Employee Handbook - We are YNHH Home

Employee Handbook

Contents 

Service Excellence 

Commitment, 2 

Culture and Work 

Environment, 4 

Ethics and Compliance, 9 

Workplace Safety, 11 

Working at Yale-New Haven 

Hospital, 14 

Workplace Expectations 

and Guidelines, 18 

Compensation and Benefits, 26 

- Health and Wellness, 30 

- Leaving Yale-New Haven 

Hospital, 31 

Welcome to Yale-New Haven Hospital 

Marna P. Borgstrom 

Richard D’Aquila 

Dear Fellow Employee: 

Welcome to Yale-New Haven Hospital. We are pleased to have you join 

us in our pursuit of service excellence for our patients, their families and 

this community. 

In this handbook you will see our Service Excellence Pledge which describes 

the high standards of employee behavior that contribute to the delivery of 

high quality care and service to the patients we are privileged to serve. It is 

through Service Excellence that Yale-New Haven Hospital becomes the kind 

of hospital where patients want to come and the kind of hospital where 

employees want to work. 

For many years, Yale-New Haven Hospital has been consistently ranked 

among the nation’s leading hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. One of the 

major reasons for our success is the caliber of our employees. We are very 

proud of the extraordinary care our patients receive, and appreciate the work 

that is required of all employees – those who provide direct patient care and 

those who support it – to operate a hospital 24/7. 

Yale-New Haven employees are like a family – but at the same time, like 

a finely tuned orchestra – working together through many different departments, 

buildings, shifts, roles and titles toward a common cause. There is one 

reason alone we are all here – the patient. As long as we stay focused on this 

fact, we will succeed. 

We hope you find the material included in this handbook helpful, but 

please do not hesitate to ask if you have questions. 

We are very proud of the professionalism of our workforce and hope that 

your association with YNHH is an enjoyable and rewarding experience. 

Sincerely, 

About this Handbook 

Whether you have just joined our staff or have been employed at Yale-New Haven 

Hospital for a while, we are confident that you will find our organization a dynamic 

and rewarding place in which to work, and we look forward to a productive and 

successful association. We consider the employees of Yale-New Haven Hospital 

to be our most valuable asset. 

This Employee Handbook has been written to serve as a guide to your employment 

at Yale-New Haven Hospital. There are several important things to keep in mind as 

you review the contents. First, it contains only general information and guidelines. 

It is not intended to be comprehensive or to address all the possible applications of 

or exceptions to the general policies and procedures described. If you have any 

questions concerning eligibility for a particular benefit, or the applicability of a policy 

or practice to you, address specific questions with your manager or the Human 

Resources Department. 

Neither this Handbook nor any other Yale-New Haven Hospital document 

confers any contractual right, express or implied, to remain in the hospital’s employ. 

Nor does it guarantee any fixed terms and conditions of your employment. Your 

employment is not for any specific time and may be terminated at will, with or 

without cause and without prior notice, by the hospital. As well, you may resign for 

any reason at any time, with proper notice required. 

Second, the procedures, practices, policies and benefits described here may be 

modified from time to time or discontinued. We will try to inform you of any changes 

as they occur and encourage you to check the Yale-New Haven Hospital Intranet for 

periodic updates. 

Finally, some of the subjects described in the Employee Handbook are covered 

in more detail in the Human Resources Policy Manual, which is available on the 

Yale-New Haven Hospital Intranet or upon request from your department manager. 

You should refer to those documents for specific information, as this Handbook only 

briefly summarizes certain policies and benefits. 

INDEX 

Marna P. Borgstrom 

President and 

Chief Executive Officer 

Richard D’Aquila 

Executive Vice President and 

Chief Operating Officer

Service Excellence Commitment 

Service Excellence 

Commitment 

2 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is committed to the 

philosophy of delivering Service Excellence. This 

standard serves as the basis of our expectations for 

employee conduct and drives our commitment to 

deliver the highest levels of care and service to 

patients, their families and our community. 

