Don't Forget Those Other Important Vaccines
Well-visits and routine vaccinations in adults and children are important, and are essential preventive care services. Some of us may have let those slide in the past year.
Since March 2020, Virginia has rightfully had a laser focus on addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. And now, life-saving vaccines are giving us hope that we can soon return to some kind of normal.
While the attention has been on the COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that delivery of other essential, life-saving vaccines has significantly declined. While it may be more challenging to keep up with important health care appointments and vaccines, it’s crucial to continue our preventive care for children, adolescents, and adults. Remind employees to call their doctor to schedule well-visits and vaccinations soon.
Having a healthy workforce and healthy families benefits us all with increased productivity and lower absenteeism. Now is the time to get back on track with vaccinations.
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Workforce Management
Pending Updates to DHRM Policy 1.05, Alcohol and Other Drugs
DHRM Policy 1.05, Alcohol and other Drugs is being revised in response to statutory changes in state code regarding legalized recreational marijuana and medically certified use of cannabis products that will be effective July 1, 2021. Similar to alcohol, employees must not be impaired by marijuana while performing official job duties. See more...
Virginia Overtime Wage Act Effective July 1
Beginning July 1, Virginia employers will be subject to the Virginia Overtime Wage Act (“Overtime Act”), which adds new state overtime pay requirements. Previously, Virginia employers applied the overtime pay requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. Like the FLSA, the Overtime Act obligates employers to pay one and one-half times an employee’s regular rate of pay for hours physically worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. The Overtime Act also waives sovereign immunity for the Commonwealth. Detailed guidance is available here. For questions regarding the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, please contact the Compensation Group.
Mercer Salary Benchmark Program
In August of 2020, DHRM launched the Mercer WIN Salary Benchmark Program. Since its inception, we have seen great utilization and are excited to continue this program for FY22. Participating agencies are able to benchmark positions against dynamic national compensation data to include comprehensive market refinements, peer groups, and job combination features. Due to the program's popularity, DHRM is able to reduce the fee for FY22 to $750 per user per year! Please contact the Compensation Group for details on how to participate. Please, only one inquiry per agency.
Report on Apprenticeship Program Survey
In early June, DHRM and the Department of Labor & Industry (DOLI) requested your leadership insights on the Virginia Registered Apprenticeship Program. To date, 44 responses have been received from Executive Branch agencies. The purpose of the survey is to assess your familiarity with, and interest in, the program. The survey will be open through Friday, June 25.
Your responses will enable us to create a tailored workshop for interested agencies, including opportunities to expand the program to include additional and non-traditional occupations in state agencies. If you have any questions, please contact Shannon Crooks, Lead Generation Specialist at DOLI, or Allen Blair, DHRM Senior Talent Management Consultant.
Alternative Recruitment Process Update
As noted in March, DHRM is in the initial phase of developing an alternative application process for the employment of people with differing abilities in response to HB2140, which will be effective July 1. The alternative application process will be noncompetitive, and provide an option for converting positions filled through the alternative process into positions that are normally filled through a competitive process. The DEI and Talent Management and Policy teams are collaborating to build the responsibility matrix (RACI) for the process, including the overall strategy to attract, hire, retain, and develop this important talent pool. We will be creating partnerships with other stakeholders to mitigate potential barriers to employment. Look for more soon!
Upcoming I-9/e-Verify Webinar
Mark your calendars! We've scheduled another session with Dave Basham, the U.S.C.I.S. representative, who untangles the federal requirements for completing I-9 forms and using e-Verify. The coming session will reiterate changes/updates to Form I-9 and e-Verify due to COVID as they stand the day of the webinar. A 30-40 minute overview and update will be presented, followed by a Q & A session. Have your questions ready - Dave will have the answers!
• Thursday, July 15, 2021 10:00 AM JOIN HERE.
• No need to pre-register. Log in about 10 minutes prior to the session.
Please share this opportunity with interested staff members.
UMW SHRM Learning Class
The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is partnering with SHRM to offer the SHRM Learning System 2021 starting on September 1. The first class will meet in person at the UMW Stafford campus and the remainder of the course will be offered live online. The course fee includes the SHRM books and SHRM online portal access.
Early Bird course fee is in effect until August 1 and the course will increase $100 on August 2.
