Investigators Corner

Dear Partner:

The PI Corner is the designated location on our website where we will post breaking news and headlines that are pertinent to you as a PI or Project Director of grants administered by Hektoen. We will post news on a routine basis, and will disseminate important items in real time when there the need-to-know item is time sensitive.

News for March 2012

• "Unqualified Opinion" FY 2011 Single Audit Report For the third consecutive year, the firm Blackman Kallick, LLP provided an unqualified opinion of Hektoen's annual single audit. This result is a reflection of sound fiscal management, and full compliance with programmatic and financial reporting requirements stipulated by our grantors. This accomplishment would not have been possible without your cooperation and effectiveness as grant stewards. For questions about the audit, please contact Mike Remensnyder, Controller at mike.remensnyder@hektoen.org.

• A New Look for Hector Hektoen is working towards a new, more user—friendly format for Hector, our grants accounting database. Planned format changes take your opinions into account. The transformation is expected to be complete by end of the year. You will continue to access Hector via the same link. Stay tuned for the official launch of Hector's new face.

• Payroll Portal and Management System - ABRA Hektoen has already transitioned to a new version of ABRA for payroll management. ABRA software affords us more flexibility than the ADP and Paycom systems that had been employed over the past two years. Though the transition to ABRA has required substantial front end planning, we know that the effort will result in an ABRA system that will provide us with better capabilities for administrative oversight and automated reporting. ABRA will enable us to maintain a current and more comprehensive personnel profile database. For information about manager training and employee access to ABRA, please contact Pam Thurman, Payroll Manager, at pam.thurman@hektoen.org.

• Principal Investigator Meetings Our last all PI meeting was hosted in November 2011 at 627 S. Wood where we introduced you to Maryanne McDonald, our new Director of Grants and lead on all pre-awards activities. Our next session is tentatively scheduled for May 2012. To suggest agenda discussion points or to inquire about attendance, please contact Maryanne at maryanne.mcdonald@hektoen.org.

Dennis Ronowski, MBA CPA Administrator

Thanks to all of the principle investigators and supervisors who attended the January 23rd informational session. At the meeting, we discussed Hektoen's revised Employee Handbook, the current collective bargaining agreement with SEIU Local 20, and employee conflict resolution. For those who were unable to attend, we will provide the information to you . In addition, we would like to emphasize the following from the meeting:

Collective bargaining If you have union employees working in your department, please inform yourself on the new details of the collective bargaining agreement and contact Hektoen Human Resources (HR) with any questions.

Employee discipline or termination Contact Hektoen HR before you take action to discipline or terminate an employee.

Employee grievances Immediately contact the Human Resources department to discuss the grievance and how to conduct the investigation—in all cases where an employee has submitted a grievance against another employee or supervisor.

Hiring Contact the HR department to complete the "Approval to Hire" form and job description. For more information on hiring please refer to Hektoen's hiring procedures available through the Hektoen website.

Hektoen's Human Resources is available to help you navigate all personnel and benefit concerns. Please call the Hektoen Human Resources staff at any time with questions regarding personnel, benefits, hiring, discipline, terminations, job postings, and any HR-related issues.

Alvaro Espino – HR Manager – 312-768-6025 – alvaro.espino@hektoen.org Martha Gibson – HR Benefits Coordinator – 312-768-6002 – martha.gibson@hektoen.org Dave Wilhelm – HR Assistant – 312-768-6001 – dave.wilhelm@hektoen.org

 

We are very grateful for all of your patience and support during the launch of the new ABRA payroll system and our Time Clock Plus/Time and Attendance website. We are pleased to announce that ABRA has now been integrated into all Hektoen service locations, including the CORE Center, Provident Hospital, Fantus Clinic, South Suburban (SHHARC), Austin Health Center, WIHS, the Administration Building, and other downtown locations. No doubt this process has been a challenge for everyone. We are working diligently with the IT departments at each location to address issues that you have brought to our attention, such as problems with network accessibility and slow website connectivity. We are positive that everything will be up and running effectively by March 31st

As many have noted, ABRA was our in-h ouse payroll system just a few years ago. Through our experiences with ADP and Paycom, we have learned that ABRA software affords us more flexibility than outside payroll agencies to adapt payroll reporting to the needs of grant management. While more complicated to implement, ABRA will provide us with the ability to improve administrative oversight, create a complete personnel profile database, and report personnel costs more effectively to funders. Supervisors and employees will also be able to access online their payroll history and employee profile, including benefits and deductions.

In addition to ABRA, we would like to call your attention to our new Time Clock Plus/Time and Attendance website. While the ABRA website permits easy access to employee profiles, Time Clock Plus permits all supervisors and employees to review their electronic time sheet and request time off. As with Paycom, Time Clock Plus permits managers to review and approve employee hours and time-off requests.

Please call the Hektoen payroll staff at any time with questions regarding ABRA or Time Clock Plus: Pam Thurman, Payroll Manager (312-768-6026), or Lisa Sanchez, Payroll Coordinator (312-768-6027). In addition, do not hesitate to contact Time Clock Plus /Time and Attendance for customer service support during business hours at 325-223-9300, using customer # 198737.

LINKS:

ABRA Employee Self service instructions Time Clock Plus for Managers

ABRA Employee service: Payroll history, employee profile.

Time Clock Plus Manager/ Employees Webclock: Review and approve time sheets, time off requests, sick and vacation balances and more.