Service Excellence at Yale-New Haven Hospital is 

defined as the act of providing exemplary service 

to every person, every time, in every situation. This 

means that as employees we exemplify the “I am 

Yale-New Haven” pledge at all times, without 

exception. We understand that we are Yale-New 

Haven, and when we interact with others, our 

behavior should reflect the pledge. 

Service Excellence reflects our values and standards 

of behavior. It is best described by our Service 

Excellence Pledge. Every employee represents the 

hospital through his or her actions, words and deeds, 

and when patients or family members observe us, they 

see Yale-New Haven Hospital. We are privileged to 

serve our patients and their families, and we are 

responsible for providing them with the best possible 

experience and service at all times. The “I am Yale- 

New Haven” Service Excellence Pledge provides the 

roadmap to success. Each one of us is personally 

responsible to abide by the Pledge 100 percent of the 

time, in 100 percent of our interactions. 

Employee Handbook Acknowledgement 

Please read the acknowledgement below and 

follow the electronic signature instructions: 

• I hereby acknowledge receipt of the Yale-New 

Haven Hospital Employee Handbook and 

Service Excellence Pledge. 

• I agree to thoroughly read the contents of 

this Handbook and to acknowledge my 

responsibility for following all of the policies 

described within it. 

• I understand that the Handbook is only 

intended as a guide to the work rules, policies 

and procedures of Yale-New Haven Hospital 

as they existed at the time of publication and 

that Yale-New Haven Hospital may change 

these at any time. 

• I understand that nothing contained in this 

Handbook is intended to create an expressed 

or implied contract between Yale-New Haven 

Hospital and me for either employment or the 

provision of any benefits. I understand that I 

remain an at-will employee. 

Electronic Signature Instructions 

Please complete the online Statement of Acknowledgement 

withing 30 days of receiving this handbook, 

by logging onto the Yale-New Haven Hospital 

Intranet site. Using any hospital computer, click on 

the Training tab at the top of the page and follow 

the instructions on the login page. Click on the 

“My Learning” tab and click on the course “YNHH 

Employee Handbook” to begin. 

Our Service Excellence Pledge 

I will create a great first impression; 

I will protect the privacy of our patients; 

I will value diversity and treat 

all people with respect; 

I will communicate with 

compassion and courtesy; 

I will maintain a safe, quiet 

and clean environment; 

I will take action when things go wrong. 

By accepting and agreeing to practice the principles 

of our Service Excellence Pledge, we confirm our 

commitment to excellence in everything we do and 

meeting or exceeding expectations as a leading 

provider of healthcare.

Culture and Work Environment 

4 

Culture and Work 

Environment 

Our History 

Yale-New Haven Hospital’s rich history dates back 

to 1826, when the General Hospital Society of 

Connecticut became the first hospital in the state 

and the fourth voluntary hospital in the nation. The 

General Hospital Society of Connecticut, later to be 

known as New Haven Hospital, was created to 

provide healthcare for New Haven citizens, especially 

those who could not afford to pay for their 

own care. That mission has since expanded to 

include the entire Greater New Haven community. 

Our integral connection with Yale University 

began in 1826 as well, when the hospital became 

affiliated with the Medical Institution of Yale College, 

founded in 1810. In 1884, our name was 

changed to New Haven Hospital, which by then was 

the primary teaching facility for Yale medical students. 

In 1917, New Haven Hospital and the newly 

named Yale School of Medicine established an 

official affiliation that marked the beginning of our 

modern medical center. In 1945, a relationship with 

nearby Grace Hospital led to another name change 

— Grace-New Haven Community Hospital — and 20 

years later a more formal agreement with the 

University created Yale-New Haven Hospital. 

