went with a software system. [The ASPs] just didn’t have the capabilities we needed now and in the future. The ability to manipulate report structures. The capability for expansion. They didn’t have the right reports. The system I picked actually took the best of everything I looked at.”

Also, says Schenk, there was an intangible. “The salesperson listened to me and listened to my needs.”

Specifically, that salesperson told her that the company’s most expensive product wouldn’t be appropriate for her. “They weren’t promising me sky-high things and not following through.”

Nancy McLaughlin, of the telecommunications conglomerate Acterna, went to consultants who worked on her medical and life/disability plans for an initial list. She began with three companies, which each came in to do demos.

“We were looking for a very simple program that employees could see what their benefits were, make changes to their address, have their summary plan descriptions online. We weren’t looking for a lot of the bells and whistles a lot of companies sold. It would have been the right fit for other companies, but not for us.”

Cost became an increasingly big issue. “Cost was a huge thing,” she says. “With some of these companies, there was an incredible cost for what we wanted to use it for.”

She eventually chose a system with a one-time installation fee and a small monthly maintenance fee.

“It was the opposite with a lot of others. The installation was smaller, the maintenance greater.”

It’s working out well, though the biggest challenge is that McLaughlin has 20 people at her location, and no IT department there. “It’s hard in our environment up here. You definitely need an IT backup. It’s always an adventure when you add a software piece.”

Fighting for approval and re-approval
Schenk started looking for an HRMS for the first time last summer. They’re currently doing everything by hand.

“We do most everything manually, with the good ol’ personnel file,” she says. “We have a little off-the-shelf program, an HR program. You can extract a little information from it, but it’s really just record-keeping. If you want a report with specific numbers, you have to do it manually.”

Also, with employees in 30 states, Schenk wanted the company to move to a system that could accommodate self-service for employees and managers. “Managers and supervisors are all over the place, and when they need information, they get on the phone and call us. With the self-service module, employees can enroll themselves in benefits, change their information. Managers can pull up previous pay increases, previous positions, discipline, any kind of accommodations, so when they’re doing their appraisals, they have that information on hand.”

That was the case when she was researching disparate impact (how their recruiting methods were affecting various demographic groups). Schenk and the two others in her department had to leaf through paper copies of old personnel files to check birth dates, gender, etc.

Schenk got approval from the CEO for a new system, and narrowed it down to one in October. Now she’s fighting for re-approval, because “last quarter wasn’t as good as we thought it would be.”

Schenk put together an ROI showing why the system is justified, and is presenting it to the CEO.

What was included in that justification memo? For one, she’s proposing eliminating a position she originally asked for in her department, which will no longer be necessary because of efficiencies brought on by the HRMS. The statement also covers decreased time and money spent on applicant tracking, benefits administration, and other record-keeping. Most important, she’ll make the case that it will free up her time.

“It’s time and money. The ability to focus more about strategy than the day-to-day things like record-keeping. HR should really be involved in the company’s strategic development.

“We just put together a big strategic plan with a lot of HR emphasis,” Schenk says. “The CEO said, ‘I don’t want you to have to do your job without the tools that you need. I just want you to make a wise choice.’”

“Our CEO is a bean counter,” she says. “He’s a former CFO. I’ll tell him you would never make the finance department of this company operate without a software system. You would never make the warehouse/inventory operate without a software system.”

HR on the pecking order
In her efforts to get her HRMS budget approved, DragonFly’s Tam says she’s balancing the desire for an HRMS with reality.

Her boss, the vice president of operations, realizes “it’s a great idea,” but venture capitalists are a factor. “We’re funded by investors,” Tam says. “What’s important for our money right now? Employee benefits, operations costs, business trips. My HRMS is one of those that can wait.

“I’d like to do it now,” she says. “But HR usually takes the back seat in everything. Having that attitude helps me realize what we need to spend our money on first, then putting together my wish list.

“Being a start-up, I always have to look at the bottom line,” she says. “Do we really need it right now? I can’t say we really need it right now. I’m on top of my stuff enough [to do the job in the meantime].”

Future needs
What lies ahead for companies searching for the next version of an HRMS?

