Employee Performance Management System (EPMS) - FAQs

Transcription

1 GENERAL Employee Performance Management System (EPMS) - FAQs Q. Who is covered under the University s EPMS Policy HR 1.36? A. HR 1.36 describes the policy and procedures for the job performance evaluation of classified and unclassified non-academic staff (herein referred to as employees) of the University of South Carolina. Academic staff as defined in University Policies ACAF 1.01 Recruitment and Appointment of Academic Administrators and ACAF 1.06 Academic Titles for Faculty and Unclassified Academic Staff Positions are not included in this policy. Temporary, temporary grant, retired rehired, TERI and student workers are exempt from coverage under the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act and therefore are also not covered under the EPMS Policy. However, it is best practice to provide performance feedback to them via the Performance Feedback Assessment for Non-covered Employees or other feedback tool. Q. Why bother with an EPMS when there is no merit money attached? A. The EPMS process is intended to ensure that employees understand what is expected of them to successfully carry out their duties and responsibilities. It serves as a means of clarifying work expectations, identifying training needs and development opportunities and thanking employees for the hard work contributed to the university. It will also help an employee who is not meeting expectations understand what it will take to be successful and aid the supervisor in helping the employee succeed. For an employee who cannot turn his or her performance around, the EPMS review document is critical in the process of removing that employee from his or her position. It is also used to help justify a pay-for-performance increase. Additionally, the EPMS rating is part of the calculation of retention points if the university has to implement a Reduction-In-Force (RIF). Q. What is USC Upstate s Universal Review Date? A. May 1, effective 2013 PROBATIONARY PERIOD Q: When does the review period begin and end for a probationary employee in an FTE position? A: For a probationary employee, the review period is 12 months beginning on the date of employment and ending the day before their one year anniversary. For example, an employee who is hired on December 2nd should have an annual review completed on or before December 1st of the following year. Adapted from State OHR February 2013

2 Q. Is the review date of a probationary employee automatically changed to coincide with the universal review date? A. A probationary employee serves a 12-month probationary period before obtaining covered (covered by the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act) status. Therefore, the probationary employee s first EPMS review date will remain consistent with the hire date. Once the evaluation has been completed, the supervisor will complete a short-year planning stage (any planning stage document covering a period of time less than 12 months) and short-year review (any performance review that rates an employee s performance for a period of time less than 12 months) to move the employee s review date to the university s universal review date. Q: Is an employee ever required to complete another probationary period? A: Once a probationary period has been completed, the covered employee does not serve another probationary period, provided there is no break in state service (more than 15 days) or movement from a position covered by the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act. Q: Can an employee's partially completed probationary time in one state agency be counted toward completion of a probationary period in another state agency? A: The university president or designee may count up to six months of continuous satisfactory service toward completion of the probationary period in accordance with the State Human Resources Regulations. Q: What happens to the probationary period of an employee who is promoted, demoted, reclassified, or reassigned (to a different classification), prior to completion of the probationary period? A: The employee would start a new 12-month probationary period. However, at his/her discretion, the university president or designee may count up to six months of continuous satisfactory service in the previous class toward the employee's probationary period which would result in a reduction in the length of the employee's performance review period. Q: Can an employee's probationary period be extended? A: No; an employee s probationary period cannot be extended beyond 12 months. SIX MONTH TRIAL PERIOD Q: How does a trial period differ from a probationary period? A: The probationary period occurs upon an employee's initial employment. A trial period occurs when a covered employee experiences a change in state class title. It is a six-month test period immediately following a covered employee s promotion, reclassification, demotion, reassignment, or transfer to a classification in which he/she has never attained permanent status (the status attained by an employee upon completion of a probationary or trial period in a class or unclassified state title). 2