Who We Are 

Today, Yale-New Haven Hospital is regularly 

ranked among the top hospitals in the country. With 

966 beds, we are a private, non-profit facility comprising 

the main hospital, Yale-New Haven Children’s 

Hospital, Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital 

and Smilow Cancer Hospital. Yale-New Haven 

Hospital is the largest acute care provider in southern 

Connecticut and one of the Northeast’s major 

referral centers, covering 2.4 million square feet and 

employing approximately 8,500 people. We are 

accredited by The Joint Commission. The hospital 

receives national and international referrals, and is 

nationally recognized for its commitment to teaching 

and clinical research. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is the founding member 

of the Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS), 

Connecticut’s leading healthcare organization. 

Together with Bridgeport Hospital and Greenwich 

Hospital, YNHHS has established a common set of 

goals: delivering outstanding patient care, using 

resources effectively and efficiently, and creating the 

best working environment for our employees and 

physicians. Member hospitals of YNHHS have 

collaborated to achieve stronger and more sustainable 

results than would have been possible as independent 

institutions. Employees throughout YNHHS 

are able to participate in common health benefits and 

enjoy a system-wide range of career opportunities. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is considered a “destination 

hospital” – where people are willing to travel 

outside their community for outstanding medical 

care. Destination hospitals attract patients regionally, 

across the state and across the country by 

focusing on specific core service lines and providing 

high level expertise and service. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital contributes to overall 

quality of life for employees and the community 

through its efforts to be an increasingly “green” 

institution – improving air and water quality and 

efficiency, recycling and reducing solid waste, 

conserving natural resources and saving energy. In 

addition, Smilow Cancer Hospital has applied for 

LEED certification through the Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental Design Green Building 

Rating System. 

Employer of Choice 

Yale-New Haven Hospital diligently strives to 

attract, hire and retain the very best workers for 

each and every job. As a designated Employer of 

Choice, we greatly value and respect that our employees 

also have chosen Yale-New Haven Hospital 

as a place where they can establish and continuously 

grow their careers. 

As we endeavor to maintain competitive pay and 

benefits, as well as a quality work experience and 

environment, it is gratifying to be named as an 

Employer of Choice by such prestigious organizations 

as Working Mother magazine, AARP, Family 

Digest, Connecticut Magazine and Essence magazine. 

Those national recognitions are an affirmation of 

our commitment to our employees, who work hard 

every day to provide outstanding service to patients, 

their families and our entire community. 

Our Mission 

The following principles define our mission as a 

premier healthcare provider: 

Patient Care 

To provide high-quality, cost-effective and appropriate 

healthcare services to all patients, regardless 

of their ability to pay. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital cares for patients from 

the Greater New Haven community who require 

primary, secondary and tertiary care, as well as 

patients from the rest of Connecticut, other states 

and other countries who are referred for specialized 

tertiary care. Yale-New Haven Hospital seeks to 

provide essential healthcare services for low-income 

or uninsured people in New Haven, working with 

various community resources — including federal 

and state agencies, other healthcare providers and 

private groups — to develop cost-effective means of 

meeting the healthcare needs of the city’s medically 

indigent population. 

Teaching 

To be the primary teaching hospital for Yale 

School of Medicine, in support of its goals to educate 

and train physicians for medical leadership in 

clinical practice, teaching and research. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital also provides training 

opportunities for nurses and other healthcare 

professionals in affiliation with Yale School of 

Nursing and other universities, colleges and technical 

schools in the region. Continuing education for 

employees and all healthcare professionals is an 

important aspect of our mission. 

Clinical Research 

To provide a setting for ongoing clinical research 

that helps bring medical advances from the laboratory 

to the patient’s bedside. 

This commitment to advancing clinical understanding 

promotes high-quality medical services 

and education. 

Community Service 

To serve the Greater New Haven community as 

a public health advocate and provide services and 

support to respond to the area’s healthcare needs 

through health education, health promotion and 

access to care. 

Consistent with our aim to be a good neighbor, 

the hospital brings economic benefits to the city and 

the region. This part of our mission also includes 

meeting community needs and working with area 

schools to promote careers in healthcare services. 