To determine eligibility criteria for taking the SHRM CP- or SHRM SCP exam, please visit SHRM Certification Eligibility Criteria. More on course registration and information here. If you have any questions please contact us at continuingstudies@umw.edu.
Start Planning for CVC in 2021!
The official start of the 2021 CVC Season will be here before you know it! Are you ready to support your favorite charities through workplace giving? Do you know who your area CVC Coordinators are? Would you like to be a coordinator or start your own peer-to-peer fundraising campaign? We will have hundreds of charities for you to choose from in the fall and are excited to bring awareness to so many incredible causes. Go to www.cvcgives.org for more information on how to get involved today.
"S" is for Summer and Safety
There are 101 days of summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day. With the relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions, people are anxious to get out and enjoy themselves again. So that's 101 days of fun, sun, boating, swimming, vacation, and barbecues. But, unfortunately, it's also 101 days of opportunities to get sunburned, dehydrated, overheated, lost on a trip, grill fires, and a variety of other unfortunate events. See more on being vigilant during the summer months.
Have You Met ALEX?
ALEX is the online web-based tool that employees trust every Open Enrollment to help them make smart benefits decisions. They can talk to ALEX year-round to learn even more. ALEX covers topics like how to get mental health help, how to pay for medical care, when to use telemedicine and more. Also, the tool is a great resource for onboarding new hires by helping the Benefits Administrator start the health benefits discussion.
For a big life change, like getting married or having a child, ALEX is also there to walk members through how that changes their benefits. See more information on ALEX in the 2021-2022 Spotlight. Benefits can be confusing. Let ALEX help!
Learn About EDR Remedial Conflict Management Coaching
Remedial conflict management coaching is a strategy devised by the Office of Employment Dispute Resolution (EDR) to help agencies with the remediation of problematic conflict management behaviors that may be interfering with an employee’s organizational performance. This type of confidential coaching service helps an employee bridge the gap between their own destructive actions and the potential impact and consequences their actions may have on others in the workplace in a manner that is empowering, yet corrective. See more on the coaching program.
Comings and Goings...
Office of Information Technology: Jon Carpenter has moved from Commonwealth contractor to state employee! DHRM welcomes Jon to ITECH as E-Learning Coordinator/Instructor. He has served as a contractor in the Office of Workers’ Compensation since 2006. During that time, he created and voiced all of the program’s online training programs, worked on many of the mandatory DHRM courses, served as the COVLC Domain Administrator for DHRM, and as the co-instructor of the SHRM Learning System course. Jon, glad you are staying with us!
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Human Resource Consulting Services: Please extend a warm welcome to our new DHRM team member, Sarah Frame! Sarah is the new Virginia Management Fellows (VMF) Program Coordinator. She is providing program management for the VMF Program, a workforce development program providing recent undergraduate and graduate school graduates with a 2 year rotational and educational experience in state government. Her work experience includes university programs on admissions recruiting and visitation, student orientation, and training for professional and student staff members. Welcome, Sarah!
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Human Resource Consulting Services: We say “goodbye” to Sumi Lanneau, who after contributing to state government in several roles and agencies over the past 15 years is leaving DHRM, state government, and her current role as Senior Workforce Planning and Development Consultant on June 30. Sumi built our current workforce planning strategy and approach from the ground up and has made a significant impact on workforce planning across agencies. We will all miss her analytics and workforce planning expertise, exceptional customer focus, and her desire for supporting workplace engagement. We wish her the best in her new opportunity as she continues her career journey!
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Office of Health Benefits: After 31 years of service to the Commonwealth, Barbara Haynes, OHB Senior Health Benefits Specialist for the Retiree Program, will be retiring on July 1. Barbara is known for her ability to work with the retirees and Extended Coverage participants. Having worked previously at the Virginia Retirement System, Barbara has a unique skill set that enables her to remain patient and get to the heart of retiree issues. Barbara is moving on to pursue her "best job duties" as a YA-YA (Greek for grandma). Best wishes, Barbara - we will miss you!
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Office of Finance and Administration: DHRM welcomes Zahir Panahi, our new Fiscal Technician, who began work on June 1! Zahir has more than 7 years of private sector and governmental experience, stateside and abroad; and has held roles such as Contract Support Specialist, Voucher Examiner, and Finance Senior Officer. His experience includes researching and reviewing purchasing actions in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR); processing fiscal transactions; completing cash and bank reconciliations; and training employees on expense reporting. Welcome aboard, Zahir!
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