3 Q. Will the review date of an employee in a six-month trial period automatically change to coincide with the universal review date? A. No. A covered employee who is promoted, demoted, reclassified, reassigned, or transferred to a position or experiences an unclassified state title change in which he/she has not held permanent status, will complete the six-month trial period and the supervisor will complete a short-year planning stage and review to move the employee to the universal review date. Q: Can an employee's six-month trial period be extended? A: An employee's trial period may be extended for up to 90 calendar days upon written notification to the employee prior to the end of the six-month trial period. Q: What happens if an employee receives a "fails to meet or unsuccessful" rating his/her evaluation before completing the trial period? A: If an employee has been promoted, reclassified, or reassigned and does not successfully complete the trial period, he/she may be demoted, reclassified, or reassigned back to the previous position or a position equal to the previous position from which he/she was promoted without recourse through the grievance process. If a transfer from another agency is involved, the agency has the option of reassigning the employee to a position similar to the prior position. If the covered employee is terminated, he/she would have grievance rights. PLANNING STAGE Q: What is the purpose of the planning stage? A: The planning stage is designed to outline job duties and performance expectations for the rating period. Q: How do the job duties on the position description relate to the elements of an EPMS planning stage? A: The job duties are used to identify the specific job functions that will be reviewed for the rating period and identify the success criteria for evaluating the employee's performance. Q: When should an employee be given a planning stage document? A: Each employee should have a planning stage conducted as soon as possible at the beginning of each performance period. Good management practices encourage the planning stage to be completed within the first four to six weeks of the beginning of the performance period. Q: Whose signatures are required on the EPMS signature page? A: As indicated by the order of signatures on the signature page, the form should be signed by the supervisor (rater), reviewed by next higher level supervisor (reviewer), then the employee. A copy of the EPMS planning document should be given to the employee for reference throughout the performance period. 3

4 ONGOING COMMUNICATION/PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Q: How should job performance be managed? A: The supervisor (rater) should provide ongoing performance feedback to employees throughout the performance period. An unofficial mid-year review is recommended to assess progress, to correct any misunderstandings about expectations, and to encourage ongoing communication between the supervisor and employee. SUBSTANDARD PERFORMANCE Q: How should substandard performance be addressed? A: Efforts to address performance deficiencies through coaching and counseling should be implemented first. If during the performance period an employee is failing to meet or unsuccessful in any essential job function or objective which significantly impacts performance, the supervisor (rater) will provide the employee with a written Warning Notice of Substandard Performance before rating the employee fails to meet or unsuccessful. Q: When performance problems exist during an employee's probationary period, is it necessary for the supervisor to issue a Warning Notice of Substandard Performance? A: While coaching and counseling may be used to improve an employee's performance, the use of a WNSP is not required in a probationary period. If an employee is not performing satisfactorily during the probationary period, the employee may be terminated before becoming a covered employee. Until an employee has completed the probationary period and has a "meets or successful or higher overall rating on the employee's performance evaluation, the employee has no grievance rights under the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act. Q. When can a Warning Notice of Substandard Performance be issued? A. The WNSP may be issued at any time during the performance period. Ordinarily, it may not extend beyond the employee s review date. However, if the notice is issued less than 30 days from the employee s review date, the performance review date shall roll forward one day for each day the warning is in effect (up to 90 days). The employee may require a short-year planning stage and review to move the employee back to the universal review date. Q: When a WNSP is issued how much time is given for improvement? A: The WNSP must provide for an improvement period of no less than 30 and no more than 120 days; i.e. 30 days, 45 days, 60 days, etc. Q: During the improvement period, should the rating occur on one specific date or within a range of several days? A: It is recommended that a supervisor plan for a range of several days instead of one specific 4

