BACK TO WORK POLICY
Pacific Lutheran University values the safety, health and well being of
all employees. PLU policy is to provide safe and healthful working
conditions in all operations and to follow the laws and regulations
about the safety and health of our employees. When working with
supervisors and employees, PLU will draw on all applicable policies.
Should you become injured or ill, it is important that you return to
employment as early as is medically safe for you to do so. At the same
time, however, it is important that you not return to work unless it is
medically safe. Your supervisor will stay in contact with you and your
medical provider to keep up-to-date on your recovery progress.
Light duty assignments may be developed where possible for employees
who are unable to return to their normal duties while recovering from
their injuries. If you are eligible for a light duty assignment, your
medical provider will be contacted to furnish information on the nature
of the work you are medically able to perform. We will ask if you can
perform your duties with or without reasonable accommodation. Light
duty assignments may last up to 3 months, but will be evaluated on a
case-by-case basis.
Should you be assigned to light duty, you will be expected to follow
the advice of your medical provider. If you have trouble performing
these duties, let your supervisor know immediately. You then need to
follow-up with your medical provider. She/he should provide a written
report giving medical reasons why you are unable to continue working.
PLU reserves the right to ask for a second and/or third medical opinion
at its expense where it is concerned about the medical ability of an
employee to return to work or to perform light duties.
No one knows your job better than you do. Please help us by making
suggestions about what duties you feel you can safely perform. Also,
please let us know how your job might be changed so you, or an injured
co-worker, can more easily and safely do it.
Please report all injuries or hazardous situations to your supervisor as soon as possible.
CONTINUOUS SERVICE
Many of the benefits of employment are determined at least in part by
an employee's length of service. Therefore, the computation of
continuous service must be accomplished in a fair, consistent, and
impartial manner.
Continuous service begins with a person's date of employment and is not
broken by leaves of absence so long as an employee returns to work
before the expiration of such leaves. Continuous service is also not
broken by entry into military service so long as the employee exercises
his or her return rights and all conditions established by the U.S.
Department of Labor regarding such return are met.
Continuous service is broken in the event of:
Employees who are rehired by the university within one year (365 days
or less) following voluntary termination or layoff will receive credit
for their prior service for benefit enrollment purposes and will be
assigned an adjusted date of service.
Some of the university's benefit plans have different definitions
relative to a break in service, and such definition will apply to those
benefit plans. Please contact Human Resource Services if you have a
specific question about a possible break in service.
EMPLOYMENT PROCEDURES
Authority to fill a vacant or newly created position is obtained by
completing a Faculty and Staff Position Request form and routing it
through the appropriate budget head, dean or director, vice
president(s), President's Council and Human Resource Services. Human
Resource Services will assure that the position has been properly
classified and will establish the hiring salary range.
Job Vacancy announcements are prepared using the job description and
the Position Questionnaire. Essential duties of the job will be clearly
identified along with required and preferred job qualifications.
Generally positions are posted in Human Resource Services, listed on
the PLU Job Line, posted on the PLU website, and announcements are sent
to each department on campus. Positions may be advertised in a variety
of other ways depending on the type of position.
Administrative position vacancies may be advertised nationally through
the Chronicle of Higher Education and by other appropriate methods.
When diverse applicant pools can be developed locally or regionally,
appropriate mailing lists and media are used to solicit applications.
In both cases, the procedures are subject to the requirements of the
university's Affirmative Action Plan.
Staff positions are sometimes advertised first for current university
employees to afford them the opportunity to be considered for
advancement or transfer. If on-campus efforts are unsuccessful, the
position may be advertised in local newspapers and with local mailing
lists in order to attract a diverse applicant pool. In both cases, the
procedures are consistent with the objectives of the university's
Affirmative Action Plan.
For most staff and some administrative positions, the applications are
pre-screened by Human Resource Services using objective criteria
provided by the hiring department. The hiring department may interview
as many applicants as desired. Employment offers will be made by Human
Resource Services, which will confirm the starting date and salary in
writing with the selected applicant. The salary will be determined by
using guidelines outlined in the compensation plan.
LABOR RELATIONS POLICIES
Employee Labor Relations
The university believes the best interests of its employees are served
by direct contact with the university's management rather than through
representation by an outside organization.
The university makes every effort to treat employees honestly,
equitably, and objectively by developing and administering human
resource policies and programs designed to assure fair, consistent, and
individual treatment for every employee. By providing these programs,
the university believes that employees will have no need to work
through a union form of employee organization.
