Human Resources News & Events
September 2023
Limited HR staff during ERP product demonstrations
The Department of Human Resources will have limited staff during the next month as we participate in ERP product demonstrations to further the university’s Encompass project. We are committed to answering every inquiry, but it may take a little longer than usual. Thank you for your understanding and patience!
Updated New Staff Employee Onboarding Process
- Change #1: – Hire dates (first day of employment) and transfer dates for staff hires will occur on Mondays. A calendar of future Monday dates with offer approval deadlines is available. This increase in dates should eliminate the need for requesting an exception.
- Change #2: – The new hire must attend Benefits Orientation on their Monday hire date and is expected to attend and submit their enrollment timely.
- At no time should a new employee work prior to receiving an official job offer and completing the new hire process with Human Resources.
- This update does not affect faculty start dates and student employee start dates. Faculty employment dates can be found on the Faculty Contract Dates
More information available here.
Interested in a letter of employment verification?
A new feature is now available through myOleMiss that allows employees to generate employment verification letters on demand.
Employment verifications may be required when applying for a mortgage, leasing an apartment, renting or purchasing a car, establishing credit, applying for a new job or any other instance where proof of employment or income is needed. You may want one for your personal records.
To generate your employment verification letter, log in to myOleMiss and navigate to the Employee tab. Select “My HR Tools” followed by “Employment Verification.” The letter will include your name, current job title, current salary, original hire date and employment status.
If an employment verification letter with a “wet signature” is required, contact payroll@olemiss.edu with your request.
Resources for Weather-related Emergencies
If a UM employee—or anyone in their household—has been affected by recent storms, our Employee Assistance Program, Deer Oaks EAP, can help by locating resources and assistance, connecting people to counseling, and getting folks advice on managing new financial realities. Employees can call Deer Oaks 24/7 at 1-888-993-7650 and ask for what they need. Deer Oaks doesn’t offer funds, but can definitely help locate services and resources, and offers robust mental health resources.
In addition, Deer Oaks prepared a resource document.
Not Your Parents’ HR: A Note from Andrea Jekabsons
Your Human Resources team is committed to launching strategic improvements that address emerging workplace needs, topics and trends. I’m pleased to share updates on recent initiatives that align with the “Empower Now” strategic framework and are designed to recruit, retain and invest in highly skilled faculty and staff. We are committed to your career development and further expanding career paths.
View 2022 Survey Feedback
We appreciate the 1,123 employees that responded to the brief survey launched on December 16, 2022. The purpose of the survey was to gauge what employees valued / held as important when comparing Job title, Base Pay, Daily Responsibilities and Work Culture.
This information will be used in two ways:
- Help build our compensation structure and playbook
- Help build our implementation and communication plan
Survey results can be found here.
HR Initiatives
The Department of Human Resources has launched a number of transformational initiatives to improve HR services and the employee experience at the University of Mississippi. Read more about the projects that are in progress or have recently been completed, and that impact UM in a positive way.
New Compensation Initiative Kickoff, View2022
At the University of Mississippi, we seek to be a model employer so we may continue to attract, engage, and retain the best talent. Part of this is having the right approach when providing equitable compensation with clarity and responsible stewardship. As such, we are excited to announce the kickoff of “View2022”. The new classification and compensation structure, based upon current up-to-date practices, will offer a user friendly, easy to navigate platform that provides clear pathways for advancement. Read more!
RebelWell Adds More Wellness Options for Employees
RebelWell, the University of Mississippi‘s initiative to foster healthy lifestyles among employees, has expanded its offerings to include confidential mental health counseling, financial counseling and other wellness and work-life balance resources.
The new services are offered through the Deer Oaks Employee Assistance Program. All services are free and confidential and available to benefits-eligible employees, their dependent children and anyone living in their household.
Start taking advantage of the services today!
Occasional Work from Home
Occasional “work from home” arrangements may be approved for a variety of circumstances. Examples include, but not limited to, inclement weather, special projects, business travel, or waiting for repair or internet services. These arrangements are approved by the managing supervisor on an as-needed basis only, with no expectation of ongoing continuance.
Other informal, short-term arrangements may be made for employees on family or medical leave to the extent practical for the employee and the organization and with the consent of the employee’s health care provider, if appropriate.
All informal, occasional telework arrangements are made on a case-by-case basis, focusing first on the operational needs of the department and campus. As this arrangement is informal, there is not a formal process to request the occasional, sporadic, as needed, ad-hoc arrangement.
Information regarding for formal, long-term arrangements may be found within the “Flexible Work Location” policy.
Separation of Employment
(including employees transferring out of the department) Process Overview
It is the responsibility of the department chair or head of the department to ensure the separation (offboarding) notifications and forms are submitted for an employee transferring to another unit on campus or leaving the University.
- Submit a Separation Notification, https://hr.olemiss.edu/separation-of-employment/, alerting the appropriate offices of the upcoming separation or transfer.
- Submit an electronic, HR Form 3 – Change of Status (for separation of employment from the University), in a timely manner.
- Complete the Exit Checklist no later than the employee’s last day of employment within the department.
The Department of Human Resources will provide an Exit Questionnaire for the employee to have an opportunity to provide feedback regarding the work experience, supervision, general working conditions, diversity & inclusion.
Benefit-eligible employees leaving the university will receive details regarding their existing benefit plans. Once an employee receives their last pay check, an employee shall be paid for the unused portion of his/her earned Personal (vacation) Leave to a maximum of 240 hours.
Learn more at: https://policies.olemiss.edu/ShowDetails.jsp?istatPara=1&policyObjidPara=10655838
All policies are available at policies.olemiss.edu.
Email Addresses
Effective 05/03/2021, members of the Human Resources team will no longer accept forms and formal requests to their personal individual email accounts. To ensure that documentation is attended to during times of vacations, attrition, and staff changes, all forms and requests should be sent to the appropriate department email account:
hr@olemiss.edu:
Form 19 Permission to Take Course
Form 9 Outside Employment
General HR inquiries, including performance-related questions
hrbenefits@olemiss.edu:
Benefits-related forms and inquiries
careers@olemiss.edu:
Search Committee inquiries
onboard@olemiss.edu:
Official transcripts
Degree additions/revisions
payroll@olemiss.edu:
Wage garnishments and employee verification
studentemployment@olemiss.edu:
Student onboarding concern/questions
timesheets@olemiss.edu:
Timesheets
The use of personal individual email accounts is appropriate when following up with the specific individuals.
Check out our worksite wellness site, RebelWell@Work!
With such a significant percent of employees’ time spent in the workplace, worksite wellness is essential. Wellness is a lifestyle that encourages good physical and mental health. Programs that focus on worksite wellness ultimately benefit everyone involved: an employee’s quality of life is improved, which supports efficiency and raises quality of work in the workplace.
This is why we have RebelWell. RebelWell is a campus and community wellness program designed to support employees as they adopt and sustain behaviors that reduce health risks, improve quality of life, and enhance personal effectiveness. We offer a variety of activities such as health fairs, medical screenings, nutritional cooking programs, on-site fitness classes, and more. Check out this site to find wellness programs and activities right for you.
The University of Mississippi provides equal opportunity in any employment practice, education program, or education activity to all qualified persons. The University complies with all applicable laws regarding equal opportunity and affirmative action and does not unlawfully discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based upon race, color, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, citizenship, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or genetic information.