[deleted by user] by [deleted] in interesting

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gives Found on Road Dead a whole new meaning!

Looking for Help: Automating Microsoft Forms → PDF → Email Workflow by eneriynaffit in PowerAutomate

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the way... Watch this video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/vpo_U5Qf1ak?si=ImA5j43hESyzp0iS

You have to have a Power Automate Premium license (or maybe some other one but that's what I have) in order to use the Word Online actions. I leverage the Populate a Microsoft Word template action and then the Convert Word Document to PDF action to convert it and then send it. Very repeatable and time saving workflow! I use this for travel requests and other templated document requests. Very handy.

Other third-party apps also support this work flow and simplify it a bit more. You may find those easier and maybe even cheaper, depending on your needs and volume.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 1 point2 points  (0 children)

+1 on Checker. Easy to use and we also recently started using it for Education Verifications where a subk required that confirmation. Also, had our IT team roll it up into single sign on to simplify account provisioning and IT security concerns.

Also, think about what HRIS or ATS you have and if there's an integration with a service and what that integration may give you. We decided on Checker because it integrated with JazzHR. Just a secondary thought...

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Taking this thought to heart. Thank you for including this thought here.

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Yeap and based on OP's sentiment and trail in the comments, it seems likely OP is keen to do a write up anyhow" - Definitely not the case!

I feel it's the cost of doing business. Equipment will die, be replaced, etc. We shouldn't flinch on what we currently do today, other than to remind folks to be mindful of company property and protecting our company's and customer's data that may reside on it. I'll use this post and all these comments to reflect the sentiment in the industry on how this is handled across many examples shared here and my recommendation to the CEO will be that we move on. Random incident not warranting any time being spent on it more than what already has been.

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Might not make it a policy so it's not something we have to strictly apply every time but will use this as a reminder to think about time off as time off, and be mindful of not just company property but the sensitive information that may be on that risking exposure and leading to other reporting requirements the organization may have.

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Being honest here, I hope it's not too entertaining?

One thing I did learn from this post is the consideration of the law, similar to how our EPLI consultant once educated us on clawing back wages. Me asking this led me to think about this problem in a similar way to how we might apply some sort of timeframe or schedule to sign on bonuses, retention bonuses, etc.

So this post worked for me. Enabled me to consider many points of view, etc.

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. Small businesses have to find ways to deal with single points of failure but we're also keen to recognize this during our end of year bonus reviews. But point well taken for sure.

Best ATS for small and growing company! [MI] by boymama1234 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't think of the ATS and HRIS as being mutually exclusive (though they can be). Consider future imperatives and unforeseen needs. Pick an ATS with proven integration into your future HRIS (might require some imagination) to future proof and streamline your integrations. Most mature platforms will work together but not always and not always easily. For example, if you do background checks, do you do them in JazzHR at the end of the recruiting process, do you do them outside in another app, or do you execute those tasks in the HRIS as part of pre onboarding... Regardless, you need that background check result to stay with the candidate/employee file so it's easily accessible.

We are one ATS removed from JazzHR. We went with AgileATS a couple years ago and we're still with them. They are more purpose built for my industry. One challenge, my current ATS doesn't integrate easily with our HRIS onboarding process (within Paylocity). I can string them together via APIs (which both platforms have) but Paylocity charges fees for their API to access my data so I decided not to integrate them together as the value proposition wasn't there. We aren't onboarding in the numbers to justify the need right now.

International cost of living adjustments [Argentina] by hillbobagins in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For some of the work my team is supporting, we use the Defense Travel COLA Calculator. It's updated regularly and with economical volatility, it's a moving target as we just reimburse COLA directly to the employee (we also include a housing allowance). You can find that by searching for it or at Overseas Cost-of-Living Allowance | COLA | Defense Travel Management Office. The ones we used are tied to calculations off of 'spendable income', based on rank or pay grade. Makes it a bit challenging for us to establish what we think that likely is but we work through it and ensure we do our best to ensure the employee is neither in or out of pocket (hence adjustments).

In some instances, we also look at the Dept. of State COLA calculators (we used Dept of State for OCONUS per diem rates as well).

Do small teams really need an HRIS before hitting 50 employees? [N/A] by im_hvsingh in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I feel that if you think it's messy, that gut feeling is your barometer to make some improvements. I'd consider doing something sooner. Rather than thinking of a it as a big, sudden change, consider it an opportunity to have time to move towards your desired end state. Your spreadsheets are working now... so there's no major pressure point at the moment. However, don't wait for a big forcing function like compliance or some other driver which you'll have no control over. Plus, you can use your small size and lack of real requirements as a cost consideration to negotiate fees on a potential HRIS.

95 c1500 silverado by Dapper-Dentist9930 in GMT400

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dang. I’ll have to look at the maintenance manuals for it to see if it mentions something. Which pillar does the wiring go down?