National Labor Policy
Pursuant to national labor policy, employees have the right to choose
freely whether they wish to form or join unions or whether they wish to
deal directly with management. The university acknowledges this policy.
NEPOTISM POLICY
Relationship by family or marriage constitutes neither an advantage nor
a deterrent to appointment by the university, provided that the
individual meets the appropriate standards for the position to be
filled and provided that the individual will not be in the chain of
supervision of a spouse, family member, or person with whom the
individual is dating. Employment will be denied under the following
circumstances:
Applicants who are denied employment to a particular position for one
of the foregoing reasons will be considered for other vacant positions
for which they may be qualified. Failure to advise the university of
the existence of one of these circumstances may result in a withdrawal
of an offer of employment or actual discharge from employment
Existing PLU employees who become involved in one of the foregoing
circumstances have an obligation to advise the university about the
conflict. Every effort will be made to resolve the conflict without
loss of employment to either employee, however, the university reserves
the right to transfer one or both employees, to discharge one or both
employees or to demote one or both employees to resolve the conflict.
Employees who fail to advise the university of the existence of a
family, spousal or dating relationship under one of these circumstances
will be subject to discipline, up to and including discharge.
ORIENTATION FOR NEW EMPLOYEES
Orientation is an important part of becoming familiar with one's job,
work environment, and the university. The supervisor is primarily
responsible for orienting new employees. Assistance will come from the
Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual, fellow employees, Human
Resource Services Benefits Orientation, and a formal orientation
meeting for new staff and administrators conducted twice a year
(typically November and May).
PERSONNEL FILES
Personnel files for all current staff, faculty, and administrators are
maintained within Human Resource Services. For mutual protection,
strict confidentiality is used when addressing all personnel-related
matters.
It is important for legal and business purposes that Human Resource
Services maintain current personal information in each employee’s
personnel file regarding legal name, home or forwarding address,
telephone number, emergency contact, and marital and/or dependent
status. It is the employee’s responsibility to notify Human
Resource Services of any changes to information necessary to keep
benefits status and employment data current and accurate.
Employees may have access to their personnel files, exclusive of
confidential pre-employment reference information. Any employee
who wishes to review his or her personnel file should contact Human
Resource Services to schedule a mutually convenient time when the file
can be reviewed. The personnel file cannot be removed from Human
Resource Services. However, employees may request copies of
documents in the file. If the employee identifies file
information that he or she believes to be irrelevant or incorrect, the
employee can request that the file information be removed or can
prepare a rebuttal or corrective statement for the personnel
file.
PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING POLICY - ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF
October 2000
The university seeks to hire well-qualified applicants for vacant
positions. To achieve this goal, the university has developed this
policy regarding background checks, reference verifications and related
inquiries. This policy applies to all regular full-time and regular
part-time staff and administrator positions filled after the effective
date of this policy. The university will determine whether this policy
will apply to temporary positions, on a case-by-case basis, depending
on factors such as the nature, duration, scope and duties of the
position.
Finalist candidates for staff and administrator positions, whether they
currently work for PLU or not, must agree to and must satisfactorily
complete the verification process set forth in this policy in order to
receive further consideration for employment with the university. The
verification process will generally include:
Where appropriate, records outside Washington State and Pierce County
will be reviewed. For example, this would apply in the case of a
finalist from another state.
As soon as finalist candidates are identified, the hiring official must
notify Human Resource Services, which is responsible for coordinating
the reference process. Human Resource Services maintains a central
budget to pay for the cost of the pre-employment screens.
All finalists must complete and sign authorizations to permit the
university to obtain necessary information. These authorizations are
maintained in Human Resource Services. Because these authorizations are
needed to comply with legal obligations, the verification process
cannot occur until the authorizations have been signed by finalists.
Human Resource Services will review the results of the reference checks and share them on a "need to know" basis.
PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING POLICY - FACULTY
September 2002
The university seeks to hire well-qualified candidates for vacant
positions. As one step towards achieving this goal, the university
conducts a variety of pre-employment verifications.
This policy applies to all regular full-time and visiting faculty
positions filled after the effective date of this policy. On a
case-by-case basis, the university will determine whether this policy
will apply to part-time positions depending on factors such as the
nature, duration, scope and duties of the position. The background
verification process outlined here is a supplement to, not a
replacement for, the standard employment references that should be
completed by faculty search committees.
