Texas
State Wellness Program UPPS
No. 04.04.32
Issue
No. 4
Effective
Date: 10/20/2004
Review:
March 1 E10Y
01. POLICY STATEMENTS
01.01 The
purpose of this UPPS is to provide as a privilege an opportunity for regular
Texas State employees to participate in a voluntary wellness program by
utilizing educational and recreational facilities made available to them on the
Texas State campus.
01.02 Chapter
664 of the Government Code authorizes state agencies to use funds and
facilities for fitness programs.
02. OBJECTIVE AND DEFINITION
02.01 The
objective of the Texas State Wellness Program is to encourage faculty and staff
to utilize on-campus facilities to achieve and maintain an improved level of
personal health which research shows leads to improved job performance,
increased work satisfaction and reduced health care/insurance costs.
02.02 The Texas
State Wellness Program consists of various voluntary wellness-related
activities that qualify as eligible for release time. Activities that qualify
for release time are:
a. Physical
Exercise Activities
b. Health
Fitness Screenings/Appraisals
c. Stress
Management Classes
d. Smoking
Cessation Classes
e. Weight Loss
Classes
f. Nutrition
Classes
g. Health
Risk/Injury Reduction Classes
h. Cardiopulmonary
Resuscitation Classes
i. First Aid
Classes
03. PROCEDURES FOR PARTICIPATION
03.01 Employees
approved for participation in the Wellness Program shall receive 30 minutes per
day release time to participate in approved wellness activities on the Texas
State campus only. Release time may not be granted for participation in
wellness activities off the Texas State campus. Release time is paid time and
does not have to be made up. Release time cannot be accrued. Release time must be recorded on the
employee’s time records as non-working time (refer to Section 05.02 of UPPS No.
04.04.11, University Classification and Compensation Policy for more
information).
03.02 Approval
from the appropriate authority must be secured prior to participation in the
Wellness Program. The approval authority for employees is their account
manager. The approval authority for account managers is their supervisor.
03.03 Approval
authorities are expected to make reasonable efforts to accommodate requests for
participation in the Wellness Program. However, it must be recognized that
participation may be disapproved if the approval authority determines the
workflow of the employee's department or office will be negatively impacted by
the employee's absence to participate in the Wellness Program. When a request
for participation is denied, the approval authority will provide the employee
with a written memo as to the reason or reasons why the workflow will be
impeded by the employee's absence.
03.04 To apply
for approval to participate in the Texas State Wellness Program, the employee
must submit a written request to the appropriate approval authority. The
request must specify the type of activity to be participated in, the date and
time of the activity, and the location of the activity. Deviations from the
approved schedule must be obtained in advance from the approval authority.
03.05 Only
regular employees are eligible to participate in the Texas State Wellness
Program.
03.06 Abuse of
the privilege to participate in the Wellness Program will subject the employee
to revocation of the privilege and possibly disciplinary action under the
provisions of UPPS
No. 04.04.40, Disciplining and Terminating Staff Employees.
03.07 Any
exceptions to the policy and procedures of this UPPS must be approved by the
employee's divisional vice president.
04. REVIEWERS OFTHIS UPPS
04.01 Reviewers
of this UPPS include the following:
Position Date
Mr. John McBride, Director March 1 E10Y
Human Resources
Chair, Staff Council March
1 E10Y
Chair, Faculty Senate March
1 E10Y
05. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
This
UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official
capacities and represents Texas State policy and procedure from the date of
this document until superseded.
Mr.
John McBride, Director, Human Resources; senior reviewer of this UPPS
Mr.
Bill Nance, Vice President for Finance and Support Services
Dr.
Denise M. Trauth, President