HR, IT and Finance organizational structure

Q: We are in the process of budgeting our headcount for 2011 and I'm hoping you can share the following information:

• Size of Company Private/Public
• # of Employees/Titles for the following departments:
• Finance/Accounting Dept.
• IT Dept.
• HR Dept.

A: Download the "HR, IT and Finance organizational structure" spreadsheet.

Pro-rating Merit Increases

Q: We are conducting a brief survey regarding practices around pro-rating merit increases and bonus payouts for individuals who have been on a Leave of Absence (LOA) during the review or bonus period.

Merit Increase Pro-Ration:

1. Do you pro-rate for employees who have been on a LOA during the prior review period?
2. If yes, do you pro-rate the merit increase based on total days on leave vs. days at work?
3. Do you pro-rate for some groups of employees but not for others? (i.e., exempt vs. non exempt)
4. If you pro-rate and you use some other calculation, please briefly explain your “rule”.

Bonus Pay Out Pro-Ration:

1. Do you pro-rate for employees who have been on a LOA during the prior bonus year?
2. If yes, do you pro-rate the bonus payout based on total days on leave vs. days at work?
3. Do you pro-rate for some groups of employees but not for others? (i.e., exempt vs. non-exempt)
4. If your pro-rate, and you use some other calculation, please briefly explain your “rule”

A: Download spreadsheet of the responses.

Sign on bonus pay back clause

Q: Can anyone provide your pay back clause for offer letters that include a sign on bonus?

A: Sign-On and Retention Bonus Wording for Offer Letters sample text:
"You will also be provided with a < $ > sign-on and retention bonus at the time you commence your employment. Subject to all applicable federal and state withholding taxes, the full amount of the bonus will be advanced to you at the time you receive your first paycheck, however, it shall be actually earned on a pro-rated basis over the first year of your employment with the Company. In the event that you voluntarily resign, or are involuntarily terminated “for cause,” within twelve (12) months of the date on which your employment begins, you agree to re-pay Synteract, the unearned, pro-rated portion of this sum, pursuant to the terms stated herein. Should you have any questions regarding the tax implications of such an advance or any part of your compensation, you should consult with your own tax advisor."

Health Reimbursement Accounts - HRA's

Q: I would like to do a quick survey on whether or not anyone has experience with HRA's.
 How have you set your particular plan up? 
Do your employees enjoy this plan?
 Pros? 
Cons? 
Answers to any of these questions would be appreciated as we are thinking of going this route given the expected increase to our current HMO/PPO Medical plans.

Responses:
1) I just completed open enrollment and our Aetna HMO/PPO went up 14% and Kaiser up 16%. Luckily all our other plans cost remained the same. Like you, I will need to reassess for next year which will likely be a higher co-pay plan with some benefit take-aways.

2) For 2010 plan year, we added a high deductible plan ($2,000 for single, $4,000 family) along with a health savings account (H.S.A.) and the premiums were substantially lower. We incentivized employees by having a company contribution (varied by single or family) to the H.S.A. to cover part of the deductible. The HDHP is a good option for those who use the plan a lot since it covers all medical at 100% after the deductible is met. We did not consider an H.R.A. though. We have Blue Shield and also an H.M.O. and a P.P.O. Call me if you want more information.

3) This will be year two for us on a fully consumer driven healthcare platform. We have both HRAs and H.S.A.s. Has been a very successful program for us and reduced costs both for the company and for employees dramatically. Employees were resistant at first due to the unknown but have mostly embraced it now. Key success factors in my opinion are to do a full replacement (employees won't elect it otherwise - too different) and lots and lots of clear education and communication. Lastly, it works best with a true wellness focus and supporting initiatives.

IT Consulting Companies

Q: Do you know of any IT Consulting Companies that you would be willing to refer. Have any of you ever used LAN Solutions and have any comments?

A:
I am familiar with LAN Solutions as I have at least two clients I can think of who use them. I understand they are very professional and their computer experts are excellent. I have also heard that they are reasonably priced for the service they provide. I have not heard a negative thing about them. I feel comfortable recommending them.

I could not glean from the note the type of IT consulting they were seeking but if it is network assistance as 'LAN Solutions' implies, we use SIGMAnet and Logicalis today, and have been reasonably happy with their ability to be price competitive and deliver projects on time. Both companies have solid 'GOLD' premiere level relationships with CISCO and HP, if that this the platform of choice.

