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1 CIVILIAN PERSONNEL NEWS VOL 09-04, 09 April 2009 INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: --Civilian Personnel Management Course (CPMC) --Military Personnel Management Course (MPMC) --Air Force Supervisor s Course (AFSC) --NSPS News & Information --Minimum Service Requirement --Antiterrorism Awareness (Level I) Training (Mandatory) --My Biz --Hierarchy Updates --New Online Retirement Planning Courses Offered To Civilian Employee --FEDVIP Fast Facts --Emergency Contact Information (MY BIZ) Replaces EMDS --What To Do When Injured At Work --Retirement Procedures for Employees and Supervisors --Updating Civilian Career Brief --Legacy Civilian Performance Appraisals Closeout --Legacy Performance Appraisals/Certification of Legacy Performance Plans --How to Request Advance Sick Leave --Voluntary Civilian Annual Leave Donations Requested TO SERVE YOU BETTER WE REQUEST ALL CUSTOMERS CALL AHEAD AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT THE SECTION TELEPHONE NUMBERS ARE LISTED BELOW: STAFFING WORKFORCE EFFECTIVENESS NATIONAL SECURITY PERSONNEL SYSTEM If you have any new ideas for articles and you would like to see them in this newsletter, please send your ideas to Carol.Hinds@peterson.af.mil AFPC SECURE WEBSITE UPDATE The hyperlink to Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) Secure website has changed again. If you have AFPC Secure bookmarked or placed in your favorites, be sure to update the link. It is now: To see just a few things you can do in this website check out the article in this newsletter named Accessing Your Record and Benefits - How to use the AFPC Secure Website and EBIS. BENEFITS QUESTIONS Just a reminder that questions concerning your retirement status and other benefits should be directed to the folks at BEST, CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TRAINING SEMINARS

2 CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TRAINING SEMINARS CLASSES HELD IN BLDG 350, SUITE 1113, CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TRAINING ROOM To register for training classes Name, Pay Band, Grade or Level, Duty Phone, SSAN, and Unit to You only need to take these classes once. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT IF THESE CLASSES DO NOT MEET A MINIMUM NUMBER OF PEOPLE SIGNING UP THEY DO GET CANCELLED CIVILIAN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT COURSE (CPMC) This class is required for civilian and military supervisors of civilians. In order to attend this class, participants must ensure hierarchy is updated to document they are a first or second level supervisor of a civilian employee. Third and fourth level supervisors may attend on a space available basis. The course provides background information and an understanding of applicable personnel laws and regulations needed for Position Management and Classification, Staffing/Affirmative Employment, Reduction in Force, Hours of Work and Pay, Leave and Absences, Awards program, Constructive Discipline and Adverse Actions, Performance Management, Injury Compensation training, and Labor Management Relations, and Grievance and Appeals. Course dates: 5-8 May 2009 MILITARY PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT COURSE (MPMC) This class is required for civilian supervisors of military, unless an equivalent course has been taken and entered in your civilian data record. The course provides background information and an understanding of applicable military personnel rules and regulations needed to effectively carry out supervisory/management responsibilities. Subject areas covered include Expeditionary Aerospace Force (EAF), Leave Management Program, Promotions and Recognition, Officer Performance Reports Enlisted Performance Reports, Professional Military Education, Retention Issues, Discipline/Standards, Mentoring, Fitness Programs and Military Administrative Issues. Course date: April 2009 AIR FORCE SUPERVISOR S COURSE (AFSC) This course is required for civilian first and second level supervisors of civilians. In order to attend this class, participants must ensure hierarchy is updated to document they are a first or second level supervisor of a civilian employee. Unless an equivalent course has been taken and entered in your civilian data record. The course provides information and understanding of leadership skills, supervisory skills, communication skills and management skills including conflict resolution, problem solving, performance management and workforce diversity. Course date: April 2009 NSPS NEWS & INFORMATION Effective 29 March 2009, v2.0 of the Performance Appraisal Application (PAA) became obsolete and is no longer available in the Defense Civilian Personnel Data System (DCPDS). Appraisals completed under PAA v2.0 will appear in PAA v3.0 under the Completed Plans/ Appraisals area on the PAA Main Page. In addition, several enhancements were added to v3.0 in an effort to assist employees, rating officials, reviewing officials, pay pool administrators, and pay pool managers. Please check it out! The new features are highlighted on the DCPDS Portal (My Biz and/or My Workplace) and below for your convenience. - My Journal: A new tab that allows employees (regardless of who has ownership of their plan/appraisal) to keep track of their accomplishments throughout the year. - Guest Participants: A rating officials now has the option to invite guest participants (guest rater and/or guest reviewer) to provide assessments and/or feedback for consideration when completing an employee s appraisal. - Special Purpose Rating: Rating officials now have the capability to complete a special purpose rating for an employee with a Level 1 rating of record who exhibits significant and sustained improvement for at least 90 days in his or her performance that equates to Level 2 performance or higher.