Cultural Diversity 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is committed to providing 

an environment that encourages the talents and 

recognizes the uniqueness of each employee and 

patient with respect to race, gender, age, cultural 

background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, 

religion and other types of diversity. We believe a 

diverse workforce will help Yale-New Haven Hospital 

interact effectively with a culturally diverse 

community in achieving our primary mission of 

providing the highest quality patient care. We 

operate on the fundamental belief that individual 

and cultural differences are a reality, and that such 

differences will produce better ideas, quality service 

and a genuine competitive advantage. 

Believing that diversity and inclusion are 

important organizational values, Yale-New Haven 

Hospital has an Office of Workforce Diversity, 

which supports these values and serves as a resource 

to our employees on issues related to cultural and 

other differences. 

Equal Employment Opportunity and 

Affirmative Action 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is strongly committed 

to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity 

and Affirmative Action. The hospital demonstrates 

this commitment through a policy of providing 

equal employment opportunities and by not discriminating 

against any employee or applicant based 

on race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, 

sexual orientation, disability, genetic information, 

military or veteran status or other characteristics 

protected by federal, state and local law. 

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Yale-New Haven Hospital 




6 

All selection decisions are made in line with the 

Equal Employment Opportunity principle and the 

hospital’s current Affirmative Action Plan goals. 

The hospital’s policy of non-discrimination applies 

to recruiting, hiring, training, transferring, promoting, 

assignments, compensation and all other 

personnel decisions. 

All complaints of discriminatory treatment in 

violation of this policy should be made to your 

supervisor or the Human Resources Department, 

so that an investigation may be undertaken. Appropriate 

disciplinary action will be taken to address 

any wrongdoing under this policy. (See Human 

Resources Policy B:1). 

Philosophy of Employee Relations 

At Yale-New Haven Hospital, we strive to provide 

excellent service and medical care to our patients 

while valuing the dignity and worth of each 

employee. We believe that our first responsibility 

is to the patients we serve. We also believe that our 

people are the source of our success, and therefore 

we are committed to providing a work environment 

that enables our employees to fulfill their professional, 

family and community responsibilities. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital believes in, has practiced 

and will continue to practice positive and 

fair employee relations policies that promote our 

values of integrity, compassion and excellence and 

encourage a culture of participation and fairness. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital believes that there are 

key elements for a successful employer/employee 

relationship. Thus we attempt to: 

• Treat employees with respect; 

• Communicate organizational objectives; 

• Celebrate and share our organization’s successes; 

• Provide learning opportunities for 

professional growth; 

• Respect and promote diversity within our 

organization; 

• Provide equal employment opportunity and 

treatment regardless of race, color, sex, age, 

religion, national origin, sexual orientation, 

disability, genetic information, military or veteran 

status or other characteristics protected by 

federal, state and local law; 

• Provide compensation and benefits commensurate 

with the work performed and competitive 

with the local market; 

• Establish reasonable hours of work based on the 

organization’s production and service needs; 

• Provide safe and positive working conditions; 

monitor and comply with applicable federal, 

state and local laws and regulations concerning 

employee safety; 

• Be receptive to constructive suggestions about job 

duties, working conditions or human resources 

policies; and 

• Establish appropriate means for employees to 

discuss matters of concern with their immediate 

supervisor or department head. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is committed to instilling 

a positive work environment and values a 

mutually rewarding and direct relationship with its 

employees without the intervention of outside 

groups. We implement programs that demonstrate 

that employees, patients and communities are best 

served by effective internal communications. We 

believe that adherence to these principles is the best 

policy for our employees, and that their best interests 

are served through direct communications with 

their manager and the administration. 

We are steadfast in our compliance with all laws 

and regulations, including those with respect to 

labor unions. We also believe we should make our 

views known to all employees and pledge to do all 

we can to further their interests. 

