Just a quick heads-up for those with evening shift employees: Kronos will experience intermittent outages tonight (March 19) between 10:00 PM and 11:00 PM while our Gov IT partners work on backend fixes. Thank you for your understanding!
Author Archives: Kim Shigeoka
Building Closure 2/6/2025
Good Morning! We hope this message finds you well. Given the weather today, we’re sending reminder instructions below for Building Closures.
As a reminder, timekeepers may want to bring their laptops home this weekend due to the forecasted snow for Monday. Please note that Monday is a payroll day.
General Reminders
- Building closure leave is paid leave that is only available to regular employees. Temporary employees are not eligible for building closure leave.
- Since exempt employee’s pay would not be impacted by building closure leave, it is not necessary to add it to their timecards.
- Building Closure Leave SOP
(some links may be dead within this document; we are actively working on updating our Time and Attendance site documents) - How to add Building Closure Leave
- GCQC Coverage of Schools Due to Weather and/or Emergency provides a policy overview of building closure and coverage during closures.
- Please refer to our previous FAQ Post on Building Closure Leave
Examples
For a 2-hour delay, employees will receive Building Closure Leave for any time they would normally be in the office during closures. Here are some examples:
- If you work at an elementary school where the building typically opens at 7:30 AM and classes start at 7:45 AM, but today, due to the delay, the building opens at 9:30am and classes will begin at 9:45 AM. If your usual reporting time is 7:30 AM, today you should report by 9:30 AM and you will receive 2 hours of Building Closure Leave added to your timecard.
- If you work at an elementary school where the building typically opens at 7:30 AM and classes start at 7:45 AM, but today, due to the delay, the building opens at 9:30am and classes will begin at 9:45 AM. If your usual reporting time is 8:30 AM, today you should report by 9:30 AM when the building opens and you will receive 1 hour of Building Closure Leave added to your timecard.
- If you work at the County Office Building and your usual reporting time is 8:00 AM, you should report by 10 AM today. In this case, you will receive 2 hours of Building Closure Leave added to your timecard.
- If you work at the County Office Building and your usual reporting time is 9:30 AM, you should report by 10 AM today. In this case, you will receive 30 minutes of Building Closure Leave added to your timecard.
If you have any questions or need further clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact time@k12albemarle.org or your Business Partner.
ADP Blackout, HRIS Office Hours, and Early Payroll Deadline – Dec. 2024 Updates
ADP Blackout Period: Thurs., Dec 12 – Sun., Dec 15
We are planning a short blackout period in ADP for new entries and changes. The blackout will run from Thursday, December 12, to Sunday, December 15.
This period is necessary to process title changes for some licensed staff who are listed as Classroom Teachers in ADP. We’ve been working to better align their job titles with their actual roles. Our goal is to create job descriptions that are broad enough to avoid single-incumbent roles, but specific enough to remain accurate and useful. Additionally, we are realigning some of the classified pay scales and pay grades to ensure consistent separation between grades. Neither of these changes will impact employee pay.
Targeted communication will go out to impacted employees next week after the changes are finalized.
What to Remember during the ADP Blackout Period:
- TalentEd will remain available. However, HR will pause processing newly submitted Hire Forms until the blackout period ends.
- ADP will remain available to review information or run reports.
HRIS Office Hours for the week of 12/16/2024
We will be hosting two office hours sessions next week:
Monday, 12/16/2024 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Thursday, 12/19/2024 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Zoom link: https://k12albemarle.zoom.us/j/2900744257?pwd=bW83UFdEN2dJNVVKUVVDZWVhWnFPUT09
As always, feel free to contact time@k12albemarle.org with any questions if you are unable to make either of these sessions.
Early Sign-off on Mon., Dec. 30 due to Bank Holiday
Wednesday, January 1 (New Year’s Day) is a bank holiday. To ensure payroll processing is completed on time, the Kronos timecard final approval deadline has been moved up by two hours, from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m. on Monday, December 30.
Kronos timecard approval deadline: 11:00 AM on Monday, December 30, 2024
Please communicate this change and adjust your internal deadlines for employees and supervisors to review and approve their timecards accordingly.
