Minutes - December 16, 2004

These minutes were approved at the UT Staff Council meeting on January 20, 2005

Members present: Yolanda Aldaco, Pat Alfano, Mack Andrews, Alison Louise Brown, Melba Catchings, Johnnie Conley, Marlis Dagg, Neil Fahlund, Patrice Fox, Phil Gavenda, Royce Gehrels, Christy Habecker, Charlotte Harris, Gayle Hight, Margaret Hill, Tom Horn, Marcus Horton, Kim Johnson, Amy Jones, Elizabeth Korves, Noah Lowenstein, Suzanne McIntyre, Billie Pierce, Kathy Romberg, Leslie Saucedo, Craig Schroer, Annamaria Sergi, Sandra Sleeper, Didi Smith, Olen Smith, Sheril Smith, Jerry Spillar, Alayna Wadleigh, JR Watson, Sara Jackson Watson, Shane Williams, Cynthia Wilson, Glen Worley, Gabby Yearwood

Members absent with notification: Vickie Amidon, Philemon Brown, Alanna Burney, Tara Carlisle, Julie Cunniff, Philip Guerrero, Phillip Hebert, Dreya Johannsen, Liz Landeros, Sonja Lane, Lynn Lecropane, Debra Madden, PG Moreno, Chuck Pearson, Jo Ann Richmond, Barbara Thompson, Jennifer Trost, Erin Waneck, Teresa Williams

Members absent: Oscar Carmona, Augustin Collazo, Laura Davis, Linda Frost, Rick Garza, Freida Golden, Mark Gonzalez, Bert Herigstad, John Hibbitts, Greg Howard, Georget Hughes, John Nelson, Donna O'Kelly, Albert Puig, Frank Simon

Guests:

Human Resource Services: Linda Casarez

Quorum: 75 filled UTSC representative places divided by 2 = 38 (for quorum)

Call to Order

Chair Glen Worley called to order the regular meeting of the UT Staff Council at 2:22 p.m. on Thursday, December 16, 2004 in Main 212. 38 39 UTSC representatives were present. NOTE: The Announcements were made before a quorum were reached, and so are not part of the 'official' minutes. Also, the Parking and Transportation Committee's report on traffic control at the Brazos Garage was delivered before a quorum was established. After a quorum was reached, The Council voted to accept the report.

Announcements:

The Chair erroneously announced at the November meeting that Margaret Hill was no longer eligible to be a Staff Council representative. According to the bylaws, Margaret is eligible and will remain a Staff Council representative. The Chair apologizes for any confusion that this might have caused.

The next regular meeting of the UTSC is January 20, Main 212, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.

Chair's report:

Patricia Ohlendorf, Vice President for Institutional Relations and Legal Affairs, will be a guest at the February Staff Council meeting and will address us concerning what staff can/cannot do with regard to the state legislature. She will also answer any questions on the same subject.

Professor Gordon Novak contacted the Chair and asked that the Chair represent the Staff Council at a meeting of the Faculty Building Advisory Committee. The topic of discussion was bicycle access to the proposed Speedway pedestrian mall. The Chair stated at this meeting that the Staff Council had voted unanimously to recommend that a bicycle lane be established on Speedway.

Response from President Faulkner on Issue No. 2004-7, the issue concerning who is responsible for time compliance issues. President Faulkner's letter stated that UT Austin had taken the following steps with regard to this matter: (need link to PDF file of President Faulkner's letter)

1. Development of a State Compensatory Time Policy (HOP 7.F.17)
2. Communication to the campus regarding the new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulation effective August 23, 2004.
3. For each position at the University, Human Resource Services has now added the exemption status on time sheets and has established a link to the on-line compliance program overtime compensation and exempt and non-exempt timekeeping.

President Faulkner's letter also stated that, after review, the policy on time-tracking "is to place the responsibility with staff and their supervisors and to use appropriate organizational rules. This responsibility for time tracking is specified by our policies and should be a normal part of reviews undertaken by the Office of Internal Audits. Any staff member who believes that his or her time is not being accounted for accurately should immediately speak with the supervisor. If the staff member has remaining questions, he or she should be encouraged to speak with a representative of Human Resources Services or with the University's Compliance Office."

Gayle Hight reminded the council of the reason for President Faulkner's letter. It was a response to a Staff Council letter supporting the UT System auditor's recommendation that President Faulkner appoint an individual to be responsible for compliance with time reporting on a University level. She said that the other steps taken by the University on the matter were primarily the result of the auditor's recommendations after finding violations of time reporting practices at UT Austin.

Vice Chair's report:

No Report

Recorder/Secretary:

The minutes of the November 18, 2004 meeting were approved.

