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HR Focus
TMHRA archives HTML versions of previous newsletters. I wish to thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as your TMHRA/IPMA-HR President during this past year. I valued this experience and consider it an honor to have led such an outstanding group of professionals. However, TMHRA/IPMA-HR’s continued success is due to so many dedicated professionals, especially the TMHRA/IPMA-HR Board that I had the privilege to work with this year. For all their help and dedication, I want to thank:
I look forward to seeing you over the next year and wish you success in all you do. May you have a wonderful and blessed holiday season. Thank you, Thank you for the opportunity to serve as President of TMHRA. It has been an honor and privilege to be part of such a great organization for so many years. Due to the tremendous leadership of Past Presidents and board members, TMHRA has been able to provide excellent programs and training opportunities; HR-related information on laws and procedures; and a sound financial budget to its members. This past year, Lauren Safranek did an amazing job as President, all while bringing a new beautiful daughter into this world. Congratulations again, Lauren, on the new addition to your family! We appreciate all your hard work and dedication! We welcome two brand new board members this year: Don Byrne (City of Odessa) and Ida Rivera (City of Sweetwater). We know they will bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the board, and we look forward to working with them. Bonita Hall (City of Longview) and Janie Mehrens (City of Brenham) were elected to another term, and we are excited that they will be continuing to serve again. Special thanks and appreciation goes to Alison Froehlich-Smith for her dedication on the board and the great work she did as Programs Chair this past year. Also, Janet Melançon (City of Waco) resigned from her position on the board due to other commitments. Janet has contributed so much of her time and talents to TMHRA through her many years of service, including serving as President, and we will truly miss having her on the board. Our next conference is the TxPelra/Civil Service Conference in February. With the recent passing of the Meet and Confer law, this is one conference you don’t want to miss. We are also working on presenting another IPMA Competency Certification class, as well as the Nuts & Bolts Seminar. Both of those will be held in between the TxPelra/Civil Service Conference and Mid-Year. Be looking for that information soon! Also, we announced this past year that TMHRA will be sponsoring the 2007 IPMA-HR Southern Region Conference. This is an opportunity for TMHRA to show our colleagues from other states how to have a great conference, as well as have fun…Texas-style! We have a lot of planning to do this next year for that event and will need volunteers to assist with planning and with the many events and responsibilities during the actual conference. If you are interested in assisting, please let me or one of the members on the Steering Committee know. Those members are Lauren Safranek, George Mones, Barry Robinson, Charlie Shapard, and Lonne Parent-Smith. TMHRA is continuing to grow, and it is my desire to continue the path Past Presidents and board members have blazed before me to ensure TMHRA provides quality programs and services, maintains affordable dues and conference fees, and promotes networking opportunities, establishing friendships, and having a little fun every now and then! Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, and/or suggestions you may have to make your membership with TMHRA as beneficial as possible. Again, it is my pleasure to be part of such a great organization as TMHRA, and I look forward to the year ahead! Melanie Helms Caballero, SPHR TXPELRA/Civil Service Workshops TEXAS PUBLIC EMPLOYER LABOR RELATIONS ASSOCIATION National Public Employer Labor Relations (NPELRA) President Bernadette Welch, Personnel Coordinator, City of New London, Connecticut, will welcome participants to the annual TXPELRA meeting and will discuss the activities of the national association. Ms. Welch will also discuss Interest-Based Bargaining at the workshop luncheon. IPMA-HR President Fred Weiner, Director of Human Resources for the City of Whittier, California, will share “The California Experience with Meet and Confer.” Representatives from four Texas municipalities will bring a report from the frontlines of the Texas Meet and Confer legislation. Fred Sandoval, City Manager and Civil Service Director, City of Pharr; Bill Sullivan, City Attorney, City of Wichita Falls; Brenda Eivens, Acting City Manager, City of Cedar Park; and Bonita Hall, Director of Administrative Services, City of Longview, will share what’s happening in their cities since receiving petitions from labor organizations in their communities. Following the luncheon presentation, Fort Worth attorney and TXPELRA charter member Bettye Lynn will present a nuts and bolts session entitled “The ABC’s of Meet and Confer and Collective Bargaining.” This will be a two-part session discussing successful strategies for bargaining and conferring. Among the topics covered in the sessions will be:
CIVIL SERVICE WORKSHOP Bettye Lynn, Fort Worth labor attorney and perennial workshop presenter, again will keynote this year’s workshop with a Civil Service Legal Update, providing a review of current civil service cases and the lessons learned. She also will give a summary of legislative revisions. Dr. Bob Greer, Professor of Management and Director of Graduate Programs at the TCU’s M.J. Neely School of Business, will discuss “Pitfalls to Avoid in Arbitration.” Dr. Greer also is an experienced arbitrator and has served as a third-party hearing examiner in numerous civil service appeals. Legislative Update 2006 will give participants the opportunity to hear TML Executive Director, Frank Sturzl, briefly review 2005 legislative activity and discuss expectations for the 2006 legislative session, which may affect Texas municipalities in the areas of labor relations, civil service, and public safety human resources. Following the luncheon, participants will have the opportunity to hear speakers on a variety of civil service topics. Three program tracks have been established: (1) Civil Service Commissioners, (2) Civil Service Basics, and (3) Civil Service Advanced. Prior to a legislative correction in 2005, the attorney general issued an opinion that Civil Service Commissioners are prohibited from serving back-to-back three-year terms. As a result, there has been a significant turnover of commissioners among the Chapter 143 Cities’ Civil Service Commissions. Cities are encouraged to bring their Civil Service Commissioners to this year’s workshop. A major part of this year’s program is the presentation of a basic course for Civil Service Commissioners. The program was developed and will be presented by Darrell Noga; a Dallas attorney; Mr. Noga is uniquely qualified, having served as the attorney for the City of Plano Civil Service Commission for 8 years. The Civil Service Basics track will include a session on “Consistency in Disciplinary Matters/Preparing for Civil Service Hearings,” presented by Brian Begle, an attorney with Olson and Olson of Houston. The second session in the Civil Service Basics will be a panel discussing “Trumping Civil Service Provisions Through Meet and Confer and Collective Bargaining.” The session will be moderated by Bettye Lynne and will include representatives from cities with experience in revising civil service provisions through collective bargaining. Panelists will include Alison Froehlich-Smith, HR Director of Baytown; Gerald Grimm, Fire Chief of Texas City; Carolyn Cox, HR Director of Galveston; and Cynthia Garcia, Director of Human Resources, Corpus Christi. Two topics of special concern are featured in the Civil Service Advanced track. “Due Process Under Chapter 143 In Light of HB 2677 and SB 639” is the title of the first Civil Service Advanced session and will be presented by Attorneys George Hyde and Arnold Pena of Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal of San Antonio. The second session, presented by David Reagan, General Counsel for the TML Intergovernmental Risk Pool, will include two topics: “The Medical Presumption Act and its Impact for Civil Service” and “The Impact of Revisions in the Workers’ Compensation Law (HB 7) on Police and Fire Employees.” “Developing Standards for Entry-Level and In-Service Physical Ability Testing is the subject of the Friday keynote presentation by Dr. Oscar Spurlin, President of Ergometrics & Applied Behavior Research, Inc., in Edmonds, Washington. The final session of this year’s workshop is the traditional “Questions and Answers on Chapter 143.” Three experienced human resources professionals—Carolyn Liner, Human Resources Director, San Marcos; Richard Hodapp, Assistant Human Resources Director, Fort Worth and Jan Stricklin, retired Director of Administrative Services and Civil Service Director, Wichita Falls—will serve on the panel that will be moderated by attorney Bettye Lynn. Participants are encouraged to e-mail their questions in advance to Lonne Parent-Smith, CMP, Affiliate Services Coordinator, Program Development, Texas Municipal League at lparent@tml.org. The members of the 2006 Program Planning Committee for these two workshops included Brenda Eivens (Cedar Park), Alison Froehlich-Smith (Baytown), Dick Hodapp (Fort