The Mayor’s Award of Excellence (MAE) is equivalent to a “City Employee of the Month” award. It recognizes employees who consistently provide outstanding service and work that demonstrates exemplary personal commitment to the City.

Categories in which employees can be nominated are customer relations, productivity, safety, valor and loss prevention. Consideration also may be given to nominations that demonstrate self-initiated accomplishments or those completed outside of the nominee’s job description. All City employees are eligible for the award except for elected and appointed officials. Individuals or teams can be nominated by supervisors, peers, subordinates and the general public. Nomination forms are available at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: hr) or from department heads, employee bulletin boards or the Human Resources Department, which oversees the awards program.

Nominations are considered and selected by the MAE committee, which includes a representative with each union and a non-union representative appointed by the Mayor.

Award winners are recognized by the Mayor at a City Council meeting. They receive one day off with pay, a $50 Shop Lincoln gift certificate from the Chamber of Commerce and a plaque. All MAE recipients and nominees are considered for the annual MAE award at the end of the year, which comes with a $250 gift certificate, two days off with pay and a plaque.

Please consider nominating a City employee for the Mayor’s Award of Excellence today. If you have questions, call Melodie Montiel at 402-441-7505.

LINCTHEEMPLOYEE

A publication of the Human Resources Department • Produced by the Citizen Information Center • March 2017

Mayor’s Award of Excellence nominations wanted

The 2016 Annual Mayor’s Award of Excellence will be presented Monday, April 3 at the beginning of the 3 p.m. City Council meeting. The annual winner is StarTran Bus Operator

Jason Stege, and the annual honorable mention winner is Police Officer Robert Hurley. StarTran will host a reception immediately after the awards presentation on the second

floor of the County-City Building.

Mayor to present annual award April 3

People often make light of how little sleep they get. An over-worked, over-tired condition has become the norm for many. But a good night’s sleep is not just a novelty, it’s a necessity. The effects of fatigue are far-reaching and can have an adverse impact on all areas of life.

Our 24/7 workforceOur bodies are programmed to be tired at night and alert during the day, but work often requires us to override those natural sleep patterns. More than 37 percent of workers are sleep-deprived, and those most at risk work the night shift, long shifts or irregular shifts. Consider these facts:

• Safety performance decreases as employees become tired.

• 62 percent of night shift workers complain about sleep loss.

• Fatigued worker productivity costs employers $1,200 to $3,100 per employee annually.

• Employees on rotating shifts are particularly vulnerable because they cannot adapt their “body clocks” to an alternative sleep pattern.

On the roadWe wouldn’t allow a friend to drive drunk, but we rarely take the keys away from our tired friends or insist they take a nap before driving. Drowsy driving is impaired driving. National Safety Council research shows the following:

• You are three times more likely to be in a car crash if you are fatigued.• More than 5,000 people died in drowsy-driving related crashes in 2014.• Losing only two hours of sleep is similar to the effect of ingesting three

beers.• Being awake for more than 20 hours is equivalent to being legally drunk.

We’re getting sick over itAdults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep each night, but 30

percent report averaging less than six hours, according to the National Health Interview Survey. More sleep facts:

• Sleep is a vital factor in overall health.• Chronic sleep-deprivation causes depression, obesity, cardiovascular

disease and other illnesses.• Fatigue is estimated to cost employers $136 billion a year in health-

related lost productivity.• More than 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder.

Time for a changeAmericans receive little education on the importance of sleep, sleep disorders, and the consequences of fatigue, but industry leaders recently have been drawing attention to this issue. Employers are in an ideal position to educate employees on how to avoid fatigue-related safety incidents.Source: National Safety Council

Date Time Workshop & Location

3/3 8:30-9 a.m. New Employee Safety OrientationCity-County BuildingThird Floor, Room 302

3/16 10:30 a.m. City-Wide Safety CommitteeCity-County BuildingHuman Resources Conference Room, Third Floor

3/17 8:30-9 a.m. New Employee Safety OrientationCity-County BuildingThird Floor, Room 302

3/31 8:30-9 a.m. New Employee Safety OrientationCity-County BuildingThird Floor, Room 302

MARCH SAFETY TRAINING SCHEDULE

MANAGEMENT

Know the dangerous effects of fatigue

RISK

Credit Union Annual Meeting of Membership

Tickets available at all credit union locations; $5 in advance or $15 @ the door.

