Hello BIS Community,
Happy Fri~Yay! November is Native American Heritage Month! This is a dedicated time set aside to honor and learn from Indigenous and Native communities. PBS tells us that “the celebration of Indigenous cultures began as a week-long celebration in 1986, when President Reagan proclaimed the week of November 23-30, 1986 as ‘American Indian Week.’ Officially signed into law in 1990, presidents issued annual proclamations designating the month of November as the time to celebrate the cultures, accomplishments, and contributions of Native American and Alaska Native communities.” Here are resources and activities to recognize and celebrate this culture every day and all month long.
1. Explore this article by PBS. Among other resources, it includes a clip from Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (the story of an Oscar-winning Indigenous artist), several episodes of Alter-NATIVE: Kitchen (a series about three Native chefs and the connection between their cooking and their histories), and information about the Land Back movement.
2. Learn from Learning for Justice about how to teach students “an accurate and more complete history of Native and Indigenous peoples.”
3. Explore the online events, exhibits, collections, and teacher resources featured on the Native American Heritage Month website.
4. Learn about the diversity of Indigenous communities through this collaboration between Google Arts and Culture and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).
5. Explore Dr. Debbie Reese’s work. Dr. Reese is of Nambé Pueblo and is the founder of American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL)~resources & links provided by https://britthawthorne.com/
Adopt A Family: Hog Raffle It’s that time of year again! We are raising money for Adopt-A-Family to give our supported individuals a special holiday. Win a 1/2 Hog from Schubert’s!
- Prices: $10 for one ticket or three for $25! You can bring cash, check, or payroll deduction by written requests to pdobbins@bis-stl.com
- Tickets will be at the front office or we can bring them to you! You can email Lauren Phillips, at lphillips@bis-stlc.om or call the office during normal business hours at 314-395-9375 with any questions
- All tickets and money due by 12/4/23! Sell! Sell! Sell!
Tax Forms Spotlight: The end of the year is coming and due and that means tax season is just around the corner! As a reminder, W-2s are distributed electronically free of charge and paper copies have a $5.00 processing fee. Make sure you’ve “Opted In” on Paycor to receive your W-2 as quickly as possible. Paperless W-2s and 1095-C forms are highly encouraged. If you elect to receive electronic forms, you must opt-in no later than Friday, December 15, 2023. Scan the QR code or view the attachment in this email for instructions on how to receive your tax documents electronically. If you have already opted into paperless, you can disregard this message.
- Please make sure we have your most recent address on file to process your W-2 as accurately as possible.
- Anyone that has recently moved or would like to update their tax forms should do so by completing the forms below or attached. Forms can be printed for pick up at BIS office with appointments only.
- Federal W4 2023 and State W4 2023 are attached to this email.
- Completed W-4 Forms must be completed and submitted in person in order to update your information. Forms will not be accepted through email, mail, or fax.
- Be sure to watch for more information about W-2s and tax forms in the next coming weeks.
***Should any employee have a question on how to fill these out forms, they should seek the guidance of a knowledgeable tax professional***
Attendance Spotlight: October 2023
We had some stellar attendance for last month! I’m happy to announce that our Perfect Attendance Winner for the month of October 2023 is Alexis Cross! Alexis, is a DSP who works at the Crestwood ISL and we are so lucky to have her! Thanks so much for your great attendance last month! In order to show our appreciation you will be a receiving a $50.00 gift card. Also, you are eligible to spin the prize wheel up at the BIS office! Congratulations, Alexis! Look out for a separate email from me on how to claim your prize.
Policy Spotlight:
305 Holidays
Effective Date: 1/1/2015 Revision Date: 12/15/2020
Each year, BIS may offer holiday pay for hours worked on designated holidays, during specific hours. Holidays if any will be announced 30 days before the holiday.
Non Exempt Employees are required to work his/her scheduled shifts prior to, during and immediately following all recognized BIS holidays. Failure to do so will result in a loss of any holiday pay.
· A minimum of a three-week notice is required to request a given holiday off. Requests should be made in writing to your immediate supervisor. In order to be fair to all employees, an employee should not assume that he/she has a holiday off just because it falls on a regularly scheduled day off.
· It is understood that all staffing patterns are determined first by client need and second by staff request However, BIS encourages fair and even distribution of the designated holidays, therefore, the immediate supervisor (or other designated staff) maintains a staff-rotation history intended to result in equitable distribution.
· The support staff scheduled to work the holiday as one of his/her regularly scheduled days are presumed on duty unless arrangements are made with his/her immediate supervisor.
· It may occur that no person receiving services is in residence on any given holiday. The staff person regularly scheduled to work that day will be transferred for the day. The immediate supervisor will coordinate the individual’s needs with the Department Director. If an employee refuses to work at another assigned location, then disciplinary action will be taken and no PTO will be given.
· Day Habilitation staff will be assigned to work in an ISL during their normal hours on the Holiday. They may request PTO if available to be used during the holiday but must request off timeline. Day Habilitation employess will be excused from any shortage if PTO is not available in hours during the Christmas break.
EXEMPT EMPLOYEES must be employed 90 days prior to the first day of the month of a holiday in order to qualify for the holidays recognized by BIS.
Exempt employees may be required to work on-call or in a schedule. If the exempt employee is required to work, then at their supervisor’s discretion they will be given an equal amount of PTO added to their balance (up to 8 hours), with supervisor approval and the completion of appropriate paperwork.
· Exempt employees who are not required to work or be on-call will not work on recognized holidays when the office is closed. No PTO will be required for these days, and compensation will not be adjusted.
· BIS is not able to guarantee exempt employees’ time off-call during holidays observed by BIS. Exempt employees wishing to be off/off-call must submit a request for time off to his/her supervisor for approval. Each year, the administrative team will evaluate the number of exempt on-call
employees and the observed holidays to devise a fair and equitable distribution of coverage on holidays.
Holiday time is not available as extra compensation, nor does it have any monetary value.