Questions About Inclement Weather and Holiday Pay?

Many employees have asked questions about how the inclement weather day last Monday will affect their holiday pay. If your time sheet isn't coded properly you could lose holiday pay. OHSU Human Resources has placed an FAQ on their managers' blog which our union believes is both accurate and helpful.  It is important that timekeepers code any missed time on Monday in accordance with the information below in order to assure there are no mistakes with your holiday pay. OHSU has told us that timekeepers will be getting the same information via email.Reprinted with permission:FAQ: Pay and timekeeping during inclement weatherMany of you have had questions about pay and how to record time for various situations arising from this week’s inclement weather. A good general reference is the attendance and leave guidelines matrix that outlines by employee representational group how pay is impacted based on multiple scenarios.Some additional clarification specific to this week’s circumstances is included below. Please note that timekeeping practices only apply to hourly employees; in most cases, no changes in Kronos are necessary for salaried employees.Q1: When do I apply the attendance and leave guidelines (e.g., no loss of pay if employee arrives within two hours of scheduled start time) for work on Jan. 3, 4 and 5?OHSU declared inclement weather operations to be in effect from 5 a.m. Monday, Jan 4 through 4 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5. Any scheduled work between these hours would be subject to the attendance and leave guidelines.While these guidelines do not apply for scheduled work prior to 5 a.m. Monday, managers are encouraged to use their best judgement and discretion when considering attendance issues during Sunday shifts. In particular, if an employee made every reasonable effort to report to work as scheduled but was unable to do so because of the weather, the resulting late report or absence should not be considered an occurrence. Employees should be granted use of accrued vacation or compensation time upon their request.Q2: Under the attendance and leave guidelines, if an employee reports to work within two hours from their scheduled start time, they are paid for the entire shift. How do I record in Kronos the time they did not actually work?For scheduled hours during the time inclement weather operations were in effect, use LWP (Leave with Pay) and add the comment “Inclement Weather” for any time the employee was not working but should be paid. For example, if an employee was regularly scheduled to start at 7 a.m. but did not arrive until 8 a.m., the LWP code and Inclement Weather comment should be used between 7 and 8 a.m. This will ensure the employee will be paid at their regular pay rate for the entire shift.Note: You may notice a pay code in Kronos of IWT (Inclement Weather Team). This is a differential code and should not be used for time missed due to weather. The comment “Inclement Weather” can be added when using other pay codes.Q3: Many employees did not work Friday, Jan. 1 due to the holiday, and Monday, Jan. 4 was their next scheduled working day. If an employee didn’t work Monday, Jan. 4 due to the weather, will this affect their holiday pay?It could, depending on how their time is recorded in Kronos for Monday, Jan. 4. For employees who are otherwise eligible for holiday pay but did not work Jan. 4, record time as follows:

• If employee’s unit was open and employee has vacation and/or comp time accruals he/she wishes to use, record time as VAC or COM (AFSCME)/CMP (ONA).
• If employee’s unit was open and employee has no available accruals or prefers to take the day as unpaid, use the code TRK with the comment “Inclement Weather.” TRK is a tracking code only; the time will still be unpaid. However, using the usual code UNP will prevent holiday pay if the employee did not work Jan. 1 (HNW in Kronos). Using TRK will ensure the holiday pay is not impacted. If there are circumstances in which the manager believes an employee should not receive holiday pay, work with your HR Business Partner.
• If employee’s unit was closed, employee may use accruals if available or take the time as unpaid. For unpaid time, use the code REQ (Required Leave without Pay). Again, REQ will record unpaid time but not impact the holiday pay.

Q4: If an employee opts to use vacation time to be paid when their shift is cancelled, should we record it as both VAC and REQ in Kronos?The pay code VAC should be used when an employee wants to use vacation time. You can change an REQ code already entered to VAC and add the comment “Inclement Weather.” REQ and VAC cannot be used for the same time period. REQ is unpaid time; VAC is paid time.Q5: Our unit was closed, however we did not provide at least two hours’ notice prior to an employee’s scheduled start time. Do they receive pay?The employee should be paid for two hours; the remainder of the scheduled shift is unpaid (record as REQ in Kronos) or the employee may use vacation or comp time.Q6: One of the employees in my unit wants to cover missed time with vacation accruals. However, he has a pre-scheduled, pre-approved vacation in the near future and will not have enough accruals to cover that time. If he uses his accruals for missed time due to weather, is he still allowed to take the pre-scheduled vacation?Managers are encouraged to allow employees to take any future approved time off as unpaid if they do not have enough accruals due to using them during inclement weather. Work with your HR Business Partner.Q7: One of the employees in my unit missed work due to lack of child care since schools were closed. How should this time be treated?Managers are encouraged to allow employees to use vacation and/or comp time accruals in these circumstances. If an employee must take unpaid time, the absence should not count toward disciplinary occurrences. Work with your HR Business Partner.3 CommentsPosted by: Lisa Carter in Leave and Attendance ManagementOn: Thursday, January 7, 2016Tags: inclement weather, Kronos