Jim Spoor, president and CEO of Denver-based Spectrum, says his sales folks are seeing more companies with nontraditional workforces. “More and more companies are moving toward job sharing, part-time employees, contract employees,” he says. “Project-oriented people. There are mega flexibilities in the working world these days.”

Another emerging business need, says Spoor, is that more and more companies are looking for systems that allow wireless connectivity. “Managers who are mobile and who have a dispersed workforce need to be able to have data at their fingertips wherever they are. They need to be able to update, change that data, add new information.”

He gives the example of energy companies, where it’s not so easy to carry a network around with you in an open-pit mine. “Using a hand-held device and wireless is obviously really important in that case.” Spoor says the next wave will be employees wanting to access their personal data using wireless connectivity, not just at kiosks and such, as is the case now.

HRMS tied to portals
Another growing desire for companies, especially those with more than 5,000 employees, is to have an HRMS that includes a portal. Such a system allows employees to take care of a variety of non-work-related needs from their offices.

“Companies are asking what other services from the Internet, what other content and commerce can they provide employees?” says Joanne Wisniewski, Fort Lee, New Jersey-based director of strategic HR outsourcing for Unifi Network, a division of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Wisniewski gives the example of an employee whose wife is having a baby. A portal will offer the employee information about local day-care providers as well as other maternity needs.

Is this what employees should be doing on company time? In Wisniewski’s view, it sure is, because employees are working long hours anyway, which forces them to take care of personal needs at work.

“In the end it saves time and money for the employer,” says Wisniewski. “The majority of those types of [Internet] searches people know come from corporate Web sites. Why not make it better, easier for them, saving everybody time and money? You still have some companies who think employees shouldn’t be out on the Internet. That’s changing more and more. If you know they’re going to do it on company time, why not have them do it smarter?”

While there certainly are a plethora of other HR portals out there, Wisniewski says that having an HRMS/portal combo offers a more personalized service to employees, because-if the employee chooses-the portal pulls information from extensive data found in the HRMS.

February 16, 2001June 29, 2023

Prevent the HRMS Runaround

Here are some questions you shouldconsider when interviewing HRMS vendors.

Pricing
Experience
Customer Service
Implementation
Features

Pricing:

Are there any extra costs foradditional features, such as certain custom reports?
What types of installation fees andmaintenance fees do you charge?
Do you offer a higher one-timeinstallation fee in return for a smaller monthly maintenance fee (or viceversa)?
Do you hold your price for 180 days?*

Experience:

Can you provide at least threereferences of recent implementations and include a nearby local user? *
Do you have experience with (fill inwith what’s important to you) – performance reviews, vacation accrual,stock options, etc?
What size company do you mainly workwith?
What is your revenue and how manyclients do you have?
How long have you been established?

Customer Service:

How is customer service handled?Phone? If so, is it toll-free? Is it 24 hours? E-mail? Both?
What customer-service fees can Iexpect?
How many customer servicerepresentatives are available on weekdays? How many are available onweekends? In what types of technical support are they trained?

Implementation:

How long does it take to install? Isthere an extra charge for quicker installation?
Who on my end do you need to helpwith the installation? What will the process be like?
Do you require any third-partysoftware? *
Do you interface with my (payrollsystem, etc.)? Are they any hidden fees with making this work? Any possiblecomplications?

Features:

How often is data updated? Is iteach time an employee updates their data, or each time HR changes somethingon the back end?
What do you offer to non-traditionalworkforces?
Do you accommodate employee andmanager self-service?
Will employees at different sites beable to use the system?
What standard reports do you offer?
Do you offer custom reports? Thingsthat go beyond the standard. (Here, describe to the vendor the reportsyou’re most interested in).
Do you allow wireless connectivity?
Do you include a portal foremployees to take care of non-work-related needs while in the office? Ifnot, can the system interface with a third-party portal?
Can you describe/demonstrate yoursystem security? *

SOURCE: Compiled by Chan Tran andTodd Raphael of Workforce. For more information, use the Workforce HRMS Decision Guide to help research, choose, and compare systems.

February 16, 2001July 10, 2018

Extra Visas Offer Relief to Companies Hungry For IT Workers

Bring on the huddled masses yearning for jobs in IT.

