Negotiations continue regarding the outsourcing, however, an agreement has been reached on two key pieces of information:
Except for the employees described in #2 above, employees impacted by the outsourcing should not use the A&M annual enrollment process for their benefits; instead they will enroll in Compass Group benefits to begin September 1st. Compass Group will send information regarding their benefits enrollment process and benefits meetings directly to employees. Please contact Human Resources Benefit Services (benefits@tamu.edu or 862-1718) if you have questions about the retirement or benefits impact, or if we can be of any assistance during this transition time.
Although contract negotiations are still in progress, Compass Group is moving forward with transition activities since signing the letter of intent with the Texas A&M University System and Texas A&M University for outsourcing maintenance, dining, landscape and custodial functions for System Members in the Brazos County. Compass Group has already met with both Payroll Services and Human Resources and with supervisors in affected departments to keep people as informed as possible. Compass Group is meeting with the employees performing those functions to be outsourced beginning this week on July 11 and into next week with information on: overview of Compass Group; what Compass Group has to offer employees; pre-employment information; the application process; information on benefits; and more. Compass Group also has planned for a more in-depth benefits fair with dates to be announced soon.
A&M Outsources Some Campus Services
As announced June 21, 2012 by Chancellor Sharp and President Loftin, Texas A&M University will outsource dining, catering, landscaping, custodian and building maintenance functions, to
Compass Group. According to known contract negotiations, which some details are still pending, Compass Group has committed to retaining all employees in the affected areas as well as related supporting administrative areas within the Vice President for Administration after successfully completing a background check. Compass provided a question and answer document for employees available
here. Through the Request for Proposal process that ultimately led to this outsourcing decision, the System and Texas A&M worked diligently with the awarded vendor to ensure employees are offered comparable positions with pay and benefits.
Human Resources department representatives were involved with the Request for Proposal process and understand this decision may have a significant impact on a large group of our A&M employees. We understand there may be a lot of concerns and questions about current benefits, leave balances, longevity and retirement. While we may not currently have all the answers, we will continue to be involved in the process and provide information as soon as we have more details, and of course, provide core HR-related services to help successfully transition employees to Compass Group. It is our understanding that Compass Group has established their own support services to assist employees and we will work closely with them in the upcoming weeks.
We will post on the Human Resources website, and disseminate through departmental HR Liaisons, updates and FAQ’s about employment or benefits issues affecting employees who are part of the outsourced groups, just as soon as possible.
Although Human Resources is eager to provide answers to your questions, negotiations are still in progress so the outsourcing details are not available just yet. Please be patient and know that we will keep you posted as information becomes available.
Outsource Announcement Meeting with Compass Group – Video from the June 21, 2012 meeting.