Hepatitus B Survey

Q: We are evaluating our current blood borne pathogens vaccination program (i.e. Hepatitis B) for regular and temporary staff. We’d like to hear from our peers with people working in an environments with similar risk for this survey. Specifically:

• Do you require temporary employees be vaccinated for Hepatitis B (for example) OR require that they sign a vaccination waiver or Declination form as a condition of being placed with your Company?
• If yes, what is your requirement for verification of vaccination?
• If vaccination is required for placement, who pays for the vaccinations?
• Do you require the agencies your company works with to communicate information about your Company’s Hepatitis B vaccine program prior to placing their staff with your company?
• Do you require the agencies your company works with to provide safety training surrounding Hepatitis B prior to placing their staff with your company?
• Do you require regular employees be vaccinated for Hepatitis B (for example) OR require that employees sign a vaccination waiver as a condition of being hired?
• If vaccination is required for employment, does your company pay for the vaccinations?
• If vaccination is required, what department administers and monitors the program?
• Does your Company offer Hepatitis B vaccination to all regular employees, or to just those with potential exposure?

A: Download the Hepatitus Spreadsheet for responses.

Travel Agency Recommendation

Q: I'm looking for a good local travel agent/agency, mostly for international travel. If you have an individual or company with whom you have worked and have been satisfied, would you please pass their contact details on to me?

Responses:

• We have been with Balboa for several years ... all their reps are awesome, and we are extremely happy with their service. Contact Skip Bath (account executive) sbath@balboa.com to set up for VIP Corp Travel or Tel 1.800.359.8773.
• Several of our clients including Santarus, Ista and Cadence use Travel 
Dynamics. I think they are sure worth a call. Wendy Burk 
CEO Travel Dynamics Group Inc 
7590 Fay Ave, Suite 204 
La Jolla, CA 92037. Phone: 858-551-4000 
Fax: 858-551-4025
• I have worked with Travel Dynamics in La Jolla for 20 years. Wendy Burk is the CEO. 858 551 4000. They are terrific! www.TravelDynamicsGroup.com

Pay for company sponsored events

Q: My query is in regards to payment to employee for company sponsored events. I'm interested in policies that employers follow for a non-work related "fun" event, such as a summer picnic which takes place on a regularly scheduled day. Specifically, it would be extremely beneficial to learn if companies pay (or otherwise incentivize) employees who are unable to attend these events (due to work schedules and coverage needs). Of course this would apply to hourly ee's only (we have a large % of our ee's are non-exempt), but this being the case, any employers out there who provide an incentive to exempts who must work during co events? We have a healthcare type of environment which requires support of Mgrs/Exempts and non's during these events, and would like to get some help from you and the community on how others manage this.

A: All respondents have stated our policy to be beyond what they do or have encountered, however, our organization is different than most as we are a 24/7 and have a large population of non-exempt ee's. Most respondents told me that they do not pay for employees to attend company social events. None pay a shift differential, and (1) provides gift cards to employees who work during company events. Typical response "We have 2 annual employee events and we don't do any sort of pay for those who cannot attend, or have to work. We agree that every year we would make sure the one's who didn't attend the last event could be free to attend the next one." Another response: "We do not provide additional incentives for employees to attend company wide events; usually the free food and alcohol is enough of a draw:)"

English as a Second language for Scientists

Q: We have several scientists who have requested help with adapting their English to the business environment. English is not their native language. Have any of you had success in providing that type of resource or support?

A: UCSD Extension offers a number of ESL courses. We have sent quite a few of our postdocs/scientists for various courses. It has really helped them immensely. There are most times noticeable improvements in their speech and written communication. Click to download the UCSD flyer.

Holiday Closure Survey 2010

Q: How many BEDC-member companies are planning a holiday shutdown for the week between Christmas and New Year's 2010? Here's the info from last year (2009):
Of those who are closing, the vast majority are requiring employees to use vacation or PTO for at least three days that week (Dec 29-31). A few companies will be open again on Friday, January 2nd, but most who are closed that week are closed for the entire week.
42 total responses:
22 yes | 20 no | 1 maybe
Please add your comment below!

Recommendation for Tradeshow Booths & Materials

I just wanted to post a recommendation for Jason Lethert at Skyline San Diego. They provide all sorts of services related to tradeshow marketing. I've worked with Jason and he's terrific.