Recruiters were given a boost last fall by new legislation that significantlyincreased the number of new visas available to foreign workers sought by theU.S. high-tech industry.

Approved by a vote of 96-1 in the Senate, the measure raised the cap on H-1Bvisas, increasing to 195,000 from 115,000 the number of skilled foreign workersallowed to enter the U.S. on a temporary visa over each of the next three years.

The measure provides H-1B workers more options to extend their status andwork longer in the U.S. There’s also a welcome new stipulation that requiresImmigration and Naturalization Services (INS) to reduce processing times for thevisas.

Tapping overseas talent
Paul Wilson, HR director at FutureNet, an e-business consulting firm withFortune 1000 clients, says he must fill between 200 and 225 IT positions a year.Prior to the new legislation, Wilson found it difficult to tap foreign ITtalent. The allocation for visas was so low that most were already given out bymidsummer of each calendar year.

“If [candidates] weren’t in the queue by July or August, [they]basically had to wait until the next year,” Wilson says. About sevenpercent of his hires are H-1B visa holders, and he now expects that number torise significantly.

“We have a new market economy emerging that’s driven by IT, and it willgrow only as large as the employee base allows,” says Mary Musacchia,director of government relations for SAS Institute, a large privately heldsoftware developer located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. “Ourindustry needs these skilled workers.”

India has a large pool of untapped, educated people who can helpthe United States maintain economic growth.

In the past, employers were sometimes reluctant to interview foreigncandidates in line for visas because of the time-consuming bureaucracy involved.

“You had to get clearance from INS before you could hire them, whichcould be a three month process,” says Bruce Fram, CEO of Luminate, amanagement service provider located in Silicon Valley. “You never knew ifthey could start in a month or three months. With American citizens, you knewthey could start in two weeks.”

As a result, while Fram says he hired many workers from overseas for contractpositions, he found it hard from a business standpoint to fill full-timepositions with H-1B workers.

The new measure changes that. “We do have some permanent H-1B folks now,and we expect to have more, thanks to the new legislation,” he says..

The foreign worker’s perspective
The new measure should be an improvement over the former H-1B visa lifestyle,which “greatly limited me both professionally and personally,” saysPrasad Aloni, a Philadelphia-based IT professional who emigrated from Indiaeight years ago.

Bureaucratic rules and regulations made it tough for H-1B workers to changejobs, even if they felt unhappy or exploited. They are often at the mercy of IT”body shops” – staffing companies that imported foreign workers – andcouldn’t negotiate for salaries and working conditions equal to those of theirAmerican counterparts.

Because they didn’t know how long they’d be allowed to stay in the U.S., theyoften hold off buying homes or cars and putting down roots. Fram has feltcompassion for his H-1B employees.

“I know them, their kids, their families,” he says. “Itcreates a lot of consternation for them – can they stay? Can they buy ahouse?”

Still, foreign IT workers prize H1-B visas, and the raised cap gives themmore hope. Pranav Patel, a senior development globalization specialist with SASInstitute’s national language division, says he has several family members inIndia who are waiting to come to the U.S. All have advanced degrees in technicalfields as well as training and experience in the software industry, thanks tothe plethora of IT training centers in his native country.

“India has a large pool of untapped, educated people who can help us [inthe U.S.] maintain the economic growth which we enjoy,” Patel says.

Aloni agrees. The new legislation “could potentially help some reallysmart people back home in India who want to come to this country to achieve agreater financial and professional standard.

Impact on U.S. workers
Yet what does this new influx of IT talent from overseas mean for American ITprofessionals? Will they lose some employment advantage?

Hiring companies claim jobs taken by H-1B workers are primarily ones thathigh-tech companies could not otherwise fill with qualified American workers. Inother words, visa holders will supplement the current workforce, not replace it.

That’s because there’s not just a chronic shortage of IT workers, but of whatFram calls “A players” – those with the talent to play a major role ingetting a high tech product out the door, on schedule.

He feels the new legislation won’t take anything away from American workersbecause there is constant demand for the best talent, regardless of country oforigin. And contrary to recent media reports about the industry as a whole, Framsays he doesn’t believe age-ism exists in IT – at least, not at his company. .

