Library Administration

Monthly Employee

All monthly paid employees are considered exempt staff and are exempt from accumulating overtime or compensatory (comp) time. Exempt staff are paid a salary and may be required to work more than 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week with no additional compensation.  Exempt staff are paid on the 1^st business day of each month.

Exempt employee is an employee in a position that is not subject to the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Exempt employees include professionals, administrators, and executives and are paid on a monthly basis. - PS 02.A.01 Policy on Working Hours

Compensatory (Comp) Time is paid time off that can be used in the future in lieu of paying the employee overtime for hours worked in excess of forty (40) per week. - PS 02.A.01 - Policy on Working Hours

Updated: July 29, 2022 - MJ

Student Worker

Federal and state funds provide part-time jobs for students who exhibit financial need, as determined through the FAFSA or TAFSA and the University's estimated Cost of Attendance. These work study funds are not awarded to all those who meet the eligibility requirements. Maximum college work study award is $5000 ($2500 per semester).

Students must be enrolled in at least six credit hours and be awarded Texas Work Study to be eligible for employment at the Library. 

Student workers are paid on a bi-weekly schedule but are not eligible for overtime, comp time or holiday pay. Students earn an hourly wage and can work up to 20 hours per week.

Compensatory (Comp) Time is paid time off that can be used in the future in lieu of paying the employee overtime for hours worked in excess of forty (40) per week. - PS 02.A.01 - Policy on Working Hours

Documented: August 4, 2022 - MJ

Time Approvals

A bi-weekly pay week begins at 12:00 am on Wednesday and ends at 11:59 pm on the following Tuesday. Each pay period covers two pay weeks (example: 7/6/22 - 7/12/22 is week 1 and 7/13/22 - 7/19/22 will be week 2). Supervisors, or payroll approvers, are instructed to approve their staff’s time each Wednesday morning, no later than noon.  Supervisors should review each of their staff’s punch times for each day for that week, correct punch time errors, approve absences, and address time exceptions. 

• Schedule changes such as changing from 5  8-hour workdays, to 4 10-hour workdays, and vice-versa require pre approval from the supervisor and AD.

• An employee currently working 4 10-hour workdays with a request to change their off day requires pre approval from their supervisor and AD. 

• A non-exempt employee must receive permission from their supervisor to clock in "early" or to "make up" time missed for lateness, etc.

• A non-exempt employee must not perform any duties off the clock.  

Supervisors are responsible for monitoring work hours of non-exempt staff to ensure comp time and extra hours worked have been authorized.  Non-exempt staff may not make unauthorized decisions to work over their 40 hours per week. 

*All bi-weekly payroll approvers receive weekly emails letting them know when each week has finalized and to review and clear high exceptions and approve all payable time.* 

Monthly (Exempt) Staff

Exempt staff do not punch in and out.  Exempt staff do claim absences (vacation, sick, etc.) via PeopleSoft to be approved by their supervisor.

Updated: July 29, 2022 - MJ

Payroll Verification

Payroll verification is done to verify that the amount of salary or wage received by each employee is correct. Bi-Weekly and Monthly Verifications are run during the month, after notification from the Payroll Department that the verification is available. Bi-Weekly staff will generally have three verifications (an initial trial, second trial, and final verification) while monthly staff will typically have two (trial and final verification). 

Correction to trail payroll should be done before the due dates set by and emailed by payroll. Corrections after the due dates will be processed in the next pay cycle, meaning the employee might have to wait until the next pay period for the adjustment to be reflected. ALL bi-weekly payroll approvers receive emails from UHD Payroll indicating when to review time and instructing when payroll will finalize.

Bi-Weekly Verifications

The pay week for bi-weekly staff runs from Wednesday - Tuesday.  Each pay period covers two pay weeks (example: 7/6/22 - 7/12/22 is week 1 and 7/13/22 - 7/19/22 will be week 2). All payroll approvers receive weekly emails letting them know when each week has finalized and to review and clear high exceptions and approve all payable time. The Administrative Assistant will check to make sure that time approvers have approved absences, cleared exceptions and approved payable time for their employees. 

Once notification is received that the trial verification is ready, the Administrative Assistant will run the report and again review all bi-weekly staff, including student workers to ensure that payable time is accurate for each employee.

The Administrative Assistant will reach out to an employee's supervisor to:

• Approve any pending time
• Clear exceptions
• Approve or credit back absences

Employees will be contacted if their hours are incorrect and adjustments will not be processed until the next payroll period. Not submitting all payable time before payroll has finalized, adjustments made after payroll has finalized and issues with the system could cause an employee's time to be processed the next payroll period. 

Supervisors and/or employees will be contacted with questions or concerns but it is up to the employee to make sure that all payable time has been submitted and approved by their supervisor.

