AU HR Newsletter

Thanksgiving Holiday

Thanksgiving holidays will be observed on Wednesday - Friday, November 25-27.

Employees who are not scheduled to work on these dates, but who are eligible for holidays (i.e. Regular non-student employees), should be afforded equivalent time off as close to the holiday date as is practical.

The 2009 holiday schedule is summarized here.

Revised EEOC Poster

The law requires an employer to post notices describing the Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, equal pay, disability and genetic information. Recently the EEOC issued a revised "Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law" poster. This new version reflects current federal employment discrimination law (including the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008). The poster was revised to add information about the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, which is effective November 21, 2009.
The revised poster can be downloaded at http://www.auburn.edu/administration/human_resources/forms/eeopost.pdf

HR Newsletter Archives

Has anything about the above-mentioned Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) ever been covered in the HR News?*

We've set up an HR News archive which contains copies of our HR Newsletter from the past few years. We hope the archive will be convenient if you need to refresh your memory about news items which were published earlier.

* As a matter of fact, we announced GINA in the June, 2008 issue.

Seminar on Savings and Investment Basics

HRD will offer a seminar on Savings and Investment Basics, another in the "Managing Finances in Tough Economic Times" series, on November 19, 2009, from 2:30 to 4:30 in the HRD Training Facility. This seminar’s focus is on the importance of saving money, and to that end, it will explain financial goal setting (short, mid, and long term) and options for saving for each of the goals established. In addition to this process for savings, the facilitator Ms. Amanda Harrison, an instructor in the College of Business’ Department of Finance, will further emphasize saving money for children’s education and the various options available for this important investment. To attend, register in A-Train, https://atrains.auburn.edu/login.asp or contact Pamela Rogers at pkr0001@auburn.edu or 844-7363 for more information.

Annual Leave Carryover

Auburn University policy limits the amount of annual leave which full-time employees may carry forward from one calendar year to the next as follows: exempt (monthly) employees, two years' accrual (320 hours); nonexempt (biweekly) with 10 or more years of continuous service, two years' accrual (320 hours); and nonexempt (biweekly) with nine or fewer years of continuous service, one year's accrual (97.76-160 hours). The maximum carryover hours for nonexempt employees with nine or fewer years of service varies, depending on the employee's length of service. Leave carryover for part-time employees is prorated based on the percentage of full time they are employed.

In order to account for leave taken in 2009, biweekly employees must report all leave they wish to have charged against 2009 prior to Dec. 14, and monthly employees must report all leave they wish to have charged against 2009 prior to Dec. 10. Leave requests received after these cutoff dates will be charged against calendar year 2010. Questions about annual leave balances, accrual and usage may be directed to Mary Turner or Michael Hill in Human Resources at 844-4145.

Expansion of Military FMLA

The FY 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2647), which was signed into law last month, includes an expansion of the FMLA benefits for military families, which became law in January of 2008.

Military caregiver leave is expanded to cover family members of members of guard and reserve as well as active-duty military. It also covers cases where active-duty service aggravated an existing condition (previously covered only illness/injury incurred while on active duty.

Qualifying exigency leave is extended to family members of internationally-deployed members of the regular Armed Forces, in addition to deployed members of the Guard and Reserve.

HRD to Present Balancing Work and Family Workshop

Dr. Scott Ketring, Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy in Human Development and Family Studies, will balance present the seminar "Balancing Work and Family" on November 18, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Human Resource Development (HRD) Training Facility. This seminar focuses on the changes that have taken place in sharing home and family work when both adult partners are employed. Dr. Ketring will cover these topics: How household labor was divided; how it currently is divided; and what can be done to improve the strain of juggling work, family, and housework. To attend, register in A-Train, https://atrains.auburn.edu/login.asp or contact Pamela Rogers at pkr0001@auburn.edu or 844-7363 for more information.

Spirit of Excellence Winners

Each month AU presents Spirit of Excellence awards to four employees for outstanding service.

Recipients for April 2009 are:

Category	Name	Unit
Office/Admin	Carol Mims	NCAT
Administrative/Professional	Tanja Matthews	Alumni Affairs
Service Maintenance	Steve Mann	General Construction
Technical/Paraprofessional	James Sides	Mechanical Shop
Do you know a fellow AU employee whose performance is consistently beyona what is expected? One who exemplifies professionalism and routinely puts forth extra effort? One whose contribution to the department's or university's mission is significant? If so, that person would be a perfect nominee for AU's monthly Spirit of Excellence award. You can link to the nomination form at http://www.auburn.edu/administration/human_resources/forms/spirit.pdf.

Moving? Want to Continue Your Career in Higher Ed?

The Department of Human Resources routinely receives position announcements from other colleges and universities. These are maintained in notebooks in the lobby of our department in the basement of Langdon Hall. Please feel free to come by to review these during our lobby hours of 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m, Monday through Friday.

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The Office of Human Resources is open Monday through Friday, 7:45 am to 4:45 pm Central Time (except holidays)
Human Resources | Langdon Hall | Auburn University, AL 36849-5126 USA | 334.844.4145
©2009