Author: Joe Matise

Organizational Charts

Joe Matise

Organizational charts (Org charts) provide insight into the structure and organization of a team, unit, department, college/division, etc. and convey organizational context and relevant information that is difficult to incorporate into the text of a job description. When submitting requests to review, create, or update positions, it is important to include/attach updated org charts to PeopleAdmin (PA7) actions. To review org chart guidelines, examples and how to create them, please visit the Talent Solutions website for more information.

 

ADA Form Q&A

Joe Matise

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment against qualified individuals with disabilities. In addition, the ADA requires employers to identify and document the essential functions of each position. Essential functions are the primary tasks in each position that must be performed with or without the assistance of reasonable accommodations.

At NC State, when positions are created and updated, in addition to a job description, an ADA Form must be completed and submitted for review.

Who is Protected?

To be protected under the ADA, an individual must have, have a record of, or be regarded as having a substantial impairment. A substantial impairment is one that significantly limits or restricts a major life activity such as hearing, seeing, speaking, breathing, performing manual tasks, walking, caring for oneself, learning or working. The definition of impairment is often broader than one might expect and can be inclusive of impairments such as ADHD.

It is important to note that an individual with a disability must also be qualified to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation, in order to be protected by the ADA.

What is the purpose of the ADA form?

The purpose of completing the ADA form is to indicate the physical activities required in carrying out the essential functions of a position. This information is used to document the physical and mental requirements of jobs. This information is used is used in a variety of ways such as cases of worker’s compensation, evaluations of reasonable accommodation, setting the requirements for positions, ADA analysis, etc.

How are essential functions determined?

Essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation. The employer should carefully examine each job to determine which functions or tasks are essential to performance. These essential functions should be frequently evaluated for accuracy and any necessary updates.

What is reasonable accommodation?

Reasonable accommodation is any change or adjustment to a job or work environment that permits a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the job application process, to perform the essential functions of a job, or to enjoy benefits and privileges of employment equal to those enjoyed by employees without disabilities

It is a violation of the ADA to fail to provide reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified individual with a disability, unless to do so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the organization.

What does Undue Hardship mean?

Undue hardship means that the accommodation would be unduly costly, extensive, substantial or disrupted, or would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the organization.

ADA at NC State

NC State provides equal opportunity in all of its programs, activities and services, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other applicable laws that prohibit disability discrimination. The University strives for the complete inclusion of individuals with disabilities as part of our commitment to creating and maintaining an equitable and diverse community.

Partnerships exist across the University to ensure that we meet our obligations and goals. Offices such as the Disability Services Office, Human Resources, Office of Information Technology, Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity help serve employees and students who qualify for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A number of resources exist to provide additional information about the ADA:

Important Reminders from Talent Solutions

Joe Matise

Graduating Student Workers Who Need to Continue to Work

If you have student workers who will continue to work after they have graduated, or are no longer students at the University for any reason but will continue to work, they will need to be hired as temporary employees following the temporary hiring process. Because this is a transition to a different employee type and technically an opportunity available to non-students, a posting/recruitment is required. In addition, a background check may be required if not previously/recently performed. It is a good idea to get this process started as soon as possible to ensure that students selected for temporary positions do not encounter an interruption in the transition from student to temporary.

If you have any questions, or need a refresher on the temporary hiring process, please contact your Talent Consultant.

Summer Interns and Volunteers

As we approach the summer months, our office often receives an increase in questions regarding summer internships and volunteers. In general, there are very few opportunities that can truly be characterized as “volunteer”. In most cases, these situations are employment relationships and therefore require a recruitment and competitive selection. Situations with interns and/or volunteers should be discussed with your college HR office and in consultation with Talent Solutions.

A few notes to remember about interns and volunteers:

  • The work done by interns should benefit the intern, not the employer, and should provide training and education similar to what is found an educational setting.
  • Volunteers perform hours of service for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons. Volunteers are not permitted to be a substitute for employee compensation and may not be linked to productivity.
  • If hiring minors as interns or students, the University is subject to the conditions of employment for minors set by the Department of Labor. To ensure the safety of minors, please contact Environmental Health and Safety to have the working conditions evaluated for safety.

If your department encounters a request for an intern or volunteer, contact your college/division HR office and your Talent Consultant to discuss the situation before proceeding.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Joe Matise

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which aims to educate individuals about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of the nation’s employees with disabilities.

