January
Health System Academic & Research Employee Council Minutes Thursday, January 18, 2001**** PART I **** Present: Kanisha Adkins, Kathleen Ashe, John Aufill, Kelly Bell, Leigh Ann Bush, Daweslyn Butler-Carey, Ginny Dean, Donna Ferneyhough, Pat Harlow, Sharon Heyka, Jim Kennan, Dr. Jay Levine, Della Marsh, Lynn McCutcheon, Terry Moore, Monte Parsons, Sue Pearce, Jean Snoddy, Gina Steppe, Jim Stork, Jill Tatum, Mary-Leigh Thacker, Bill Vining, Eleanore Wade, June Wade, Pat Williams and Mike Wilson. Dr. Jay Levine was the first speaker. He wanted to announce that the red Health System lot at Scott Stadium is now fully implemented. There have been a few problems. The buses have been overcrowded at times; they have been adding buses to help with this. Communication of any problems is important; communication led to the identification of these problem times. They will continue to refine the schedule as needed. People have decided to use the red lot. The service is pretty good, and they are now out of available spaces. The number of spaces cannot be increased until the new permit year, which begins June 1, 2001. Hopefully, more spaces can be added at that time. There is a new lot on Grove Street. Please get the word out to people in your department. The Health System has leased the lot for 2 ½ years. It is across the railroad tracks from the helipad. It is a fully paved and fenced lot with 172 spaces. It has lights also. It is only a 5-minute walk from the front door of the hospital to the lot. Employees in the first four categories have been placed. Categories A through D were for hands-on care givers. Category E is for patient care service administrators (PCSA) and managers. Most already have spaces. Category F is for weekend staff; these employees are normally given transponders for the garage. Since most of the priority employees have been given parking, these new spaces are available to those who do not provide hands-on patient care. The ETA will provide rides to this lot between 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. with an on-call shuttle. There is no cost for the ETA. Another option is the Fifeville shuttle, which has a stop at the corner of Grove and 9th St. in the early a.m. and evenings. The cost for the Fifeville shuttle is .25 each way. Applications for the new lot must be received by 1/26/01. Please hand-deliver your application; don't rely on messenger mail. The parking fee is $50 per month. This is the standard fee for Health System lots; UVA can deduct it pre-tax from payroll checks. The spots will be assigned by category within the priority system, and then by employment date. The lot will be oversold, like other lots. This is to accommodate as many employees as possible. There is a certain percentage of employees that will be sick or on vacation each day. Currently, there is not an emergency phone in the new lot. They are working on this. There is a question of jurisdiction (UVA or Charlottesville), since the lot is leased. They do want to install a phone there eventually. A question was raised about how long the M11 lot will be open. MR6 is in the planning stages. If it is funded and authorized in this legislative session, the spaces could be lost this summer. If it is not funded and/or not authorized, the spots could be available longer. A group made up of representatives from both UVA and Charlottesville are working together to develop a plan for Jefferson Park Avenue (JPA). They want to add a sidewalk from West Main to Cabell, along with a bike lane. The plan is also to add a coordinated traffic light system to improve the flow, and keep bicyclists and pedestrians safe. **** PART II **** Dave Ripley, Chief Compensation Officer, Human Resources, was the second guest speaker. He was invited to address exempt vs. non-exempt status of employees. Non-exempt employees are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Exempt employees are not subject to the FLSA. There are certain tests that must be met for a position to be non-exempt. These tests are applied to each position, not to each title or band. Your status is determined by your job duties. In bands 3 & 4, there are some employees who are exempt, and some who are non-exempt. For example, Sr. Fiscal Techs, and other grade 8 employees who are now in band 3, are exempt, but others in band 3 are non-exempt. As the new work profiles are rolled out, HR will look more closely at exempt status. Departments can also call, and request HR to look at the status of particular positions. The state and university are conservative in applying the tests. By law, any employee who supervises 2 or more other employees can be exempt. UVA does not necessarily do that with positions in the lower bands (i.e. housekeeping supervisors). UVA may decide that they want to pay overtime to housekeeping supervisors, and the FLSA provides that flexibility. The FLSA was written in 1938 for a manufacturing environment. It doesn't really fit higher education that well. There will be an across the board review of individual positions as we transition to the new system. Employers are not required to provide any compensation for overtime to exempt employees. Non-exempt employees receive overtime pay or overtime leave. Employees must obtain supervisor's approval in advance of working the hours. HR recommends that supervisors obtain non-exempt employees' written approval to give leave in lieu of pay. It was pointed out that some departments only offer overtime leave for hours worked over 40; Dave still recommended having the employee provide written permission. The supervisor can also adjust the work week if the employee is required to work late one day, and let him leave earlier another day. The employee should show actual hours worked each day on his timesheet, and check the Scheduled Work Week (SWW) column. Adhering to the FLSA is important; contact HR to report any problems so supervisors can be educated. There should be a more stable way to address status issues. Training of supervisors is important. Dave handed out a FLSA Desktop Manual that will distributed by HR. Other HR issues:
Daweslyn introduced Kanisha Adkins, the new Deputy Director of the EOP Office. Karen Holt is the director of EOP, and her office is in Washington Hall. Kanisha Adkins' office is located on the 1st floor of Hospital West in the hall that connects the link to the old cafeteria, around the corner from the security office. She will primarily handle health system issues, but she is second in command over EOP at UVA. The office investigates claims of discrimination. These complaints can be very emotional. Often it is a question of what was intended to happen vs. what did happen. People need to respect each other. The EOP office also reviews the search process for new faculty and provides training on discrimination and harassment to try to educate supervisors and prevent problems from occurring. They are available for consultation; if you have a problem, please contact them. Kanisha will be attending future council meetings as a liaison. Jim Kennan stated that Dr. Cantrell is concerned about FLSA; it is the law and needs to be enforced. The Board of Visitors will meet this afternoon through Saturday afternoon. Larry Fitzgerald has reviewed the Health System's financial status. It looks good; much better that other academic settings. Leonard Sandridge requested an update on bed status. There is still a severe nursing shortage. UVA continues to try to attract new nurses. The average age of nurses is in the 40s; the average age of a nurse who teaches is 49. Normally there is a shortage every 5-7 years; this shortage is stretching out. Dr. Karen Ruben is the medical director of telemedicine. There is a whole network in SW Virginia making up for a lack of medical coverage in that area. In her spare time, she continues to be a full-time MD at UVA. Other news:
The minutes for the December meeting were approved, and discussion of the by-laws was deferred until the 2/01 meeting. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. |