Communication and Participation 

We believe that our greatest strength is our 

people. We want you to be well informed about 

what is going on at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and to 

feel comfortable in sharing your thoughts and 

suggestions. We value your opinions. Our leadership 

is committed to communicating openly and 

honestly, fostering an environment of mutual trust. 

We have created a number of programs designed to 

collect employee feedback and suggestions, including 

the following: 

Employee Engagement and Opinion Surveys – 

These hospital-wide surveys are designed to better 

understand the level of employee engagement and 

opinions. We want to hear how you think we are 

doing; we believe it is important to give you an 

opportunity to confidentially share your thoughts 

and opinions on a variety of work issues. We share 

the results of these periodic surveys with all levels of 

staff and use the results to continuously improve 

our working environment. Employees have the 

opportunity to work with their managers and 

co-workers to develop action plans to improve 

various aspects of work life. 

Employee Feedback Programs – These include 

departmental and divisional meetings and regularly 

held open forums, hosted by senior leadership, to 

which all staff are invited to hear about current 

topics and engage in two-way dialogue with leadership. 

We also offer opportunities to question our 

Chief Operating Officer on any hospital-related 

topic, using a convenient, online process via the 

hospital Intranet, available to all employees. You 

can also submit your suggestions on ways to improve 

efficiency, save money and reduce waste 

through an employee suggestion program available 

to all employees on the hospital Intranet. You will 

also experience meeting members of our hospital 

management team as they make rounds throughout 

the hospital, talking with and listening to employees 

on an ongoing basis. If you are a new employee, you 

will be invited to a meeting after 90 days, where 

you can share your observations and have an opportunity 

to ask questions of one of our Human 

Resources vice presidents in a small group setting. 

How to Find Information 

We want to make sure you are well informed 

about what is going on at Yale-New Haven Hospital 

and have easy access to information you need to stay 

connected and involved. Listed below are some of 

the ways you can better manage your job and work 

life and find information. 

Your Manager – You will find that your manager 

can provide a great deal of information about your 

job, your department and the hospital in general. 

He or she will also be able to help by offering advice 

and guidance regarding various job-related issues. 

Intranet – The hospital maintains an extensive 

Intranet system, where you can access information 

on a variety of topics, including benefits, training 

opportunities, wellness programs, internal job 

postings, policies and procedures, and notices 

about events. All employees have access to the 

hospital Intranet from any hospital computer, 

including those in kiosks conveniently located 

throughout the hospital. 

The Yale New Haven Health System Intranet 

appears as the default home page when you click 

on the computer’s web browser icon. If your 

Intranet page is not the default page, type “Intranet” 

in the URL address bar. To access the Human 

Resources (HR) pages, click on Departments and 

choose HR-Yale-New Haven Hospital. This link 

will land on the Yale-New Haven Hospital HR 

Intranet page. 

Employee Self Service (ESS) – Employees can 

access their personal information on Employee 

Self Service. There you can update your home 

address, phone numbers and emergency contact 

information. In addition, you can view your pay 

stubs, position information, salary, performance 

reviews, PTO balance, and link to your benefits 

information. You will also be able to apply for 

Tuition Reimbursement and Travel Expense 

Reimbursement online. 

After completing your New Hire Orientation, 

you will be able to use a link on the hospital’s 

Intranet to look up your employee I.D. number. 

How to access Employee Self Service: 

Go to the Intranet and click on Yale-New Haven 

Click on Applications 

Click on Employee Self Service 

Click on Lookup Employee # 

Enter your Social Security number 

Your name, Employee I.D. number and Organization 

number will be listed on the page. Click on 

Return to Login Page 

Enter your Employee I.D. (six digit number) 

Enter your default password (last four digits of 

your Social Security number) 

For example: 1234 

The system will ask you to change your password. 

Hospital Publications – You will find interesting 

articles and timely hospital news in the Bulletin, the 

hospital-published employee newsletter, distributed 

throughout the hospital and viewable on the hospital’s 

Intranet, as well as other regular publications. 

