Backwards

"There is one individual who does not perform well and I do not believe the department as a whole should be shown negatively for his errors in judgement and professionalism."

Imagine that the statement above was said about me... Our department pretty much begs for people's opinions by sending out "How are we doing?" surveys. They are useless, in my opinion and I don't understand why we constantly beg for "approval." Considering that morons fill out the surveys and make comments such as the one above, it's hard to take it seriously.

Another comment was "Slow." What is slow? Us? The system? Molasses? Then there was one that was great! "I don't appreciate when the team seems impatient when I call with a question. Maybe they've answered it a million times but it's the first time I'm asking." What a load of crap... We get impatient not because we've answered it a million times that day, we get impatient because this person has called us a million times with the same goddamn question!

Anyway, I was a bit upset with the comment but at the same time I can't take it seriously considering who it's coming from.

SHOCK

The unproffy from "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" got Employee of the Month for June. Can you believe that?

Let's Blame Others, part II

The Department Coordinator from the previous Let's Blame Others post emailed us today with an almost exact situation as Friday's. I could not believe it when I saw it. I wanted to email her and say "Lady! Your short term memory clearly does not exist."

She was more arrogant than before:

>>> Department Coordinator 7/20/2009 3:27 PM >>>
I sent over an Off-Cycle Check Request for Emploee this morning to get her the rest of her paycheck owed to her from PPE 7/9/09. I want to make sure that my department is not charged the $50 fee for this. According to my records, the time limited contract for her was sent over on 6/16/09 and ought to have been received then by 6/19 at the latest. Please advise. Dept Coordinator

She doesn't want her department to pay the $50 fee because she thinks it wasn't her fault. The difference between this situation and the one from Friday is the date. This one did come in on time but we requested additional information that was not provided. In fact, the department manager (who was contacted for additional information) never even responded to our 6/19 email... Let's see where this ends...

Who Can Help This Poor Soul?

I got a call from a returning "temp" employee wondering if he would get a new contract in the upcoming month. HR has no say in this as it's up to the department whether or not they have money to make him another offer. He also had questions about the new health insurance for temp employees which is outside of HR's realm as well. The department never called him back. He called the "temp" office to inquire about the insurance and he was sent to Aetna. Aetna sent him back to the temp office. His coworker told him to call HR that we would be able to help but unfortunately there was nothing I could do. I emailed the department and the termp office:

>>> Me 7/20/2009 12:03 PM >>>
Hello Department Secretary and Temp Office
I just spoke to employee and he seems a little "lost". He had questions about a temp contract for the upcoming months and how much would that be. From what I understood, there were talks about it in May but nothing else has been communicated to him. He was curious to know if it was still a possibility. He also had questions about the new temp health insurance. The person he spoke with at the Temp Office referred him to Aetna. Aetna sent him back to the Temp Office. One of his coworkers referred him to HR as he was having a hard time finding answers. Unfortunately, we cannot assist him with questions about his contract nor temp health insurance. Could you guys contact him to discuss these matters? He can be reached at (xxx) xxx-xxxx. Thank you! Me

The department secretary is out of the office so I forwarded the email to someone else. The Temp Office replied:

>>> Temp Office 7/20/2009 12:15 PM >>>
Hi You and Department Secretary
Thank you. Questions regarding the details of the a temp hire should be answered by the hiring department. General information can be found on our website.General information regarding health insurance can also be found at the link above. If the temp is unable to find the information they are looking for after viewing this web page and all available links, they should contact their hiring department or us for additional assistance. Thanks! Temp Office Representative

I was furious at their lack of care. Temps are handled by them and the hiring department not by HR. I'm not going to but into something that I have no say over! So I emailed the Temp Office Representative:

>>> Me 7/20/2009 12:18 PM >>>
Temp Office Representative
His questions were left unanswered by your team and Aetna, which is why he came to us. Please, feel free to contact him and give him the information below. HR was contacted in error and we have no say in these matters. Thanks, Me

The Temp Office Representative emailed me about an hour later saying that she would contact him directly.

Let's Blame Others!

Some employees work on time limited appointments. Their contract can "expire" and not be renewed, depending on available funds. When we process those contracts, we have to enter a break (not a termination) at the end date. We don't want to put a termination because 9 out 10 times, the contract is renewed. Terminating the employee would cause problems with their benefits and etc. The break simply stops pay and prevents an overpayment (should the contract not be renewed).