Thursday, April 6, 2017@ HiMark Social Hall

6:00-7:00pmSocial Hour/Dinner/Cash Bar7:00-7:45pmBusiness Meeting7:45 - 8:15pmPost Meeting Social/Cash Bar

2

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

NOTESCITYEMPLOYEE

This workplace has been recognizedby the American Heart Association

for meeting criteria for employee wellness.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is a national campaign to increase awareness about colorectal cancer and to spread the message that it is preventable, treatable and beatable.

Take the time to get screened. Free colon cancer screening kits are

available at participating pharmacies in Lincoln and Waverly during the month of March. See the coupon below for more information on colon cancer screening and where you can pick up a free kit. For more information, visit lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: colon cancer).

www.lincoln.ne.gov keyword: colon cancer

Kits made available by the Lancaster Crusade Against Cancer.

• Hy-Vee Pharmacy, all Lincoln locations

• Kohll’s Pharmacy, 27th & Vine Street

• National Pharmacy, 33rd & A Street

• Russ’s Market Pharmacy, all Lincoln locations

• Super Saver Pharmacy, all Lincoln locations

Present this coupon to pick up your free screening kit at any of the following pharmacies:

• Walgreens, all Lincoln locations

• Walmart Pharmacy, all Lincoln locations

Get your FREE Colon Cancer screening kit.

Valid only at the pharmacies listed above, March 1 - March 31, 2017.

Take the time.

Get screened.

3

2017 City and County

EmployeeWellness Fair

Nearly 250 people attended the City and County Employee Wellness Fair, February 22 on all three floors of the County-City Building. Vendors from 58 local health-focused organizations shared information about nutrition, exercise, tobacco cessation, stress management and more. The Wellness Fair Planning Committee thanks attendees, volunteers, County Commissioners and the Mayor’s Office for their help in making the fair run smoothly.

Get your FREEcolon cancer screening kit

Valid only at the pharmacies listed above from March 1 through 31, 2017

UPDATESCITYEMPLOYEE

New EmployeesName Department Title Starting Date

Matthew Baker Police Community Resource Specialist 01-12-2017

Lisa Chellew Aging Partners Aging Specialist III 01-23-2017

Elizabeth Schuster Aging Partners Aging Specialist IV 01-30-2017

Brandon Kauffman Mayor’s Office Finance Director 01-30-2017

Recent Promotions

Name Department Promoted To:

Randy Saathoff Public Works and Utilities / Engineering Services Senior Engineering Specialist

Thomas Danahy Public Works and Utilities / Water Business Office Meter Reader

Abigail Littrell Law Attorney I

Jeffrey Felty Public Works and Utilities / Engineering Services Senior Engineering Specialist

4

Recent RetirementsName Department Title Started Retired

Steve Hubka Finance Budget Officer 11-16-1981 01-23-2017

Jerry Hockemeier Public Works and Utilities / Water Utility Supervisor 11-07-1966 01-25-2017

Brenda Christie Health Senior Public Health Nurse 04-01-1974 01-31-2017

Janet Bock Fire and Rescue Senior Office Assistant 11-25-1991 02-01-2017

Terry Genrich Parks and Recreation Asst. Director of Parks and Recreation

03-28-1975 02-08-2017

The Lincoln Commission of Human Rights (LCHR) is seeking nominations for the 2017 Gerald Henderson Award. The award honors an individual, organization or group who has made significant contributions in advocating and promoting human rights. The award will be presented during lunch at the organization’s Civil Rights Conference, April 25, at Innovation Campus, 2012 Transformation Dr.

Nominations can be submitted to fbeltran@lincoln.ne.gov. The nomination form is available at humanrights.lincoln.ne.gov (select “Civil Rights Conference – Awards”). The deadline for

nominations is March 17.

The conference keynote speaker will be Dan Barry, New York Times Columnist and author of “The Boys in the Bunkhouse.” His presentation is entitled: “Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland.” The conference includes sessions on housing, economic development challenges and legal updates on housing and employment. Registration deadline for the conference is April 12. For more information, visit lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: rights) or call 402-441-7625.

Deadline for Henderson Award nominees is March 17