Office of Human Resources                                                                               September 2013

 HR REVIEW

Working Families Plan Ahead

Recent research suggests that children with engaged parents have better report cards, greater self-esteem and a more successful future. When parents attend a school event, they send a strong message that school is important and school and home are connected. Many of us strive to show our child(ren) how much we care about their education. Here are a few tips that may help.

• Prioritize and plan ahead for school activities. Concerts, field trips, and parent meetings are often planned during school hours. A good strategy is to sit down with your own calendar when the school schedule arrives and plan ahead for the year. It's important to talk with your child about which events are special to him or her. 
• If you cannot attend an important event, try to get a relative or friend to fill in for you. Having the event recorded through photos or video will allow you and your child to share in the occasion at a later time.  For More Information. 
• Incorporate arrangements for days off of school into your planning. Consider these resources to help you with alternative childcare.
• Make a plan for days off of school. There are a variety of "school's out" programs for children. Check with your local park district, contact Action for Children (childcare resource and referral service) or identify a family member or sitter who can provide care.
• Sittercity can help you find a sitter to pinch hit when school or other child care arrangements are not available. You can place an ad or you can scroll through profiles to find a caregiver who works for your family. In fact, there are many ways Sittercity can help - looking for an A+ Homework helper, school picker upper and snack maker? Sign up for your free Sittercity membership today!

• Check with Bright Horizons, The McGaw YMCA Children's Center and The University Children's Center about back-up care options for children under the age of 6. 
• When using center based back-up care at one of the above centers, don't forget about back-up care reimbursement.

Upcoming Workshops

ABC's of CPS: Maximize Your Success with Chicago Public Schools Admissions

Lurie Research Center, Searle Seminar Room

Learn how to effectively navigate the Chicago Public School System.

As a parent, you want to make the best choice for your child's academic future. Here in Chicago, we are lucky to have a broad range of choices in education, both public and private. However, navigating the application and selection process for those schools can be confusing, time-consuming, and overwhelming. Join us for the brown bag lunch seminar with Christine Whitley, CPS consultant, to learn about your Chicago public school options.University Children's Center will host an Open House directly after the seminar, 1:30-4:30 p.m.

For additional information or to register, contact Carly McLaughlin or 847-467-3631.

It Costs How Much? Paying for Long Term Care

Evanston: Wednesday, October 23rd,  noon - 1:00 p.m. 

Rebecca Crown Center, Hardin Hall

Chicago: Thursday, October 24th, noon - 1:00 p.m. 

Rubloff 9th floor, Lake Shore Conference Room

Many people experience "sticker shock" when they realize just how much long term care costs. For instance, the average annual cost of a nursing home is estimated at $80,000. In fact, eighty percent of long term care in this country is provided by unpaid family caregivers who often struggle to sort out the different resources and options, without a clear understanding of quality and cost. Planning ahead for the care of a loved one includes understanding the different payer sources such as Medicare, Medicaid, long term care insurance and Veteran's benefits.  This seminar will help clear up common misunderstandings about paying for long term care and provide you with important information to be a more effective caregiver. This seminar addresses the following questions:

• What are the different options for care?
• What are the different payers of long term care?
• What variables impact the cost of care?
• How can I plan ahead and be prepared for the financial realities of long term care?

National Disability Awareness Month

October is National Disability Awareness Month. Our campus buildings have emergency evacuation plans, yet many are not aware that there needs to be a separate emergency evacuation plan for people with disabilities. Unlike other plans, those for people with disabilities are tailored to individuals' needs and differing abilities - resulting in a broad array of exit strategies. Obviously, those with mobility impairments (e.g., chronic back pain) require plans that are substantively different from those in place for people with visual impairments. 

An essential step of this plan is identification. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Access (OEOA) asks that employees with disabilities self-identify with this office. Self-identification is strictly voluntary, and all information gathered will be kept as confidential as possible.

Another essential step is asking employees their ideas. As each employee and each disability is unique, so too is each building, floor, and work area. The combination of scenarios is immense, changing, and cannot be proactively investigated by one office. Please share your suggestions or concerns with OEOA, and we will work to facilitate plans where they are needed.

Some studies show more than two-thirds of people with disabilities in the United States are unemployed. National Disability Awareness Month was begun to call attention to and remove as much as possible the barriers that perpetuate this imbalance. While many obstacles plague employees and employee candidates with disabilities, a work environment free of hazard is something we all can own.

To contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, please email eeo@northwestern.edu

National Hispanic Heritage Month / Mes de la Herencia Hispana

September 15^th marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage month.  It is the start of celebrations in recognition of Hispanic history, heritage, and culture as well as the great contributions of Latino Americans to our community and country.  This month-long celebration begins on September 15^th to acknowledge the declaration of independence for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and concludes on October 15^th in acknowledgement of Columbus Day or Día de la Raza.

The Office of Equal Opportunity & Access would like to thank all of our Hispanic and Latino employees for their hard work, dedication, and contributions to Northwestern University.  It is our hope that all of our Northwestern community will find a way to celebrate by attending one or more of these locally hosted celebrations.

Salsa at Lincoln Park Zoo present by MyHabanero.com: Live music, salsa lessons, and dancing beneath the stars on a rooftop café, Café at Wild Things, in the heart of the zoo.  This event will feature some great Latin dance bands and leading salsa dance instructors.  Hosted on September 26, 2013 from 6-9pm and the cost is $20 per person.  Beverages will be available for purchase. For more information and to reserve a spot, visit http://www.lpzoo.org/events.

Into the Beautiful North: "Presenting historical accounts and period imagery from earlier 20th Century 'waves' of Mexican immigration to the U.S. to analyze, enhance and further stimulate interpretive discussion of Into the Beautiful North."  This event will take place at the Roosevelt Public Library located at 1101 W. Taylor St. at 6pm on October 2, 2013. 

9^th Annual Global Latino Fest: This year the Global Latino fest will take place at the Historic Germania Place in the Gold Coast on October 11^th at 6pm to close out Hispanic Heritage month.  The theme will travel you through Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico.  As in prior years, this fest will continue to support a non-profit organization and this year's organization is The Resurrection Project.  More specifically, all funds raised through the Global Latino fest will go towards an innovative educational project called "La Casa."  La Casa is an initiative that combines affordable housing and support services to students least likely to earn a bachelor's degree. For more details, visit https://www.facebook.com/GlobalLatinoFest2013.

For more events during National Hispanic Heritage month that are not listed here and for updates on upcoming events, visit http://www.myhabanero.com/.

Job Descriptions: Duties and Responsibilities (Principal Accountabilities)

Writing effective job descriptions and improving their quality and usability requires a sound understanding of the critical components. We continue the job description series with the duties and responsibilities section, titled "Principal Accountabilities" at Northwestern. 

The "duties and responsibilities" section describes the most important outcomes (not an exhaustive list of tasks) of the job.  It may be difficult to think of the job in terms of outcomes at the outset; so starting with a list of specific tasks is often helpful.  Related tasks can then be grouped into a larger grouping of duties and a final grouping of responsibilities that identify overall responsibilities. The chart below illustrates the progression from task to responsibility. 

Example:

Essential Functions are those duties that are critical, integral, necessary, crucial, primary, and/or fundamental. These are the job duties that an employee must be able to perform with or without reasonable accommodation.  (Please see the May 2013 HR Review Compensation article: Essential Functions for more details).

This duties and responsibilities section should answer the following questions:

• What action is completed?  (Use an action verb to begin each sentence).      
• Who or what is the action directed to?  (Describe the person or object receiving the action).
• How is the action completed?  (List the methods to do the work).
• Why is the action completed?  (Describe the reason for performing the action).  
• Is this an Essential Duty? (yes or no)?   
• What percentage of job total time is devoted to this duty? (0-100% totaling 100%).

Example using chart above as a guideline.

Administration

• Prepares, drafts and edits manuscripts, grants, scientific, technical and correspondence documents for management (action completed and who directed to) using the style manual and procedures handbook (how it is completed) to communicate with researchers and agencies (why it is completed) 50% of time; Essential Function   
• Enters information, creates equations, compiles and produces reports, statistics and presentations for management (action completed and who directed to) using spreadsheet, database and presentation software (how it is completed) to summarize and report on research or department progress (why it is completed) 30% of time; Essential Function.

On-line Presence  

• Maintains department's on-line presence by writing articles and reports, uploading pictures and videos (action completed and who directed to) using website software, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (how it is completed) to advertise department accomplishments and communicate with internal and external audiences.  20% of time; Essential Function

Once the duties and responsibilities have been written, allow for flexibility to assign additional duties not specified within the job description with a final statement such as "Completes other duties as assigned".