After running the initial verification, the Administrative Assistant, once notified, will run a second trial and/or a final verification. Each time checking to make sure that the wage is correct for each employee. ESO might need to be contacted for assistance with system errors or issues with correcting an employee's payable time. 

Compensatory time will be highlighted on the report. Comments will be made to indicate corrections needed or for overages.

Monthly Verifications

Once notification is received from Payroll, the Financial Assistant will run the initial verification report. Monthly staff will be notified if corrections need to be made. ESO will be contacted if assistance is needed.

Documented: July 29, 2022 - MJ

Monthly - Exempt Staff

Are not required by law or University Policy to clock in and out for lunch.  An exempt staff is not restricted by law or University policy whether to take 30 minutes or an hour for lunch.  An exempt staff in not restricted by law or University policy to take the same amount of lunch time each day.  When and how much time an exempt staff lunches is at the exempt staff's discretion as long as their supervisor approves. 

Bi-Weekly- Non Exempt Staff

Are required by law and University Policy to take lunch if working 8 hours or more per day.  University Policy mandates that non-exempt staff working 8 hours or more should take a one hour lunch, unless other arrangements are made with the supervisor. This applies to 30 minute lunches as well. 

How to request permission for 30 minute lunches:

The employee must email their supervisor, explaining their circumstances and request to take a 30 minute lunch.  The email should be copied to the Assistant Director of the area, the Library Director, and DBA.  

If the employee is granted 30 minute lunches the supervisor will need to comment each day in TRAM that the employee has the department's approval to take 30 minute lunches.

Student Worker

Student workers are not required to take a lunch break but will need to take a break if working a consecutive 6 hour period. If a student would like a break, they can ask their supervisor.

• This break can be taken in 15-minute increments (not back-to-back) where the student does not have to clock out.
• If the student chooses to take a full 30-minute break (not in 15-minute increments), the student must clock out.
• The student can take an hour lunch, but this is not required.
• Supervisors should make sure that student workers are not taking more than 15-minute breaks without clocking out.

Please note:

There are some UHD departments that are exempt from the mandatory one hour lunch and do not require preapproval from their supervisor. This is dependent on the type of services the department/area provides; and the amount of coverage the department/area has- and any other extenuating circumstances that department may have. That arrangement has been approved by HR and the Department Head pertaining to that Department/Area's extenuating circumstances.

Updated: August 4, 2022 - MJ

Employee Leave/Absence

Both exempt and non-exempt staff are required to submit a request for leave/absences whether for vacation, sick, jury duty, etc. There are occasions when an employee is out and they haven’t had the chance to submit a leave request.  If their absence request is not completed by the time payroll approvals are due then the supervisor must submit a request on their direct reports behalf.

This section will briefly outline the most common types of leave benefits provided by the State of Texas to its employees. UHD Policy concerning each type of leave, those discussed here and those provided as a benefit, are linked below.

Vacation

All benefits-eligible employees are eligible for vacation hours. Employees begin accumulating vacation hours as soon as they are employed with UHD or the State of Texas and are eligible to use these vacation hours after completing six months of continuous employment. If the employee is transferring from another State of Texas institution with transferring vacation hours, the employee is restricted from using the transferring vacation hours prior to six months of employment with UHD, unless approved by their supervisor.

Sick

Full-time UHD employees earn eight hours of sick leave per month. Part-time UHD employees earn pro-rated sick leave hours based on the percentage of time worked. Sick leave can be used as soon as they are available to an employee but after a period of more than three consecutive sick days, a doctor's release to return to work must be submitted.

Important:  Employees can miss up to (3) consecutive days due to illness and return on the fourth day without a doctor’s note.

After a period of more than three consecutive days of sick leave, a doctor's note must be submitted to your supervisor before you return to regular duty. When an employee misses more than 3 consecutive days of work due to illness, a doctor’s release to return to regular duty must be submitted by the employee to the supervisor before the employee may return to work and be eligible for accumulated sick leave with pay. The supervisor should inform the employee to contact the Director of Benefits & Compensation and library administration.  The Director of Benefits & Compensation will inform the employee what they need to do to return to work.

The employee is not allowed to return to work until the Director of Benefits & Compensation has cleared them. The supervisor and/or DBA will be informed by the Director of Benefits & Compensation as to when the employee has been cleared to return to work.  This is very important and there are no exceptions on the department level for this.  The clearance must come from ESO.

Family and Medical Leave (FML)

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires an employer to grant up to 12 weeks of job protected leave to eligible employees for certain qualified medical conditions. To qualify, you must have 12 cumulative months of state employment and worked 1250 hours in the year immediately prior to the first day off from work.

