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CIVILIAN PERSONNEL NEWS VOL 09-05, 07 MAY 2009 INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: --Civilian Personnel Management Course (CPMC) --Military Personnel Management Course (MPMC) --Air Force Supervisor s Course

1 CIVILIAN PERSONNEL NEWS VOL 09-05, 07 MAY 2009 INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: --Civilian Personnel Management Course (CPMC) --Military Personnel Management Course (MPMC) --Air Force Supervisor s Course (AFSC) --NSPS News & Information --BEST Subscription Service & Newsletter Opportunity --Hard Copy Leave and Earnings Statements (LESs) Shut Off For Air Force Civilians --Antiterrorism Awareness (Level I) Training (Mandatory) --My Biz --New Online Retirement Planning Courses Offered To Civilian Employee --Health Benefits Service Day --What To Do When Injured At Work --Retirement Procedures for Employees and Supervisors --Leave without Pay Tidbits --Updating Civilian Career Brief --Expiration of Time-Off Award --Legacy Performance Appraisals/Certification of Legacy Performance Plans --Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) --Voluntary Civilian Annual Leave Donations Requested TO SERVE YOU BETTER WE REQUEST ALL CUSTOMERS CALL AHEAD AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT THE CIVILIAN PERSONNEL SECTION MAIN NUMBER IS 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, Labor Management Relations, and Grievance and Appeals. Course dates: 5-8 May 09 & July 09. 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: June 2009 AIR FORCE SUPERVISOR S COURSE (AFSC) This course is required for civilian first and second level supervisors of civilians unless an equivalent course has been taken and entered into your civilian data record. 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. 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: June 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 or appraisal) to keep track of their accomplishments throughout the year. - Guest Participants: Rating officials now have the option to invite guest participants (guest rater or guest reviewer) to provide assessments and feedback for consideration when completing an employee s appraisal.

3 - 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. - 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: BEST SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE & NEWSLETTER OPPORTUNITY The AFPC Benefits team encourages all employees to sign up for their subscription service on their web page. Please go to the link to register. Select the link titled "Newsletter Subscription service". Follow the guidance listed on how to subscribe or unsubscribe. The current BEST Newsletter for April 2009 is also found on the link titled "Newsletters and Bulletins". Lastly, pay attention to the section titled "Spotlight" since that is where BEST will post current changes or information regarding benefits. HARD COPY LEAVE AND EARNINGS STATEMENTS (LESs) SHUT OFF FOR AIR FORCE CIVILIANS In accordance with the Department of Air Force policy, effective pay date May 15, 2009 hard copy Leave and Earnings Statements (LESs) will be turned off. LESs will continue to be available electronically on my Pay at Questions should be referred to AFAFO at arpc.afafo-workflow@arpc.denver.af.mil Air Force Accounting and Finance Office SAF/FMP (AFAFO) 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 from the Civilian Future Operations Branch at the Air Force Personnel Center. Now, in addition to updating work and home telephone numbers,

4 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. 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) 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 it 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 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 Center at (800) HEALTH BENEFITS SERVICE DAY Are you a new employee and still within your 60 days of making your Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) election? Do you have questions about the new plan you just chose in open season? Or would you just like to ask a health insurance carrier what their plan has to offer? Well think and look no further! On 19 May 2009 at the Mission Support Building (Bldg 350) from in the atrium will be a FEHB Service Day. Please stop by if you are interested in talking with several different health insurance providers. 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

5 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 witnesses, 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 CPS to be issued a CA-16. RETIRMENT 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 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 (still shows as DPCE) 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 at 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

6 than 60 days prior, there is a possibility the letter may not be received in time. petersonstaffing@peterson.af.mil or fax to Contact 3. 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. LEAVE WITHOUT PAY TIDBITS AFI Absence and Leave allows for employees to take leave without pay for certain circumstances. Most circumstances are at the supervisor s discretion to grant or deny leave without pay but there are circumstances when LWOP must be granted due to law or regulation. One such instance is that of a civilian employee who is relocating with their spouse who is also a civilian employee or military member. Leave without pay must be granted for at least 150 days to allow the employee an opportunity to secure federal employment but may be extended up to a year. A resignation SF-52 must be submitted along with the LWOP request, this resignation would be effective at the expiration of the LWOP. Losing supervisors may fill behind the employee going on LWOP for this purpose. Employees on LWOP must follow base out processing procedures and must perform duty the day before going on LWOP. Exhausting annual leave before LWOP is not appropriate when the basis for the LWOP is relocation, the granting of annual leave is only appropriate in instances when the employee will be returning. Employees wishing to be placed on LWOP should consult with their organizational POC. Questions concerning other reasons for LWOP can be found in the Absence and Leave AFI or directed to the Civilian Personnel Section at 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 at 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: EXPERIENCE CODING

7 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: EXPIRATION OF TIME-OFF AWARD Time is running out for employees to use their Time-Off Awards. Any Time-Off Award received in conjunction with last year s Legacy Performance Appraisal cycle (1 April March 2008) will expire during pay period 11 (10-23 May 2009). Please ensure you have used this award by 23 May 2009 or the Time-Off Award will be forfeited. LEGACY PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS AND CERTIFICATION OF 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 their servicing Human Resources 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 Human Resources 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. VOLUNTARY LEAVE TRANSFER PROGRAM (VLTP) In order for anyone to become a potential leave recipient he or she must be absent from duty without available paid leave because of the medical emergency for at least 24 hours (3 days). Please complete OPM 630 (Application Voluntary Leave Transfer Program). Applications to receive donations of leave, whether submitted by or on behalf of the employee, must include: 1) The name, position title, and grade or pay level of the potential leave recipient; 2) The reason(s) transferred leave is needed, including a brief description of the nature, severity, and anticipated duration of the medical emergency, and if it is a recurring one, the approximate frequency of the medical emergency affecting the potential leave recipient; 3) Certification from one or more physicians, or other appropriate experts, with respect to the medical emergency; 4) Most current Leave and Earning Statement (LES). 5) A complete OPM 71, Request for Leave or Approved Absence.

8 The OPM 630A Request to Donate Annual Leave to Leave Recipient under the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (Within Agency) is the forms you will need to have donors complete to donate leave Air Force to Air Force employee. The OPM 630B Request to Donate Annual Leave to Leave Recipient Under the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (Outside Agency) is the form you will need to have donors complete to donate leave, Air Force to Army, Navy, etc., employee. All forms must be returned to 21 FSS/FSMC or the local servicing Civilian Personnel Office for approval. If you require additional information, please contact your Human Resources Specialist at: 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.

If you have any new ideas for articles and you would like to see them in this newsletter, please send your ideas to

If you have any new ideas for articles and you would like to see them in this newsletter, please send your ideas to CIVILIAN PERSONNEL NEWS VOL 09-07, 10 JULY 2009 TO SERVE YOU BETTER INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: --Civilian Personnel Management Course (CPMC) --NSPS Outprocessing Procedures --Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)