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April 23, 2001

Hiring managers urged to process new hire paperwork

By Jan Gleason

 

A collaborative effort is under way to raise the awareness of hiring managers that it’s important to process the paperwork of newly hired employees to help them feel welcome at Emory—and 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 hadn’t 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 hasn’t been processed, many offices can’t provide their services to new employees.

“We’re 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 department’s 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.

“We’re 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 haven’t gotten their first paycheck,” she added. “In addition, new employees have to pay for parking, because they can’t get a parking pass until their hiring paperwork is processed since the parking office relies on our data. The Information Technology Division can’t issue e-mail IDs or system passwords until new hires are processed.

People can’t 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 hasn’t 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 they’re eligible, what benefits they’re going to sign up for. If these details aren’t taken care of, then their department isn’t giving
them a very warm welcome.”

 

Back to Emory Report April 23, 2001