January-March 2011 VOL # 2 ISSUE #1 THE NAF EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER Welcome to the NAF HRO Newsletter, your official personnel news! DoD/OPM Interchange Agreement: The portability agreement open doors of opportunity for eligible NAF employees who may apply for career-conditional civil service jobs under the following conditions: Hot Topics Included in this issue:  DoD/OPM Interchange Agreement  Length of Service Awards  Frequently Asked Questions  How to Help Employees Resolve Conflicts  You must be a US Citizen  You must be currently serving in a continuing NAF position under appointment without time limitation (i.e., a non-temporary appointment) or you must have been involuntarily separated from such an appointment without personal cause within the preceding year  You must meet all qualification standards and requirements for the position for which applying  You must have served continuously for at least one year in a NAF position If you transfer from DoD NAF to DoD civil service under this agreement without a 3-day break in service you are covered by the NAF/APF Portability Law (PL 101-508). Do you know that you can change your invested fund contribution(s) to your 401(K) by logging on to www.wellsfargo.com/401k or by contacting Wells Fargo participant account services at 1-866-665-1282. Employment News . How to Help Employees Resolve Conflicts: Conflict at work often leads to low morale, decrease in productivity and bitterness among employees. By managing conflict you and your employees will solve problems, improve relationships, and achieve goals. The following are some tips you might use when conflicts arise among your employees: HRO hours of operation: Mon-Fri 7:30am-4:30pm. Walk-ins 9:00am-2:00pm. Office closed on weekends and holidays      For “my pay” password changes and resets, please contact the HRO staff at 556-4818, 556-4525, or 556-7074.  Impose a deadline to resolve the conflict. Reason: When people waste time arguing, everyone lose eventually Have both parties find a common point they can agree on. Why: The parties can begin working together to find a solution. Use the “want-accept” strategy. Have each party state what they want and the least they will accept. Then negotiate between “want” and “accept.” Reverse roles. When two parties disagree, have them switch roles and negotiate each other’s position. Result: Each party will come to understand the other’s viewpoint, making a compromise more likely. Reinforce employee’s self-esteem. Don’t let those who didn’t get what they wanted feel like “losers” or that they were “wronged.” Use a third party to settle disputes when other efforts fail. Why: An objective mediator will decide on a fair solution Length of Service Awards: We are now issuing (and back-issuing) length of Service Awards to regular employees. It may be beneficial to you to know what date we use to compute your leave. This date might include some NAF service, AAFES, military, and APF. Please be patient while we catch-up in issuing these awards. We are in the process of ordering the lapel pins that go with the 10-year through 50-year service awards as we are currently short of them. We will issue those as soon as we receive them. Current NAF employees applying for other NAF positions within the Squadron must complete an AF 2550 in order to be considered for the other vacancies. The AF 2550 must be thoroughly completed with all the signatures and work/education experience necessary for qualifying for the new job. January-March 2011 VOL # 2 ISSUE #1 EMPLOYEES CORNER PAY ATTENTION: Employee Frequently Asked Questions Question: A NAF employee is told to work in another facility, on a different shift, performing work that is not related to what he/she normally does, temporarily to support a base exercise/function. There is no change to the number of guaranteed hours, the employee is given a 24-hour advance notice, the work is not illegal, and the duties are not recurring. The employee refuses to perform the work. How do we address this issue? Answer: The supervisor always retain the right to assign work to promote the efficiency of the organization. If the employee refuses, he/she could place himself/herself in danger of facing possible disciplinary action. It is generally a good rule of thumb for the employee to follow directions of the supervisor (as long as it is not illegal, unsafe, immoral, unethical, etc.) and grieve it later if appropriate. Always check your LES statements! Report any inaccuracies to your benefits deductions to the HRO immediately. Question: Is posting phone numbers so other employees can call another employee (when calling sick) so the shifts are covered at the facility, a violation of the Privacy Act? Answer: AFI 33-332 details the Air Force Privacy Act program. Per paragraph 1.1.1 records that are retrieved by name or personal identifier are subject to Privacy Act requirements. The home phone number is a part of the Privacy Act protected information. Question: can NAF employees accept gifts/tips from patrons? Answer: IAW 5 CFR 2635.202 (a), an employee shall not, directly or indirectly solicit or accept a gift from (1) a prohibited source or (2) given because of the employees official title. However, the prohibition set forth in 5 CFR 2635.202 (a) do not apply if acceptance of gift is in accordance with 5 CFR 2635.204 (a) through (i). For gift purposes according to 5 CFR 2635.204 (a), government employees may accept unsolicited gifts having an aggregate market value of $20 or less per source per occasion, provided that the aggregate market value of individual gifts received from any one person under the authority of this paragraph shall not exceed $50 in a calendar year. If the aggregate market value of the gift offered on any single occasion exceeds $20, the employee may not accept the gift and the gift should be surrendered to an Agency designee who has been delegated authority to make any determination, approval, take action required or permitted with respect to another employee. For tip purposes, AFMAN 34-310, paragraph 18.32 addresses tipped employees. You will note that nothing in that paragraph or its subparagraphs prohibits NAF employees from receiving tips. However, all tips are income and should be reported on the employee’s tax return. IRS code section 6053 (a) states that every employee, who in the course of their employment by an employer, receives in any calendar month tips which are wages, as defined in section 3121 (a) or section 3401(a), or which are compensation as defined in section 3231(e), shall report such tips. If you are enrolled in the 401(K), the NAF Retirement, or the Health and Life Insurance plans you are responsible for checking your LES statement every pay period for any inaccuracies related to your Plan(s) contributions. Always check your personnel actions (AF Form 2545), pay strict attention to several items such as you social security number, date of birth, position title, grade, step, and rate of pay. Even though the AF Form 2545 passes through many eyes including the HRO, payroll, and your supervisor, errors may occur. If you find an error, please contact the HRO immediately at 556-4818. DID YOU KNOW…….that when an AF civilian employee presents written confirmation of pregnancy from a medical provider to the supervisor, the supervisor is required by AFI 44-102, Patient Care and Management of Clinical Services, to refer the employee to the Military Public Health clinic. January-March 2011 Volume # 2 issue # 1 This is a quarterly publication brought to you by the NAF Human Resources Office Please Contact us at: Separating Employees: Don’t forget to include or provide a good forwarding address on your resignation. The Share Service Center depends on this to get your tax information (W2) 21 FSS/FSMH 135 Dover Street, Suite 1116 to you on time. Once you are resigned from NAF you will no Peterson AFB, CO 80914-1155 longer have access to “my money” to see or to download your Tel: (719) 556-4818 W2s via the internet. DSN: 834-4818 FAX: (719) 556-4880 For current job openings within 21 FSS, Thule Greenland, and Clear, Alaska go to WWW.21fss.com