3 - Mock Pay Pool Info: This tab facilitates mock pay pool deliberations. Employees and rating officials may add mock information such as assessments, recommended ratings, number of shares, and payout distributions. Pay pool managers and administrators can download mock data and import it into a mock Compensation Workbench (CWB) spreadsheet. - PAA Features Coming April 2009 Transfer of PAA records between regional databases. NSPS Training information: For NSPS news and information, please log into the 21 SW Community of Practice website at: MINIMUM SERVICE REQUIREMENT TO RECEIVE 5 DAYS OF EXCUSED ABSENCE FOR EMPLOYEES RETURNING FROM ACTIVE MILITARY DUTY. New rules, effective 16 December 2008, were published by OPM regarding the number of days and duration of military duty for employees entitled to the 5 days of excused absence. In summary, in order to receive 5 days of excused absence, members must spend at least 42 consecutive days on active duty in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). This is parallel to the requirement to qualify for a post differential when a civilian employee works in a hardship post location on extended detail or in a temporary duty travel status in an overseas location with an approved post differential. This minimum standard reflects the rationale for the excused absence, which is to facilitate an employee's return to civilian service and family life after a significant absence resulting from activation in support of the GWOT. It was never envisioned that employees would have separate, multiple activations for very short periods of time and that such employees would receive 5 days of excused absence for each activation. Furthermore, employees are entitled to 5 days of excused absence only once in a 12-month period. A new 12- month period begins after the first use of excused absence. ANTITERRORISM AWARENESS (LEVEL 1) TRAINING (MANDATORY) All new civilian employees are required to attend this training. If you are prior military and have separated within the last year, you do not need to attend. Training is held the first and third Friday of the month (excluding Federal Holidays) at 10:00 AM in building 350, room 1047 on Peterson AFB. Please contact Earl at if you have questions about eligibility or course content. MY BIZ Randolph Air Force Base, Texas Air Force civilian employees who wish to update education information in their civilian personnel records have a new, easier way to do so: through the My Biz Web site. My Biz is the self-service module in the Defense Civilian Personnel Data System. Instead of faxing their transcripts and waiting for someone to update their record, employees can now do it themselves. The Air Force, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, has been working to streamline and automate the manual processes of updating education, training and special qualifications (certifications and professional licenses) into a web-based self- service capability, said Kathryn Houston from the Civilian Future Operations Branch at the Air Force Personnel Center. Now, in addition to updating work and home telephone numbers, addresses, handicap codes, ethnicity and national origin, and language, employees can update their education through My Biz and it is immediately reflected in their personnel record. In the future, My Biz will provide even more update capabilities. The goal is to provide faster and smarter service to employees by giving them the ability to go in and update their important career information themselves, so it can be immediately reflected in their personnel record. Prior to this change, employees could update some personal information, but not education. They had to follow a process that included completing sections of an OF 612 and faxing copies of transcripts to the Air Force Manpower Agency who then put the information into the system.

