Transcript Managing Change and Transition - Tribal Self

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
“Excellence in Rural Health Care”
Many transitions of Programs, Services,
Functions and Activities to a Tribe under SelfGovernance include existing IHS facilities, such as
hospitals and/or clinics.
 Tribes have options to retain the Federal
personnel that are providing the PSFA(s) being
assumed:

o Contract
o Tribal Hire
o Inter-Agency Personnel Agreement (IPA)
o Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
 IPAs
and MOAs are Federal employees that
are assigned to the Tribe
 Existing Federal staff can convert to either an
IPA or MOA upon agreement between the
employee, IHS and the Tribe
o IPAs are civil service employees
o MOAs are commissioned personnel
 The
Tribe/TO determines what mix of contract, Tribal
hire, and IPA/MOAs to have in the organization
 Items to consider:
o It is least disruptive to existing Federal personnel
to offer everyone an IPA/MOA;
o IPA/MOAs are a good tool to retain the existing
staff performing the PSFAs;
o IPA/MOA staff typically cost more than Tribal
direct hires;
o
 Some
Federal staff may prefer a Tribal hire,
depending upon their career plans;
 Tribes will only receive the Direct Contract
Support costs for Fringe differential associated
with Tribal hires (not IPA/MOA personnel);
 The Tribe can make policy exceptions in the
transition, and then IPA/MOAs would gradually
reduce by attrition, thus reducing costs over time.
 The Tribe’s
evaluation of its Human Resources
policies, job descriptions and compensation
structure to accommodate Health professionals:
o Position Descriptions
o Work schedules
o Licensure
o Continuing education
o Recruitment costs (relocation, etc)
o Health Professional Salary Schedule – competitive
with both the market and with existing Federal
employment
 An Agreement is entered
between the IHS, Tribe
and the Federal employee;
 2-year agreements, with the ability to extend
indefinitely;
 IPA/MOAs retain their Federal employment
status, compensation and benefits and perform
the same functions;
 All
Federal employees performing PSFAs to be
assumed by a Tribe may be eligible, except:
o Employees not having at least a “satisfactory”
performance rating, or
o Employees on a time-limited, temporary or term
appointment.
 Directed
and supervised by the Tribe/TO;
 Federal personnel may be members of a Union,
however it is a Tribal choice to recognize unions;
 Paycheck still comes from the Federal
government;
 Treated as a
“buy back” in the Funding
Agreement;
 The Tribe/TO provides a prepayment to IHS to pay
the costs of IPA/MOA staff, which is a rolling
balance;
 Tribe is invoiced monthly to reimburse for
IPA/MOAs, along with a Full Cost Recovery Fee.
o FCR Fee pays for IHS finance and human resources
workload to maintain the Federal employee (functions
are typically at the Area Office)
o Example: FCR Fee in Oklahoma Area is 2.19%, applied
to IPA/MOA cost
 Determine as
early as possible how employment
offers will be made and announce:
o All eligible staff to be offered IPA/MOA, or on what
other basis?
o Will all employees also receive a Tribal hire offer?
o Schedule for the transition.
 Identify the IHS
Human Resources Contact, and
the Tribal Human Resources Contact
 Complete a comparison of Federal vs.
Tribal
benefits and policy:
o Fringe Benefits
o Leave Policies (accrual, retention, payment upon
o
o
o
o
separation)
Background Checks
Drug Testing
Holiday Schedule
Others
 Get data from IHS:
o Number of staff
o Title
o Grade, step, etc
o Compensation level
o Special Pays
o Employment status
o Eligibility for IPA/MOA – if not eligible, describe reason
 Make determinations on Tribal direct hire
offers
for transitioning Federal staff
o Compensation – will the Tribe offer at least the same
level of base pay;
o Health Professional Salary Schedule, including special
pays
o Transition of tenure for purposes of leave accrual,
leave usage and participation in insurance and
retirement plans
o Acceptance of any background and drug testing
results in the Federal personnel file
 Make determinations on Tribal direct hire
offers
for transitioning Federal staff
o Licensure of Health Professionals: in State of practice,
or from any State;
o Tribal Preferences – Indian or Veterans preference, for
example;
o Transition decisions can be one-time exceptions to
Tribal policy, as a means to retain all of the Federal
personnel possible;
o Option to use the Federal Health Benefit Package for
employee health insurance.
 Develop
and administer Offers of Employment as
soon as possible;
 Tribes/TO have the flexibility to do written Offers of
Employment or Letters of Intent to assist in retaining
personnel;
 Offer is made by the Tribe, and can be accepted or
declined by the employee;
 Includes such agreement as type of employment (IPA,
MOA or Tribal), base salary, contingency upon
background and/or drug testing as applicable,
release of information, any licensure requirements.
 Offers
can be made many months in advance of
actually entering an IPA or MOA;
 Can be very useful to commit both the Tribe and
the Federal employee and reduce attrition.
 The earliest that Offers/Letters of Intent are
signed, the more comfortable staff will be, and
the less uncertainty and unrest that will result
among the staff.
 Discuss with IHS
in advance the plan for
continuing to fill vacancies until the Compact
effective date.
 Options are:
o (1) IHS continues to recruit/fill, with or without Tribal
input;
o (2) IHS effort is deferred in favor of Tribal recruitment
for these vacancies; or
o (3) there is an agreed upon joint recruitment effort for
the transition.
 It is critical
that recruitment efforts do not stall or
halt during the transition process.
 Tribes/TO can work more
flexibly with potential
employees to make offers or deliver letters of
intent to secure recruitment well in advance of
the entire personnel process.
 Employees hired prior to the assumption date are
potentially eligible for IPA/MOA, while employees
hired after the effective date will be Tribal hires.
 Communication and relationship-building with
the Workforce is critical;
 Employees must feel valued and that the Tribe
wishes to retain their service;
 Communicate early and often in several different
forums (materials, letters, web, meetings);
 Build personal relationships with staff by being
present and available;
 Host
group employee meetings jointly with IHS;
 Schedule Individual meetings to answer
questions, discuss options and make offers;
 Tribal administration (usually Health and HR
officials) must be accessible daily
o email/phone
o “walking around” the facility
 Make a determination that all eligible employees
can have an offer of IPA/MOA and Tribal Direct
Hire;
 Make HR decisions that facilitate keeping
employees on board (example, retention pays and
base pay);
 Communicate! By group, individually and with
materials and media. Be present often in the
facilities, formally and informally. Answer
employee questions as timely and completely as
possible.
 SGCE:

www.tribalselfgov.org
Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan
information:
 Personnel
Aspects of the ISDEAA Handbook:
ISDEAA Handbook