Human Resources Questions
Below are some of the questions to help provide information on general and staff specific Human Resource questions. Additional FAQs are available for each of the main function areas. The general PEAK questions can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions page.
These questions were archived as of June 27, 2023.
How will PEAK affect concepts like raises or classification?
Positions will be classified by the Office of Human Resources based on the work being done, and individuals who move into PEAK-related roles will be reclassified appropriately.
What changes will I see with PEAK from an Human Resources standpoint?
Some of the work that is happening today in units will be realigned within operations centers and centers of expertise. The major areas of realignment for Human Resources are Workforce Data Management, Staffing Operations/Classification, and the Leave of Absence Team. The move to centralize this work will lead to increased consistency, efficiency, and reduced compliance risks for the University.
Will I-9s be handled by the PEAK-created HR Ops Center or will they remain at the local campus/unit level?
Initial intake and renewal of I-9s will remain as a responsibility of the campus/unit. The campus/unit will remain responsible for initiating section one and completing section two of the I-9. Once the I-9 has been completed, the Staffing Operations Specialist will request the necessary documentation in order to process appointment paperwork. This decision is based on an analysis we conducted several years ago when we considered centralizing that work within the Office of Human Resources. We determined that it wouldn’t be feasible given the numbers of new employees that would have to be processed in-person at one location in a short period of time.
If you need help with I-9 processing questions, online and expert help is available from OHR. Resources on I-9 eligibility verification are available on OHR’s website at hr.umn.edu > HR Community > I-9 Employee Eligibility Verification. You can also get help each week at a recurring I-9 Open Lab and Q&A every Monday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., hosted by Alba Vogelgesang from Payroll Services. A link to the meeting is available on the Office of Human Resources Operations site under the I-9 tab.
What specific processes/functions will be centralized once the PEAK process is complete?
At a high level, the new Human Resources Operations roles and responsibilities will be created for Workforce Data Management, Staffing Operations/Classification, and the Leave of Absence Team. Posted positions have full descriptions, per the standard posting process. We will be able to share full position descriptions for other roles once classifications are finalized. Our service model will continue to provide units with a specific contact to provide continuity of service. More details are available in the Milestone 2 presentation from November 18, 2022.
Will PEAK be reducing the current Human Resources headcount? Will jobs be reduced/non-renewed, or will it just adjust workload for current and future employees?
The goal of PEAK is the realignment of people to the way we will be doing work, it is not aimed at a reduction in staff. We are currently at low levels of staffing across our institution, so our goal is to be thoughtful in the way we leverage our existing people and resources so we can make the most of our institutional knowledge while finding ways to do the work more consistently and seamlessly.
What is it going to mean to individual department staff and their current Human Resources workload?
We will work with each unit to understand the impact and plan accordingly for every person currently responsible for work that is moving.
Will the Expression of Interest process run at the same time for both Finance and Human Resources so that employees know what their options are?
Yes, the Expression of Interest survey will allow you to express interest in Finance, Human Resources, or Marketing and Communications PEAK-created positions.
When will the survey go out asking Human Resources staff to share their areas of interest?
The Expression of Interest survey is projected to go out in early 2023. We will talk more about Expression of Interest in the near future, but we need to point out that newly posted HR positions for managers are being actively recruited, so if you are interested in any of these posted positions, please review and apply for them now. New positions for the Leave of Absence team were posted and filled before the Expression of Interest survey due to the timing of this project. More details are available in the Milestone 2 presentation from November 18, 2022.