Human Resources Newsletter

Publish Date

2026-07-24

Employee Development Series

August: Employee Mental Health and Wellness

The next Employee Development Series will be an Employee Mental Health and Wellness session presented by Jim Klein. This event will take place in the Student Union Center Ballroom from 9:00-11:00am on August 25, 2026. Join us as we explore the importance of employee mental health and wellness, discover practical strategies for managing stress, building resilience, and fostering a healthy work-life balance. Your well-being matters and we hope to see you there!

September: Corrective Action & Discipline

The September Employee Development Series will be about understanding and applying Corrective Action and Discipline presented by Drew Schlosser and Mark Owens. This event will take place from 9:00-11:00am on September 29, 2026, in the Student Union Center Ballroom. This will be an engaging and interactive session exploring the practical strategies for addressing performance concerns and documenting issues effectively. We will also cover how to navigate challenging conversations with confidence, consistency, and respect. Through real-world scenarios and an interactive discussion, you'll gain the tools to support employee growth while maintaining a positive and accountable workplace. Supervisors, don’t miss this opportunity!

Reminders

Protection of Minors

If you have an event on campus that involves minors, please remember to submit the electronic Protection of Minors event form for HR review. The Protection of Minors webpage has detailed information on planning and hosting an event for young visitors. We recommend that you plan on submitting information to Human Resources at least 30 days prior to the event. Please contact uishr@uis.edu if you have any questions about your upcoming event.

Student Employment

The Student Employment website has valuable information such as job aids, link to the electronic checklist, supervisor resources, and procedures for hiring students. If you have new student employee supervisors, or if your department would like training on student employment procedures, please contact StudentEmployment@uis.edu.

Student Employment will be holding a campus-wide session for Hiring Student Employees on August 18, 2026, from 1:00-3:00pm. We encourage all supervisors and departmental staff involved with student employees to attend the Zoom Meeting.

Hiring in the Fall? Register for the Jobs, Internships, and Community Service Fair on August 27, 2026, from 3:00-5:00pm.

Once Student Employment has received and reviewed your student's electronic checklist, we will email the student (and copy you) to schedule an I-9 appointment. Please do not instruct students to drop by Human Resources, as I-9s are conducted by appointment only.

Leave Spotlight

Family Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) Leave

Effective June 1, 2026, the Illinois Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (Public Act 104-0259) provides eligible employees with unpaid leave to care for a child receiving medical treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and is intended to support families during critical times while ensuring job protection and continuation of benefits. NICU Leave grants employees up to 20 unpaid days, or the length of time their child remains in the NICU, whichever is shorter. This leave may be taken continuously or intermittently, depending on the employee’s needs, but it must be used in increments of at least two (2) hours.

Eligible Employees Include:

All UIS employees are eligible for NICU Leave.
Employees who are also eligible for Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) must first use FMLA Leave before using NICU Leave.

Other Provisions of Note:

While on NICU Leave, employees continue to receive the same State and University benefits as when actively working. All State-paid contributions continue.
While leave under this act is unpaid, an employee may choose to use any accrued paid leave in conjunction with NICU Leave to remain in paid status, although not required.
Employees must submit a leave application to UIS HR for approval in order to receive NICU Leave.

Please visit the policy webpage for more detailed information. If you have any questions or need to apply for NICU Leave, please contact our UIS Leave Coordinator, Heather Moore, at hkimb2@uis.edu or 217-206-7020 for additional guidance.