KRONOS Upgrade this weekend

The Kronos system will be down on Saturday, September 29th for an upgrade. All timecards must be approved before noon on Saturday. The system will be down Saturday afternoon and will come back up Sunday night. Staff should use paper sign in for lunch and for the end of the day and supervisors can add the punches in after the system is fully upgraded. If there are any issues, please contact your Team Leader or Coordinator. Thanks, Laurie

Brainfuse Webinars

If staff were unable to attend a Brainfuse session, there are webinars available this week: 

Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Time: 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM CDT

Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Time: 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM CDT

Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Time: 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM CDT

Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012
Time: 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM CDT

Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012
Time: 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM CDT

Each session has a separate link to register.  Speak with your manager to register and receive the appropriate link for the session.

Thank you,

Laurie

Health Screening

Mr. Weeks sent out this reminder today:
Team –

This email is a friendly reminder that employee subscribers to one of the City’s Cigna Health Plans must complete an annual health assessment by Sunday, September 30, 2012, or pay an additional $25 a month on health contributions beginning in November 2012. Currently, 50% of HPL’s Cigna health plan participants have completed the health assessment for 2012. Hopefully, more participants will complete this assessment to avoid the surcharge. Last year, 2011, HPL had a 99% participation rate. We would like to accomplish this high percentile rate again this year. Biometric numbers needed to complete the assessment are; blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol, weight and height, and waist circumference.

If you have missed out on previous biometric screenings opportunities, there are still two more free events you can register for to obtain your biometric numbers as listed here.

Thursday, September 20 (6a-6p)
Houston Police Officer Union Hall
1600 State Street
Wednesday, September 26 (6a-6p)
611 Walker
4th Floor Civil Service Conference Room

You can register today online at http://wellnessevent.kelsey-seybold.com/COH. Time slots are filling up fast.

Once you have your biometric numbers you will need to log on www.mycigna.com to complete your health assessment. If you have forgot your Cigna username or password, call 800.284.8346. Attached is a flyer that have more information about completion of the health assessment. If you need more information or help in getting the assessment completed please contact the COH Wellness Connection at 713.837.9364, wconnection@houstontx.gov, or Gwen Walter at 832.393.1679 gwen.walter@houstontx.gov.

Thanks,

Laurie

Rio Grande Valley

Hi!

Some library systems are converting abandoned buildings into amazing libraries. I think it is the ultimate in recycling!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/03/abandoned-walmart-turned-into-_n_1647574.html#slide=1181560

When you see a new idea or trend, please share it with us!!
Thanks,
Mary

Brainfuse Training

Registration is now open for the Brainfuse training. This 1 ½ hour training session will be offered next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (September 19th – 21st) and is mandatory for all Frontline Public Services Staff**.

Supervisors, please use the attached spreadsheet to register the staff members in your unit or grouping. Please make all changes and updates in RED and submit electronically to HPL Training (hpltraining@houstontx.gov) using a subject line of “Brainfuse – Unit or Grouping Name.” Be sure to provide each employee’s Last Name, First Name in the spreadsheet. We should receive 1 completed spreadsheet for each unit or NL grouping.

Here’s the schedule at a glance:

Wednesday, September 19th from 9:15am – 3:00pm: PAR
9:15am-10:45am 1st session
11:00am-12:30pm 2nd session
1:30pm-3:00pm 3rd session

Thursday, September 20st from 9:15am – 3:00pm: JUN
9:15am-10:45am 1st session
11:00am-12:30pm 2nd session
1:30pm-3:00pm 3rd session

Friday, September 21st from 8:30am – 4:30pm: CEN Concourse
8:30am-10:00am 1st session
10:15am-11:45am 2nd session
1:15pm-2:45pm 3rd session
3:00pm-4:30pm 4th session

Please provide HPL Training with your registrations no later than Friday, September 14th at 5pm. Be sure to spread your registration requests evenly across all of the available days.

Questions may be addressed to Leilany Vazquez at 832-393-1675 (Leilany.vazquez@houstontx.gov) or Suzy Benton at 832-393-1505 (suzy.benton@houstontx.gov).

Additional web training may be available, but try to send as many people as you can to the in person training next week.

Thanks,

Laurie

Friends - Children's Booksale postponed

On September 7th, several local news agencies incorrectly reported that Houston Public Library had received a donation of books from a home in The Woodlands that was quarantined for a possible hantavirus exposure, and that up to 20% of the books had been distributed to children and families.

Here are the facts:

1. The books in question were donated to the Friends of the Houston Public Library, an independent non-profit organization that exists to support the Houston Public Library through the sale of used and/or donated books.

2. The books were never in the possession of HPL, and our collection was not exposed to the books.

3. The Friends reacted immediately upon learning of the possible exposure, isolating as many of the books as possible at their warehouse. Upon advice of local infectious disease specialists, the Friends have closed the warehouse and suspended operations there pending an investigation by the City's Department of Health and Human Services.

4. None of the books in question were distributed by the Friends.

5. No other books from the Friends' warehouse have been distributed since the Woodlands books arrived at the warehouse.


The Friends and HPL Communications staff have worked to contact local news organizations to correct the story, with some success.

Still, you might have some customers today who saw the stories last night, and not the corrections. If so, please use the information in this email to ease any concerns.

Finally, the Friends has taken the proactive step to postpone their upcoming Children's Book Sale, which was scheduled for September 21 and 22. Please remove all promotional materials for this sale and return them to the Print Shop.

Please let your Team Leader or Coordinator of Extended Hours know if you have any questions-
Thanks.
Mary

CMC Campaign

Who are the dream makers?

We are asking that every location select a unit CMC coordinator to be a part of the Dream Team. The unit CMC Coordinator is responsible for distributing CMC materials and information, coordinating CMC fundraising efforts for your location, totaling participation and monetary contributions, and securing all funds until they are turned in. Please forward the name of your Dream Team member to Belinda Cox (ext. 31682); or Leilany Vazquez (ext. 31675)by Friday, September 14th.

We thank all of you for working to make dreams a possibility in our communities.

Thanks.
Mary