Archive

January 26, 2006

Professional Staff Program changes go into effect Feb. 1

Changes ranging from a longer bereavement leave to additional performance evaluation options are coming to the Professional Staff Program Feb. 1. The revisions are the first in the program since 2000 and were part of the University’s planned review of the Professional Staff Program for 2005.

“Some of the revisions came about because the University wanted to ensure that the Professional Staff Program stays contemporary and that certain elements of the program, like a new definition for family member, are consistent with the UW’s other employment programs (classified, faculty),” said Bruce Miller, human resource analyst. “Others were worked out by Human Resources in collaboration with representatives of the Professional Staff Organization.”

A summary of all the changes can be found on the chart below.

In addition to broadening the definition of family member (to include, for example, stepparents and stepchildren), the program now increases bereavement leave from one to three days and drops the requirement to return pay for jury duty to the University.

The Professional Staff Organization has been looking at the policy for some time and proposed some changes to HR, PSO Chair Alicia Palacio said. “It started when Marilyn Gray was our chair, and she suggested that the PSO board take a good look at the policy. We sent out e-mail to the PSO membership, asking for suggestions.”

Eventually, a small group of PSO members got together to go through the policy page by page to identify changes they thought should be made.

“By last summer, we were ready to bring our concerns to HR to talk about what might be done,” Palacio said.

The joint HR-PSO group continued meeting through the summer and eventually came up with an agreement on revisions, which were approved by the University Human Resources Committee.

None of the changes is radical. One, for example, clarifies that overtime exempt professional staff are generally not required to use paid leave for part day absences, provided they are not unusually frequent or lengthy. All absences and use of leave still need the supervisor’s approval. Another provides examples of the types of activities for which professional leave may be authorized.

PSO was particularly interested in seeing professional staff be allowed to use a reasonable amount of work time to serve as members of University councils and committees. “We had heard from various professional staff members that they were very hesitant to ask their managers if they could participate in University service,” Palacio said. “Some were clearly told they could not take time off.”

The new policy explicitly states that service on a University committee or council is considered part of work time and not charged to leave.

The new policy also clarifies a change in overtime eligibility that had been creating confusion. Previously, professional staff had been classified as level 1, 2, or 3, with only level 1 eligible for overtime as required by federal regulation. When a change in the law required that some level 2 employees be eligible for overtime, they were moved to level 1.

“To the employees, that felt like a demotion, even though the only difference was that they became eligible for overtime,” Miller said. “So we decided to remove the implied hierarchy that the numerical levels created.”

After Feb. 1, professional staff positions will be designated overtime covered (formerly level 1), overtime exempt (formerly level 2) and overtime exempt—grades 11-14 (formerly level 3).

Many professional staff employees are interested in having people other than their supervisors give input on performance evaluations, so a change in the policy says they may suggest other people to provide feedback on their performance.

And finally, the new policy states that a professional staff employee can bring an observer to meetings that are part of the professional staff complaint process and specifies that retaliating against an employee who files a complaint is prohibited.

“We thought it might be helpful for someone going to a meeting having a bearing on his or her employment to be able to bring someone along,” Palacio said. “And it was nice to have the no retaliation rule put in writing.”

But she added that the PSO still doesn’t believe that professional staff employees really have a grievance procedure. She said the organization plans to continue looking at the Professional Staff Program and lobbying for changes they think would be useful.

In addition to making changes in the policy, HR has created a revised Web site which they believe will make it easier for professional staff employees to find information they want. A preview of the new site can be found at https://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/pol.proc/prostaff/new/index.html After Feb. 1, the site will be at http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/pol.proc/prostaff/index.html  

HR has been sponsoring information sessions on the changes. The last of these is scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30 in T-739 Health Sciences Center.

Topic	Change
Definition of family member	Definition of family member revised so that the same description is used for faculty, professional staff and classified staff.
Bereavement leave	Entitlement increased from one day (with option to approve an additional two days) to three days in the event of the death of an employee’s family member.
Civil duty leave	Employees are no longer required to return to the UW payment received for jury duty.
Professional leave	Description of professional leave revised to provide examples of the types of activities for which professional leave may be authorized.  Retains unit discretion for approval of requests.
Role & value of professional staff; role of professional staff in University service	Adds philosophical statement regarding professional staff members’ many contributions to the University.  Service as an elected or appointed member of a University committee or council is normally considered part of the work assignment, not charged to leave. Departments may also approve the use of reasonable amounts of work time for an employee’s voluntary participation in other forms of University service.
Part day absences for overtime exempt staff	Clarifies that overtime exempt professional staff are not normally required to take leave for part day absences as long as they are not unusually frequent or lengthy.  Part day absences that do not require leave use still require supervisory approval.
At-will nature of the appointment	The at-will nature of professional staff appointments is clarified by providing additional explanation of the statement that termination actions/reasons may not violate public policy.
Performance evaluation	Added statement that employee may suggest other individuals available to provide additional feedback on performance. The employee should receive a copy of the completed, signed evaluation.
Program levels and overtime status	The level 1, 2, 3 structure is replaced by distinction between overtime covered (formerly level 1) and overtime exempt (formerly level 2) and overtime exempt—grades 11-14 (formerly level 3) professional staff positions.
Complaint process	A professional staff employee, with 24 hours notice, may bring an observer of their choice to meetings that are part of the professional staff complaint process. Specifies that it is a violation of University policy to retaliate against an employee for use of the professional staff or other complaint process.