April 23, 2001
Hiring managers urged to process new hire paperwork By Jan Gleason
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A collaborative effort is under way to raise the awareness of hiring managers that its important to process the paperwork of newly hired employees to help them feel welcome at Emoryand to ensure they obtain all their benefits, including that all-important first paycheck. We did a study of all the new hires, rehires and transfers in the
past seven months and found that 25 percent of all new employees missed
out on getting their first paycheck because their hiring paperwork hadnt
been processed by the person who hired them, said Carolynn Miller,
manager of data services in Human Resources (HR). We knew anecdotally there was a problem, but this was the first
time we quantified it, Miller said. More and more systems
on campus are relying on data that comes from HR, so if the paperwork
for people who have been hired hasnt been processed, many offices
cant provide their services to new employees. Were working with a group of offices on campus to let people
who hire employees know how important it is to get that hiring paperwork
turned in to their HR representatives. We really need to reduce the lag
time between the hiring dates of new employees and when the paperwork
gets to the departments HR representative. Alice Miller, vice president for Human Resources, supported this effort
with an April 2 memo to deans, vice presidents and department heads in
which she recommended that all new hire paperwork be submitted to HR at
least five days prior to a new employees first day of work. Were urging departments who are hiring people from Atlanta
to have them stop by at least five days before their first day of work
and get the paperwork taken care of, Carolynn Miller said. We have had people in tight situations who havent gotten their first paycheck, she added. In addition, new employees have to pay for parking, because they cant get a parking pass until their hiring paperwork is processed since the parking office relies on our data. The Information Technology Division cant issue e-mail IDs or system passwords until new hires are processed. People cant sign up for benefits until their paperwork is completed,
so they may have to pay for medical expenses and then get reimbursed when
the insurance company receives our information. Library access cannot
be granted until the paperwork is processed which is important for faculty
who need access for course preparation. Miller said this is a collaborative effort by departments that encounter
problems when new-hire paperwork hasnt been done: ITD Accounts Manage-ment,
Parking and Community Services, Employment, Network Communications, the
Time and Attendance Project office, Payroll, Emory Card, University Libraries,
Equal Opportunity, Student Employment, and HR Information Services. HR has also developed a New Hire Checklist to guide managers
through those all-important first days on the job for a new employee.
At a meeting of HR representatives, I asked them to imagine what
new employees are thinking when they drive down Clifton Road on the morning
of their first day of working at Emory, said Carolynn Miller. They
need to know their phone number so they can let their families know. They
need to know where theyre eligible, what benefits theyre going
to sign up for. If these details arent taken care of, then their
department isnt giving
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