Well, yesterday there was an issue with an employee who was underpaid because of this break. The department however was adamant about being HR's fault. They thought that breaks were no longer processed for these time limited appointment contracts which is why they didn't send the renewed contract on time.

>>> Employee 7/17/2009 9:16 AM >>>
Hello Department Secretary
My pay check is $700 short. Please let me know what to do... Employee.

>>> Department Secretary 7/17/2009 9:38 AM >>>
Payroll, Please advise. Dept Secretary.

At this point, the employee calls Payroll directly. Followed by the Department Coordinator. Payroll advises that they would research and contact them back. The Coordinator emails the Payroll Asst Manager and HR's Assistant Director:

>>> Department Coordinator 7/17/2009 11:38 AM >>>

Asst HR Director, Asst Payroll Manager: Can you please help here? We've tried calling about this as well. Department Coordinator.

The Payroll Asst Manager gets furious at their lack of patience and because they emailed the Asst Director (there was no need for it). On top of it all, she's annoyed at their stupidity.

>>> Payroll Assistant Manager 7/17/2009 12:18 PM >>>

Hi Department Coordinator
She was one of the employees who had a time limited appointment end date of 7/1/09 and had an extension to contract for which a letter to Records was not done in a timely manner due to last minute grant extensions. We did not get the change letter until 7/9/09 at 2PM. This places the document in HR well past the processing deadline of 6/26/09. Therefore, the document has been processed for pay period 7/23/09. I spoke with my team and they did receive your phone call and were researching into this when I was emailed on the matter. Please allow them sufficient time to research and respond when you contact any of the team members for assistance. Thank You, Asst Payroll Manager.

Not satisfied, the Coordinator contacts my boss, the Records Manager:

>>> Department Coordinator 7/17/2009 1:21 PM >>>

Records Manager, I was under the impression that you and my manager had spoken about our time limited appointments, and that the breaks were not being keyed. Also, the employee's letter was for 10/1/08-8/31/09. At least, the one that I have has those dates. I also have the newest one which covered the 9/1/09-10/31/09 period. Do we know why 7/1 was keyed as her end date? Department Coordinator

>>> Records Manager 07/17/09 3:21 PM >>>

Hi Department Coordinator
I have reviewed this issue and do not see where HR was at fault. As is our business practice, when we receive a time limited letter (this one was dated 10/1/08 -6/30/09), we key a break row to prevent any possibility of overpayment. The new letter was not signed by your boss until 7/8/09 and was received the next day on 7/9 and the pay period ended on 7/10. In regards to what your boss and I spoke about, I believe you are referencing to other employees, those on the federal grant. Thanks, Records Manager

Needless to say, the department did not respond...

Why do I have to do her job?

A couple of weeks ago, department XYZ sent a few requests to hire some employees. Since we use an electronic request form, departments have the ability to add an employment instance (concurrent to any existing instances) or terminate a current instance by replacing it with this new one.

So, department XYZ sent these requests but they should all have been an addition to other instances that were currently active. Instead, XYZ representative terminated all existing jobs.

Friday came around for departments to process their payroll for the current pay period and noticed that certain employees were no longer showing. We got all the phone calls and figured the error. We told the other departments to contact XYZ and tell them to fix the error by submitting a corrective action request. I spoke to XYZ as well and she was very receptive and apologetic.

So far, all corrections have been going well. I have not heard one single issue about XYZ (being rude, not helpful) until today. I called Witch from department ABC to tell her that we could not process a paycheck for her employee yet because XYZ had not sent a correction request yet. I asked if XYZ had been contacted and she said yes. So I suggested for her to call them again, otherwise the employee would not get a check tomorrow.

Witch, from department ABC, freaked out (in lack of a better term). “Why do I have to do her job? Why do I have to tell her what to do? I have no power over her and department XYZ! Why did you call me if it’s something that XYZ needs to do? I don’t work there!” And she went on and on. I tried to explain that it was up to all departments involved to contact XYZ and notify her. That’s what we agreed on… Witch started again “Well, I called XYZ before and she wouldn’t help. She said that she hired the employee and the employee never mentioned that he worked at ABC so she couldn’t help me. I have no power at XYZ, I can’t tell them what to do. This makes no sense. You’re calling me by mistake. I don’t have to do this, it’s their fault they have to fix it!” I tried again by insisting that the way to get this resolved is for ABC to call XYZ. And she started again…. More frustrated/angry/rude as the conversation went on.

