New Policies and Procedures Manual Now On Web

There's a death in your family -- are you allowed to use sick time to attend the funeral? An employee who works for you hasn't shown up for work for three days and has not called to notify you. Can you terminate him or her?

The answer to these questions -- and lots of other information you need to know about UC human resources policies and procedures -- are now available on the web. The online version replaces a paper manual that was three inches thick. Its target audiences are UC managers and employees.

In addition to saving the university the printing costs associated with the old manual, the web version attempts to use simpler, more concise language. "This is the first major rewrite of the manual since 1980," said Stephanie Echols, executive director of Employee and Labor Relations, who oversaw the revision. The manual is especially useful to managers in dealing with hiring, evaluation, conduct, time off and other issues with personnel in their departments, she says.

"This is absolutely an important tool for managers to use. Managers are strongly encouraged to review the new policies," Echols says.

The web manual, placed on line July 1, is broken into nine subject "areas" instead of chapters. Policies and procedures on Affirmative Action, benefits, classification, compensation, conduct, employment, grievances, performance evaluation and probation, and records are included. There are links to related web sites in many subject areas and a glossary of terms.

The manual's introduction indicates that it "has been prepared by Human Resources to set forth the policies, procedures, benefits and obligations that relate to employment at the University of Cincinnati. The information contained in this manual is necessarily brief and is subject to change."

According to Echols, the web manual will "be a living document and will be updated regularly."

It represents the second major human resources document placed on the web in recent months. The Staff Handbook was placed on line earlier this year. Here are the links to both of these online manuals. You may want to add them to your bookmarks for ease in access. Both require Adobe Acrobat Reader:

Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual: http://www.hr.uc.edu/pap/policies_procedures.htm

Staff Handbook:
http://www.hr.uc.edu/handbook/staff_handbook.htm