This newsletter is published for the benefit of the Military Department employees but is also available to the public. For questions or comments please email REMARKS@MDMILDEP.ORG.  
Volume III, Issue 9, September 2010

BIRTHDAYS THIS MONTH

Birthdays will be late.

PAYROLL

The Maryland Military Department Payroll Unit processes timesheets for 5 programs that include Headquarters, Challenge, Honor Guard, Air Guard and MEMA which includes 333 regular and 75 contractual employees.

Central Payroll requires all data for employees to be submitted by 3 pm on Thursdays; a never ending cycle of one week regular, then the following week contractual. But somehow, Patty Dimarzo and Bob Honsa manage to keep us rolling. Above the tedious task of entering raw data, this team must carefully examine the time sheets for accuracy- no small feat just considering my handwriting alone. When errors are identified (and they often are), they must be clarified and corrected in accordance with strict regulations. Filing of all time sheets and corresponding documentation is an ongoing process and must be done whenever possible.

The payroll team has a customer first, open door policy and tries to help all who come to their office. Leave information is available at www.dbm.maryland.gov/employees/
Pages/Leave_Home.aspx. But it is rather broad and many times supervisors or individual employees seek payroll related guidance specific to the Department.

About once a month, the Director of the Personnel Services Division holds meetings for payroll managers and technicians to address current issues such as furlough records and conversion to a central payroll system, “MDtime”. Patty and Bob regularly attend the meetings to network and learn about the updates and changes mandated by DBM.

When a state of emergency is declared by the Governor and the National Guard is called to Active Duty, every hour worked by each guardsman (as many as 700 troops) must be paid by the State through the Central Payroll process. Prior to the process of any time worked, W-4’s must be obtained, verified for accuracy and submitted at least a week prior for any new Active Duty guard.

Patty has been with the State for 28 years, 26 of which were with the Military Department. Bob was a in the Air Guard for 28 years, the Army Guard for 11 years and has been with the Department for 11 years. They really do make a good team and often lunch together. The stress can be taxing, but they both manage to be able to laugh it off later. We are lucky to have them.

Article by Nancy Hevey

PattyBob

UNITY DAY THIS MONTH

If you have attended Unity Day in previous years you had to have enjoyed every second of them. The Indian Dance, the drill team, the hula dancers the prizes, and the food, ah yes the food, the Asian, Polish, Italian et al. Well we are doing it again this year. Major Gay Williams has assembled a group of individuals that are putting the finishing touches on this years program. The festivities are scheduled for September 23, 2010 between the hours of 10:30 am to 2:30 pm at the 5th Regiment Armory. Again this year you can expect food sampling, entertainment, cultural exhibits and also this year a pasta eating contest. The Morale Committee will again donate prizes to be won by the attendees. The motto for Unity Day is "Still Making A Difference Together."

Nationwide Retirement Systems is making it easier for State employees to enroll in a supplemental retirement account. (click here to access video) Attached are its new easy enrollment form and the flyer for the Department’s representative. Nationwide Retirement Systems has also developed an informative online enrollment video available at https://www.nrsservicecenter.com/content/media/retailMM/Enroll/. (Click here for Application)

Admin Leave for State Employees Serving as Election Judges

The Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, and the General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. As a reminder, the General Election day is a State holiday.

Under the Election Law Article, §10-202, a State employee who serves as an election judge during hours that the employee is otherwise scheduled to work for the State may be granted one hour of administrative leave for each hour of service as an election judge, not to exceed eight hours per day. Employee must satisfy the following requirements. Must obtain supervisor approval before serving, provide his/her supervisor with as much prior notice as possible in order to accommodate any scheduling changes that might be necessary, and provide his/her supervisor with documentation from the Election Board confirming the dates and hours of service as an election judge.

Governor Martin O’Malley also has authorized up to eight hours of administrative leave for State employees who are not scheduled to work and who serve as election judges on the General Election day. An employee who is not scheduled to work on the General Election day holiday must provide his/her supervisor with documentation from the Election Board confirming the date and hours of service as an election judge before administrative leave will be granted.

Vote for Maryland and Win Trees for our Parks

• The Department of Natural Resources needs your help to win free money to plant trees in Maryland State parks. Odwalla (a juice company that believes in doing good things for the community) is having a national campaign, and the states with the most votes will receive $200,000 funding ($5 per tree) to plant trees throughout its state parks. So far, Maryland is currently in fourth place, and has planted more than 9,100 trees. Each person, over the age of 13, can vote five times. For more information on the contest, and how to vote for Maryland, visit http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/odwalla.asp.

"Items of Importance to State Employees"

State 2011 "Temporary Salary Reduction" letter from Comptroller's Office includes info on Increments, COLA's, Bonuses, ST EMP ALT PEN and Employee Match Program (click here)

Procedures for Release of State Employees Under Emergency Conditions (click here)

Military Department Reg 5-8 Mangement of MDNG Personnel During Emergencies (click here)

Emergency Essential Employee Acknowledgement Document (click here)

TID BITS

-Federal Holidays for the Year (click here)

-State Holidays - For the month of September

Celebrating Labor Day September 4

NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY - Contrary to what you may have heard, your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm

WANT TO STOP SMOKING? Tried everything from gum to pills? Call 1-800-784-8669 or go to http://www.smokingstopshere.com/. A free service provided by Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygene.

ARMORY MANAGER AND BUILDING SERVICES WORKER TRAINING - The Military Department will be sponsoring the annual Armory Manager/Building Services Worker training on Thursday October 14, 2010 for personnel responsible for the rental and housekeeping of the department's armories. It will be held at the Ruhl Armory 0900 to 1600 hours with continental breakfast and lunch provided. Registration starts at 0800. This training is a must for all Armory Managers and Building Services workers.

Supervisors please notify and assist those employees that are required to attend the training. Topics to be covered will include:
How to prepare rental contracts, how to receive armory rental incentives, environmental and safety issues, Risk Management concerns.

Register by phone or e-mail to points of contact no later than COB Thursday October 07, 2010.

Anyone wanting to participate by making a presentation should notify the points of contact immediately to arrange scheduling. POC: CSM (RET) WILSON THORNTON 410-576-6027 E-MAIL thorntonw@mdmildep.org or MS. SHIRLEY TATE 410-235-3833 LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THIS

THE JURY SCAM

The phone rings, you pick it up, and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court. He says you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. You say you never received a notice. To clear it up, the caller says he'll need some information for "verification purposes"-your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number.

This is when you should hang up the phone. It's a scam.

Jury scams have been around for years, but have seen a resurgence in recent months. Communities in more than a dozen states have issued public warnings about cold calls from people claiming to be court officials seeking personal information. As a rule, court officers never ask for confidential information over the phone; they generally correspond with prospective jurors via mail.

The scam's bold simplicity may be what makes it so effective. Facing the unexpected threat of arrest, victims are caught off guard and may be quick to part with some information to defuse the situation.

"They get you scared first," says a special agent in the Minneapolis field office who has heard the complaints. "They get people saying, 'Oh my gosh! I'm not a criminal. What's going on?'" That's when the scammer dangles a solution-a fine, payable by credit card, that will clear up the problem.

With enough information, scammers can assume your identity and empty your bank accounts.

"It seems like a very simple scam," the agent adds. The trick is putting people on the defensive, then reeling them back in with the promise of a clean slate. "It's kind of ingenious. It's social engineering."