IN THIS ISSUE:
2011 Certification Exam Eligibility Changes:
New Requirements List, Frequently Asked Questions
and the Solution:
SNHRA's 2010 Fall Study Group
HR Metrics:
Measuring HR's Organizational Impact
RSVPs Closing Soon
Andale! Andale!
An SNHRA "Mex-er" Event at Lolita's CantinA
Inside Town Square
July 28
HEalthcare Law Changes:
New Website from the Department of Health
and Human Services
PLUS:
The eligibility requirements for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and Global Professional in Human Resources(GPHR) exams are changing starting with the May/June 2011 exams.
The last PHR, SPHR, and GPHR exams to be given under the current eligibility requirements are during the December 2010 - January 2011 exam period.
Current PHR Exam Eligibility Requirements
- Minimum of two years of professional (exempt-level) HR experience.
- At least 51% of your daily work activities are within the HR function.
PHR Exam Eligibility Requirements in 2011
- Minimum of 1 year of demonstrated professional HR experience with a Master’s degree or higher
- Minimum of 2 years of demonstrated professional HR experience with a Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum of 4 years of demonstrated professional HR experience with less than a Bachelor’s degree
Current SPHR Exam Eligibility Requirements
- Minimum of two years of professional (exempt-level) HR experience
- At least 51% of your daily work activities are within the HR function.
SPHR Exam Eligibility Requirements in 2011
- Minimum of 4 years of demonstrated professional HR experience with a Master’s degree or higher
- Minimum of 5 years of demonstrated professional HR experience with a Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum of 7 years of demonstrated professional HR experience with less than a Bachelor’s degree
Current GPHR Exam Eligibility Requirements
- Minimum of two ears professional (exempt-level) HR experience
- At least 51% of your daily work activities are within the HR function
GPHR Exam Eligibility Requirements in 2011
- Minimum of 2 years of demonstrated global professional HR experience with a Master’s degree or higher
- Minimum of 3 years of demonstrated professional HR experience (with 2 of the 3 being global HR experience) with a Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum of 4 years of demonstrated professional HR experience (with 2 of the 4 being global HR experience) with less than a Bachelor’s degree
Below are a few frequently asked questions from the HRCI website regarding 2011's exam changes.
Q: Why are the PHR, SPHR and GPHR exam eligibility requirements changing?
A: The changes were made based on recommendations from more than 14,000 HR professionals, business leaders, students and academician. The new exam eligibility requirements reflect the changes and needs of the HR profession.
Q: How will the new eligibility requirements affect students?
A: Students will not be eligible to take the exam unless they meet the exam's new eligibility requirements.
Q: If I want to recertify in 2011 (or later) by retaking the exam, do I need to meet the new eligibility requirements?
A: Yes. If you are currently certified and wish to recertify by taking the exam in 2011 or later, you will have to meet the new eligibility requirements.
Get Certified now under the current eligibility requirements by joining our 2010 Fall Study Group Registration
Registration for SNHRA's 2010 fall study group is now in progress. Don’t let another year pass! Make 2010 the year you accomplish your goal of attaining a certification to signify your high degree of knowledge and competence as a human resource management professional.
The study group will begin meeting weekly on Wednesday September 8, 2010 through November 24, 2010. The meetings will take place in the Opportunity Village board room from 6-9 p.m. The group is open to SNHRA members only.
The cost is $555 (includes $68 Early Bird SNHRA Study Group Registration Fee and $487 for the SHRM Learning System materials, S&H included - discounted materials are available only through the SNHRA Education Committee).
Those registering after end of business on August 6th - August 27th EOD will be charged an additional $60. If you already have the SHRM Learning System, you can enroll for $80 - Early Bird (until EOD August 6, 2010) or $110 - Regular Registration (until EOD August 27, 2010)
You can sign up by logging into your SNHRA.org account and clicking the Certification link at the bottom of the Members Menu links.
RSVPs Closing Soon
Presented by Concetta Bertussi, SPHR (bio)
Date: Place: Cost: |
1289 South Torrey Pines Drive Las Vegas, NV 89146 $100 for SNHRA members/$150 for non-members |
Approved by HRCI for 3.75 Strategic recertification hours
"This program has been approved for 3.75 (Specified -Strategic) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HR Certification Institute website at www.hrci.org."
Summary:
Measuring the impact of HR activities allows practitioners to justify financial investments in attracting, retaining, and developing employees. Few practitioners, however, have a thorough understanding of the philosophy and methodology involved in developing performance indicators. This workshop will provide practitioners with an understanding of measurement philosophy as well as practical tools that can be applied to demonstrate HR performance and strategic value.
