U-M Health Timekeepers & Approvers Weekly Update: Friday, Feb. 10, 2023

Probationary Employees covered by the AFSCME Collective Bargaining Agreement – Paid Time Off

Employees covered under the AFSCME Bargaining Agreement may not report Paid Time Off (PTO) while in their probationary period (¶ 25-1), defined as the first three months after their date of hire (¶ 18-1).

Probationary Employees covered by the AFSCME Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) may be eligible to take an unpaid leave of absences (per article 29) if all criteria are met. In these cases, any PTO balance they have in the system will remain and is not run out prior to the leave as it would be for non-probationary employees covered by the AFSCME CBA.

Reminder: If an employee covered by the AFSCME CBA worked as a temporary employee (temp) before being hired and was performing substantially the same work as a temp for any continuous period immediately preceding their hire date will have that continuous period counted towards completion of their probationary period (¶ 18-2 and 18-3).

Link to AFSCME CBA where you can reference the above listed paragraphs in the contract: https://hr.umich.edu/sites/default/files/afscme-2019-contract.pdf

Timekeeper and Department Manager Updates – By Department ID

When a department has a new primary or backup timekeeper, the following two steps need to be taken to updated with the new timekeeper’s information:

1.       Email UM Health HR-Payroll (hr-payroll@med.umich.edu). Sending timekeeper updates here updates the HR Lookup tool. This ensures that the HR-Payroll team knows who in a department to contact for anything related to timekeeping and payroll.

    1. Be sure to include the following information for both the primary and backup timekeepers
      1. Name (Last, First)
      1. uniquename
      1. Contact phone number
      1. List of Department IDs they report time for

2.       Complete the Report Recipient Override Form on the Shared Services Center website. Completing this form ensures that system-generated payroll reports are sent to the new timekeeper and other department recipients

The primary and backup timekeepers should be listed as the “time report recipient” and “backup time report recipient” respectively on the department table

Communicating with the Payroll Team

Prior to our emails being forwarded directly to employees we ask that you first have a conversation with them so they have a chance to ask questions or so you, the timekeeper can craft an email that will include enough detail and information for the employee to understand.

Lastly as we look for ways to promote efficiency, we would like to mention that payroll related questions and concerns are solved more effectively when the caller is the timekeeper or a joint call with the timekeeper and the employee.  If the employee calls us on their own, there is a very good chance the answer will be delayed until we are able to connect with the timekeeper.  This is so we can understand how departments may authorize time and allows us to understand the background.

Reminder: Reporting HWD (Holiday Worked 2.0 pay)

This article applies to non-bargained for staff, Bargained for Nurses and Physician Assistants who are eligible to be paid 2.0 times the hourly rate when working on the Christmas Day Holiday that is being observed by their unit (actual 12/25 or UM observed if 12/25 falls on a weekend). 

The time reporting code HWD (Holiday Worked 2.0) is for use only when reporting hours worked on the Christmas Day Holiday (actual or observed). Working on all other holidays pays at the 1.5 rate (HWT).

Additionally, all of the shift premiums that pay out at 2.0 times the rate (evenings, nights, and weekends) are only eligible for use along with the HWD hours. These codes should not be reported on any other day.