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Ethics and Compliance 

8 

Hospital Website – The Yale-New Haven Hospital 

website www.ynhh.org offers a wealth of information 

for employees, patients, families and the general 

public – from directions and parking to general 

information to calendar listings to medical services 

and more. 

Human Resources – You can contact Human 

Resources for information on benefits programs, 

wellness programs, career counseling or other 

Human Resources issues. 

Bulletin Boards – Given the size of the Yale-New 

Haven Hospital campus, bulletin boards are generally 

decentralized and local to a particular department 

or work group. There are three main bulletin 

board locations for hospital-wide notices related to 

regulatory requirements and postings: the Clinic 

Building entrance to the Human Resources Department; 

the second floor of the Clinic Building (outside 

the Legal Office CB 230); and the exit of the 

East Pavilion Cafeteria. 

TV Monitors – TV monitors throughout the hospital 

show LCD slides which announce events, services 

and activities for employees, as well as some geared 

toward patients, visitors and the public. 

Continuous Learning 

Because we take pride in the expertise and 

knowledge of our workforce, Yale-New Haven 

Hospital is committed to offering opportunities 

to enhance your skills and help you succeed and 

advance in your career. A variety of learning opportunities 

are offered onsite and online. In addition, 

our Tuition Assistance Program provides financial 

assistance to support continued education at local 

schools and colleges, as well as online educational 

programs. Our Human Resources Career Development 

Office staff includes a career counselor who 

helps employees identify career opportunities, 

college and training resources, and job search 

techniques. In addition, employee career exploration 

opportunities are available. 

Recognition Programs 

When our employees reach career milestones, go 

above and beyond in delivering service excellence 

or accomplish significant goals, we strive to recog- 

nize those achievements through a variety of special 

programs. We want you to know that we highly 

value your efforts to excel. 

Our Employee Performance Incentive Plan (PIP) 

provides a monetary reward to all eligible employees 

if specific, measurable, hospital-wide goals are 

met or exceeded each fiscal year. The goals and 

earning potential vary from year to year, but they 

focus on key performance factors that include 

financial, patient safety and satisfaction, and department-specific 

goals. You are eligible to participate 

in PIP during any fiscal year in which you work at 

least 1,000 hours. 

Special Achievement awards of up to 2 percent 

of salary can be given to employees who achieve 

specific, challenging goals or perform at exceptionally 

high levels. Department managers can nominate 

an employee for these special awards. 

After they reach one year of service, employees 

are invited to the “Glad You’re Here One Year” event 

where they have the opportunity to join with other 

celebrants and senior leadership to celebrate this 

first milestone. 

Years of Service awards are granted to employees 

who reach significant employment milestones, 

beginning at 10 years. Those employees reaching 

25 or more years of service are honored at an 

annual celebration, where they become members 

of the Quarter Century Club. 

The hospital’s Service Excellence Heroes program 

honors a select group of employees, physicians 

and volunteers who are nominated by their 

peers and recognized for high levels of service in 

their work. 

Other reward and recognition programs provide 

“On-the-spot” recognition to those who are observed 

demonstrating high levels of Service Excellence, 

such as taking the initiative to help a colleague or 

going above and beyond during the performance of 

their jobs. The $2 Bill program allows managers to 

quickly provide recognition for acts of service 

excellence, while the Employee-to-Employee program 

provides a similar process for employees to 

recognize each other. 

Corporate Compliance Program 

As an institution and employer, Yale-New Haven 

Hospital has a commitment to provide healthcare 

services of the highest quality. By acting responsibly 

in dealings with the customers and the communities 

we serve, we ensure our reputation as a national 

leader in healthcare. Our Code of Conduct 

brochure is available from management or on 

the Intranet under the Corporate Compliance 

and Privacy page. 