4 Now, employees can update their own education information. They will only be required to provide personnel a transcript if personnel have a legal or regulatory requirement to verify the education entry, for example, based on the qualification standards, a position requires a degree or a specified number of course hours (this is often referred to as a positive education requirement). This procedural change will enable civilian employees to update their education information directly by assessing My Biz < For more information, visit AFPC s Ask web site and search for Education Updates or call the 24-hour Air Force Contact Center at (800) HIERARCHY UPDATES Please submit all hierarchy updates to 21 FSS/FSMM Hierarchy (mailto:21fss.fsmm.hier@afspc.af.mil). The Manpower Office has the responsibility to update the Hierarchy for all organizations on Peterson AFB. In order to update the hierarchy we need name and sequence numbers of supervisors and employees this information can be found on your most current SF50. NOTE: Any time an action is taken at AFPC the civilian employees sequence number will change and it may sever the connection in the hierarchy. For military supervisors a sequence number may already be assigned, if not, we ll need to build a record for each military supervisor. NOTE: It would be helpful to know if the military person is replacing a previous military supervisor who has a sequence number so it can be reused. NSPS is still with Civilian Personnel so if the hierarchy is correct it may need some tweaking on the NSPS side of the system. NEW ONLINE RETIREMENT PLANNING COURSES OFFERED TO CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas Three new online courses for federal civilian employees offer training in the benefit-related areas of retirement, financial planning and new employee orientation. The training is available on the automated Employee Benefits Information System (EBIS) web program under eseminars and its will be a benefit to all Air Force-serviced civilian employees at all stages of their careers. To take the eseminars, civilian employees need access to EBIS via the Air Force Portal: or the Air Force Personnel Center Ask web site s secure link Once logged into EBIS, click on the eseminars icon at the top of the screen to see the list of courses available. Employees with questions about the eseminars or EBIS can also contact BEST the 24-hour Air Force Contact, enter at FEDVIP FAST FACTS You can update your FEDVIP enrollment only through BENEFEDS. You cannot make FEDVIP changes through your agency s human resources office, an online human resources system (such as Employee Express, MyPay, EBIS, or PostalEASE), your FEDVIP insurance carrier(s), or your retirement system. And, your agency cannot make changes on your behalf. It is your responsibility to contact BENEFEDS directly if: You transfer to a different agency You retire You change your name, or if the names of any family members covered under your FEDVIP enrollment change Your contact information changes (phone number, address, address) You change your FEHB Program plan during the year Your employing agency or your retirement system will not notify BENEFEDS of these changes you must do so.

5 With the exception of the recent Belated Enrollment opportunity that ran through January 2009, you can change your FEDVIP enrollment outside of Open Season only if you experience a Qualifying Life Event (QLE). For most QLEs, such as the birth of a child, a marriage, a divorce, or a death, there is a very limited time period for making changes, so contact BENFEDS promptly if you need to change your enrollment due to a QLE. Keep in mind that retirement and financial hardship are not QLEs. More information about QLEs is available at or You cannot cancel your FEDVIP enrollment outside of Open Season, with limited exception. You cannot cancel your enrollment due to retirement or an inability to pay the premiums. The only time you can cancel your FEDVIP enrollment outside of Open Season is if you or your spouse are deployed to active military duty or if you are an employee and transfer to an agency that offers its own dental and/or vision plan and pays 50% or more of the premiums and you enroll in that agency s plan (or during a Belated Enrollment opportunity such as the one offered from December 9, 2008 through January 2009). If you don t cancel your FEDVIP coverage when permitted (see above bullet point), it automatically continues each year, as long as you remain eligible. If you have any questions about premium payments for your FEDVIP coverage, please contact BENEFEDS, not your FEDVIP carrier(s), employing agency, or retirement system. Please direct questions about claims, coordination of benefits, providers and networks, ID cards, and covered services to your FEDVIP carrier(s). For your carrier s contact information, please visit EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION (MY BIZ) REPLACES EMERGENCY DATA SYSTEM (EMDS) Emergency Contact Information (My Biz) replaced the Emergency Data System (EMDS) Web Application on 25 March Emergency Data System (EMDS) Web Application was turned off and because of system limitations, any information previously entered into this system was not transferred to My Biz. The purpose of any emergency contact information is for the Air Force simply to be able to contact an employee s designated primary representative should they become a casualty while at work, are seriously injured at work or for any other emergency situation. Today, a more convenient process has been created for the employee to use to identify emergency contact information. The process is located in their My Biz account which is easily accessible and consists of only six brief pieces of information. The information requested is minimal and the instructions provided are straightforward and easy to understand. INSTRUCTIONS: Log into the DCPDS Portal; click MY BIZ; click UPDATE MY INFORMATION; accept the Privacy Act Statement. The screen opens with 6 tabs across the top. Open the 5 th tab titled EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION. You need only provide the following for a primary contact but may designate additional alternate contacts: (1) Name of Primary Contact (2) Designation of Primary Contact (With a check mark in a box)