This seminar will discuss the following:
- Aligning measurements to your organization’s strategy and business objectives;
- Choosing metrics that drive business decisions;
- Defining recruitment metrics that link recruiter behavior to desired outcomes;
- Determining the true cost of turnover to your organization;
- Identifying the cost benefit of employee training and development; and,
- Avoiding common measurement pitfalls.
Who Should Attend?
Human Resource Professionals
Business Owners
To RSVP, click here!
Date and Time:
July 28, 2010
5:00pm - 7:30pm
Place:
Lolita's Cantina
(In Town Square)
6605 Las Vegas Blvd # 207
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Cost:
Only $10 per person
Your mixer RSVP includes amazing hors d'oeuvres and one drink ticket
SNHRA would like to thank our co-event sponsor
Check out Lolita's Website here
To RSVP, click here
By: Wesley Shelton and Jason Hicks . Mr. Shelton is an Associate in Littler Mendelson’s Las Vegas Office. He can be reached at wshelton@littler.com. Jason Hicks is a law student at Villanova University School of Law.
Supreme Court Offers Guidance to Employers on Drafting and Implementing Electronic Communications Policies
The United States Supreme Court weighed in for the first time on the issue of monitoring electronic communications within the workplace, along with the issue of employee privacy expectations. The Court considered whether the City of Ontario Police Department had violated the privacy rights of Sergeant Jeff Quon when they audited, without his knowledge or consent, text messages sent using a company-issued two-way pager and found sexually explicit messages.
Unfortunately, the Court declined to issue any bright line rules concerning the permissible scope of workplace monitoring. However, the Court did provide useful guidance for employers as it relates to the monitoring of e-mail and other electronic communications in the workplace.
Factual Background
The City drafted a “Computer Usage, Internet and E-mail Policy” which warned, among other things, that the City (1) reserved the right to monitor and log all network activity without notice; (2) warned that employees “should have no expectation of privacy or confidentiality when using these resources;” (3) explained that all communications using the network were the property of the City; (4) warned that the City’s electronic resources should not be used for personal reasons; and (5) banned communications containing “inappropriate, derogatory, obscene, suggestive, defamatory, or harassing language.”
When this policy was drafted, the City did not explicitly mention technologies supporting text messages as subject to the policy. However, when the City issued the pagers, the City then informed all SWAT team members that text messages would be treated the same as e-mails and, therefore, subject to the electronic resources policy. Later, the individual responsible for overseeing the pager program, Lieutenant Duke, informed Quon that the City would not audit Quon’s text messages if Quon paid the overage charge. Quon exceeded the 25,000 character limit several months running, but he always paid the overage charge.
Eventually, Duke grew tired of playing “bill collector” and referred the matter to his superior, Chief Scharf, for review. Scharf decided to determine whether the 25,000 character limit was too low in order to determine whether the City should adjust that limit. As a result, the City obtained a transcript of Quon’s text messages and discovered that the majority of them were not work related—in fact, many were sexually explicit messages to his wife and to his mistress. The matter was handed over to internal affairs investigators who redacted all texts sent or received during non-working hours.
Word of the matter filtered through the department and to Quon. As a result, Quon, his ex-wife and his mistress then sued the City for violating their Fourth Amendment rights.
A California jury heard the case and ruled in favor of the City on Quon’s right-to-privacy claim based on the argument that the purpose of the audit was for a legitimate business concern--that is, to determine whether or not officers were paying work-related costs--not to simply determine if Quon was using his pager to “play games” or “waste time.” However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that the City had in fact violated Quon’s right to privacy. The Ninth Circuit held that, in spite of the City’s electronic usage policy, Quon still had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the content of his text messages. The Ninth Circuit relied heavily on Duke’s statement to Quon that his texts would not be audited if he paid the overage fee out of pocket.
The Supreme Court’s Decision
The Supreme Court reversed the appellate court and held that the City did not violate Quon’s right to privacy. The Supreme Court concluded that the City’s audit of Quon’s texts was reasonable and did not violate the Fourth Amendment. The Court held that the audit of Quon’s text messages was not excessive because the City limited its search to those messages sent only during work hours.
In it’s ruling, the Supreme Court offered employers some valuable guidance as it relates to the monitoring of electronic communications in the workplace. Specifically, the Supreme Court highlighted several issues that employers should consider when adopting a policy for electronics usage. The Court’s opinion discussed:
- The importance of having a widely distributed, carefully written electronic resource policies, stating that “employer policies concerning communications will of course shape the reasonable expectations of their employees, especially to the extent that such policies are clearly communicated.”