Conflict of Interest 

As employees of Yale-New Haven Hospital, we all 

have a duty to act in a manner that inspires public 

trust and confidence. Generally, a potential conflict 

of interest exists any time an observer of your 

actions could question whether you are acting in 

your own interests rather than those of the hospital. 

All actual or potential conflicts of interest must 

be disclosed to your supervisor or administrator. If 

you have a doubt as to whether a conflict of interest 

exists, treat the situation as if there is one until you 

discuss it with your supervisor or administrator. 

Conflicts of interests can often be resolved if you 

disclose them before you act. 

Confidentiality 

Yale-New Haven Hospital does everything possible 

to safeguard against unauthorized access to 

confidential business information or Protected 

Health Information (PHI), which is medical information 

of any patient. As part of your job, you may 

have access to PHI, but you should not discuss such 

information in any public space (within the walls of 

the hospital and the external perimeter), including 

patient care units and general corridors, waiting 

rooms, elevators or cafeterias. 

You are not allowed to access or disclose information 

concerning patients, employees or hospital 

records other than as required for business needs. 

You are also strictly prohibited from sharing computer 

sign-on codes, illegally accessing systems or 

information to which you do not have access or to 

which you have no legitimate business interest, or 

allowing non-authorized personnel to access patient, 

personnel or business information files. 

Confidential records of any nature, including 

information displayed on computer screens, must be 

safeguarded, and reasonable effort should be made 

to prevent its viewing by unauthorized persons. 

Violating this or any policy regarding confidentiality 

is very serious and could result in discipline up 

to and including termination. 

Health Insurance Portability and 

Accountability Act (HIPAA) 

Yale-New Haven Hospital makes every effort to 

ensure the privacy of Protected Health Information 

(PHI) and to comply with the rules and regulations 

provided by the federally-mandated Health Insurance 

Portability and Accountability Act. In order to 

ensure this is accomplished, the Hospital will provide 

you with resources to help you understand and 

comply with this law. 

Please note that if you fail to comply with HIPAA 

regulations, you may face corrective action, as well 

as discipline up to and including termination. 

Regulatory Readiness 

As a healthcare provider, Yale-New Haven Hospital 

is subject to a unique regulatory environment 

that requires a constant state of readiness and 

preparedness with federal, state and local governing 

bodies. Specifically, Yale-New Haven Hospital, as a 

provider of Medicare services, must adhere to 

specific conditions of participation which are 

routinely audited to ensure compliance. Yale-New 

Haven Hospital holds in high regard its commitment 

to providing an environment that minimizes 

hazards and the risk of injury to patients, visitors 

and staff. It is the responsibility of all employees to 

adhere to organization and department safety 

policies, procedures and plans that have been 

developed based upon the following: 

• Applicable laws, regulations and accreditation 

standards (OSHA, EPA, DPH, CMS, The Joint 

Commission, etc.) 

9 



Ethics and Compliance 

Workplace Safety 

10 

• External services and standards relating to 

healthcare safety practices 

• Disaster protocols or other emergency 

declaration events. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital requires attendance at 

safety education and training programs, participation 

in mock audits and compliance with any legitimate 

governmental agency request in accordance 

with our industry practice. Any notices, inquiries 

or citations related to outside regulatory agencies 

should be reported to your manager. 

Non-Retaliation Policy 

We will protect any employee who reports a 

concern in good faith. While you are accountable 

for your own wrong-doing, we will discipline anyone 

who retaliates against you for reporting a concern in 

good faith. Report any retaliation or harassment 

immediately to your supervisor, other management, 

the Compliance Office or the Compliance Hotline. 

False Claims Act 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is required to provide information to 

you about both the federal and state False Claims Act (FCA). The 

hospital has a policy called the False Claims and Payment Fraud 

Prevention Policy (CC:R-33), which provides detailed information 

about your rights to be protected as whistleblowers and our 

policies and procedures for detecting and preventing fraud, 

waste and abuse. A whistleblower is an individual who reports 

illegal activities. 