6 (3) Home Phone (4) Other Phone Contact Numbers (11 options: Work, Mobile, etc) (5) Address of Emergency Contact (6) Address of Emergency Contact. When Primary Contact is unchecked, an address box will open for the additional contact. To view the information entered: press the "RETURN TO OVERVIEW" button; click the Print Receipt button located toward the bottom of the screen Additional information can be found in HR Advisory , Emergency Contact Information (My Biz) Replaces Emergency Data Systems (EMDS). Please use the following links to read the Advisory: HR Advisory website: WHAT TO DO WHEN INJURED AT WORK To ensure eligibility for benefits, please follow these procedures if injured in any way while in the performance of duty. As an employee you must immediately advise your supervisor that you sustained an on-the-job injury. If you request medical treatment, you will need to be provided a CA-16 before going to the doctor. Report your injury by completing Form CA-1, Federal Employee s Notice of Traumatic Injury and Claim for Continuation of Pay/Compensation, and submit to your supervisor within 2 workdays of the injury. All injuries must be documented on a CA-1 whether you plan on filing for compensation or not. If you are incapable of completing the CA-1, have someone submit it on your behalf. Give detailed and specific information. If you have an employee that gets injured on the job, please follow these guidelines: If medical treatment appears necessary, contact your local personnel office at for further guidance and to receive proper paperwork. Immediately notify your Safety Representative/Monitor to report the accident or incident. Ensure receipt of the CA-1 from the employee within 2 workdays. Complete and return Receipt of Notice of Injury portion on the last page of the CA-1 to your employee. Upon receipt of the CA-1, carefully review the form for completeness, investigate the accident and document form completely, interview the witness(es), complete appropriate safety forms, controvert questionable claims, and submit the CA-1 and related documentation to the CPF within 2 workdays of your receipt from the employee. If the employee needs medical treatment, a CA-16 Authorization for Treatment will need to be provided, please call the CPF to be issued a CA-16. RETIREMENT PROCEDURES FOR EMPLOYEES AND SUPERVISORS EMPLOYEE: 1. Set Your Retirement Date. If doing a voluntary retirement, this is the date of your choosing however it is important to keep in mind which retirement system you fall under in order to make sure you get paid correctly and in a timely manner. FERS set your date at the end of a pay period or the end of the month. CSRS set your date prior to the 4 th of the month. 2. Contact the Benefits and Entitlements Team (BEST) approximately 90 days prior to your desired retirement date. Contact them at to: Get your retirement estimate Identify the forms that you will need to submit in your retirement package Find out what option is best for you Have any questions answered

7 3. As Instructed by BEST, Mail the Retirement Package to BEST. BEST requests that all packages are sent at least 90 days prior because of the high volume of requests. The address to mail your package to is: HQ AFPC/DPSOC, 550 C Street West Ste 57, Randolph AFB TX SF-52. Coordinate with your supervisor to have an electronic SF-52 submitted to 21 FSS/FSMC via DPCDS your unit s civilian personnel liaison can give you guidance on this process. This should be submitted should done NLT 90 days prior to retirement date. 5. Contact Civilian Personnel to Make Out-processing Appointment. This should be done AFTER you have contacted BEST and approximately 30 days prior to your retirement date. POC is Alisha, or petersonstaffing@peterson.af.mil *Note: Everything is now done between the employee, BEST, and the organization. The only Civilian Personnel Section involvement is processing the electronic SF-52 and out processing the employee. SUPERVISOR/ORGANIZATION: 1. Submit Electronic SF-52 to the Civilian Personnel Office. This should be sent approximately days prior to the retirement date. 2. Request Presidential Letter. ONLY if a person has 30+ years of service. This can include military time. The form attached must be submitted 60 days prior to the employee s retirement date. If it is received later than 60 days prior, there is a possibility the letter may not be received in time. Contact petersonstaffing@peterson.af.mil or fax to Obtain Retirement Certificate from Graphics. You will need to know the number of years the employee has worked. This does NOT include military service. Employee s organization will submit AF IMT 833 Multimedia Work Order to graphics. The form can either be faxed to or hand carried to building 418. If the employee is married, you can also use the same form to obtain a Certificate of Appreciation for the spouse. This must be done NLT 5 days prior to ceremony. UPDATING CIVILIAN CAREER BRIEF Air Force employees who have been on board for at least 90 days should access AFPC Secure Website and log on, on the next page click on Civilian Career Brief. The career brief will give you information on your work history, training and education, awards, service computation date, etc. LICENSE, LANGUAGE AND OCC CERTIFICATION CODING Submit license, language, and occupational certification update requests using Optional Application for Federal Employment (OF 612). Please fax your request to AFPC/DPCL at DSN or Commercial (210) EDUCATION CODING You can now update your education level in My Biz please follow instructions in My Biz. You will still be required to submit your official transcripts via fax to AFPC/DPCL at DSN or Commercial (210) so they may be scanned into your official personnel file (OPF). TRAINING CODING All training claimed on your resume should be coded by AFPC. Employees should contact Randy, 21FSS/FSDE at for procedures for updating training that has occurred since your appointment action. AWARDS Rosemarie, 21FSS/FSMPS, updates all civilian awards. If you have any questions about awards that should be on your Career Brief, please contact her:

8 EXPERIENCE CODING Depending on the nature of the changes you are requesting, there are specific steps you will need to follow. Complete OF 612 and bring to Civilian Personnel Office, please call ahead for instructions: LEGACY CIVILIAN PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS CLOSEOUT The current, legacy civilian performance appraisal period closed on 31 Mar 09. Supervisors are encouraged to contact their servicing Employee Relations Specialist at immediately if they have an employee with performance problems. All appraisals and awards are due to the Civilian Personnel Section (CPS) by 29 April 2009 to ensure timely processing. EXCEPTION: Appraisals with Quality Step Increases (QSIs) were due to the CPS by 8 Apr 09. As a reminder, supervisors departing between 1 Jan 09 and 31 Mar 09, must complete an appraisal for each of the civilian employees they have supervised a minimum of 90 calendar days. Supervisors must also complete an appraisal for each employee they have supervised for a minimum of 90 calendar days, who transfers to another position within the Air Force during this period, and forward the appraisal to the CPS for appropriate action. Note: This legacy closeout will not apply to any employee who has or will become covered by NSPS prior to 31 March LEGACY PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS AND CERTIFICATION OF LEGACY PERFORMANCE PLANS Supervisors are encouraged to review each of their civilian employees performance plans to verify that they have been certified by the employee, the rating official and the reviewing official for the current civilian rating period. The current rating period started on 1 Apr 09 and closes on 31 Mar 10. At the beginning of each rating period, supervisors should meet with each employee to review and discuss the employee s performance elements and standards. In addition, each employee who enters a new position or who is temporarily assigned for 120 days or more should be given a written performance plan. These plans should be certified within 30 days of the beginning of each appraisal cycle, and within 30 days of the date an employee enters a new position or is temporarily assigned for 120 days or more. If performance plans have not been certified for the current (1 Apr Mar 10) rating period, supervisors should do so now, and contact your servicing Employee Relations Specialist to discuss completing the annual performance rating. An AF Form 860 should be used unless an Air Force Core Personnel Document (COREDOC) has been created for the position. In this situation, the COREDOC should be used to evaluate the employee s performance and a separate work plan should not be developed since this defeats the purpose of a COREDOC. Any change to the COREDOC must be coordinated through the Classification Section and no changes to performance plans should be made within the last 90 days of the rating period (after 31 Dec 09). Finally, supervisors are encouraged to contact their servicing Employee Relations Specialist as soon as there are indications of a performance problem. Do not wait until the end of the rating period to take action. Please call (719) for the name and telephone number of your organization s servicing Employee Relations Specialist. HOW TO REQUEST ADVANCE SICK LEAVE Advance sick leave is a privilege which may be extended to an employee in cases of serious disability or illness. Up to 240 hours (30 workdays) of leave may be approved by a supervisor; however the actual amount of hours will be determined by your retirement balance. Requests for advance sick leave may be made before or during the period of absence but no later than the employee s return to duty The request for advance sick leave should be made in writing and include: 21 SW Form 322, Request for Advance Sick Leave A statement of intent to return to duty long enough to earn the advance leave and to refund the amount still owed if unforeseen circumstances result in separation before the leave is paid back An OPM Form 71, Request for Leave or Approved Absence, reflecting the dates and number of hours requested A physician s statement

9 Current Leave and Earning Statement The employee submits a completed 21 SW Form 322, Request for Advance Sick Leave, form to his or her supervisor along with an OPM-71 (Request for Leave or Approved Absence), medical documentation/physician statement and Leave and Earning Statement for approval or disapproval. When the supervisor receives the request for advance sick leave, he or she coordinates with 21 FSS/FSMC before making a decision. The supervisor notifies the employee in writing if the request is disapproved and when. If the request is approved, the supervisor endorses 21 SW Form 322 under Supervisor s Endorsement and submits to 21 FSS/FSMC for Approving Official s (CPS) Endorsement. In granting advance sick leave the following will be carefully considered: Employee s past sick leave history (e.g., evidence of previous sick leave abuse) Annual leave versus sick leave balance history Length of continuous employment Whether all accumulated sick leave has been exhausted VOLUNTARY CIVILIAN ANNUAL LEAVE DONATIONS REQUESTED Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) - Donations Requested: Civilian annual leave donations are needed for current civil service employees. If you have questions about the program, who has requested donations, or would like to donate annual leave, please contact PetersonStaffing@peterson.af.mil.