Welcome to the December 2017 Q&A.
This addresses questions and suggestions received through the online suggestion box (top menu bar on the intranet). We respond to questions with agency-wide relevance, and we cannot answer questions that may affect client or staff/personnel confidentiality protections. If you have individual- or office-specific questions, please communicate that within your office or division.
Some questions/suggestions are summarized or simplified in the interest of clarity, brevity or to address tone.
Some questions require more time to answer than is available or are received after we started drafting this Q&A, so missed this installment. We’ll work to address them in later installments.
Suggestions/Questions list
- Reply-all emails
- “Bail Bloc” on work computers
- HR Director meeting with staff
- Sick Bank
- HR etc.
Suggestion/Question: Reply-all emails
Could the agency provide guidance to employees on the prudent and preferred use of “reply all” emails? Many tribute emails are triggers for these, and, frankly, not everyone shares the same levels of familiarity and friendship with some of the employees that inspire the thread. In my office, there is some frustration over the over-use of the “reply all” button that I would like to see gently addressed.
Response:
The simple answer to your very sensible question is: don’t use reply-all.
A bit less simplistically: avoid “reply-all” unless you are confident that everyone genuinely needs to see your response. People don’t like seeing messages unless they are directly involved, so always think twice before replying “reply-all.”
Regarding the use of “everyone-staff” for tributes or other agency-wide broadcasts, the a similar rule applies. If you need to send an email to “everyone-staff”, put the “everyone-staff” group in the BCC field. Do this so people do not get spammed by responses. Make sure your name is in the “To:” field so you get the responses, but not everyone else. Most people really don’t want to see the responses to a broadcast where they don’t share a level of familiarity or interest.
Division: Daniel Saroff, IT
Suggestion/Question: “Bail Bloc” on work computers
Are we allowed to download Bail Bloc to run on our work computers?
Response:
No. The longer response is below.
Bail Bloc is a great idea for raising money to help people pay for bail. You can read the details about it here. Essentially, an application is installed on a PC which leverages idle time (when you aren’t using your computer) to mine for cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin). This cryptocurrency can be traded for dollars and used by the Bronx Defenders to pay bail. All this happens in the background, and requires no intervention from the user, except installing the software on their PC.
So, why “no?”
Our computer and network resources are limited. Programs like Bail Bloc use network bandwidth resources, which might affect network and file performance. Also, it may have effects on other systems, which would require troubleshooting or support from our limited support staff. Further, any program is a potential security risk, so non-work related programs are not permitted. Agency computers are for supporting activity related to enabling the Agency’s work.
Whether you wish to install Bail Bloc on your own personal computer is an individual decision.
Division: Daniel Saroff, IT
Suggestion/Question: HR Director meeting with staff
Lisa Bacon was announced as the new HR director in June 2017. When will she begin meeting with staff? Many of us would appreciate it if she made office visits to discuss HR at the agency.
Response:
I absolutely agree that it is vitally important for the HR staff, including me, to visit CPCS offices to hear and respond to HR questions and concerns that our employees have.
In mid-October, I went to Worcester and held a Q&A session with a large group of CPCS staff across various practice areas. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the staff there, answering their questions, and hearing their ideas on how CPCS can support its employees and the clients we all serve.
Starting in January 2018, I will travel to at least one CPCS office a month and hold similar sessions. When possible, other members of the HR team will join me. I will work with AICs to schedule these visits and post that schedule on the HR intranet page.
In the meantime, please let us know if you have specific HR topics you’d like us to address by emailing [email protected]. Please include “HR Topics for Office Visits” in the subject line so we can easily review and organize your suggestions. We look forward to seeing you in 2018!
Division: Lisa Bacon, HR
Suggestion/Question: Sick Bank
Can someone talk about the sick bank in more detail? Is it state-wide or CPCS only? When a donation is made to the sick bank, will that donation only be withdrawn for a CPCS employee or does it go into a general pool for all state employees?
Response:
The CPCS Sick Leave Bank (Bank) is a voluntary program that assists full-time and part-time CPCS employees who suffer from prolonged illness, have exhausted their leave credits, and have no other potential source of compensation. To assist these colleagues, CPCS employees may donate sick, vacation, personal, and compensatory leave credits to the Bank where they are used for extended absences which would otherwise result in unpaid leave. Donations to the CPCS Sick Leave Bank come only from CPCS employees and can be withdrawn only by CPCS employees.
CPCS employees who have long-term disability (LTD) plans, whether state-sponsored or private, must apply for benefits under their LTD plan. However, employees with LTD coverage who have exhausted all earned leave credits may request withdrawal(s) from the Sick Leave Bank to use during the “waiting period” as defined by their LTD insurer.
The annual donation period for the Sick Leave Bank occurs during the end of each calendar year. Our Benefit Coordinator Lien Dang sent all employees an email notice on November 30th about this year’s donation period. It began December 4, 2017 and ends December 22, 2017. You can donate time by completing the Sick Leave Bank Donation Form, which was attached to Lien’s email and also can be found in the Forms section on the HR intranet page. The minimum donation is one (1) leave credit, which is equivalent to seven (7) hours; the maximum donation is ten (10) days of leave credits per calendar year. Special requests for donations may occur at other times during the year if the balance in the Sick Leave Bank dips below withdrawal requests.
For more information about the CPCS Sick Leave Bank, including the eligibility criteria for withdrawal and the donation and withdrawal procedures, please refer to our Sick Leave Bank policy located in Section 2.3 of the CPCS Personnel Policies Manual.
Division: Lisa Bacon, HR
Suggestion/Question: HR etc.
This month HR also received questions on training requirements for CPCS managers, HR’s role in transfer requests, and CPCS restrictions on outside employment. These questions require some clarification to ensure that the information we provide you is clear, accurate, and concise. As a result, we will revisit them early in 2018.
We very much appreciate the opportunity to keep staff informed. Please keep your questions coming!