Bereavement

The University provides emergency leave with pay in the event of a death within the immediate family. "Immediate family" is defined as spouse, children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents or grandchildren, including in-laws. Bereavement leave cannot be accumulated. The amount of time allowed will depend on the circumstances and at the discretion of the Library Director.

An employee requesting bereavement leave, must submit a request to their supervisor, identifying the relationship of the deceased to the employee. The supervisor must inform the Library Director and Library Administration of the request. The amount of time allowed will depend on the circumstances and is at the discretion of the Library Director. Requests are typically approved for 3-5 days of leave and should not exceed five days. Requests for additional time must be conveyed to the Library Director who will request approval from ESO.

Jury Duty

Notify your supervisor in advance that you have Jury Duty.  When the employee is released from Jury Duty they must receive a release form from the courts. The release gives the time(s) the employee was detained for Duty.  The employee will need to log into P.A.S.S. and claim a “jury duty absence”.  If the employee was kept for 6 or more hours, then they should receive a full (8) hours of jury duty absence pay.  If less than 6 hours, then the employee will claim a jury duty absence for the amount of hours they were at jury duty.  If they choose to take the remainder of the day off then the employee must claim the remainder of their work day hours using a vacation request.  The release form must be uploaded into the jury duty absence request for verification.

Unpaid leave

Leave of absence without pay is an authorized temporary release of a staff member from payroll and implies intent from the employee to return to work, as well as intent from the university to return the employee to work. Unpaid leave is for employees that have exalted all of their paid leave balances, except for disciplinary suspensions, active military duty, and worker's compensation situations. An employee may be granted a leave of absence without pay for sufficient reason for a period not to exceed 12 months. An employee can submit a request for unpaid leave by emailing their supervisor and the Library Director. The request should contain how many hours you need unpaid (ex: 4 hours) and the times (ex: 1pm-5pm). 

Updated: August 26, 2022 - MJ

Hiring Library Staff

Professional Library Staff are Librarians, AD's, DBA's and Supervisors (Acquisitions & Computer Lab).

Nonprofessional Library Staff are Library Assistant's, Administrative Assistant, Financial Assistants

To hire library staff, the financial assistant will need to create an electronic Personnel Request Form (ePRF). Please see the e-PRF manual below for detailed instructions.

To hire professional library staff:

• The library director and hiring manager (usually the direct supervisor) will meet to update the job description, if needed.
  • The DBA and financial assistant will work with ESO to make the approved updates to the job description.
• The hiring manager will form a hiring committee to assist with the interviews and hiring process.
• The financial assistant will create a Requisition in TALEO.
  • Templates are available in TALEO for non-professional library staff, however templates for librarians are not always available and will need to be created using a word document and uploaded into the requisition.
• Once approved, Talent Management in ESO will post the position on the ESO website. The hiring manager might want the position posted on other websites, such as TLA, as well and will inform library administration of this.
  • ESO will keep the position posted for up to 2 weeks. The financial assistant will need to ask the hiring manager if the posting needs to be extended.
    • If the posting needs to be extended, the financial assistant will reach out to ESO and request to have the posting extended for the time period requested by the hiring manager.
• The hiring manager will screen the applicants and set up phone interviews.
• Selected candidates will be offered an in-person interview. Please see Procedures for In-Person Interviews. This only applies to candidates for professional staff positions.
• Professional staff in-person interviews usually follow the below schedule:
  • Welcome (meet with direct supervisor)
  • Coffee Break with library staff
  • Tour of W.I. Dykes Library
  • Presentation and Open Forum with library staff
  • Lunch
  • Meet with Search Committee
  • Meet with library director and hiring manager
• If the hiring committee is interested in hiring an applicant, the financial assistant will submit an offer letter in TALEO.
  • The offer letter will contain the salary for the position. 
  • The candidate can submit a counter offer. The department can choose to decline or accept the counter offer.
  • The candidate can also choose not to accept the position.
• ESO will let the department know of any counter offers or denial from the candidate. If the department declines the counter offer, the candidate may decline the position. 
• Once a decision on salary has been made, ESO will reach out to the candidate and confirm a start date.
• If the candidate declines the offer, the department can choose to send an offer letter to another candidate that interviewed or post the position again. 

To hire nonprofessional library staff:

The above procedures except for the in-person interview schedule and procedures apply. Candidates for nonprofessional staff positions can be offered phone interviews and, if selected for an in-person interview, the candidate(s) will meet with the hiring manager and hiring committee. No coffee break, lunch or open forum is needed or provided. 

Updated: September 29, 2022 - MJ

Hiring Committee

Department Work Study Students

Types of Work Study Defined:

Federal Work Study

-(FWS) is a government subsidized student employment program designed to assist students in financing their college education.  This award is available for the Fall and Spring semesters.