Held annually, National Disability Employment Awareness Month is led by the Office of Disability Employment Policy within the U.S. Department of Labor, but its true spirit lies in the many observances held at the grassroots level across the nation every year. Employers of all sizes and in all industries are encouraged to participate in this occasion, including our hiring managers here at NC State!

For specific ideas about how your unit can support National Disability Employment Awareness Month, visit the DOL website. Suggestions range from putting up a poster to more comprehensive approaches, such as conducting training for supervisors to review relevant policies such as the process for providing reasonable accommodations. Regardless of how a department chooses to participate, it all plays an important part in fostering a more inclusive workforce, one where every person is recognized for his or her abilities – every day of every month.

December Payroll and Winter Break Processing Deadlines

Joe Matise

As Winter Break approaches, we’d like to remind you that HR will process SHRA and EHRA action requests in the order that they are received. We will process as many requests as possible for December payroll, but due to the heavy volume of activity, it may not be possible to process all requests in time for the early payroll lockout on December 7th.

Salary Adjustments

  • December salary actions for SHRA and EHRA must be received in HR via PeopleAdmin no later than 5:00 pm on Monday, 11/27/2017 to receive priority review to meet the 12/7/2017 payroll lockout deadline.
    Please note that any salary adjustment where the employee’s June 30 or current total proposed compensation is $100,000 or greater and the proposed salary adjustment is 5% or greater requires BOG reporting and consultation which will extend the timeline for approval.

Recruitment and Hiring

  • Postings received by 5:00 pm on Friday, 12/15/2017 will be given priority for posting prior to the Winter Break. (Note: Days that the University is closed do NOT count against the minimum posting period.)
    Please note that the creation of a new position where the associated salary budget is $70,000 or greater requires BOG reporting and consultation which will extend the timeline for approval.
  • Hiring proposals received by 5:00 pm on Monday, 12/18/2017 will be given priority for approval before the winter break. Note that EHRA hiring proposals also require University AA approval following HR endorsement. Additional time should be allotted to ensure approval.

Background Checks

Background checks will continue to be processed as completed release forms are received from candidates, with priority given to urgent start dates. JAR actions for Spring semester (early January) hires should be entered no later than Monday, December 11th to best ensure that there is adequate time for background check processing. Please encourage candidates to complete the electronic background check forms as soon as possible in order for the background check process to begin quickly.

International Employment

As always, all H-1B petitions require a 3-4 week lead-time. Please keep this in mind and engage International Employment as early as possible for your January/February start dates to account for the upcoming holidays and winter break.

Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact your Talent Consultant (for SHRA actions or SHRA and EHRA recruitment), Lori Preiss (for EHRA actions) at lapreiss@ncsu.edu, the Background Check Program at background-checks@ncsu.edu, or Jill Blitstein (international employment) at jill_blitstein@ncsu.edu.

Reminder from Talent Solutions – Training

Joe Matise

As the fall semester approaches, we will be facilitating sessions of our Talent Solutions-related training courses. These courses include PeopleAdmin 7 – Basic, PeopleAdmin 7 – Advanced, Effective Recruitment and Selection, Wage & Hour and Time Sheet Administration for Non-Exempt Employees, and Writing Effective Job Descriptions and Career Banding Overview, and are great for new employees with HR responsibilities or current HR staff who would like a refresher in a particular area.

Registration will be processed through the new online registration system, REPORTER.

To view upcoming training in REPORTER, go to go.ncsu.edu/reporter and log in. Once you have logged in select the Course Catalog link from the left-side menu. Enter in Course Prefix ‘LOD’ and select the red Search button. If there are instances available, you can enroll, otherwise, select Add to Watchlist to be notified when a new instance is available.

 

Important Reminders from Talent Solutions

Joe Matise

Graduating Student Workers

If you have student workers who will continue to work after they have graduated, or are no longer students at the University for any reason, they will need to be hired as temporary employees following the temporary hiring process.  Because this is a transition to a different employee type, a posting/recruitment is required.  In addition, a background check may be required if not previously/recently performed.  It is a good idea to get this process started as soon as possible to ensure that students selected for temporary positions do not encounter an interruption in the transition from student to temporary.

If you have any questions, or need a refresher on the temporary hiring process, please contact your Talent Consultant.

