Welcome to the May 2019 Q&A.
The Q&A addresses questions and suggestions received through the online suggestion box (top menu bar on the intranet). We respond to questions with agency-wide relevance. We cannot answer questions that may affect client or staff/personnel confidentiality. 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.
Suggestions/Questions list
- Program for collaborative work
- GoToMyPC and MaaS360 offer additional features
- CPCS organizational charts
- HR office visits to review benefit changes
- AA salary ranges and hiring
Suggestion/Question: Program for collaborative work
Do employees have access to a program or platform that allows for internet/intranet based collaborative work? It would be helpful to have a program that enables multiple people to create, edit, and comment on documents without closing those documents or saving multiple versions. I’m thinking of something that functions like Google Docs, which enables people to work collaboratively without worrying about whether one person is using the document or whether a user is working on the latest version. I understand that we are not supposed to use Google Docs because of security concerns.
Response:
There is currently no collaborative program or platform that maybe used by CPSC staff. I appreciate the benefits of such products and have both used (and implemented) them in the past.
The challenges are 1) they are costly, 2) most of the work staff perform doesn’t require robust collaboration (so the investment in licensing,implementation and training is hard to justify), and 3) figuring out the process and management aspects of how/where to store such files (e.g., what goes on traditional network storage, what is in the collaboration environment, what is in the case management system, what is the process of moving files from one environment to the other, how is security managed, how are permissions managed) in a systematic fashion where people can easily find the documents is complex.
A collaboration environment, while having significant benefits, raises the process and management complexity significantly.
As we move our environment to Cloud solutions, this may give us an easier way to introduce more collaborative functionality in a simpler and easier fashion to manage. This will be a multi-year process.
Division: CIO, Daniel Saroff
Suggestion/Question/Response: GoToMyPC and MaaS360 offer additional features
Due to the number of different questions included in this Q&A, I am breaking format to answer them in the body of the question.
Question: GoToMyPC and MaaS360 offer additional features that are currently locked and inaccessible to attorneys. For example, the ability to copy and paste from Maas360 or the ability to transfer files on GoToMyPC for Mac or transfer-and-sync files on GoToMyPC for Windows.
Response: These (copy and paste in MaaS360 and transfer and sync or files for Mac) are deactivated to reduce the risk of client-related data being on personal devices where we don’t have the ability to protect or control or restrict access. This data is often client confidential and we have an ethical and moral responsibility to protect it from exposure.
Question: Additionally, GoToMyPC, while beneficially, simply does not function well as a long-term system to perform hours of work at night or remotely within because it either (1) is letterbox on most laptops and thereby hard to see for significant periods of time; (2) is frustrating because people may continuously hit the wrong key when using it on a mac keyboard; (3) will freeze up eventually; (4) will demand too many system resources; …
Response: For most of our staff, GoToMyPC works for the required purpose. Personally, I’ve used it for a full day without the problems you describe. We have looked at a number of products and GoToMyPC is the best one that we have found (and decent for supporting Macs). I’ve used other remote access products and they have many/most of the issues you describe. The simple fact is that remoting in to your larger screen PC from a smaller screened device (laptop, phone, tablet, etc.) will have limitations. Ultimately, GoToMyPC are tools meant to augment working in the office, not supplant working in the office.
Question: …and (5) will function only with an internet connection and will not permit work during down time or court waiting time in a remote court.
Please explain the specific reasons that these and other software features are blocked in Maas360 and GoToMyPC when, if enabled, they would increase productivity workflow.
Response: Any solution that provides access to content stored in CPCS network will have the restriction that internet connectivity is a must. Until/unless courts install Wi-Fi, this will continue to be an issue. However, allowing synchronization of files to personal devices or shared devices (office laptops) is a security and confidentiality risk so is not permitted.
Division: CIO, Daniel Saroff
Suggestion/Question: CPCS organizational charts
Can you please post an updated organizational chart for all of CPCS?
Response:
Great suggestion! You can find the organizational chart under the Divisions/Departments tab by clicking on Administration on the intranet (http://intranet.publiccounsel.net/). I will update the chart at the beginning of each fiscal year (July).