I had to end it so I told her I would do her a favor and contact XYZ to inquire about the status of this request. Witch, believe it or not, started AGAIN! All I could say was “ABC, I don’t agree with you but that’s ok. I’ll contact XYZ and let’s see where we go from there, ok?” Instead of saying “Ok HR, thank you!” no, she tried to insert one last “I don’t feel like I have to do her job!” At the moment, I cut her off and said “Ok Witch, I’m copying you on the email. Thanks.” She responded “Thanks, bye!”

XYZ still has not submitted the corrective action request.

This is not mine!

I was notifying department X that their employee could not be put on a Worker's Comp leave of absence because their Maternity leave (that should have ended in January) was still active. Once the request to return from Maternity leave had been processed, I would then process the Worker's Comp leave. I copied Ms. LOA in HR's Leave of Absence team, just as an FYI. She sits just a few steps from me.

"Hi Department X
I received paperwork from the Leave of Absence Team to put employee X on a Worker's Comp leave but I noticed that she was never returned from her Maternity leave. Please send a request to return her from Maternity leave. Once that's done, I'll be able to process the worker's comp leave. Thanks! Rodrigo"

Ms. LOA responds to me and to department X, which is a no no. There's no need to copy department X on internal matters:
"Hi Rodrigo - This is leave belongs to my co-worker, no me. i.e. I never put this employee on any leaves. Thanks."

I respond to Ms. LOA:
"Ms. LOA, I copied you because the new leave is yours and I won't be processing it until she is returned from the old leave. Also, please be careful when copying the departments on internal HR matters. It opens the door for them to "attack" us. Trust me on this one... Rodrigo"

I insisted that it was "hers" because as far as I knew, Ms. LOA handled all paperwork for Worker's Comp. Her co-worker handled Medical, Maternity, Personal leaves. She did not like my answer:

"Rodrigo - Please trust me on this. I DID NOT do any leave for this employee. My co-worker must have done it. Also, I play it straight; with everyone, "political" or not...I don't care who attacks me, I go with the facts, and if "they" have better facts than they win :) - it's life, it's no big deal...there's always another piranha out there and another mountain to climb...If you are concerned about the people you email than please don't copy me on those emails.Send me a separate email if you feel I need to know something. Email is touchy, but you control your communications, I don't."

There was no need to copy department X on the initial email. At my current employer, you have to be very careful what you "let out" of HR. A lot of folks out there are just waiting for HR to slip on anything. They'll then use the ammo against us any way possible. But as you can see, Ms. LOA is not concerned...

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Two of my co-workers brought a situation to me that needed to be fixed immediately. I questioned that because we were in the middle of Payroll processing and employee records should not be corrected during that time frame.

Considering that one of the people who brought the problem to my attention was from Payroll, I assumed it was ok. I was still against it mainly because it sends out the wrong idea to the other departments. They will go on thinking that it's ok to request changes in the middle of Payroll processing.

Anyway, I corrected the employee's record and sent a little note to the departments involved (seen below).

"Hello
Although we understand the employee's frustration of working and not getting paid correctly, amending employment records in the middle of Payroll processing is not ideal. This correction was an exception. The employee actually contacted us (HR) a few times wanting updates on her situation. We would have preferred to discuss her situation with you and then you with her, instead of with her directly. This usually creates "HR said/My department said" type of misunderstandings... At any rate, it's been taken care of on the Records side. Now Payroll will take care of it on their end.Thanks and have a great weekend!"

This is the response I received from one of the departments involved:

"First off I want to emphasize that the employee was NEVER instructed by this office to contact HR, although I can understand why she may have felt it was necessary. Also, ss no one from HR contacted this office letting us know that the employee has spoken directly with you, we had no way of addressing the situation with her."

Then she quotes numerous emails between HR, her department and the other department involved. All with red and bold notes to show how responsible she is and what a piece of crap HR is.

"As you can see, the concern with getting this employee on the payroll had been going on for over a month. Please know that we were doing everything in our power to get it done and follow the rules. We just kept running into brick walls."

Notice how there was no "Thank You HR for getting this employee into the system in the middle of Payroll processing!" Although I should be used to this, sometimes this attitude (seen often) drives me bonkers!

Hello!

I deal with a lot of unprofessional folks at work. Some people think that they can say/do whatever they please. Unfortunately, since the consequence level is low/non-existant, people get away with a lot.

I've been in Human Resources for 6 years and have seen my fair share of "interesting" things.
I am not saying that my former employer was perfect, far from that. But the past 2.5 years with my current employer, I've seen my fair share of craziness. I'm going to start sharing some of those interactions with the world.