- An emphasis on the important distinction between e-mail sent on an employer-owned server, and text messages sent by a cellular phone on a cell phone provider’s network.
- The Court seriously considered Quon’s argument that Duke had created for him an expectation of privacy by telling Quon his texts would not be reviewed so long as Quon paid his overage charges.
- The Court concluded that an audit of text messages would not be nearly as excessive or intrusive as a wire tap on his home phone or a search of his personal e-mail account or pager.
Practical Recommendations for Employers
Because in today’s age employees increasingly rely on personal e-mail accounts and cell phones to conduct business, as well as on company provided e-mail accounts and phones for personal business, employers must exercise caution when searching employees’ communication devices. Employers may find it useful to draw from the following guidelines from the Quon decision when drafting, updating, or implementing an electronics monitoring policy:
- Employers should take care to create and clearly communicate an electronic resources policy with the intent to shape the employee’s privacy expectations. It is important for the employee to know that his or her electronics communications using company equipment is the property of the company and may be searched—employers want to make sure that employees have a low expectation of privacy when using these company devices.
- Policy reminders in the form of periodic pop-up screens, texts, e-mails or memos should be utilized to provide employees with continuous reminders of the company’s policy.
- The policy should explicitly state that it may be changed only in writing and only by a high-ranking executive, and no other employee.
- Managers and supervisors should be trained to refrain from making any statements that are inconsistent with the company’s policy.
- Searches through employee communications should only be done for business purposes and in a manner that is directed at collecting information relevant to the legitimate business purpose.
The Department of Health & Human Services has created a website with information about the new healthcare legislation.
For employers the website includes an introduction to the new law, a timeline of changes, detailed information about the law, and information for small and large business owners.
Information for individuals includes specific information for families with children, seniors, young adults, and people with disabilities. Also included for individuals is advice about taking preventative measures, hospital comparisons based on patient experiences, and much more.
You can visit the site at http://www.healthcare.gov/
Dear SNHRA Members,
Below is a link to an electronic research survey regarding the perceived benefits (or lack thereof) of voluntary certification (PHR, SPHR, GPHR) for HR professionals. This is part of a research study being conducted by Dr. Scott Lester of the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and two of his colleagues.
The findings from this research will provide informative feedback to our profession. I hope that you will choose to take a few minutes of your time to participate. The research team would like to have all responses by July 26th.
https://uweauclaire.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_bs9f7lwzE9XJC28
If you have difficulty accessing the survey from this link, please contact my research assistant, Jeri Weiser (weiserjl@uwec.edu).
The study involves the completion of an electronic survey. It should take members only 5-8 minutes to complete and participants can respond anonymously. The completed electronic survey will be sent directly to a secure third party website where our research team will download the responses. Member participation is voluntary. No individual’s responses will ever be revealed, and only summary data will be presented in any written form.
When the results of the survey have been tabulated, a report will be made available to the SHRM State Council Directors in your state and you will have access to the findings. If you have any questions regarding this study, please feel free to e-mail or call me using the contact information listed below.
Thank you in advance for participating in this study. We are confident that the findings will help the profession move forward in its effort to further increase its credibility and image.
Best Regards,
Scott Lester, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Phone: 715-836-5159
From SNHRA President Patrice Ross...
Paraphrased from current SNHRA member:
"HR ...changing the world one termination at a time!"
Overheard in an HR meeting while waiting for it to start:
"Isn't there a new movie out called Crazies?" "I don't know...is it about this place?".
HR Love Letter...
Subject: Offer of love!
Dearest Ms Juliet,
I am very happy to inform you that I have fallen in Love with you since the 14th of October (Saturday). With reference to the meeting held between us on the 13th of Oct. at 1500 hrs, I would like to present myself as prospective boyfriend.
Our relationship would be on probation for a period of three months and depending on compatibility, would be made permanent. Of course, upon completion of probation, there will be continuous on-the-job training and performance appraisal schemes leading up to promotion from boyfriend to spouse.
The expenses incurred for coffee and entertainment would initially be shared equally between us. Later, based on your performance, I might take up a larger share of the expenses. However, I am broadminded enough to be taken care of from your expense account.
I request you to kindly respond within 30 days of receiving this letter, failing which, this offer would be cancelled without further notice and I shall be considering someone else.
I would be happy if you could forward this letter to your sister if you do not wish to take up this offer.
Wish you all the best!!!!
Thanking you in anticipation,
Romeo
Adapted from the FunFunky.com
This Newsletter is Sponsored by:
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If you have anything you wish to contribute to the next issue, please do not hesitate to email Barry Lippold at blippold@marcison.com.
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Newsletter: 2010 Edition 7