2015 Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement; Form 1095-C Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage

From COH Payroll Services:

Please be aware that the 2015 Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statements) will be provided to all employees in paper hard-copy. An electronic (online) W-2  will also be provided to all current employees via the Employee Self-Service (ESS) website at https://portal.houstontx.gov/irg/portal.

It is anticipated that for the calendar year 2016 (which means in January 2017), employees that select to "opt-in" to receiving electronic-only copies of Form W-2 will not receive a hard-copy.

Finally, please be aware that all employees will also be receiving a Form 1095-C (Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage). This report reflects your City of Houston-provided health benefits coverage for calendar year 2015 for you, the employee, and any dependents on your plan. It is required in order for you to complete your 2015 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. A paper hard-copy of this report will be provided to each employee via US MAIL. No electronic access to this report will be available for calendar year 2015. The Human Resources Department will provide details regarding interpreting the Health Benefits participation information included in the report. It is imperative that all City employees verify their current mailing address in ESS and update it, if needed, before January 1, 2016, in order to avoid any delays in receiving your Form 1095-C.

The statutory deadline for distributing or postmarking Form W-2 and Form 1095-C to employees is February 1, 2016. Payroll Services will strive to beat this deadline by at least a week. Additional communications will be sent as more definitive distribution and online access dates are determined.

MP

Children's Author Visit: Reem Farqui

The author of Lailah's Lunchbox, a story that explains the Muslim holiday of Rahmandan to children, visited the Oak Forest Library today! 1st grade students from Oak Forest Elementary walked over to the library after lunch to meet the author and ask her questions. Below are a few pictures: 

League of Women's Voter Guide - Houston

Election season is here! If customers ask about the voter's guide or informtion about ballot info, please direct them to the following website. 

http://lwvhouston.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/VG-2015-English-Web-1.pdf


Jayla 

Henna Workshop at Oak Forest

We are hosting a Henna Workshop for all ages on November 4th 2015 at 4:00 PM. This is part of the Poetic Voices of the Muslim World, you all can find more information about it here: http://houstonlibrary.org/poetic-voices


There is a sign up sheet and flyer at the front desk. Because of the possibility of allergic reactions, Programming has asked that we supply release forms for children under the age of 18. Parents MUST sign the form when they sign up their children. Adults do not need to sign the form.

I will put all this information in a folder at the front desk (Desk 1). If anyone has any questions, please let me know! 

Jayla

New Meeting Room Policy and Procedures/ Forms

The new Meeting Room Policy and Procedures are posted below. I've also posted a link to the new form (it's a lot more user friendly for patrons to fill out and, like I stated at the meeting, There are a couple of the new forms printed and in the binder at Oak Forest. 

Meeting Room Policy 

Meeting Room Procedure

Meeting Room Form

- Jayla

September Staff Meeting Notes

Staff Meeting Notes: September 2015

Staff Present:  Amanda, Ana, Carol, Diane, Debbie, Gloria, Gwen, Jayla, Jesus, Runda, Pedro and Maurina.

Absent: Rosie

The Manager asked if there were any questions regarding the last staff meeting and/or e-mails.

Staff members were given their gifts from NL Administration.

Staff was given a copy of the Attendance and Punctuality Metric for Customer Experience staff and asked to sign the policy and return it to the Manager.

Staff was reminded to send the Settlement Assessment daily with Deposit to the Finance Department.

CMC Booth was discussed and staff was asked to participate in some manner since the library would be closed an additional hour on October 30 to allow staff to create, sell and donate to their chosen CMC charity.

Staff was given information regarding Media at the Library and asked to read it to comply with all HPL policies regarding the Media.

The Manger asked all staff to complete Lean Six Sigma training and the Voter’s 

Registration training sent by Mr. Weeks and available on the HPL Training Portal.

Staff was reminded that when Training is approved for attendance every effort should be made to attend and if staff cannot attend the training should be cancelled within 48 hours of the scheduled time for that training.

National Citizenship Day is September 17^th so possible displays were discussed by staff.

Emergency Preparedness Brochures are available for all staff and customers and the Inclement Weather Phone Number was given to staff again (832) 393-1550.

The staff was informed that the “Open Carry Law” that made it legal for customers to bring guns in the library as long as it is in a holster.

Fire Drills will be taking place within the coming months. Staff was asked to evaluate the building and report to the front of the library in the parking lot for safety.

Updates: ALI is closed until January 2016. New Manager for CAR - Cylenthia Hoyrd.

Staff was reminded to take their time when dealing with SmartMoney to prevent errors. 

August Staff Meeting Notes

Staff Meeting Notes: August 2015

Present: All staff

The meeting was opened with the Manager asking if anyone had any questions.

Staff was asked to label all things life in the Staff Workroom so that everyone is aware of what works what needs to be done and what is completed.

Staff was asked to flow-through with processes when helping customers and completing tasks like discarding and floating items to LMS.

Staff was informed of ShaRhonda Clark (sr. CSC and Christina Yanascavage LSS positions being vacant.

Staff was told to apply for new positions as desired.

The Manager requested that whenever a staff member has questions about a process, procedure or policy to contact the Management Team first before contacting outside sources so that everyone is on the same page regarding all processes.

Staff was reminded about the Chain-of-Command as it relates to OAK/ACR Grouping. Sr. Manager – Pedro, Manager – Maurina, Assistant Manager – Jayla, Carol – Part-time LII.

Persons left in-charge of the building are in-charge of the staff, building and grounds. Please, remember not to argue with the staff or customers but to seek others in charge like Pedro or the Manager when problems arise with staff and/or library customers.

Pets in the Library – staff was given the Texas Law on Pets in the Library as service animals.

Law states that staff can ask these two questions: 1) Is the service animal is required because he/she has a disability and/or 2) what type of work the service animal is trained to perform? : http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

Staff was reminded to use the Reconsideration Form for books purchased by the library that customers may want removed or would like to have reconsidered by the library staff. The staff was also reminded to use the Suggestion Form for book purchasing suggestions.

Staff Training Certificates should be e-mailed to the manager with the staff member’s e# and name on each certificate for proper documentation.

Staff was asked about the Summer Food Program successes and failures.

Lastly, staff was asked to collect library stories and ask customers to submit them on the HPL website and staff was encouraged to help customers that maybe tech