Division: Chief Counsel’s Office, Denise Simonini
Suggestion/Question: HR office visits to review benefit changes
I think that it would be a great service to all of CPCS employees if a rep from HR would make a yearly or bi-yearly visit to the offices to go over changes or benefits available to all. I’ve been here for 7 years and have just learned about this SMART plan retirement savings that is open to state employees. Emails tend to get buried or ignored when more pressing things take over -having a person to actually come to the office, sit down, communicate with and go over things and answer questions – not just about benefits – is a much better approach to keeping everyone informed that can benefit employees in the long run.
Response:
I am sorry to hear that any CPCS employee doesn’t know about the SMART Plan. Having come to CPCS just two years ago, I can’t speak to how employees were oriented seven years ago. I do know that every new CPCS employee over at least the last two years has received an individual orientation on the benefits available to them.
It’s true that emails can get buried or ignored. The challenge for us in HR is how to get information out quickly and clearly to over 700 employee sat over twenty separate locations. Email is the most effective way to do that. However, it shouldn’t be the only way we communicate with CPCS staff.
You’re right that having HR staff come to offices and meet directly with employees is important and something HR needs to do more than it has. Over the last two years, I’ve visited several CPCS offices across the state, but that’s not nearly enough. I like the idea of HR staff going to offices on a more regular basis. We are committed to doing that. I already am planning visits to several offices over the next two months. As we bring more HR staff on board over the next few months, we need to schedule time for them – and our current staff – to get out to the offices for informal lunch gatherings, open drop-in sessions, and trainings on various HR practices and policies. Please talk to your colleagues and supervisors and managers about what would work for your office. We welcome invitations to spend time with you. Meanwhile, please know that you can call any of the HR staff directly and ask to meet individually with us. We look forward to hearing from you and to meeting you in-person!
Division: Human Resources, Lisa Bacon
Suggestion/Question: AA salary ranges and hiring
I was very disappointed to find that the new hire support staff (AA I) positions recently posted have a salary range that is greater than the salaries of established support staff who have been with CPCS for years, even with our recent raises. One would assume that if you have worked with CPCS in the same position for several years that your salary would reflect those years of service and your obvious, established experience performing the same job and duties as is being hired for.
While the recent raises are appreciated, it is disappointing to see that newcomers would potentially be making significantly more than current, loyal employees. It would appear that current employees are then being taken advantage of, or at the very least significantly undervalued, and are not being offered any real incentives to continue their careers with CPCS if current employee salaries are not reflective of years worked and in-house experience. When an individual entering the same position could receive an identical or significantly higher salary without having a longstanding relationship with CPCS and an established, positive track record with executing and completing the work required of that position, it would seem our work here is unappreciated and undervalued by those involved with determining support staff salaries.
Response:
CPCS posted three Administrative Assistant I positions in 2019, all with a salary range of $41,000 to$48,700. That range is based on the current salaries for our Administrative Assistant I positions.
Salary ranges for all CPCS positions are now based on the years of relevant experience and/or education required for the position, also known as the minimum entrance requirements (MERs). As a result, when determining the salary we can offer to a recommended candidate for any CPCS position, HR assesses their relevant experience and education and calculates how many years of creditable experience and education the candidate has.
Candidates who just meet the MERs are placed at Step 1 or in the first Class Year in that salary range. (Class Years function just like steps in a salary range. CPCS uses Class Years for attorney, investigator, social worker/social service advocate, supervisor, and legal manager positions. All other positions use steps instead of Class Years.) For every year of experience beyond the MERs, candidates are placed at the next step in the salary range. Candidates also receive credit for relevant education beyond what the position requires. Degrees also can be a substitute for years of experience. For example, if the MERs are two years of experience and an Associate’s degree, a candidate with three years of experience and an Associate’s degree will be placed at step 2, and a candidate with three years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree will be placed at step 3. As a result, a new employee with more experience than a current employee in the same job title could have a higher salary.
CPCS employees who think their salaries have been calculated incorrectly can ask for an equity adjustment. Please note that HR currently is reviewing AA salaries to determine if any equity adjustments are needed.
Division: Human Resources, Lisa Bacon