HR Update - FY 22 Issue 06

Issue Date: June 21, 2022

In This Issue

• Start New Employees on a Path to Success
• New Hire Onboarding is Not a One Day Process
• Start Your Career in HR Today!
• Military Leave Benefit Election Forms

Start New Employees on a Path to Success

With the current recruitment market, difficulty filling positions is being felt throughout State agencies. This means properly training and retaining new employees is at the forefront of priorities for many agencies. Having a solid onboarding plan to ensure new employees are aware of resources, policies, and expectations is critical to setting the stage for success. Then, implementing a training plan, checking in with the new employee regularly, communicating feedback on progress, and preparing a timely interim evaluation are key points to maximizing the probationary period. More information on can be found in Employee Relations’ Guide to Maximizing the Probationary Period (only available on a State network). Please use and share this resource with supervisors who are onboarding new employees! Employee Relations staff are available for consultation on any questions or concerns surrounding probationary employees.

New Hire Onboarding is Not a One Day Process

The onboarding of a new hire can seem like something that should begin the day the new hire starts work and finish as soon as they fill out the first day paperwork. The truth is that onboarding of a new employee should begin as soon as a start date has been set and go at least through the first 30 days of employment, if not longer.

Onboarding goes beyond simply filling out the new hire packet that needs to be sent to Payroll and needs to be viewed in terms of engaging the new hire in their new job and helping them successful navigate the benefits that they receive by working for the State of Alaska. This is not simply about helping the employee get paid, but helping the employee start their job with the State of Alaska on a successful foot.

Here is an idea of some of the milestones and actions that need to be considered when onboarding a new employee.

New Hire Start Date Set

Once hire approval has been received and the new hire start date has been set then it is time to start thinking about what is needed for onboarding the employee. A lot of what needs to be done at this step is making sure that whatever access can be set up before day one gets set up. Some questions to ask or things to consider:

• Remind the employee of any extra documentation needed for the onboarding paperwork; such as employment verification for the I-9 (passport, SSN, driver’s license, etc.), or bank account verification for requesting a direct deposit get set up
• What will the new hire need to access the building?
• Will they need any sort of parking pass and what is the paperwork needed?
• Does a computer or work station need to be set up to get them started?
• Has Recruitment been informed that a start date has been set to make sure that the new hire gets set up in IRIS Advanced?
• If the employee has been set up in IRIS then coordinate with OIT to get access set up and to assign a phone number, if needed?*
  *Getting a new hire set up with their State LDAP Username and Password is a critical first step to getting them set up with access to email and other systems. It is important to note that from entry into IRIS it can take two nights to get all of a new user’s access set up. Getting the access set up often requires coordination with OIT to confirm that the record has been set up as well as providing an initial password. If a new hire does not have access on Day 1 then please reach out immediately to OIT and your Recruitment Staff for assistance.

New Hire Day One

Day one is the first day that the new hire starts work. Hopefully their email and computer access has already been set up by OIT and the employee can start working. If the access has not been set, then immediately reach out to OIT to see what needs to happen to get the employee set up. Here are some things to consider on Day One for onboarding:

• Does the employee have all the necessary documentation needed to fill out the new hire onboarding paperwork? (Employment verification (passport, Social Security card, driver’s license), bank account verification for direct deposit)
• Make sure that the employee fills out all the appropriate paperwork so that payroll can appoint and pay them.
• Fill out Page 2 of the I-9 and make sure that page 1 is filled out correctly.
• Fill out the PARF and make sure that all the necessary documentation is included to be sent to Payroll Services within 5 days of the new hires start date.

After Appointment Into IRIS

Once the new hire has been appointed in IRIS there are some additional things that need to be considered. The timing for this will depend on when the paperwork is submitted to DOF Payroll Services and the timing of the pay period. Here are some things to think about:

• If any manual changes were made to the LDAP by OIT then they need to know that the appointment has been made in IRIS so that they can turn syncing back on for the new hire.
• Let the new hire know they should be able to sign up for Health Insurance.

After New Hire First Paycheck or By End of First 30 Days

There are a few things that either take longer to complete or require the new hire to have already received their first paycheck. Before the end of the new hires first 30 days and after the new hire first pay period has been processed there are just a few things that need to be done.

• Let the new hire know that they can now have access to see and sign up for retirement benefits including setting the beneficiaries, signing up for deferred comp, etc.
• Make sure that the supervisor and new hire have set up performance expectations, SMART Goals, and Learning & Development Plan for the next performance evaluation.

Beyond the first 30 days of a new hire starting work there is the probationary period and just making sure they have everything they need to succeed. As can be seen above onboarding is not just about the initial paperwork, but about making sure that the new hire gets appointed, can start work, and can take advantage of the benefits from a job with the State of Alaska.

Start Your Career in HR Today

The Division of Personnel and Labor Relations (DOPLR) offers exciting career paths with opportunities ongoing development. Now is an outstanding time to join DOPLR and be part of the positive developments underway in State HR. DOPLR offers a supportive, team-centered environment with a strong emphasis on training and development. Check out opportunities to join the State HR team on orkplace Alaska (pro tip: check both the State Employee and All Applicant job boards and search “human resources”). The Careers in State HR website has a wealth of information about working in DOPLR.

Military Benefit Election Forms

Are you or one of your direct reports going on active military leave? If so, there are some important elections that need to be made regarding leave and health insurance benefits. Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA), employees called to active military duty can elect to either retain their accrued personal/annual leave for use upon their return or they can elect to use their accrued personal/annual leave during their absence. In addition, Alaska Statute, AS 39.20.345 allows employees to elect to continue their group life and health benefits when they are ordered to active duty. When an employee elects to continue group life and health benefits, the State continues to pay the employer contribution and the employee must pay any additional buy-up amount. To make these important elections, the employee will need to complete the Military Leave Benefit Election Form – Active Duty (PDF).

Are you or one of your direct reports going on military leave for training duty? If so, leave accruing employees in the classified service that are covered by a collective bargaining unit as well as non-covered employees (PX,EX and EE) that are a member of a reserve or auxiliary component of the United States Armed Forces are entitled to a leave of absence without loss of pay, time, or performance rating when the employee is ordered to training duty, as distinguished from active duty, with troops or at field exercise, or for instruction, or when under direct military control in the performance of a search and rescue mission entitled to a leave of absence with pay. The leave of absence may not exceed 16.5 days in a leave year (January 1st through December 31st). If the duration of the absence exceeds 16.5 days, the employee may elect to use their accrued annual/personal leave during their absence or retain their leave and utilize leave without pay (LWOP). The employee will need to complete the Military Leave Election Form – Training Duty (PDF).

The completed form, along with the military orders backing up the need for leave should be sent to your Division of Finance, Payroll Services contact for processing.

*Correction: This article previously stated that "or their designated representative" could fill out the form as well as the employee. This is incorrect and it is meant to be filled out and signed by the employee only. We have removed the reference to the designated representative to make this more clear.