Jason Lethert
Marketing Consultant
jason@skylinesandiego.com
Ext.858-552-9033 ext 318
f.858-552.8237
6455 Weathers Place, San Diego, CA 92121
www.skyline.com | www.skylinesandiego.com

Compensation Consultant - Equity Analysis

Q: We are looking to hire a consultant to educate our Board on equity options, pros/cons etc. Does anyone have a company, and contact information, that you think is worth recommending?

A: Thanks for the great feedback. Download CompensationConsultants.xls for all of the responses.

Recruiting/Headhunter firm

Q: I'm looking for recommendations for an east coast recruiting firm (or maybe nationwide) that specializes in pharmaceutical positions, specifically in sales?

A: Thanks for the great responses! Download EastCoastRecruiters.pdf for all of the results.

Holiday Survey

Q: We are setting our holidays for 2011 and I wondered how many holidays your company provides each year.

We provide 13-14/year including a shutdown between Christmas and New Years Day. Depending on the year's calendar, we provide a total of 13-14 holidays per year. We have no floating holidays.

How many DESIGNATED holidays do you provide your employees? How many FLOATING holidays (or personal days to be taken whenever the employee wishes to take them). This does not include vacation/sick/PTO.

A: Download the results (.xls).

Internships

Prometheus is in the process of developing a paid internship program. For those of you who currently have a formalized program in place, if you could provide answers to the following questions, it would be greatly appreciated:

1. What is the pay structure? (i.e, is there one set amount for those in an undergraduate program and one set for students in a Graduate program and what are those amounts?)

• Our thought on an undergrad intern is $12/hr. We have not set a range for graduate students.

• The majority of our interns have been undergraduate students and we pay hourly, $10 to $14. Usually students w/ one year of college are paid towards the $10 range and the rate increases for every year of college.

• Our intern program is not open to graduate students. Our pay structure is as follows:

Year in School in Fall Hourly Pay:
College Freshman $11
College Sophmore $12
College Junior $13
College Senior $14

Please note we payroll our interns through a payrolling company - they are not actual employees

• Pay depends on the level (grad or undergrad) and the specific department budget but we normally pay $12-$16. We could go higher for experienced grad students and we have gone lower for non-technical positions such as sales training.

• We haven’t had interns in two years, but we paid $10/11 for first year and $11/12 per hour for second year with the company.

• Undergrads get $12/hour, across all departments. Graduates are at $14. You'll probably find that low compared to other companies, but we've never had a problem attracting interns, and they stay with us for 2+ years many times.

2. How are internships approved; what is the formal approval process consist of?

• Directors put in a request for an intern, HR summarizes the requests and submits one request to hire for CEO approval for the total #'s of interns.

• The budget for the following year's program is determined in the fall, during our budget process. Based on the $ amount approved, the Sr VP Research works with HR to determine the # of interns the budget can support (based on prior years exp). Our program is open to science related internships only. Our 2010 program has 8 interns.

• As long as the department has the budget for it there is no formal requisition for the intern but we do get the standard approvals before an offer is made. This is the 3rd year we are hosting a summer internship program. In early Spring I ask department heads who is interested in hosting a paid intern for the summer. I remind them that the work should be meaningful and they should be assigned a mentor to supervise their work. Note: this is also a great development opportunity for some employees interested in management to supervise and intern.

• Needs to be in budget or $$$ available in budget; then only VP and HR have to approve.

• The lab assistant intern positions are linked to pharmaceutical chemist positions, meaning Chemist II's have automatic approval to hire an intern(s) to support them. Other departments hire interns with Sr. Manager request and Pres or CEO approval.

3. Who sources and selects the Interns; the supervisor, a committee or HR?

• Last summer we had 4 interns and this summer we will have 3 to 5 interns. HR does most of the screening and placements.

• Interested students complete an application on-line and include a cover letter and resume. All the applications go to the Sr. VP Research for an initial review. He reviews and may screen out a few, such as those students not seeking a degree in a science related field, students not in the U.S., etc. HR sorts the applications by degree major and then each mentor receives all the applications to review. Each mentor provides HR with their top 3 choices. HR ensures no overlaps and if there are, determines which mentor will initially screen the student. Mentors then conduct telephone interviews with their top 3 students and then advise HR on which student they have selected. HR then contacts the student and extends the offer to join the program. At that time, HR also reviews the program requirements, pay rate, etc.

