Stanford Report, June 11, 2001
Beginning Jan. 1, 2002, full-time regular Stanford staff can take their birthday holiday off any day during the calendar year, regardless of when their actual birth date falls. Also beginning Jan. 1, 2002, 24 hours of personal time off will be available to all full-time regular staff members on the first day of the year. Both the birthday holiday and personal time off require prior supervisory approval.
The new policies, announced by Human Resources Director John Cammidge, will standardize the availability of the birthday holiday and personal time off (PTO) for staff.
The changes in policy are being prompted by the switch from existing administrative computer systems to new software in late December 2001, said Wynn Hausser, campus readiness manager for the Persona Project, which is implementing the changes.
The new software, developed by PeopleSoft, will standardize human resources, payroll and benefits administrative functions across campus, he said. It's expected that most changes will affect only human resources personnel, but others, like the changes in birthday holiday and personal time off, will affect other employees as well, he said.
In the current system, employees can take their birthday holiday on their birth date or any day before their next birthday. Personal time off is now available to employees in different departments and schools on different dates. Some employees now receive personal time off at the beginning of each calendar year that runs out at the end of the year. Others receive PTO beginning on July 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year; on Sept. 1, the beginning of the university fiscal year; or on their personal anniversary date. Personal time off, unlike vacation days, cannot be carried over from year to year.
No employee will lose time off during the transition to the new system, and some employees will actually gain time off, Hausser said. Employees who now receive personal time off each year beginning July 1 will receive 24 hours of personal time off that can be used until Dec. 31, 2001. Employees who now receive time off beginning Sept. 1 will receive 24 hours that can be used until Dec. 31, 2001. On Jan. 1, 2002, all employees will receive 24 hours that can be used until Dec. 31, 2002.
After reviewing current practices and obtaining input from various groups at Stanford, such as the University Management Group, administrators decided it would be preferable to give employees who receive personal time off later in the year extra hours of personal time off rather than to prorate the hours during the last four months of 2001, according to John Cammidge.
Staff are generally encouraged to take personal time off during the December holidays, when many offices reduce operations or close down, Cammidge said. An employee whose personal time off becomes available at the beginning of September might have planned to take all three days during the November/December holiday period. A sudden change to a prorated system would have given the employee only 8 to 12 hours of the anticipated 24 hours, Cammidge said. "This decision illustrates the difficulty of balancing different considerations at Stanford when faced with consolidating several practices into a single procedure necessitated by a standardized administrative system," Cammidge explained. "We recognize that this change may create issues in some parts of the university, particularly where projects are independently funded, but this decision was judged to be the most beneficial for both Stanford and its staff."
Hausser said there's no centralized way for the current administrative systems to calculate how many employees will receive extra hours of personal time off compared to those who will not receive more time off in advance of the new policy.
Access to integrated administrative information is one of the weaknesses of the current systems that the new PeopleSoft and Oracle software will correct, he said.
More information is available in Administrative Guide Memos 22.7 and 22.12, found at http://adminguide.stanford.edu. Staff can contact their local human resources officers or the Employee and Labor Relations office at 723-2191 for more information.
Summary of changes to personal time off and the birthday holiday
* Personal time off
Current policy: Regular full-time employees may use 24 hours of personal time off (PTO) each year. Stanford policy states that personal time off is available either on a fiscal or calendar year basis, depending on the local administrative unit.
New policy, effective Jan. 1, 2002: Beginning Jan. 1, 2002, PTO will be available on Jan. 1 each year across the university and can be used only during that calendar year.
Transition policy, June 1, 2001, -- Dec. 31, 2001: During the remainder of this current year, 2001, PTO still will be available at each department's usual time, but can only be taken by Dec. 31, 2001, not later. See chart.
* Birthday holiday
Current policy: Regular staff employees may use their birthday holiday on their birthday each year and are eligible to take their birthday holiday within 365 days following their birthday.
New policy, effective Jan. 1, 2002: Beginning Jan. 1, 2002, the birthday holiday is available on the first day of each year, regardless of the birthday date, and may be used at any time during the calendar year, with supervisory approval.
Transition
policy, June 1, 2001 -- Dec. 31, 2001: For the
remainder of this calendar year, 2001, employees with
birthdays between June and December may use their
birthday holiday any time within that six-month period,
with their supervisor's approval. Please note: The 2001
birthday holiday cannot be carried past Dec. 31, 2001.
