Happy New Year!

It’s been a couple of weeks since our last newsletter. We hope the beginning of everyone’s New Year finds them well. Here is what we have for you this week:

Revised information on the Unplanned PTO (UPTO) Policy for Full Time Hourly Staff:

“All full-time hourly staff will receive 40 hours (5 days) as of 1/1/2020 for unplanned PTO separate from your PTO bank. UPTO can be used in 4 hour or 8 hour increments. Any unused UPTO at the end of the calendar year will be rolled over up to 240 hours(30days).  UPTO is accrued at 3.34 hours per month, although given the full 40 hours(5 days) at the start of the calendar year. If your employment with Sd ends all accrued UPTO will be paid out in the employee’s final paycheck. Any UPTO used but not accrued will be deducted from the employee’s final paycheck.  It is the employee’s responsibility to keep track of their usage. If an employee takes three consecutive UPTO days, documentation (doctor’s note or other documentation) to return to work will be required to assure that the employee is fit to return. It is the employee’s responsibility to submit their UPTO time through Paychex within 24 hours of their absence. If for any reason an employee needs UPTO, and they have used all 40 hours(5 days), they will need to speak to the regional director for approval before taking time off. If an employee does not come to work, or calls in UPTO, and does not have it in their bank, it will be considered a breach of duty and could lead to termination.  Please refer to your location specific procedures regarding what is considered UPTO and how to request it.” The policy manual is on the employee website. Please read and send your signed acknowledgement form (attached) to Human Resources as soon as possible.

Pay Period

Today marks the end of the pay period. Please review your time card and submit any necessary time and attendance forms. If you have not submitted unplanned time off requests for the pay period, please do so (reach out to your supervisor if you have questions about this). Finally, approve your time card at the end of the day tomorrow. Thank you for your help with this!

VTABA

To all  Staff,

SD will reimbursing for your VT ABA membership. Please use the tuition form for this expense and know that it will be deducted from your tuition monies.

Email Issues

With the reconfiguration of the email system last week, some people experienced numerous issues with their accounts. Some emails may have bounced back to the original sender; others may have been sent to your SPAM box. If you find you are having difficulty with your email account, please reach out to IT. Submit an IT ticket explaining what the issue is, and they should be able to assist you quickly. It may not hurt to check your SPAM box as well!

Penguin Plunge

It’s that time of year again where Sd puts forth an amazing team for the Penguin Plunge and all donations go to Special Olympics Vermont. Check out our team page and JOIN US NOW!!! The big day is February 1st but WE NEED YOU NOW! If you are interested in joining but need some financial support for registration fees, etc., please email Jenn Johnson at jen.johnson@sdplus.org. We currently have 4 team members and would like to get at least 8 more. Who will be the first to join and TAKE THE PLUNGE! It’s sooooo fun! Check out our team page to join or donate… https://give.specialolympicsvermont.org/team/258688

KAZOO!!!
Hopefully everyone has started using Kazoo and is getting and giving recognition and participating in this new way to stay connected and give virtual “praise tags”.  We are hoping that you all are finding value in this and we welcome ideas for rewards and behavior bonuses as we start to use this system for more things.  If you have an
idea for something you can email jen.johnson@sdplus.org

A couple reminders as we start up with Kazoo.  Please refrain from using client numbers when giving recognition to staff.  This may mean that you need to phrase things more generally such as “thank you so much for your support with the student we work with”, but that should still make sense to who you are recognizing and it will take out any identifiable student information from this Sd feed. 
Also, this is a way to interact with co-workers that should be done when you are not providing direct service to students or serving as a backup or second staff to students. While we want to be highlighting staff achievements
and recognition, we don’t want it to inadvertently take away from the quality services we provide to students so we recommend using Kazoo at the end of the workday or outside of work hours if necessary.

Regarding points…each staff will get a bank of 291 points to give each month.  Your bank will fill up automatically every month.  However, the bank of points to give is under a use-it-or-lose-it system to encourage everyone to give all their points each month. The points you receive will roll over month to month so you can save up for a big reward. Since we started Kazoo at the very end of December, the 291 points you received on 12/30 will be your points to the end of January and then Feb. 1st you will receive another allotment of 291 points to give.

I love seeing all the interaction that you all have been engaged in since Kazoo started!  Keep it up :)–Jenn

MASON JOSPEH RODOVIC

Matt Rodovic and his wife, Emily, welcomed a healthy baby boy, Mason, on Dec. 6th AT 5:37 AM. You may not have seen Matt recently because he is spending some time with Mason, but he will be back soon. Congratulations, Matt and Emily!

Those are the happenings this week. Keep up the good work! Have a great rest of the week