• As with our regular interview process we hold individual interviews with a few people that the intern may work with (this is usually a much smaller team than a regular hire but they meet with about 3-4 people). I meet with the candidates at the beginning of the interview to explain more about the company and the internship program. Usually they are very nervous so I try to set them at ease about the process. We have also had success by adding programs during the summer to give them more expose to other area of the company. We do a breakfast with the CEO and the executive team where each functional VP describes their area of responsibility and they offer career advice. The students love it and so does the exec team! Last year I also had them each do a presentation at the end of the summer on the project(s) they worked on and we had a lunch and learn and bought pizza and salad and opened it to all employees to attend. They all did a great job and the employees got visibility into other areas of the company.

• In past, recruiter and hiring supervisor interviewed and hired; Department VP and Head of HR approve final candidate.

• HR sources, supervisor selects.

4. What schools do you have a partnership with to advertise your internships?

• None.

• Most of our interns have been referred to the company from employees.

• We primarily recruited UCSD students at the Spring job fair; during busier years we attend SDSUs. Generally, we didn’t need to pay for advertising.

• We partner with UCSD and USD (where we have strong relationships with the Chemistry department and its professors) for science positions, and utilize SDSU (alone with the other 2) for non-science related internships. We're very active in the student societies on campus (ACS, Pre-Pharmacy, Engineering) and are referred interns that way also.

• For this year's program, we posted the opportunity on our website as well as the following locations:

A.T. Still University of Health Sciences Mesa AZ
Azusa Pacific University Azusa CA
Biola University La Mirada CA
California State University, San Marcos San Marcos CA
Cerro Coso College Ridgecrest CA
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science Los Angeles CA
College of Santa Fe Santa Fe NM
Colorado State University Fort Collins CO
Dominican University San Rafael CA
Eastern New Mexico University Portales NM
Fort Lewis College Durango CO
Keystone Symposia
La Sierra University Riverside CA
Metropolitan State College of Denver Denver CO
MiraCosta College Oceanside, CA
Monster.com
Naropa University Boulder CO
National Hispanic University San Jose CA
New Mexico Highlands University Las Vegas NM
New Mexico State University Las Cruces NM
Northern Arizona University Flagstaff AZ
Palo Verde College Blyte CA
Palomar College San Marcos CA
Prescott College Prescott AZ
San Diego Community College District Job Board
San Diego State University San Diego CA
Santiago Canyon College Orange CA
University of Arizona Tucson AZ
University of California, Irvine Irvine CA
University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles CA
University of California, Merced Merced CA
University of California, Riverside Riverside CA
University of California, San Diego San Diego CA
University of California, San Francisco San Francisco CA
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA
University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA
University of Colorado Boulder CO
University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM
University of San Diego San Diego CA
University of Southern California Los Angeles CA
University of the Southwest Hobbs NM
Yuba College Marysville CA

On-Site Security

Q: We are taking a quick look at security practices and would appreciate your response.

1. Does your organization have on-site security services/personnel?
2. If yes, is the security personnel an employee of your organization or contracted staff through a third party?
3. If yes, please provide the number of San Diego based employees at your location.

Download the survey results.

Security Badges

Q: Some security questions:
1. How many employees you employ?
2. Do you have security/building badges with pictures?
3. If so, do you require your employees to wear their badges at all times?

We have badges with pictures, but currently do not require our 60 employees to wear them at all times. We feel it's time to change this policy due to more non-employees on site.

A. Please see our Survey Results Spreadsheet and note that:

• Many companies require temps and visitors to wear badges (no pictures for visitors) as well as sign in.
• One company prints picture on both sides of badge so employees can't hide the picture.
• One company charges $5.00 if a badge has to be replaced.
• Two companies had no identifying information on badge (just picture) so if the badge is lost, the finder doesn't know which company it belongs to.

Communicating Health Care Reform Act Changes

Q: We would like to hear from you! We'd like to know how BEDC Member Companies are communicating to their employees about the PPACA (Recently passed Healthcare Reform Act).

• Are you pushing relevant information out, proactively, in the form of Q&A's or FAQ's?
• Are you responding to employees, only if or as questions arise?
• Are you planning to wait to communicate relevant changes with your new plan year communications [i.e. Open Enrollment]?
• Are you taking a "wait and see" approach and not addressing anything at this time?

I'll gladly accept any other comments or responses you'd like to share with the group.