Texas Work Study

-The purpose of (TXWS) is to provide part-time jobs to eligible students with financial need to enable them to attend college. Students must be Texas residents and maintain enrollment is 6 credit hours. This award is available for the Fall and Spring semesters.

Non College Work Study

-(NCWS) is available for students who do not qualify for FWS or TXWS.  But, the award does not come from Financial Aid.  NCWS are paid from Department Funds.  NCWS is not restricted to Fall and Spring Semesters and are at the departments description.

The library utilizes TXWS at the discretion of Financial Aid.  During the Fall and Spring semesters the library hires students who have TXWS awards.  The TXWS students that work well during the Fall and Spring semesters are moved to the library's department funds during the winter break and summer semester and reclassified as NCWS.

Hiring Work Study Students (adapted from UHD College Work-Study Guide for Supervisors, 2022-2023):

DBAs process:

• Prepare and print the paper version of the Position Request Form (PRF) from HR PeopleSoft.
• Get a headcount of the number of student workers needed for the semester (Fall/Spring) for the library. The Library will hire/have on staff no more than 10 student workers each fiscal year.
• Complete the Work-Study Program Agreement Form with signatures and send both to the Work-Study Coordinator in Financial Aid and Employment Services.
• Create one Position Request Form for returning and replacement student employees up to your student headcount.
• To rehire work-study students, use the PS system to create the e-PAR (Electric Personnel Action Request). Attach these items to the e-PAR:
  • Current Financial Aid Award Statement showing the accepted work-study award
  • Current Class Schedule and
  • Position Request Form, Approved by the Work-Study Coordinator
  • Work-Study Program Agreement Form
• If previous employees need funding, email the Work-Study Coordinator their name and student ID to verify their eligibility. Funds may be limited by the spring semester.
• The e-PARs may be recycled if documents are missing. A checklist is available to assist in submitting and maintaining the required forms.
• Use the TALEO system to post the job position to generate student applicants. Students should attach these items to their job application:
  • Resume
  • Current Financial Aid Award Statement showing the accepted work-study award and 
  • Current Class Schedule

Approving Students in TALEO

• To hire replacement employees to fill needed positions, the Financial Assistant will create a Requisition in TALEO.
• Once approved, Talent Management in ESO will post the position on the ESO website for students.
• Students interested in work-study will apply for positions closest to their major or interest.
• Students need to attach:
  • A resume
  • Current class schedule
  • Current Financial Aid Award Statement
• ESO will review applicants in TALEO.
• With the position posted, the Financial Assistant will begin pre-screening student applicants - which include but not limited to
  • Ensuring student is enrolled in at least 6 college credit hours in the semester he/she is applying for a job.
  • Ensuring student has TXWS or is TXWS eligible
  • Phone and/or in person interviews to determine where the student best fits in the library - depending on the needs of the library.
• The Financial Assistant will send a list of student applicants to the DBA for review and to verify that the students meet the pre-screened criteria listed above. Once the DBA reviews the list, the DBA will let the Financial Assistant know which candidates to submit to the supervisor for student workers in the selected areas.
• The Financial Assistant will provide the supervisor for student workers in the selected areas a list of student applicants who meet the pre-screened criteria. The supervisor will specify who they would like to interview.
• The Financial Assistant will correspond with the student(s) and provide a day and time to interview with the supervisor.
• If the manager is interesting in hiring the student, the Financial Assistant will submit a student offer letter in TALEO, which will initiate a background check.
• Once the student's background has been cleared the Financial Assistant will set up an orientation to go over department policy and procedures, what they can expect from us and what we expect from them in terms of a working relationship.
• During the orientation the student(s):
  • Completes new hire paperwork with ESO
  • Meets with manager to determine a working schedule and
  • Confirm the a start date
• IT will provide the student with network access (UHD work email)
• Within 24-48 hours of getting network access, the student will need to get set up in P.A.S.S.
  • Please follow directions in word document below titled "PASS Access for Student Workers".
• Student must be on the lookout for Mandatory Online Training email link.
  • Students are informed of Training during Orientation.  They sign a form of acknowledgement; and the form is placed in their file.
• To Access Mandatory Online Training, Student must clock in via email link using P.A.S.S log in and password information.
• Student workers must complete all listed training and print out a screenshot showing their completion. This information is to be brought to Library Admin. and placed in the student's file. 

Note: EPARs for rehires are submitted in PeopleSoft, which goes to the CWS Coordinator electronically for approval. TALEO is used for new hires, students who have not worked in the department or position before. The Coordinator will access the student's eligibility, award and approve the TALEO document. Employment Services will finalize the hiring process with the student and the hiring department.

Updated: August 30, 2022 - MJ