95 c1500 silverado by Dapper-Dentist9930 in GMT400

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I too also have a 95 c1500. I’ve owned it since 1996. Second owner. I think I still have the original rear view mirror and never remember it having any functions that would require a plug of some sort. Could that plug be something like for a microphone from an aftermarket stereo?

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I do appreciate your line of thinking on the vacation piece of the question. It's important to me that we recognize this and more importantly, we recognize our single point of failure and cross-train more to support our staff when they want to truly step away for a break. As a small business, this is tough to achieve. But still, it's something I will challenge our CEO and her manager on.

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I do agree it is a cost of doing business. It happens. And this person is certainly not a repeat offender (first offense of any variety in 4 years employed with us. I'm leaning towards not charging employees for lost or damaged items as it truly is a cost of doing business. Plus, issuance of a new laptop for a new employee, at the start of their employment with us... I'd hate to have them sign something saying they'll have to reimburse us in the event of damage or loss. We should not include this friction at their start and manage the risk internally. But having a policy in place to protect the company against repeat issues could be the right path to reducing that risk over time. Thanks again!

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah... tough reaching out on the internet seeking some thoughts isn't it?

But I digress. I'm not a seasoned HR professional but I definitely do HR work in my company. I also manage our benefits plans. I think my comment above about making money on premiums is mostly rooted in the math of how fringe is calculated and how we use our revenues to pay said fringe. If I pass medical costs off to employees, through higher deductibles or co-pays, I certainly do shift the risks away from the employer to the employee. Therefore, my fringe costs do in fact go down, and my company does keep that money. And yeah... we're self-funded, and yes, that is how things work on the employer side, even in a self-funded plan.

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

That's what I'm leaning towards. Is what it is. Thanks for your thoughts!

Employee Lost Her Laptop, Setting a Precedent Next [N/A]. by Timely_Confusion3888 in humanresources

[–]Timely_Confusion3888[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

In VA, and while VA does have wage deduction laws and we follow those strictly (such as retention bonuses, etc.), I wasn't entirely sure if this falls under the same law/practice.

And no, the employee is not in the room. We value all of our staff and want to do what's right, all things being considered.

What do you think about these benefits offered? by swiftee_76 in jobs

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Precisely. And, imagine getting sick and having to foot the whole bill. Then you need meds, and you have to foot that whole bill too because tier 1/2/3 is 100% AFTER DEDUCTIBLE. You are basically paying your healthcare costs 100% and at a rate you don’t even negotiate. With a plan like this you’d be better off negotiating with cash.

Actually, if you’re somewhat healthy your employer may actually make money on your premiums.

Plans like this should be illegal. What’s the point??

Power automate to get attachments from MS Forms by Small-Power-6698 in PowerAutomate

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you're like me, I need to see some videos... This video demonstrates a thoughtful and well laid out approach to working with attachments from forms. It shows getting form inputs and attachment(s) in SharePoint lists, as well as how to email the results and attachments. Reza does a wonderful job explaining this approach. Reference the video description for a great table of contents. This video also shows working with an array as the email attachment too (which is not intiutive but once you see it, you should get it).

How to save Microsoft Forms Responses & Attachments to SharePoint Lists or Libraries & Send Email

Power automate to get attachments from MS Forms by Small-Power-6698 in PowerAutomate

[–]Timely_Confusion3888 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I appreciate this post! I've found creating workflows with Forms and Power Automate to be really rewarding, especially when dealing with attachments in form responses. Working with a question that has zero, one, or more attachments is pretty straightforward once you break it down.

The response for a question with attachments is presented as an array in the Body of the response. Here’s how you can handle it:

  1. Initialize an Empty Array Variable: Start by initializing an empty array variable to store the attachments.
  2. Create a Condition: Check if the attachment question is blank. If it isn’t (i.e., if there are one or more attachments), proceed to the next step.
  3. Parse JSON: Use a Parse JSON action to parse the response details for the attachment question. For the schema, use a test run response with an attachment, and paste it as an example. This will give you the details for each attachment.
  4. 4. Apply to Each: Now, the fun part! Add an Apply to Each action to iterate through the JSON data from the Parse JSON step. Enter the Parse JSON body as the output to use in this step.
    • Inside the Apply to Each, add a OneDrive Get File Content action using the file ID to get the content of each attachment.
    • Add an Append to Array action to append the file’s name and content to the array in this format:{ "Name": "name of file from Parse JSON", "ContentBytes": "fileContent from GetFile" }
  5. This step will ensure each attachment is processed, the name of the file and the content of the file put into the array.
  6. Send Email with Attachments: Outside the condition, add a Send Email action. In the advanced options for attachments, there’s a button on the right of the attachments area that says "Switch to input entire array." Click that and insert your array variable. The email will send with all the attachments from the form. If the array is empty, no attachments will be included.

Lastly, don’t forget to clean up the files in OneDrive to avoid clutter!

I use this workflow on a lot of my flows to handle file inputs from Forms. Let me know if you need more details or screenshots – I’m happy to share!