Up-to-Date IHS
Children and Health Care Changes
December 2011
Under the Affordable Care Act eligibility for your children has been expanded. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has published guidance regarding children and federal benefits. These changes are effective the first of January 2011. If you have children and you have federal employee health benefits coverage you may have questions about your children’s eligibility and types of coverage. Please take a look at the frequently asked questions (FAQ), FastFacts and OPM presentation at the following links:
www.opm.gov/insure/health/reform
If you have additional questions, please contact your local Human Resources professional.
"USE OR LOSE" Annual Leave
September 2011
As we approach the end of the calendar year, questions will arise regarding “Use or Lose” annual leave. Supervisors should discuss “Use or Lose” leave with their employees while there is time to schedule. The 2010 leave year ends on January 1, 2011
Supervisors and employees are responsible for ensuring that any “Use or Lose” leave is officially scheduled and approved for use during the remainder of the leave year. For General Schedule employees a maximum of 240 hours may be carried over from one leave year to the next. Senior Executive Service employees may carry over a maximum of 720 hours from one leave year to the next. Any annual leave in excess of these hours will be" lost" by the employee if not used by the end of the leave year.
There are certain situations in which an employee may have annual leave "lost" restored in the next leave year, but those situations are rare. OPM regulations require that "use or lose" annual leave be scheduled in writing at least three pay periods prior to the end of the leave year, or it may not be considered for restoration. If approved leave was forfeited due to sickness, administrative error, or an exigency of public business, the leave may be considered for restoration after the leave has been forfeited. If the use of earned compensatory time off or credit hours that are about to expire results in the forfeiture of excess annual leave, the forfeited leave cannot be restored.
All “Use or Lose” annual leave must be scheduled and approved in ITAS no later than Saturday November 20, 2010.
When reviewing your employee's leave balances, this is an opportune time to review their leave records and ensure they are being reconciled every pay period.
In November 2010, the Office of Personnel Management’s USA Staffing system will replace Monster Government solutions (formerly QuickHire) as IHS’s back-end automated recruitment solution for delivering automated recruitment services and products to managers and administrators involved in the hiring process. This decision was announced by HHS in the summer of 2010, and though the name HHS Careers will remain the same, the functionality, as well as the look and feel of the system will be different.
Please contact your servicing Human Resource Regional Office if you have any questions or need any assistance.
