Employee Handbook
Updated June, 2010
Hours of work are
determined by the supervisor of the position. Not all employees are on
an 8–4:30 schedule. Any changes to the scheduled hours must be
approved by the supervisor prior to the change in hours.
Some employees are paid overtime for hours worked over 40 per week. Some
employees are not paid overtime for hours worked over 40 per week. Only
in exceptional circumstances are student employees scheduled outside of
normal business hours. If you are unsure of your status, check with your
supervisor.
Student hourly employees must submit timesheets every other Monday. Completed
time sheets must be signed by the supervisor and submitted to the Assistant
Director for Human Resources by noon on the due date, or a paycheck will not
be cut for that pay period. The late timesheet will be entered on the
following due date.
An employee is entitled
to one 15 minute break for each 4 full hours worked. If an employee works
one 8.5 hour shift (8–4:30) they are entitled to two 15 minute breaks
and one 30 minute unpaid lunch period. Employees can choose to combine the
breaks with the 30 minute lunch and take 1 hour for the lunch break.
(For administrative staff only) No employee should begin their lunch break
before 11:00 a.m. or after 1:00 p.m. (i.e., all employees should return from
their lunch break by 2:00 p.m.).
The DTC has a lunch room that can be used by all employees and researchers.
The lunch room has a refrigerator, coffee maker, and microwaves. Please
abide by the information signs in the lunch room.
The Digital Technology
Center and Walter Library are non-smoking facilities. Smoking is allowed
outside of the building.
All vacation time must
be pre-scheduled with and approved by the supervisor of the position. All
full-time employees must submit an absence card to their supervisor upon
return from the time off.
Sick leave may be used for illnesses, caring for ill family members (see
supervisor for specifics), and doctor appointments.
If you will not be in to work due to illness, you must contact your
supervisor directly at the start of your shift. If your supervisor
is unavailable, you must leave a voicemail for your supervisor and
also contact the DTC/MSI receptionist and inform them, and they will
send email to
admin@dtc.umn.edu
For administrative staff: You must call in. Do not send email.
Vacation and sick leave may be taken in 15 minute increments, if need
be.
Unpaid leaves may be requested when all available vacation accrual has been
exhausted. Unpaid sick leave may be requested when all available sick leave
and vacation leave has been exhausted. (This policy covers Civil Service and
Barganing Unit Employees. It does not refer to P&A, undergraduate
appointments, or graduate appointments.) Please refer questions on P&A,
undergraduate or graduate appointments to the Assistant Director for Human
Resources. Unpaid leave requests are reviewed by the Assistant Director for
Human Resources and the Director as to whether or not they will be granted.
Each situation is reviewed on an individual basis.
All scheduled time off is recorded on an employee calendar, which is
distributed to all staff members as needed.
Student hourly employees need not submit the absence form but must
have all time off pre-approved by the supervisor of the
position.
Usually, one cannot take the day before and after a holiday off, due to
the small size of the staff. We need to ensure we have enough phone
coverage and general staff coverage.
If all staff have submitted their requests for time off, and there is
adequate coverage, the before and after may be approved by the
supervisor.
The DTC does not have a
dress code, but encourages staff to dress appropriately for their position.
There may be times that the supervisor would request that the employee dress
in a more professional manner (meetings, tours, etc.), and this information
will be given to the employee at least two days prior to the date.
The Assistant Director
for Human Resources keeps a confidential listing of all staff home addresses
and phone numbers. If you have a change of address or phone number, you need
to give this information to the Assistant Director for Human Resources.
Most employees have their own private phone number at the Institute. There may be times when two people share one phone number, usually for part-time staff.
Most DTC phones have voicemail.
Personal long distance calls must be charged to a personal home telephone
number, a personal credit card, or a personal calling card. Charging personal
calls to a University telephone is a violation of University policy and
constitutes avoidance of state and federal taxes.
No non-University phones can be installed in the DTC building.
Your access code for your voicemail should match your 5 digit campus phone
number, which is the policy for office holders as well.
All employees have a private mail slot at reception. Employees should check their mail slot daily for incoming mail and internal departmental information, as well as direct deposit slips and other pertinent information.
All employees will be
issued an access card to enter the building and specific Institute areas.
(Note: In the new building, one will have their UofM card activated by DTC
for entry.) Access cards may not be shared with another staff or non-staff
member.
Not all employees will be issued a key. The supervisor of the position will
determine what keys will be needed for each employee. Upon leaving the DTC,
access cards and keys must be returned.
DTC staff members are
allowed to furnish their offices with small items (i.e., pictures, posters,
books, and knick-knacks ) that are appropriate in an office setting. Staff
members are not allowed to use non-DTC provided furniture and lights without
prior permission from the DTC's Assistant Director for Facilities and
Programs.