5 date to complete the employee's rating during the improvement period; i.e. up to 60 days, etc. Q: What are the requirements of a Warning Notice of Substandard Performance? A: The requirements of a WNSP are: must be in writing, addressed to the employee, labeled as a "Warning Notice of Substandard Performance," and signed by the employee (witnessed, if employee will not sign); must list the job function(s) and/or objective(s) included on the employee's planning document that are considered below performance requirements, with an explanation of the deficiencies for each job function and/or objective; shall include the time period for improvement and the consequences if no improvement is noted (i.e., dismissal, demotion, and reassignment); and describe a plan for evaluating employee progress during the warning period. In addition, a signed copy of the notice shall be given to the employee and placed in the employee's official personnel file. Employee Relations should be consulted prior to issuing. Q: Once the employee has been given a Warning Notice of Substandard Performance, what is the next step? A: The supervisor and the employee should participate in drafting a work improvement plan. The work improvement plan should include a list of ways to improve the deficiencies and other appropriate performance-related recommendations. In those instances where the supervisor and employee cannot agree upon the content of the work improvement plan, the supervisor s decision is final. During the warning period, the supervisor must meet with the employee regularly to discuss the employee s progress. Documentation is required to verify that these counseling sessions were held. Copies of this documentation shall be placed in the employee s official personnel file and given to the employee upon request. Q: What happens if a review is not completed by the designated time frame for improvement? A: Once a time frame for improving substandard performance has been given, the employee must be rated prior to the end of the warning period or the employee will receive a "meets or successful performance rating by default. Q: Can a Warning Notice of Substandard Performance be extended? A: A WNSP can be extended. However, the entire period cannot extend beyond 120 days from the date the notice was issued. Q: How many Warning Notices of Substandard Performance can an employee receive in a 365-day period? A: Two. Upon the third occurrence of a WNSP within a 365-day period, an employee shall be removed from the position without further notice. 5

6 Q: What happens if an employee's performance improves to the meets or successful or above level during a WNSP period? A: The employee is given written notice indicating the improvements that were made. The notice is placed in the employee's personnel file and he/she continues to perform his/her daily job duties. This action does not alter the performance review date. Q: What happens if an employee's performance does not improve to the meets or successful or above level during a WNSP? A: By the end of the warning period, if the employee is rated fails to meet or unsuccessful on any essential job function or objective which significantly impacts performance as noted in the WNSP, the employee shall be removed from the position immediately (i.e. terminated, demoted, or reassigned). Q: Can an employee grieve or appeal a Warning Notice of Substandard Performance? A: According to the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act, the notice is not grievable or appealable. However, if an employee is subsequently demoted or terminated, those actions may be grievable or appealable. EVALUATION/REVIEW Q: How far in advance of the annual review date may the supervisor (rater) complete an employee's EPMS evaluation? A: The rater may complete the employee's EPMS evaluation up to 90 days prior to the performance review date which does not change the performance review date. Probationary employees can be evaluated up to 30 days before the end of the review period. Trial period employees can be evaluated up to two weeks before the end of the trial period. Q: I am completing an employee s review and want to give a fails to meet or unsuccessful rating in one of the essential job functions that significantly impacts the job. Can I do this? A: Yes, but only if the employee has been given a WNSP prior to completing the evaluation. (See Substandard Performance) Q: What happens if an employee does not receive an EPMS review prior to the end of the rating period? A: The rater must complete the employee's EPMS review by the close of business on the day before the employee's performance review date. The Division of Human Resources suspended the practice of accepting late EPMS reviews effective November 1, In these cases, the supervisor will need to provide written justification for the late review. An employee receives a meets by default or successful by default rating if an EPMS rating has not been recorded in the system within 30 days of the review date. Once the rating is in default, it cannot be changed unless extenuating circumstances exist. 6

7 Q: What can an employee do if they disagree with their EPMS evaluation rating? A: The employee may attach a written response to the EPMS evaluation stating his/her reasons for the disagreement. The EPMS rating is neither grievable nor appealable under the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act. Q: What happens if an employee refuses to sign the EPMS evaluation form? A: Employee signature is required. This does not mean the employee agrees with the rating but denotes receipt and review of the document. If an employee refuses to sign the EPMS signature page, the rater should note the refusal on the document and obtain a witness (reviewer or other management official) to the refusal, having the witness also sign the form. If no witness is available, the supervisor may have the employee sign a statement indicating he/she refuses to sign the EPMS document. 7