The Two Behind 200
HR Department Ensures Epworth employees can focus on children and families
Two people keeping track of 200 employees. That’s no small task. The Human Resources Department is on the front lines of ensuring that our people are taken care of so that we can best serve the children and families being helped in our program.
“My philosophy is that HR exists to make employees’ lives easier and less complicated by taking care of the ‘behind the scenes’ issues so they don’t have to worry about whether they will have health coverage when they get sick or disability coverage if they get hurt, things like that,” said Josh Stafursky, Vice-President of Human Resources.
“In the case of employee discipline,” he added, “my desire is always to work with supervisors to find a way to help a struggling employee so that he or she can be successful at Epworth Village. While we cannot be successful in every case, I believe our job as employers is to do everything we can to help employees learn and grow so they can make a difference in the lives of the children and families we serve.”
While there is no “typical” day for Stafursky, there is a consistent flow of issues that he tracks extremely closely to ensure that Epworth Village is following state and federal laws and regulations.
“State and federal regulations are a daily part of HR. The way I stay on top of those issues is by doing a lot of reading. I have a variety of resources at my disposal, from HR websites and forums to newsletters and even newspapers. I maintain membership in the Society of Human Resource Management and take advantage of a lot of their publications to get information on the latest issues and changes. I also have a network of other HR professionals I can rely on to ‘bounce’ issues off when needed.”
The “big picture” issues are followed by a long stream of tedious work that must be carefully administered to avoid as few mistakes as possible.
Stafursky’s day includes, working with insurance brokers on insurance issues, consulting with supervisors about employee concerns, filling out disability paperwork with employees as well as filing state and federally required reports. He also administers the agency’s worker’s compensation program so there is ample time speaking with Epworth’s carrier about the progress of employees who have been injured and also making sure employees do not have to worry about paperwork and bills related to those issues.
A supportive, organized and caring person is needed to assist Stafursky with his daily tasks. Pam Gulbrandson, HR Specialist/Payroll has a core focus that includes payroll, ADP (timesheets, passwords, earning codes), Leave Balances, Insurance (enrollments, terminations and changes) as well as Personnel Files.
While some would find this list of tasks ominous, Epworth is blessed that Gulbrandson says she, “ . . loves my job! It is the perfect fit for me. I enjoy helping staff, whether it is changing a password, explaining the vacation accrual, or answering an insurance question. I just want to have all personnel information correct and up-to-date so when an employee needs to know something, I can give them an answer and they can move on to other things.”
Gulbrandson has fairly “scheduled” days, which is great for this organized and detail-oriented lady! Every other week is “payroll” week and during that time she focuses on all timesheets being correct. This includes everyone’s wages, hours and leave. She also prepares reports for some supervisors so they can have more in-depth information regarding their department. In addition, Gulbrandson maintains all leave balances in the ADP Electronic Timesheet Program, MIP Payroll Program and an Excel spreadsheet given to all supervisors.
The following week, she keeps all personnel files up-to-date, makes any changes to employee status (new employees and terminations) both in the ADP/MIP and insurance coverage. She also ensures that all Central Registry checks and driver’s licenses are current, notifies supervisors of pre-vac or holiday hours that need to be used and ensures that payroll will happen the following week! Employees may not consider all the work done behind the scenes, but pay day is an appreciated day across the board!
Stafursky said that both he and Gulbrandson, truly want to help employees solve problems so they can focus on work while they’re at work and family when they are not.
“I know how it feels to have a question or concern about a doctor bill I have received and it feels as though I’m getting the ‘runaround,’” he said. “So, it feels good when I’m able to expedite that and get an issue taken care of for someone so they don’t have to worry about it. I also enjoy the process of working to find the best benefits package for employees each year.”
“We really want employees to call Pam or myself whenever they have a question or problem concerning benefits,” he added. “That includes health, dental, vision, short-term disability, whatever they are having trouble with or need answers about. These issues can be very confusing, but in most cases we can help answer questions very quickly! It’s not always the answer people want to hear, but we can help save people time finding the answer.”