“We have a lot of gray beards running around here, and they’re allrunning LANs (local area networks) in their houses,” he says. “That’snot age-related, that’s personality related. They’re [obviously] keeping theirskills up. We have to get to market, and if they’re an ‘A’ player, we wantthem.”

The new measure should help the U.S. raise more homegrown IT talent, since itallocates funds for math, science and technology education in U.S. elementaryand high schools. And the $500 fee for each visa will generate funds forscholarships for 60,000 US students and training programs for 150,000 USworkers.

Conclusion
The U.S is only protecting its own economic interests by raising the visacap, says Patel. “If the increase was not made, then the work would be sentto countries like India, and the U.S. would not benefit.”

At SAS, Patel works with a group of H-1B workers from India, helping themtransition to the U.S. He says they are always surprised by how warmly they arewelcomed by their American neighbors.

“They are used to all kinds of red tape to do even simple things inIndia. Here they have lots of freedom.”

He thinks it’s also good for the U.S. economy as a whole. “The moneythat the H-1 B visa people earn stays here. They pay taxes, buy new cars, renthomes, and take vacations.”

For more information, try USLaw.com’s section on H1-B visas, or try theINS.

February 15, 2001July 10, 2018

Trident’s Employee Satisfaction Survey

Employee Survey Gauges Employee Satisfaction

The article in the February 1998 issue of Workforce on Optimas Award winning company Trident Precision Manufacturing discusses the five areas of total quality that the firm measures on a continual basis. Twice a year, the company administers this survey to its employees to gauge their overall satisfaction with the company and its practices.

TRIDENT’S EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION SURVEY

PLEASE CIRCLE THE ONE LETTER GRADE WHICH BEST REPRESENTS YOUR FEELING FOR THE CORRESPONDING QUESTIONS.

RATING SCALE FOR THE COMPANY AND WELL-BEING SECTIONS:	RATING SCALE FOR MANAGEMENT PRACTICES SECTION:
A = Excellent (100%)	A = Always (100%)
B = Good (90%)	B = Frequently (90%)
C = Average (80%)	C = Sometimes (75%)
D = Poor (60%)	D = Never (60%)
	NA = Not Applicable

MY COMPANY:
How do I rate my company on:

1. Respect for individuals.	A	B	C	D
2. Open communications.	A	B	C	D
3. Promoting innovation.	A	B	C	D
4. Promoting quality.	A	B	C	D
5. Implementing quality.	A	B	C	D
6. Providing training necessary to do my job.	A	B	C	D
7. Providing the tools necessary to do my job.	A	B	C	D
8. Providing the support and resources necessary to do my job.	A	B	C	D
9. Providing career opportunities.	A	B	C	D
10. Providing a safe workplace.	A	B	C	D

MANAGEMENT PRACTICES:
Before completing the Management Practices section, please circle your supervisor’s name.[Note: actual Trident supervisor’s names have been removed.]

ATTITUDE AND STYLE – My Supervisor:

11. acts effectively as a leader/trainer/coach.	A	B	C	D
12. treats all Teammates fairly; shows understanding, patience, and respect for the dignity and worth of everyone.	A	B	C	D
13. shows commitment to the job by actions as well as words; is a team player.	A	B	C	D
14. encourages creativity and teamwork in problem solving.	A	B	C	D

COMMUNICATION – My Supervisor:

15. ensures that his/her instructions are clear, understandable, and complete; uses Interactive Skills.

16. asks “Why?” to gain knowledge and understanding. Listens carefully to Teammate suggestions, comments, and ideas.

17. asks “Who is the customer” to be sure teammates understand who we are trying to serve.

RECOGNITION – My Supervisor:

18. uses the Recognition System to formally and informally highlight achievements of teammates.	A	B	C	D
19. uses the Recognition System fairly and consistently.	A	B	C	D

INSPECTOR / HELPER – My Supervisor:

20. actively works at being a helper/inspector/facilitator.