Important Payroll Session for Timekeepers at Making Connections
Instead of our regular office hours on Monday, November 4, Thomas Abell will host “Payroll Submissions for Timekeepers” at Making Connections. As a reminder, the week of Nov. 4 (next week) is a payroll week.
When: Monday, Nov 4, 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Where: AHS Room 123
This will be an Open Lab style workspace where timekeepers can complete time and attendance tasks before payroll sign-off. If you are the timekeeper responsible for payroll review next week for your school, department, or program, please sign up for this session. This is a great chance to get help and have dedicated time for your payroll tasks.
Thomas will be available to answer any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you there!
Updates: Simplified Process for ADP Employee Changes Wizard & Sick Leave for New Hires
Thank you all for paying attention to these important updates during this busy first week of school!
Simplified Process for ADP Employee Changes Wizard
Starting today, we’re piloting a new, simplified process for the ADP Employee Changes Wizard. Instead of filling out multiple fields, you’ll only need to complete the “When & Why” section with the following details:
- Effective Date: When you want the change to start.
- Reason: Why the change is needed.
- Notes: Any extra info you want to share. Please make sure to include all the important details about the change here.
- Attachments: Any relevant files you need to attach.
HR will handle the rest based on the information you provide in the “When & Why” section.
For updated guidelines, please refer to the revised “What to Submit in Employee Changes Wizard” documentation here.
If you have any questions, please email time@k12albemarle.org.
Supervisor Guidance: Supporting Attendance and Sick Leave
As you manage your team’s attendance, we want to ensure you have all the information you need to support both new and existing employees effectively.
(NEW) Sick Leave for New Employees:
- Initial Sick Leave: We’re pleased to offer new employees who started on or after June 29, 2024, 5 days of sick leave right away. This is to help them settle in and manage any personal or family illness without the stress of unpaid leave.
- Monthly Accrual: Starting September 1, new employees will earn 1 day of sick leave for each month they work. For example, if an employee works for 10 months, they’ll earn 10 days of sick leave. This is designed to support their well-being throughout the year.
- Hours and Adjustments: The initial 5 days of sick leave are based on the employee’s hours at the start of the school year. This amount will not change if their hours go up or down, but the sick leave they earn each month will be based on their current hours for that month.
- Communication: A targeted email will be going out to new hires later today about this benefit.
Remembering Our COVID Leave Support:
For those who remember the COVID pandemic, you may recall that we were given 5 days of sick leave when the COVID leave program ended. We are pleased to extend the same supportive measure to new employees to help them transition smoothly into their roles.
Encouraging Acceptable Attendance:
- Attendance Standards: To help maintain a positive and productive work environment, we ask that employees aim to stay within the following attendance guidelines:
- 10-month employees: Up to 10 days of certain absences per school year
- 11-month employees: Up to 11 days
- 12-month employees: Up to 12 days
- Types of Absences Included: All absences, including sick leave, unpaid time, and unapproved missed time, are considered. Even if employees have plenty of sick leave or other paid leave available, we encourage them to manage their absences within these limits for a balanced and effective work schedule.
- Types of Absences Not Included: Approved Personal/Annual Leave, FMLA Leave, Workers’ Compensation, Short-Term Disability (STD) Leave, Bereavement Leave
- Review Process: Please use your discretion to review attendance over a rolling 12-month period. If attendance exceeds the acceptable limits, discuss this positively with the employee to find ways to support their needs while maintaining standards.
We appreciate your efforts in helping employees understand and meet these attendance expectations. Your supportive approach ensures a great work environment for everyone. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to your Business Partner.
Thank you for your dedication and support!
ADP Job Changes Blackout May 1, 2024 – May 12, 2024
For those of you who submit changes in ADP, reminder that ADP Blackout starts today.
Between May 1, 2024, and May 12, 2024, we will be enforcing a blackout of all ADP Job Changes. Timekeepers and managers should NOT submit any job changes within ADP during this time. If you have to submit a termination/resignation during the period, please reach out to your Business Partner. This blackout will only affect ADP. Please continue to enter any updates or changes as needed in SPA, and complete the correlating changes in ADP after the blackout has ended.
