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    United Methodists of Upper New YorkLiving the Gospel. Being God's Love.


    Perspectives: Day in the Life

    A Day in the Life: Debi Marshall

    September 27, 2016 / By Debi Marshall, Human Resources Generalist

    As a mother of an-almost two year old, I’m on her schedule, so I usually enter the office between 8:00 and 8:15 each morning.

    8:15 a.m. After putting away my lunch and booting up my computer, I usually start the day by clearing out my junk email and looking to see if I have any emails that need immediate responses. This morning I had several emails from my supervisor, Vicki Putney, following up on projects I’m working on. Today she wants to schedule a meeting for next week, to prepare for our discussion at the next staff meeting where we will discuss preparation for moving to the new office building on Henry Clay, as well as the opportunity of improving office culture.

    8:30 a.m. Quick review of my “To-Do” list for the day, and then I begin crossing items off as I accomplish them, old school with an orange Sharpie highlighter. If I don’t have a meeting in the morning, I do my best to get quick projects (such as processing personnel changes) completed within my first hour at work to feel a sense of accomplishment, before diving into a more complicated project around mid-morning. Of course, the day doesn’t always go as planned…

    9:00 a.m. I received an email from our payroll company advising that one of our employee’s paychecks could not be direct deposited because the wrong account number was in our payroll system. I worked with our payroll specialist, Alma, to ensure that the employee would receive a manual check, and then did some investigative work to determine what had happened. After checking our records, it appeared the account number was correct so the bank must have changed either the routing or account number and did not tell the employee. I advised the employee of the situation with a reminder to send an updated direct deposit form with the correct account number for the next paycheck.

    9:30 a.m. I love visitors! Today it was a new employee. For 45 minutes, we went over new hire paperwork, including processing the employee’s I-9 form where I’m required to review her documents to ensure she is who she says she is and is authorized to work in the United States. This is also the opportunity for me to explain our health insurance and pension benefits, and go over other things of importance like when she will get her first paycheck! We all love getting paid for a hard day’s work.

    11:00 a.m. Time to make some phone calls. The hiring committee for the Finance and Benefits Support Specialist narrowed down the applicants to three. I was able to get a hold of the first person I called and set up an interview in a few weeks. I then left voicemails for the other two candidates and prayed that we wouldn’t have to play phone tag all day. Luckily, one candidate called me back shortly thereafter. Still waiting on the third…

    11:30 a.m. A local church pastor emailed me asking for guidance on the new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime/minimum wage ruling that goes into effect December 1st. “Are clergy now required to be paid overtime, and should lay employees be paid hourly instead of salaried,” the pastor wonders… I email the pastor back indicating that our office has created a flow chart detailing how local churches can interpret the law and it is available on our Church Employer web page. This is one of my favorite parts of my job. I love being a resource to local churches that do not have a designated HR person. Anything I can do to help!

    12:00 p.m. I left a voicemail for our contact at the Genesee Grande to secure a date for an upcoming Supervisory Training. I need to ensure that we have a date and location before I send details out to invited staff.

    12:30 p.m. Enjoying a turkey sandwich and strawberries at my desk as I catch up on personal email. This provides me a little bit of downtime, and helps me refocus, but I’m pretty much done eating in 10 minutes and then back to work. Being the self-appointed “Queen of Compliance,” I’m normally the person telling employees that they should take their entire lunch break, but I never take that advice myself. Isn’t that how it always is? We know what’s good for us but it’s hard to live it out.

    2:00 p.m. I sit down to start writing this Day in the Life blog…

    2:30 p.m. One of our camp directors forwarded me workers’ compensation paperwork he completed for an employee. I made sure the forms were completed properly and then processed it to be mailed to Church Mutual who handles our workers compensation insurance. I don’t mind pushing paper once in a while.

    2:45 p.m. Craving some chocolate to get me through the afternoon, but I resist the urge to take a 5 minute break to the local deli, and instead power through by enjoying a cold apple I had waiting for me in the fridge.

    3:00 p.m. Summer camp is pretty much over which means it’s time to start archiving files. I transfer the 2015 seasonal staff personnel files over to a smaller box, since it’s dwindled down as we’ve processed rehires throughout the summer. Next I begin alphabetizing the personnel files for 2016 seasonal staff that have been inactivated in our payroll system, so I could file them in a new box… a perfectly tedious, yet necessary, task to end the day.

    3:30 p.m. Another visitor! This time the visitor is an employee with a confidential concern to discuss. No additional information I can share here, except that, in general, when employees come to me, my first step is to listen to their concern. Then I try to determine exactly how they would like me to assist them. Are they just seeking a listening ear? Do they want clarification on policy and procedure? Do they want coaching on how to address the issue? Do they want me to directly address the issue with their supervisor and/or escalate the concern to our Director of HR? The employee’s initial concern drives the conversation and, in turn, drives any next steps on my part. I have an open door policy and do my best to ensure all employees know I’m available and happy to be a resource whenever they are in need.

    4:15 p.m. Right before I leave, I update my “To-do list” Word document, deleting everything I’ve accomplished and adding all new tasks that came up throughout the day… then print it out and put it on my nifty desk stand (best purchase ever) – fresh for the next morning.


    Click here to learn more about all the staff members within the Benefits and Administrative Services Ministry Area and their specific responsibilities. 

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    With more than 100,000 members, United Methodists of Upper New York comprises of more than 675 local churches and New Faith Communities in 12 districts, covering 48,000 square miles in 49 of the 62 counties in New York state. Our vision is to “live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be God’s love with our neighbors in all places."