Federal Copyright Law Compliance

As the new school year begins, it is a good time for a reminder about the importance of complying with federal copyright law.  The use of Northwestern network or equipment to download or share copyright-protected material in violation of federal copyright law is prohibited.  Employees who engage in these practices are in violation of University policy and this type of activity is subject to disciplinary action, as well as civil and criminal penalties.

Media owners are continuing their efforts to curtail unlawful file sharing, including movies, music, television shows, and software.  Several high profile cases have been resolved over the past few years, with substantial awards being given to the industry.
 
If you have engaged in file-sharing activity (such as the downloading of movies, music, TV shows or software) in violation of federal copyright law, you should immediately cease any such illegal file-sharing activity and the use or distribution of any illegally obtained material.  Peer-to-peer software should be deleted from University-owned machines unless there is a business, educational, or research need for the software.  Also, when working remotely on the traditional VPN, keep in mind that all your traffic goes through the Northwestern network and is subject to these same penalties.  Northwestern requires members of its community to respect the intellectual property of others and to abide by all applicable laws.

If you have questions or would like additional information, you may contact Roger Safian, Senior Data Security Analyst, at r-safian@northwestern.edu or 847-467-6437.

Kronos Upgrade News

The Kronos upgrade from version 6.1 to 6.3 is progressing. We are currently in the middle of testing and documentation. The new version of Kronos will improve the Java 7 compatibility issue. With this upgrade, we are expecting minimal changes to the process and functionality of the application. Our expected go-live date is now late September 2013. We will notify you when demonstration dates are confirmed.

New FASIS Self Service Portal

In October, FASIS will launch a Portal to all University Self Service users. The Portal is a web-based tool that will facilitate access for users to personal information, self service functionality and resources.

A pilot group has been beta testing the Portal since August 2012 to complete their training and disclosure of financial interests for research sponsored by federal agencies, sponsors adopting the PHS regulations, and research involving human subjects. As a result of the valuable feedback from this group, the Portal has been redesigned in order to provide an even more rich, contemporary and intuitive user experience.

Some of the exciting features the FASIS Self Service Portal will provide include:

• Rebranded FASIS pages to a more "Northwestern" color scheme.
• Drop down accordions to organize and access frequently used FASIS pages.
• Modal windows to make updates and elections.
• A news section to keep users informed of upcoming HR deadlines.
• Easy navigation to valuable HR web links.

Positioning Yourself for Leadership Role

HRD975: Positioning Yourself for a Leadership Role

October 24, 9:00 a.m. - Noon

Evanston

$165

Register

Transitioning From Peer to Manager

HRD965: Transitioning From Peer to Manager

October 24, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Evanston

$165

Register

L&OD offers a variety of workshops and additional opportunities to help improve workplace performance. Check them out! Follow our Twitter feed to get L&OD's best picks of upcoming events and learning resources.Questions? Comments? Contact the L&OD team at workplace-learning@northwestern.edu or 847-467-5081.

Exempt Staff Time Off Entry Deadlines for Fiscal Year 2013:

Employee Entry by the 6th; Manager Approval by the 12th

• Employees -Time off must be entered by Friday September 6^th.
• Managers - Must approve their employee's timecard by Thursday, September 12^th.

Fall Hires

As the fall hiring season approaches, please keep these important compliance issues in mind.  Hiring paperwork for temporary employees must  be submitted within 5 business days of hire to comply with Illinois labor laws.  Please send hiring paperwork as soon as possible to the Payroll Office.  Please refer to the biweekly cut-off schedule for submission deadlines to ensure paperwork is processed in time for employees to enter their work hours in Kronos:  http://www.northwestern.edu/hr/managers-administrators/payroll-administration/BiweeklyCutoffs_2013.pdf

To comply with I-9 and E-Verify laws, Section 1 of the I-9 must be completed no later than the first day of employment. Section 1 of the I-9 is done by the employee and can be done from any computer.  Section 2 of the I-9 must be done no later than the third day of employment.  The employee must show their documents in person to an NU representative.  If an employee cannot complete the I-9 Section 1 or Section 2 by these deadlines, the employee cannot begin working.  Holding paperwork until the I-9 is completed is still a violation of the law and can result in non-compliance penalties.

CTA Chicago Card Pre-Tax Deduction Participants

There have been numerous stories and commercials in the local media regarding the Chicago Transit Authority's new Ventra card program. You may be wondering how this will impact your pre-tax deductions that are currently loaded onto your CTA Chicago Card.

The CTA has indicated that communications to riders participating in employer pre-tax deduction programs will occur in late September or in early October. Additional updates will be provided as we receive information from the CTA.