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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Scheduling

No.  University Human Resources will be closed from December 21, 2015 through January 1, 2016 in observance of winter closure.  The final Welcome Center date for 2015 is December 14, with full operations resuming January 4, 2016.  To enroll participants in the January 4, 2015 session please follow the instructions below:

Please be aware the welcome-to-stanford@stanford.edu email queue will not be monitored during winter close.

 

Any new hires classified as Academic Staff (A) or Other Teaching Titles (O) are eligible to attend the Welcome Center within 5 business days of their start date. For example, if an AS-R is hired on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday they are still eligible to attend the NEXT Welcome Center event. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate any new hires attending orientation prior to their start dates.

For those new hires working an alternative schedule, set the new hire’s schedule to begin on a Monday for the first week only.  That will enable the Welcome Center to take care of all employee requirements.  Please note: The employee MUST be hired in PeopleSoft by the Thursday prior and have an effective start date of that Monday to attend.

On the rare occasion a new employee is hired but immediately occupied by offsite work duties or business travel, she may be eligible to attend the Welcome Center, if:

  • She attends the Welcome Center on her first day on site, AND
  • Training, operational items and systems set-up have not been completed

If you believe you have a new hire who meets these qualifications you must contact us at welcome-to-stanford@stanford.edu to be granted an exception.  PLEASE NOTE: You must complete the I-9 within three business days of the work start date, regardless of work location.

 

The Cardinal at Work Welcome Center has published an online course (ONB-1000) to support new hires unable to attend the full-day Welcome Center on their first day of employment. With the online option now available through STARS, there will no longer be an option to send new hires to only the afternoon presentations of the Welcome Center.  The online course, ONB-1000, includes a brief overview of:

  • Stanford’s history, organizational structure, and ways to get connected
  • Benefits, including a medical plans comparison and information on Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Stanford Contributory Retirement Plan

Please be aware, this course does not cover mandatory training and compliance items (e.g., SU-18, General Safety, legal disclosures required by law), which must be provided at the local level. Additionally, your new hire will need additional guidance on completing other critical onboarding steps typically handled at the Welcome Center, including completing the I-9, obtaining an ID Card, receiving commute passes (CalTrain, VTA) and purchasing a parking permit, if desired.

Attendance

All benefits-eligible staff, including Bargaining Unit employees, lecturers, and academic staff- research are eligible to attend.  At this time, the Welcome Center does not serve faculty, post-docs or temp/casuals.

Any new hires with a break in service of one year or more should be enrolled in the Welcome Center.  New hires rejoining the university within one year do not normally need to attend.  For rehires within one year, please be sure they are up to date in all trainings and systems, complete an I-9, and review updated Benefits information.

Yes.  Although these new hires come in with more knowledge of the culture and community, they still need to be set up operationally (e.g. staff ID card, compliance training).  Additionally, in the morning portion they receive an introduction to Stanford benefits for which they were not previously eligible including STAP and STRP, BeWell, childcare/adoption grants, and more.  Please see below for additional information on temp/casual to benefits-eligible hires.

Please send your temp/casual to the Welcome Center.  Although she may be more knowledgeable with the culture and systems, she is likely still uninformed about may benefits offered to Stanford employees like the Faculty Staff Help Center, BeWell incentives, Commute Club options, on top of the longer overview of health, welfare and retirement benefits.  

If your unit will be completing the PeopleSoft hiring, please read the following information:

These instructions will help you successfully transition your temp/casual to a regular hire. We strongly recommend this process rather than cutting a final check.  Please Note: This process should be done prior to the start date AND prior to the Payroll run (both the termination and rehire)
 
Submit a termination spreadsheet to Payroll:

  • Use the same effective date for termination as the date of rehire into the benefits eligible position
  • The last day worked will be the date prior
  • Be sure to add as a remark in the Department Contact column “will be rehired into benefits eligible position [date]”
  • You will also want to add this text to the email and the subject line of the email


Once Payroll emails back a confirmation that the termination has been completed, initiate, approve and upload the rehire WF into PeopleSoft:

  • The rehire effective date should be the same as the termination date of the contingent assignment
  • Be sure you process the rehire prior to Payroll run. If PeopleSoft sees the contingent assignment as terminated with no benefits eligible rehire and payroll runs the employee will not be paid for their contingent hours worked


The benefits of this process:

  • No break in service
  • The hours worked for the contingent assignment will process on the normal payroll cycle as an auto-deposit
  • No final check required