IMPORTANT: If you have any remaining changes for licensed employees for the 2024 – 2025 school year that have not be submitted in ADP please contact your Business Partner. This information is used to create the 2024 – 2025 licensed employee contracts. RIF hour changes must be submitted in this group. However, RIF terminations should not be processed at this time. This information was communicated in the SAB on 4/22/2024.
If you have started a change in ADP before the blackout without submitting, we recommend you cancel, and restart the change after the blackout.
Please hold any 10/11-month non-exempt changes until after the blackout.
Timekeepers: During this blackout, you will not be able to see Pay Rates in ADP. If you are also timekeeper for Kronos, you will still be able to view rates in Kronos.
A follow-up email will be sent on May 13 when the blackout has been lifted.
Building Closure Leave Reminders
With the announcement that school would be canceled this morning and that all 12-month employees must report to work until all buildings are closed at 12:00 PM, we wanted to send a reminder of how to process Building Closure Leave in Kronos.
Building closure leave is paid leave that is only available to regular employees. Temporary employees are not eligible for building closure leave.
Each 10/11-month employee whose schedule is impacted by the cancellation should have Building Closure Leave applied to their timecard totaling their normal scheduled hours. Each 12-month employee whose schedule is impacted by the noon closure should have 4 hours of Building Closure Leave added to their timecard (ex: if a 12-month employee is only scheduled to work 4 hours per day which is worked in the morning, they should not receive any building closure leave).
Since ACPS no longer practices leave washing, building closure leave should be applied to timecards even if the employee had to work during the closure.
Since exempt employee’s pay would not be impacted by building closure leave, it is not necessary to add it to their timecards.
Building Closure Leave SOP
(some links may be dead within this document, we are working on updating our Time and Attendance site)
How to add Building Closure Leave
GCQC Coverage of Schools Due to Weather and/or Emergency provides a policy overview of building closure and coverage during closures.
Kronos Outage (Intermittent)
As many of you may have noticed, Kronos is currently down for some users. We have reached out to our partners with Gov IT and they have begun troubleshooting the issue. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but please instruct your employees if they cannot log-in to clock in/out to note the time for manual entry when the system is back online.
Again this is impacting some but not all users. If employees are able to log-in to Kronos they should continue to use normal processes.
We will keep you all updated on when Kronos is back online.
Office Hours for the Week of 9/11/2023
We will be hosting two office hour sessions this coming week:
Monday, 9/11/2023 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Thursday, 9/14/2023 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Zoom link: https://k12albemarle.zoom.us/j/3447854320?pwd=cVZkQkFxMmF6bjVrOGNxaEF4T3pxdz09
Have a great weekend!
Leave Program & Historical Corrections Updates
As you all read in the August 22 Compass https://compass.k12albemarle.org/?p=2343595, we have a few leave program updates that are taking effect today.
Leave Pilot for 10 & 11 Month, Benefits-Eligible Employees
Benefits-eligible, 10 & 11 Month employees will see Personal Leave and Sick Leave loaded in their Kronos Accruals today. This year, instead of accruing month by month, these leave types are front loaded for 10 & 11 month employees. Teachers will see their Personal Leave in a separate bucket from their Sick Leave.
End of COVID Leave Bank Program
To transition the end of the COVID Leave Bank Program, benefits-eligible employees will see 5 sick days added to their Sick Leave. This appears on timecards today as “1-Time Sick Leave Supplement” as a negative amount equal to 5 days (the amount appears negative to add it instead of use it).
The comment attached to the entry reads “Per the 8/22/2023 Compass article, ACPS has discontinued the COVID leave bank program. To assist with this transition, we are providing this one-time addition of five (5) sick leave days into the sick leave balances of benefits-eligible employees. Please note that while the number is a negative value, the code adds Sick Leave to your accruals.”
Time Off Request Button for Non-Exempt 10 & 11 Month Employees
We received reports this morning that the Time Off Request Button was missing for Non-Exempt 10 & 11 month employees. That has now been fixed.
Historical Corrections Backlog
As noted in our July 28 post, we are still seeing an increase in historical correction requests. Submissions are taking up to 2 paychecks before they are processed (3 – 5 weeks from submission). Please help us remind employees to look at their timecards in Kronos to ensure timely and accurate checks.