Responsibilities for Employment Decisions

This section of the handbook is to identify some of the most common types of human resource management responsibilities.

The Board of Trustees is the ultimate “employer” under the District’s legal system. As such, it is responsible for adopting all policies, including those governing District employment practices and to approve all contracts of employment.

The Chancellor, as the chief operating officer for the District, is responsible to ensure that all District practices conform to Board policy.

System Office Human Resources
The System Office’s Department of Human Resources (System Office/HR) is responsible for recommending and administrating Lone Star College System’s personnel policies and procedures.

System Office/HR serves five main functions:

1. Maintains personnel records for all full-time employees in the District;
2. Oversees the compensation and benefits plans for the District;
3. Prepares reports for state reimbursement of personnel and employee benefits costs;
4. Maintains policies and practices that conform with federal and state legal requirements; and
5. Posts internal job vacancies and conduct external advertisements for vacant positions and oversee the entire District employment process.

While there are few circumstances where faculty will need to contact the System Office Human Resources Department, three Director level positions are the most likely point of contact:

Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and General Counsel
The Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and General Counsel (VC/HR&GC) is the administrative head of the HR department and is responsible for the overall human resources staffing plan and assignments. Reporting to the Vice Chancellor are the Directors of Compensation and Compliance (Dir. C/C), and Employment & HR Services (Dir. E/S).

The VC/HR&GC is generally not involved in day-to-day human resources decision-making. However, the VC/HR&GC must be notified by telephone or e-mail immediately if any of the following conditions arise:

• A demand or claim letter is submitted by an attorney on behalf of an employee;
• A termination of a full-time employee is ready to be finalized;
• A non-renewal of a contractual employee is proposed;
• A request is received for HR related data or personnel files; or
• An employee receives a letter asserting the violation of U.S. Copyright law.

Office of General Counsel
The Office of General Counsel consists of the General Counsel (who also serves as the Vice Chancellor for Human Resources), a legal assistant, the Director of Risk Management (Dir. R/M), and an administrative assistant.

General Counsel
The General Counsel provides legal advice to the District on a broad range of legal issues, including employment practices, copyright, contracts, compliance with state and federal laws, and represents the District with external agencies, including the courts. The General Counsel’s office maintains a website at http://www.lonestar.edu/images/depts/gencouncil/gch_mission_r.gif with information about a number of legal matters of general interest to the institution.

Director of Risk Management (Dir. R/M)
A relatively new director position, Director of Risk Management (Dir./RM), has been created to provide a professional perspective on matters of insurance and safety. The Dir. R/M is the senior administrator who manages the District’s liability, property, casualty and workers’ compensation insurance. The Dir. R/M is also the contact person for the HRM’s on workers’ compensation matters and for managers on matters relating to employee safety, student travel, or insurance.

Director of Employment and Human Resources Services (Dir. E/S)
The Dir. E/S is the senior HR administrator responsible to direct the District’s hiring and employment process, benefits, disciplinary action, termination, civil rights compliance, and employee orientation. Supervisors may find it helpful to contact the Dir. E/S with unresolved questions or problems pertaining to benefits, accommodations, leave, conflict in the workplace, disciplinary action, administrative reviews or grievances, civil rights processes, training needs or the hiring or transfer process.

The Dir. E/S must be notified immediately if any of the following conditions arise:

• A complaint of discrimination or sexual harassment that is brought against a supervisor, alleges retaliation, or cannot be resolved to the employee’s satisfaction;
• Evidence of violation of the District’s drug-free workplace policy;
• Resolution of any issues regarding eligibility for particular benefits;
• Any employee believed to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs in the workplace; or
• Disciplinary actions and discharges.

Director of Compensation and Compliance (Dir. C/C)
The Dir. C/C is the senior HR administrator responsible to direct the District’s compensation, contracts administration, professional development, records keeping, and external reporting functions. Supervisors should be in regular communication with the Dir. C/C regarding position descriptions for new or changed positions, classifications, compensation for new hires, transfers, stipend amounts, contract administration, submission of academic credentials, or educational adjustments.

