The ASC Special Interest Committee reviews staff suggestions and questions that are submitted through a feedback form. We recently met with Executive Director of Human Resources Maureen De Armond to discuss some of the following questions.  

Why are some open positions approved to be filled and others are not?  
Some open positions are approved to be filled due to outside funding, such as grant-funded positions. Other positions are approved due to the nature of the work performed being essential to the basic functioning of the University. These positions are excluded from the current hiring freeze. All requests for job postings are now being reviewed by HR and must be approved by the President.  

Fair Labor Standards Act – Salary Threshold  
At this time, there is no update on the proposed increase to salary thresholds. The comment period closed on November 7. The US Dept. of Labor chose not to extend the comment period. They now have 33,000 submissions to review. We have no insight at this time whether the proposed new salary threshold will be revised, due to the comments. It sounds like the absolute earliest that a new salary threshold could take effect (whatever it ends up being) would be June 2024. HR will continue to monitor the progress.   

Leave Policy Updates  
HR plans to review leave policies in the next couple months. If you have ideas or suggestions relating to the tuition waiver policy or the staff leave policies (primarily: sick, vacation, and bereavement), please let Maureen De Armond know your thoughts.   

Can all regular full-time employees be eligible to receive a day off with pay for their birthday? The day off would be issued as a floating holiday that must be taken within the same calendar month as the birthday.   
It is important to remember that not all people (or cultures) celebrate birthdays. Each year, employees are given two personal days. Having personal days allows individuals to decide what days are important for them (for some, it may be an anniversary or a child’s birthday, not their own).  

Can we bring back a monthly meeting-free day like what we had during the pandemic?  
This is a great idea. It is likely best decided at the department level.  Directors have the discretionary authority to make this decision for their unit—no department meetings, project meetings, 1:1’s on a certain day of the week or “First Fridays” regarding meeting-free days. Every unit has different operational needs—so this may not be feasible for some units and for others it may be very easy to implement. Maureen will share this idea with managers and encourage them to consider designating meeting free days. If you think this would work for your department, you are also encouraged to talk to your director and make it happen.   

— Erica McGowan, On Behalf of All Staff Council