Committee Reports:

Standing Committees:

Issues Committee: no new issues

Working Committees:

Parking Committee: Report on Issue No. 2004-22 Traffic control near Brazos garage: The City of Austin is installing a traffic control light at the intersection of Brazos and MLK (just south of the Brazos Garage) on Sunday, December 19th. This action will immediately precede the closure of Speedway at MLK on approximately December 26th. At that time, traffic flow through that intersection will be restricted to construction vehicles and emergency vehicles only.

Access to campus will be diverted through Brazos to Jester Circle and then west to Speedway at the access control booth. To facilitate workable traffic flow, the EXIT from Brazos Garage at the southwest corner of the parking facility will be closed. I am still seeking to determine if this closure will only be effective in the afternoons during the mass exodus from campus or at all hours. I should know this information this week prior to the UTSC meeting. I will pass along this information at that time although any such action is subject to revision at the discretion of Dr. Harkins with little or no notice.

The traffic flow southbound on Brazos at MLK will offer both left and right turn options with protection. For this reason, this should adequately address the concerns raised by Proposal # 2004-22. For this reason, we recommend that this proposal be closed and considered resolved.

The Staff Council voted to accept this report and declared the issue closed.

Compensation and Classification Committee: Report on Issue No. 2003-19 Limited expansion of Sick Leave Pool uses

Recommendations: The Compensation & Classification Committee makes the following four recommendations to expand the use of sick leave pool:

Recommendation #1: Request that HRS add a FAQ page to the already existing Sick Leave Pool page and also include it in the new-hire orientation package.

Recommendation #2: Request that HRS enhance the definition of "catastrophic illness" to be more inclusive. Here is our recommended definition (please note revisions to the current policy are italicized):

• "Result in death if not treated promptly, OR
• Requires hospitalization, rehabilitation and/or home convalescence for more than 72 consecutive hours that may be the result of a hospital in-patient or out-patient procedure, OR
• A debilitating medical condition that substantially reduces quality of life OR
• Causes a person to be legally declared a danger to him or herself or others."

Recommendation #3: Recommend that HRS & UT departments encourage departing employees to donate all or part of their sick leave balances to the Sick Leave Pool. The current *define module for Vacation Lump Sum Vouchers asks if the employee's separation form has been submitted to HRS. We recommend that the module also ask if a SLP donation form has been given to the departing employee.

Recommendation #4: Recommend that UT Austin follow Texas A&M's model of returning SL to donors if they suffer a non-catastrophic illness or injury & have exhausted their accrued sick leave.

The Staff Council voted to accept this report. The Chair will write a letter to Associate Vice President for Human Resources Kyle Cavanaugh and enclose the report and its recommendations.

Unfinished Business:

Compensation and Classification committee

Issue 2003-3 Non-Exempt vs. Exempt Time reporting

Background: Committee report on this issue recommended a FAQ section on Non-exempt versus Exempt from FLSA status. A minority report recommended a change in the answer to one of the questions of the FAQ. The question and both versions of the answer are quoted below:

Question #4 : I may not have always recorded my time accurately in the past. What should I do now?

Committee report answer:

All employees, regardless of their classification, should begin accurately recording their time immediately. If you are non-exempt and have not recorded your hours accurately on your time sheet, you may be owed additional compensation. There are limitations to how far back corrections can be made. Contact your supervisor and/or Human Resource Services.

Minority report answer (new text indicated by italics):

All employees, regardless of their classification, should begin accurately recording their time immediately. If you are non-exempt and have not recorded your hours accurately on your time sheet, you may be owed additional compensation. There is a two-year (sometimes three-year) look back period on correcting previous time sheets.

Contact your supervisor and/or Human Resource Services. If you need additional information, contact the U.S. Department of Labor 1-866-4USWAGE or the website http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/guide/minwage.htm

Member Tom Horn moved that the recommendation of the committee report for the answer to FAQ question No. 4 be substituted for that of the minority report. Discussion followed and it was suggested, and accepted by Tom Horn, that the minority report answer be changed by making the last sentence a new paragraph:

All employees, regardless of their classification, should begin accurately recording their time immediately. If you are non-exempt and have not recorded your hours accurately on your time sheet, you may be owed additional compensation. There is a two-year (sometimes three-year) look back period on correcting previous time sheets.

Contact your supervisor and/or Human Resource Services. If you need additional information, contact the U.S. Department of Labor 1-866-4USWAGE or the website http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/guide/minwage.htm

The Staff Council voted to substitute the amended minority report answer for the one recommended by the committee report. The Staff Council then voted to accept the now amended committee's report recommendation of the creation of a suggested FAQ page linked to the electronic time sheet. The Chair will send these recommendations to Associate Vice President for Human Resources Kyle Cavanaugh.

New Business:

There was no new business.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 PM.
The next regular meeting of the UTSC is January 20, 2004; 2:00-3:30 p.m., Main 212.