Appliances such as coffee makers, microwaves, refrigerators, space heaters,
and the like, are prohibited except in special circumstances. If the staff
member has a special need and would like to request an exception to this rule,
they should contact their supervisor or the Assistant Director for Facilities
and Programs. Staff members may furnish their offices with radios or small
stereos. Personal televisions, video or DVD players, or video games are not
allowed. If a staff member brings a radio or stereo, it is expected that
they will use it in such a manner as to not disturb other staff members or
researchers.
Non-business related
visitors of more than a short duration (more than a few minutes) must be
pre-approved by the supervisor of the position. Non-business related visitors
are not to have any access to DTC owned computers and equipment or DTC
related non-public information. The employee must be with the visitor at
all times.
All visits of more than three people at one time must be pre-approved by
the Assistant Director for Facilities and Programs or the Director. This
would typically be granted in response to a written request from a faculty
host in conjunction with a special event.
Visitors are allowed access to the DTC's computers or other equipment only
when pre-approved by the Assistant Director for Facilities and Programs or
the Director. This would typically be granted in response to a written
request from a faculty host in conjunction with a special event.
You must request parking directly from the University. Please contact Parking Services directly at 6-7275 if you will need contract parking on campus.
All staff will have an email account assigned to them. This account should be used for work-related mail only. Staff should log into their account when they arrive to work for the day and should check their mail often. They should log out of the system at the end of their shift. Most departmental information is dispersed via email.
Email accounts at the DTC are not private personal accounts. All DTC accounts can be accessed at any time it is deemed necessary by a supervisor without notice to the employee.
When an employee is going to be out of the office for more than two work days, a vacation message must be put on their email.
If you have questions on this procedure, contact the Mac/Windows support staff member.
In addition, the following is taken from the University of Minnesota Rules for Using Email:
The University of Minnesota provides access to email to all eligible students, staff, and faculty, with the fewest interruptions of service possible. Email accounts and passwords are assigned to individuals and are not to be shared. Users are encouraged to select an obscure password and change it frequently.
Access to and use of email is a privilege and should be treated as such by all users. Computing services, including email, may not be used for illegal or unauthorized purposes including, but not limited to, harassment; destruction of or damage to equipment, software, or data belonging to others; unauthorized copying of copyrighted materials; or the disruption or unauthorized monitoring of electronic communications. Using email to participate in illegal acts is itself illegal and may be subject to prosecution by state and federal authorities. Use of email for private business purposes unrelated to the University is unauthorized.
As an email user, you are responsible for using system resources wisely. If you use the system in ways that are judged excessive, wasteful, or unauthorized as described above, your access to the system may be taken away and you may be subject to University disciplinary procedures.
All computers at DTC used
by staff are to be used for DTC or MSI-related work only. The DTC has a zero
tolerance for games on these computers. No games of any type can be installed
on any computers at DTC at any time. No personal software or software that
DTC has not approved and purchased is to be installed on any computer at any
time. No freeware, shareware, etc. is to be installed on any administrative
computer without prior authorization from the supervisor of the position.
Administrative staff members may not install or use a security system that
restricts access (i.e., password protection) to their computer with out
prior approval from their supervisor.
DTC computers are also not to be removed from DTC facilities (with the
exception of laptops which specific management staff may have). In addition,
no staff member should modify another staff member's computer. All
administrative computers are configured by the Mac/Windows support
staff member, and they are all configured in the same manner.
Administration staff should contact the Mac/Windows support staff
member, if they need support assistance.
No personal computers (employee owned) may be brought in and used at DTC.
Personal web pages should conform to the University
guidelines as listed below and must be appropriate for the general public.
Should the supervisor find that a personal web page is inappropriate, it
will be removed immediately.
Elements that
must appear on all faculty, staff, and student personal home pages
- name and email address of the page owner
- date of the last update
- disclaimer
(The
views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page
author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by
the University of Minnesota.)
Personal home pages may
not contain the University wordmark, campus marks, or other symbols of the
University or campus.
Please see: http://www1.umn.edu/adcs/help/webpage.html for
specific UofM guidelines.
The DTC does not tolerate sexual harassment in any
form. The University of Minnesota's definition of sexual harassment is
defined as:
"Unwelcome sexual
advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct
of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when (1) submission to such
conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an
individual's employment or academic advancement, (2) submission to or
rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for
employment decisions or academic decisions affecting such individual,
(3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering
with an individual's work or academic performance or creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or academic
environment."
If you feel you have a
situation which you feel may be sexual harassment, report it to your
supervisor or another supervisor in the department immediately.
The University of Minnesota
has a policy on drug and alcohol use in the workplace. Please
reference:
http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/policy/Drug_Free.cfm
See: http://www.umn.edu/ohr/summary/
See:
http://www.umn.edu/ohr/orientation
See:
http://www.umn.edu/ohr/ohrpolicy/index.htm
See:
http://www.umn.edu/ohr/program.html
(You should reference
these as new contracts are negotiated to view the most up-to-date
information regarding your classification.)
See: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/ohrpolicy/contents.htm