The Dir. C/C must be notified by telephone or e-mail in the following circumstances:

• To review a disagreement between an employee and supervisor about compensation;
• To approve the starting salary of a new employee or newly promoted or transferred employee (see Chapter 7: Compensation);
• To review and approve any adjustment proposed to be made to an employee’s salary for any reason.

Location Executive Officers
LEO's are the Presidents and Vice Chancellors of the College District. The District has five Presidents and five Vice Chancellors.

As part of their management responsibilities, LEO’s are responsible for the following human resources management decisions:

• The establishment of the organization of the College or administrative area;
• The selection and evaluation of the managers who report directly to them;
• The approval of new positions, requests for reclassification and promotions, reassignment, hiring, transfer, demotions, recommendations for non-renewal and discharge;
• The appointment of civil rights administrators and the imposition of disciplinary actions for noncompliance with civil rights policies; and
• The conduct of hearings for employee appeals and grievances.

Department Heads
Department Heads have various job titles such as Vice President, Dean or Director. Their responsibilities involve the management of other employees who themselves have supervisory responsibilities over others. These Department Heads play key roles in ensuring the following personnel practices:

• Each Department Head must ensure that the hiring, termination and compensation procedures are documented and the District procedures are followed by the managers reporting to them;
• Each Department Head will provide guidance to managers about specific procedures, support supervisors in making good personnel decisions, and help to resolve conflicts and disputes within their department;
• At each College, one Vice President has particular responsibilities for the hiring, credentialing, salary placement and evaluation of faculty; and
• At each College, one Vice President has particular responsibilities for the administration of the staff, administrative and part-time employee compensation schedules, administration of benefits enrollment, documentation of leave, and timely reporting of workplace injuries.

Supervisory Personnel
The category of Supervisors includes all employees with responsibility to hire, evaluate, and recommend discipline or termination of other full-time or part-time employees, student workers, and adjunct faculty. Supervisors are generally the first to apply personnel policy and procedures in any situation, and often the initial handling of a sensitive matter can make the difference in how it is ultimately resolved. (All Department Heads are also supervisors).

Supervisors also have frontline responsibility to ensure that job related injuries are promptly reported to the Human Resource Manager (HRM), that civil rights and grievance complaints are properly referred to the Civil Rights Administrator (CRA), and that hours are recorded for part-time employees and non-exempt employees who work overtime.

Human Resources Manager
Each College employs a Human Resources Manager (HRM) who is responsible for planning, directing, and administering the following specific human resource functions at their location:

• Assisting hiring committees;
• Ensuring paperwork is completed in a timely manner for all new hires;
• Coordinating new employee orientation;
• Enrolling employees in benefit programs;
• Assisting managers with employee discipline and dismissal;
• Collecting and assuring the timely submission of workers compensation claims reports, forms and leave information;
• Receiving any medical documentation from employees on sick leave, workers compensation, family medical and disability leave; and
• Responding to day-today questions raised by employees, supervisors, managers, and administrators.

The HRM must ensure that documentation for each personnel transaction is complete and in compliance with the procedures in this manual so that benefits remain in force and employees are aware of any documents needed to process personnel transactions.

Payroll Coordinators
Many employees of the District are compensated on an hourly basis or, in the case of adjunct faculty, according to their class load. The Payroll Coordinator at each location collects information from the supervisors of part-time employees for each time period and enters it into the payroll system. In addition, the Payroll Coordinator documents all salary adjustments and terminations to keep District Payroll up-to-date.

Civil Rights Administrators
Each College and the System Office Office have appointed at least two senior level administrators to serve as Civil Rights Administrators. The role of the Civil Rights Administrator is to speak with employees, students or members of the public who believe that their federally protected civil rights (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age, nationality, disability, veteran status, or marital status) have been violated. The District has a civil rights complaint resolution process, which the CRA’s are responsible to administer.

A list of civil rights administrators and their contact information can be found in Appendix B.