Summer Interns / Volunteers

As we approach the summer months, our office often receives an increase in questions regarding summer internships and volunteers.  In general, there are very few opportunities that can truly be characterized as “volunteer”.  In most cases, we find these situations to be employment relationships and therefore require a recruitment and competitive selection. Situations with interns and/or volunteers should be discussed with your college HR office and in consultation with Talent Solutions.

A few notes to remember about interns and volunteers:

  • The work done by interns should benefit the intern, not the employer, and should provide training and education in a learning environment.
  • Volunteers perform hours of service for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons. Volunteers are not permitted to be a substitute for employee compensation and may not be linked to productivity.
  • If hiring minors as interns or students, the University is subject to the conditions of employment for minors set by the Department of Labor.

If your department encounters a request for an intern or volunteer, contact your Talent Consultant to discuss the situation before proceeding.

 

Finalizing a Search

Once you have completed a search and a candidate has accepted your offer, it is very important to ensure that several steps happen to finalize that particular recruitment:

  1. Close-out the Hiring Proposal and Posting
    After a candidate has accepted the offer and successfully completed a background check, you must finalize the hiring proposal in PeopleAdmin by entering the final accepted salary and moving the hiring proposal to the status of “Offer Accepted – Background Check Completed.”  If a candidate has declined your offer, move the hiring proposal to the status of “Offer Declined.”  Either of these steps will finalize and lock the hiring proposal.

    After the hiring proposal has been finalized, you must also finalize the posting by moving the selected applicant to “Offer Accepted” and moving the posting to a status of “Filled.”

    Please note, if the candidate declined your offer, move that applicant to a status of “Offer Declined.”  From there, decide whether to proceed with your second-choice candidate, re-open the search, or begin a new search.  If you determine that a new search is needed, please contact your Talent Consultant to mark the current posting as “Canceled” due to the failed search.

  1. Notifying Candidates who are Not Selected for Hire
    All candidates interviewed but not selected for hire must be notified in writing of their non-selection.  Copies of these notification letters should be maintained in the search/recruitment file. Notification letters can be sent electronically or printed and mailed. Notification letter templates are located on the Talent Solutions website at the following links:  EHRA and SHRA.
  1. Retention of Paperwork
    The search/recruitment file that contains interview questions, notes from all interviews, references, copies of external advertisements, and any other documentation pertinent to the search should be maintained for three years from the last date of activity. Should a complaint or legal challenge arise, the file may be required to be maintained beyond three years until the complaint is resolved.

If you have questions about finalizing a search, or about any other part of the recruitment process, you can either visit our website (https://ts.hr.ncsu.edu/recruitment/) or contact your Talent Consultant.

Ask A Talent Consultant: Basis for Request field

Joe Matise

What should I include in the “basis for request” field in a PeopleAdmin action?

The “basis for request” field is an opportunity for an initiator to explain the reason for submitting the action.  The more detail that is given in this field, the easier it will be for your Talent Consultant or EHRA Administration to understand the situation and the department’s needs.  A well-written and detailed basis for request provides additional information on the business need for the action, which can help minimize questions later, expediting the analysis and approval processes.

Weak Example:

Basis for Request Temporary increase for additional duties.

 

This example does not provide enough relevant information regarding the request and will result in the need for a conversation with your Talent Consultant or EHRA Administration because key information is missing.  While we’re always glad to have a conversation, when more information is needed to approve an action, it can often lead to delays in the turnaround time.

Strong Example:

Basis for Request A 4% ($1,800) temporary salary increase is being requested for this position from 10/1/16 – 12/31/16.  This position will be taking on additional duties while pos #12345678 is on a leave of absence.

Temporary additional duties will consist of:

  • Biweekly payroll processing
  • Administration and support for KABA
  • Managing travel reimbursement approvals at the College level
  • Pcard approvals at the College level
  • Update content on College website
  • Supervise the department’s temporary employee

The temporary additional duties and salary increase will be removed when pos #12345678 returns to work.

 

This example gives your Talent Consultant or EHRA Administration all of the relevant information needed to approve the action, and will often result in faster approvals.

If you have any questions about developing a strong “basis for request,” please feel free to contact your Talent Consultant.

Ask A Talent Consultant: A Well Written Job Description

Joe Matise

Over the past few months, we’ve looked at the different components of a job description and provided a few tips on writing effective job descriptions. We have discussed the basic elements of a job description, writing an effective primary purpose, determining and outlining essential duties, assessing required competencies, and determining required vs. preferred qualifications. This month, we will discuss how all of these elements impact your recruitments and why they are important for attracting the right applicants to your postings.