A: Thank for your input on the Health Care Reform survey questions last week.
17 companies responded. The response was fairly evenly split between proactive/one on one messaging and a wait and see/wait for OE approach.
Of those who responded, many were eager for the results, so I hope you will find this information valuable as you determine your own communications approach.
The breakdown:
Open Enrollment: 2
Wait & See: 7
Proactive: 5
Respond: 1 on 1/OE 3

529 Plan Speakers

Q: Can anyone recommend someone to present 529 Plan to our employees? I've tried Fidelity, but they're not interested (even though we have our 401(k) Plan through them. Thank you.

A: We received five recommendations:

1. Daniel O. Barsnica 
Financial Advisor 
at Ameriprise Financial 
(858) 795-2320 daniel.o.barsnica@ampf.com.
2. 
Brian Clark of Western Financial Planning Corporation at (949) 350-7857.
3. 
Deana Carter 858-756-1566 or dcarter@carterfinancial.biz.
4. Jason Smith 
VP Retirement Plans 
Intercare Insurance Solutions (858) 373-6935.
5. Steve Krogh (760) 438-9772.

Presentation Training

Q: Can anyone recommend a presentation trainer for an executive? (one-on-one training)
We need to start this training asap for a presentation at the end of April. The trainer does not have to understand the subject (pharma research), but of course it would be nice.

A: We received foru recommendations and hired Dana.

1. Diane West 2 Connect (858) 638-7544 dwest@twoconnect.net
2. Dana BristolSmith Speak for Success (760) 726-5272 dana@speakforsuccess.net
3. Jennifer Dreyer Tamayo Consulting
4. Barbara Rocha Barbara Rocha and Associates (626) 792-8075

Life Science Lawyer

Q: Can anyone recommend a San Diego firm that handles clinical trials?

A: I received four replies. Two of the four were for DLA Piper. The other firm recommended was Pillsbury Winthrop and the last firm recommended was a CRO.

HRIS System Selection & Implementation

Q: We are in the process of building a business case for a new HRIS and would like to collect information on the systems that others use, especially for those who have implemented a new system in the last year or two. We’re not ready to talk with vendors until we’ve completed our requirements document but would like to get a sense of whether or not we’re adequately budgeting from both a time and cost perspective. We’ve put together a short survey to collect information on those issues. Thanks so much, and will be happy to share the results.
A: Thanks to those who completed the short survey on HRIS selection and implementation. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to respond, the survey is still open and additional responses will be added to the results. View the results.

Facility Planning

Q: In planning for a possible location change, I would like to get a sense of whether or not employees in your organization are located in offices/cubicles based on levels/function or a combination of both. If you do have a formal practice in place, I would love to hear about it.
A: Download a spreadsheet with responses.

Performance Review Samples

Q: We're in the process of revising our performance management system including the forms that we use. If you would be willing to share your form, I'm interested in seeing what others are doing, whether online or paper-based. Thanks so much!

A: Thanks for the great response! Download a .zip file with the 18 samples we received.

Current Compensation Trends

Q: I would like to get a quick pulse of current and local compensation trends. Could you please answer the following questions by tomorrow if at all possible?

1. If you provided salary adjustments for the 2009 fiscal year, what was the average merit increase and what was the total budget for all adjustments, merit, market and promotional?
2. If you have a bonus program, are you paying out per plan for the 2009 year? If yes, what is the average award as a percent of target bonus?
3. If you have a refresher or evergreen incentive stock option award program, are you making grants for the 2009 performance year? If yes, is the number of shares below, about the same, or above grants awarded in previous years?

A: Download the Summary.

Non Exempt Timesheet/Pay

Q: Our company currently does not have a "lag time" when paying non-exempt/hourly employees. We have the employee estimate hours to be worked in the pay period and then adjust any variances in the following pay period. We are looking at this process and wondering what system/non exempt pay practices other companies use.

A: Download the Summary.xlsx file

Pre-screening Companies

Q: Our company is currently using a company called Certiphi for pre-screening services; ssn, criminal, DMV. We selected them specifically for their 'sanctions' check, screening for debarrments or other unfavorable actions. We are not pleased with the service, suspect we are paying too much, and are checking the FDA website on our own. I would welcome your suggestions for basic pre-screening services.

Responses:
4 HireRight
2 Abso.com
2 A-Check America
2 Pexis
2 ESS
1 Acxiom
1 EBI
1 Datacheck
1 American Background