Position offers (both verbal and written) to finalist faculty
candidates are contingent upon satisfactory completion of the
pre-employment screening process. Refusal to complete the process or
the receipt of questionable or unsatisfactory information during the
screening process may result in the position offer being rescinded. The
verification process will generally include:
Where appropriate, records outside Washington State and Pierce County
will be reviewed. For example, this would apply in the case of a
finalist from another state.
Based on the requirements of the position, other items may be screened
as appropriate. For example: positions requiring a valid driver’s
license may require a driving record and valid state driver’s license
verification; positions requiring physical skills (for example,
physical education positions or others requiring frequent lifting,
bending, etc.) may require satisfactory completion of a physical
capacities exam once a conditional job offer has been extended, but
before employment has begun.
When finalist candidates make a campus visit, they should complete the
PLU employment application and the pre-screening waiver form. Both of
these forms are available in Human Resources. Because these
authorizations are needed to comply with legal obligations, the
verification process will begin after the waiver and employment
application have been signed.
When the top candidate is selected and a position offer is to be
extended, the hiring official notifies Human Resources, which is
responsible for coordinating items 2 and 3 of the screening process
outlined above. If the candidate did not complete the necessary
paperwork when on campus, he/she should complete it and fax it to Human
Resources within 24 hours after the verbal position offer is extended.
Human Resources maintains a central budget to pay for the cost of the
pre-employment verifications. The employment application, waiver form,
and results of the reference checks are kept in Human Resources. The
results of the pre-screening process will be shared with the
appropriate hiring official(s).
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT
CLEARANCE AND EXIT PROCESS
Departing employees are asked to clear campus by visiting various
offices to insure there are no outstanding obligations. In some cases
Human Resource Services may coordinate this information gathering
process. The clearance form also insures that Human Resource Services
and Payroll have a forwarding address (if appropriate), and that the
employee has received medical insurance continuation information. The
completed form is normally turned in to Human Resource Services on the
last day of work.
NOTICE OF RESIGNATION
Staff employees are requested to give at least ten working days notice
of resignation. Introductory, training and temporary staff members need
not give notice when terminating. The notice should be in writing and
include last day of work, and reason for resignation. It is from this
data that the employee's final paycheck is calculated. The termination
date will be the employee's last day actively worked. The employee cannot claim sick or vacation leave on their last day of employment.
Administrators may terminate their employment with the university prior
to the expiration of the employment contract only with the consent of
the university. Such consent will not be unreasonably withheld.
Administrators are requested to give at least 20 working days notice of
resignation. The termination date will be the employee's last day
actively worked. Letters requesting release from contract should be
addressed to the President, with copies to the supervisor and Human
Resource Services. The letter should include the last day of work and
reason for requesting release.
REDUCTION IN FORCE
The university strives to maintain staffing levels and organizational
structures that efficiently match the workload on campus. Changes may
be necessary from time to time to ensure both effectiveness and
efficiency.
Introduction and Decision-Making
In the event of a change in program or services, whether or not there
is financial exigency, an officer of the university may initiate a
reduction and/or reallocation in force (RIF). The magnitude of such a
RIF is determined by the extent of the change required. When this
occurs, the university will make reasonable efforts to eliminate
positions through attrition or other means to avoid laying off
employees. Among the many factors to be considered are:
Once a decision is made and accepted by the appropriate officer, a
written termination notice will be communicated expeditiously to the
affected employee(s). Individuals whose positions are being eliminated
will receive at least two weeks notice of job elimination, or pay in
lieu of notice.
Reduction in Force Benefits
PLU recognizes the loss of one's job can create both financial and
emotional pressures. When an employee's job is eliminated or when
employment is lost in a reorganization and not regained in the new
organization, or elsewhere on campus, the university may provide
certain benefits to ease the transition. These severance benefits, if
any, will be communicated and coordinated by Human Resource Services.
Recall
If the position from which an employee was laid off is re-established
within 120 calendar days from the date of the staff member's layoff,
the laid off employee will then be notified by the department head in
writing and asked to return to the job, at which point the employee
will have two weeks to do so. During the 120 days following layoff, the
laid off staff member may apply for any other position in the
university that becomes available, and will be considered for
transfer/promotion on the same basis as active employees.
VACATION - TERMINATION
Employees are not entitled to receive additional pay in lieu of
accumulated vacation leave upon separation of employment. As a matter
of university policy, however, PLU currently follows these guidelines:
Terminating employees who have not completed their 90-day introductory period will receive no payment for unused vacation time.