USER OF TOOLS / PROCESSES – My Supervisor:

21. helps me identify all internal customers and their requirements; explains our supplier specifications.	A	B	C	D
22. encourages the use of statistical techniques for gathering and analyzing data.	A	B	C	D

TRAINING / TEAMWORK – My Supervisor:

23. walks like s/he talks. Uses the Total Quality process, acts as a facilitator, is willing to try new behaviors, and encourages others to do the same.	A	B	C	D
24. is a team player; encourages team work in all areas of our work, and supports the group effort.	A	B	C	D
25. encourages the sharing of information, ideas, and resources (material, time, people) between groups, departments.	A	B	C	D

DELIVERING BUSINESS RESULTS – My Supervisor:

26. demands and promotes excellence in internal and external customer service, quality, and production.	A	B	C	D
27. concentrates on managing the process rather than results.	A	B	C	D
28. has communicated my work groups, departments and corporate goals.	A	B	C	D

** NOTE: PLEASE BE SURE YOU SELECTED YOUR SUPERVISOR’S NAME. **

MY WELL-BEING:
How do I rate the following:

29. My compensation.	A	B	C	D
30. My employee benefits.	A	B	C	D
31. Trident’s Reward and Recognition System.	A	B	C	D
32. The hours I work.	A	B	C	D
33. Trident’s support of a good home life (EAP, Family Activities, etc.).	A	B	C	D
34. Would you recommend Trident to friends as a good place to work?	Yes		No

CORPORATE LEVEL MANAGEMENT:
How do I rate Corporate Management on:

35. Demonstrating effective people skills.	A	B	C	D
36. Concern about quality.	A	B	C	D
37. Reacting to our complaints and problems.	A	B	C	D
38. Are visible and accessible to us.	A	B	C	D
39. Providing support to help us do our job.	A	B	C	D
40. Understand the effort put forth by employees.	A	B	C	D
41. Is concerned for our safety.	A	B	C	D
42. Acknowledges good performance.	A	B	C	D

OUR TOTAL QUALITY ADMINISTRATOR:

43. acts effectively as a leader/trainer/coach.	A	B	C	D
44. treats all Teammates fairly; shows understanding, patience, and respect for the dignity and worth of everyone.	A	B	C	D
45. shows commitment to the job by actions as well as words; is a team player.	A	B	C	D
46. encourages creativity and teamwork in problem solving.	A	B	C	D
47. ensures that his/her instructions are clear, understandable, and complete; uses Interactive Skills.	A	B	C	D
48. asks “Why?” to gain knowledge and understanding. Listens carefully to Teammate suggestions, comments, and ideas.	A	B	C	D
49. asks “Who is the customer” to be sure teammates understand who we are trying to serve.	A	B	C	D
50. uses the Recognition System to formally and informally highlight achievements of teammates.	A	B	C	D
51. uses the Recognition System fairly and consistently.	A	B	C	D
52. actively works at being a helper/inspector/facilitator.	A	B	C	D
53. helps me identify all internal customers and their requirements; explains our supplier specifications.	A	B	C	D
54. encourages the use of statistical techniques for gathering and analyzing data.	A	B	C	D
55. walks like s/he talks. Uses the Total Quality process, acts as a facilitator, is willing to try new behaviors, and encourages others to do the same.	A	B	C	D
56. is a team player; encourages team work in all areas of our work, and supports the group effort.	A	B	C	D
57. encourages the sharing of information, ideas, and resources (material, time, people) between groups, departments.	A	B	C	D
58. demands and promotes excellence in internal and external customer service, quality, and production.	A	B	C	D
59. concentrates on managing the process rather than results.	A	B	C	D

HUMAN RESOURCES:
How do I rate the Human Resources Department on:

60. responsiveness to my questions, needs.	A	B	C	D
61. concern, follow through on a safety problem.	A	B	C	D
62. concern, follow through on a benefits problem.	A	B	C	D
63. concern, follow through on a personal problem.	A	B	C	D
64. communication of all benefits, company policy	A	B	C	D
65. use of effective people skills.	A	B	C	D

February 15, 2001July 10, 2018

Share Your Thoughts

What kinds of attitudes do your employees have? Have you found them surprisingly unhappy? Why, or why not? What have you done to meet their expectations?

Give us your insight, and your stories – from the everyday, to the bizarre.

Your thoughts may be printed in an upcoming issue of Workforce magazine. E-mail Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforce.com