Worth), Bettye Lynn (Fort Worth), Jim Parrish (Amarillo), Barry Robinson (Greenville), and Charlie Shapard (Retired) NPELRA 35th Annual Conference- Download Brochure For a complete list of educational events, click here . Future Dates: TMHRA TxPelra • February 8, 2006 • Radisson Hotel Central – Dallas MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!!! Employment Law Seminar Once again, our favorite wage and hour experts, Bettye Lynn and Ray Cordelli, entertained as well as informed us during the Employment Law Seminar held in Austin on September 8 and 9 at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown. With over 200 in attendance, the room was packed with city personnel wanting to keep abreast of the latest information about the Fair Labor Standards Act and Texas developments in wage and hour regulations. While no one topic had the depth of changes as the White Collar Exemptions of last year, nevertheless both federal and state agencies have been busy making just enough changes to keep human resource personnel on their toes. The program agenda for Thursday included FLSA changes and updates including the White Collar exemptions, salary basis, and duties tests. New regulations on minors in the workplace were also discussed. After lunch, Ray and Bettye continued the FLSA changes and updates with Ray’s famous “Cordelli says” and Bettye’s rejoinder “but under Texas Law. . .” Friday’s program included Bettye’s annual Employment Law Update focusing on cases involving primarily Texas cities. (Don’t we all love to make it to Bettye’s case law update?) In addition to information about changes wrought by the last legislative session, particularly Meet and Confer, Bettye also included cases involving FMLA issues. She also included a list of Tips for Handling FMLA Issues. Bettye also covered a number of recent discrimination case decisions. The Employment Law Seminar closed with a presentation by Lu Pham on Avoiding Retaliation Claims. TMHRA is grateful for the continued support of our sponsors. The sponsorships allow us to keep all events reasonably priced and affordable for all members. Thank you to the following sponsors for their support and contributions through the year: AIG VALIC ARTICLES OF INTEREST aka NEWS YOU SHOULD USE NEW EEOC PUBLICATION ADDRESSES EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH CANCER UNDER DISABILITIES ACT Issued July 26, 2005 Issuance Coincides with 15th Anniversary of Landmark Anti-Discrimination Law WASHINGTON - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a question-and- answer document on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to persons with cancer in the workplace. The new publication is available on EEOC's web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/cancer.html . Commission Chair Cari M. Dominguez released the document today during an event sponsored by the National Council on Disability commemorating the 15th anniversary of the passage of the ADA. President George H.W. Bush signed the landmark legislation on July 26, 1990, banning discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government programs, and places of public accommodation. Noting that approximately 40 percent of the more than one million Americans diagnosed each year with some form of cancer are working-age adults, and nearly 10 million Americans have a history of cancer, Chair Dominguez said: "Because of the significant advances in detection and treatment, cancer no longer is the 'death sentence' it was a century ago. Yet people recently diagnosed with cancer and those with a history of cancer still experience discrimination at work based on old stereotypes and unfounded fears. Simple accommodations, like leave or a flexible schedule to allow for treatment, make it possible for many people with cancer to continue to be valuable contributors in the workplace." The new question-and-answer document, which is the fourth in a series of publications on the ADA's application to specific disabilities, addresses such topics as:
When cancer is a disability under the ADA; The document helps to advance the goals of the New Freedom Initiative President George W. Bush's comprehensive strategy for the full integration of people with disabilities into all aspects of American life. The New Freedom Initiative seeks to promote greater access to technology, education, employment opportunities, and community life for people with disabilities. An important part of the New Freedom Initiative strategy for increasing employment opportunities involves providing employers with technical assistance on the ADA. Information about other EEOC activities under the Initiative also is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov . In addition to enforcing Title I of the