A well-written job description as the foundation for the posting can help you attract a strong, well-qualified candidate pool and hire the right person. The job posting tells candidates about the job and the qualifications it takes to be successful in the role; but it is also your chance to tell potential candidates how a position impacts the organization. In addition, a thorough job description simplifies the candidate selection process – it helps deter unqualified candidates and provides a built-in evaluation methodology for your candidate review.

Below are several important components of the job posting that can have a significant impact on your recruitment:

Working Titles

A straightforward and descriptive working title will help potential applicants understand the position.  Rather than using the classification band title as a working title, which can often be generic (i.e. Administrative Support Specialist), a better option is to use a working title that briefly describes what the position actually does (i.e. Office Manager).  The working title often gives the position an “identity” and offers more insight into the responsibilities and importance of a position.

A well-developed working title can also allow postings to be found easier in searches.  Many job seekers use keyword searches to find the types of positions they are interested in applying to and they often use familiar keywords and standard industry working titles.  If the working title is unconventional or not appropriate for the position, chances are higher that the position could be overlooked by qualified applicants.

Salary Ranges

Listing an anticipated hiring range on a posting allows potential applicants to view the anticipated salary for a position before they apply, which can save time during the recruitment process.  If a salary does not meet the expectations of an applicant, they likely won’t apply.  This will eliminate any surprises regarding salary further into the recruitment process, and the possibility that your first choice candidate could withdraw after learning the anticipated salary range.  Regardless if posted or not, the candidate isn’t likely to work out if their salary expectations are not met.  If posted, the candidate will either choose not to apply; or if not posted, he/she might withdraw later in the process after valuable time and energy have been invested in the process.

Posting the salary range can also encourage internal applicants to apply for promotional opportunities.

Required/Preferred Qualifications

Clearly outlining the required and preferred qualifications for a position helps candidates understand if their skills and experience are a good fit for a particular opening.

Distinguish between the “must have” (required) skills and the “desired” (preferred) skills for the position.  The more difficult a position is to fill, the more you may want to be flexible on the required skills.  Additionally, consider the skills you’re willing to train and include those in the preferred skills.  Clearly defined and well-written qualifications give you a mechanism for evaluating candidates based on the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) you really need, without making it impossible to find a qualified candidate.

It is also helpful to list the qualifications as bullet points in the job posting.  The easier it is for potential applicants to read and “check off” the requirements that they meet, the less likely they are to miss important information.

Job duties

Clearly explaining the job duties is a crucial component of the job posting because job seekers want to know exactly what their responsibilities will be in the position.  What will they be doing on a daily basis? What will be expected of them?  What tools or programs will they be working with?  Will they be expected to travel?  The more information you can provide, the better candidates will understand the role, expectations, and position.

About the Department (Listed in PeopleAdmin as “Primary Function of Organizational Unit”)

It is always a good idea to add language about the department/unit/division in which the vacant position is located, as well as information about the University.  This is an opportunity to sell the position and showcase the work being done at the University to those who may be unfamiliar.  Often times job seekers use the information provided in job postings to determine whether the organization is a good fit for them.  It is also always a good idea to include links to your department’s website and/or the University’s website to provide the potential applicant with additional information.

Proofreading

Many times, a job posting is the first impression that an applicant has of the University as a potential employer. Just as grammar and spelling mistakes in a resume can reflect negatively on a job applicant, the same happens for the University when these mistakes are found in job postings.  It is always best to have a colleague review and proofread your job posting before it is submitted for posting.

Supplemental Questions

Another way to simplify the applicant review is to add thoughtful supplemental questions to the posting.  Supplemental questions should ask specific and job-related questions and typically focus on information not likely to be found in the application materials.  The goal is to gain information that will be valuable during applicant review without making the application process overbearing or difficult for the potential candidate. Supplemental questions can be simple “select an answer” (such as yes/no or select from a series of responses) questions or open-ended questions in which the applicants would have to type a response.  PeopleAdmin has the functionality to download the supplemental question answers into an Excel spreadsheet, allowing for an overview of all applicants and their answers on one page.

 

A well-thought out posting can save time, energy, and frustration in the recruitment process.  The best postings attract a pool of well-qualified candidates who can help your unit/department, college/division, or even the University achieve its goals.  If you need help in enhancing your recruitment efforts or if you have any questions regarding job postings and how your job descriptions can impact recruitment, please feel free to contact your Talent Consultant.