ADA, which prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments, and the Rehabilitation Act's prohibitions against disability discrimination in the federal government, EEOC enforces laws prohibiting race, sex, color, national origin, religion, and age discrimination in employment. News Release issued by EEOC, July 26, 2005 Practicing the Positives of Becoming Assertive By Mona Dunkin, Solution Principles There are several steps involved in becoming assertive: 1. Become aware of your own behavior and attitudes. It is easy to get along when things are going smoothly, but let stress come, and agreeable behavior turns to control. Because we see how sensibly we behave in a lot of situations, we may be unaware of how passive or aggressive we behave at other times. Observe your own behavior and keep track of areas of assertiveness when not under pressure; then replicate that attitude and behavior when pressure comes. 2. Observe and emulate an effective role model, someone who handles a difficult situation well, and begin to take those character qualities for your own. Remember – one person will not be all things to all people. Though the person is a good example in one area, he/she may not need to be emulated in all areas. 3. Take personal responsibility for your actions, your attitudes, and your agendas. Do not blame others. He/she may have done something irritating, but he did not “make you mad.” You chose to become angry in an attempt to control the situations. Become aware of your agendas. Why does this matter so much to you? 4. Self-evaluate your actions, attitudes, and agendas. Did it hurt? Did it help? 5. Make a plan. Just wishing and hoping will not bring effective change. Make concrete plans to stop negative behaviors and conscious efforts to stop bad attitudes. Change your words. Do not call the person names or say ugly things, even if you have to bite your tongue. Curtail your actions. Don’t throw things or gesture wildly. Modify your thinking. Give some latitude. You do not know where the other person is coming from, what he thinks, or how she feels. When you make these changes, your feelings will automatically begin to change. You begin to feel good about you and being in effective control of yourself. You also may begin to feel empathy or compassion for the errant one. You have more control over the talking, doing, and thinking, than you do over the feeling, but it will follow suit. 6. Imagine yourself in a similar situation again and handling things differently. Get over the nursing, cursing, and rehearsing in a negative light, which leads to becoming more angry. Tiger Woods sees himself making the shots before going onto the green. See yourself handling the difficult situations in a pleasant, assertive manner. Rehearse these words: “I AM RESPONSIBLE…for my actions, for my attitudes, for my agendas, for my behaviors, for my thinking, for my planning, for my life.” 7. Get feedback. “How am I doing?” Ask for genuine input, not to feed your ego or to become supersensitive. 8. Get bottom-line honest. This is really the secret to accomplishing numbers 1-8. No matter how many excuses you may impose, the bottom line is, we are each self-determining and are each responsible for our behavior. Mona Dunkin is the owner of Solution Principles. She is a Professional Speaker, Trainer, and Consultant. For consultations and/or workshops, contact her at 254-749-6594 or www.monadunkin.com . HOW TO STAY AWAKE IN MEETINGS: OFFERED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE... Do you keep falling asleep in meetings and seminars? What about those long and boring conference calls? Here's a way to change all that. 1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call, prepare yourself by drawing a square. I find that 5" x 5" is a good size. Divide the card into columns-five across and five down. That will give you 25 one-inch blocks. 2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:
3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases. 4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout "BULLSHIT!" Testimonials from satisfied "Bullshit Bingo" players:
TMHRA would like to “Congratulate” Don Byrne, PHR, IPMA-CP for receiving IPMA-CP certification! This is YOUR newsletter and we want to ensure it provides you with a valuable source of information from TMHRA. If you have any ideas, articles, or information you would like to see included in future newsletters, please submit them to the Newsletter Committee. 2005-2006 Newsletter Chair |
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©2010 Texas
Municipal Human Resources Association, 1821 Rutherford Lane, Suite 400, Austin,
TX 78754;
512-231-7400; (fax) 512-231-7494; tmhra@tml.org
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