Both the federal and state FCA allow employees to file actions 

against people and companies who knowingly submit a false claim 

or statement or conceal, avoid or decrease any obligation to try 

and defraud the government. The company is subject to fines and 

penalties for violation of these Acts. 

A whistleblower must file his or her lawsuit on behalf of the 

government in court. If the lawsuit is successful, and provided 

certain legal requirements are met, whistleblowers may receive 

a percentage of the award of the amount recovered. These laws 

also protect people who make efforts to stop suspected fraud. 

Consistent with the law, YNHH will not discharge, demote, suspend, 

threaten, harass, or in any manner discriminate against employees 

in making a report, or filing a whistleblower suit under a FCA. 

See Non-Retaliation and Non-Retribution for Reporting (CC:R-23) 

located on the Intranet under Compliance Program Policies. 

The Office of Privacy & Corporate Compliance is available to 

assist you with further information. 

How to Report a Suspected Violation 

If you feel uncomfortable about your activities 

or those of others around you and feel hesitant 

about making a report in person 

OR 

If you wish to obtain guidance on ethics 

or compliance issues, or if you are unsure 

about reporting a suspected violation, 

you may take any of the following actions: 

Contact 

your direct supervisor 

Voice 

your concern at the next supervisory 

level up to and including the 

highest level of management 

Contact 

the Human Resources Department if the 

issue involves a human resource concern 

such as work conditions, discrimination or 

harassment, theft or abuse of property and 

personal security 

Call 

the Yale-New Haven Hospital 

Compliance Officer at 203-688-3369 

Call 

the Compliance Hotline to make an anonymous 

report at 1-888-688-7744. Or visit the 

Corporate Compliance/Privacy website at 

www.ynhhscomplianceprogramhotline.com 

You are not required to identify yourself. 

Information you provide will remain 

confidential to the extent possible. 

Maintaining a safe and secure environment 

for you, our patients and visitors is a priority at 

Yale-New Haven Hospital. We all play a role in this 

effort by participating in safety training, reporting 

suspicious activity and safety hazards, and adhering 

to guidelines for safe practice in our jobs. It is 

important that you become fully aware of your 

responsibilities for your safety and that of our 

patients and property. 

Infection Control 

Infection control is taken very seriously at Yale- 

New Haven Hospital. In the interest of protecting 

patients and staff, all employees are expected to 

complete annual tuberculosis surveillance (tuberculin 

skin test) and to receive an annual influenza 

vaccination. Employees engaged in patient care 

must comply with standard and transmission-based 

precautions, complete annual infection control 

training, and perform hand washing before and 

after every patient encounter. Any potential bloodborne 

pathogen exposure should be reported 

immediately to Occupational Health Services. 

Questions regarding other infectious exposures or 

more general workplace safety issues may also be 

referred to Occupational Health Services. 

Protective Services 

Our Protective Services department provides a 

wide range of security, safety, crime and accident 

prevention at our facility, including: 

• Patrolling all areas of the hospital building 

and grounds 

• Filling out incident reports 

• Investigating any suspicious activities or persons 

• Assistance with handling difficult patient and 

visitor behavior 

• Investigating accidents and incidents 

• Providing escort services, upon request, 24 hours 

a day, 7 days a week, to and from all parking lots 

and garages 

• Assistance with personal vehicle problems on 

hospital properties 

• Storing and retrieving lost and found items 

Emergencies and Disasters 

Being prepared for unforeseen disasters or 

emergencies is a key element of the hospital’s 

disaster plans. Every department maintains a disaster/emergency 

manual containing detailed information 

about reacting to and effectively coping with a 

variety of emergency situations, such as fire, explosions, 

natural disasters, etc. 

Your supervisor will explain your specific duties 

and responsibilities in the event of either a drill or 

an actual emergency so that you will be prepared. 

You will receive detailed information at orientation 

and annual refreshers so that safety is ensured for 

all who walk through the hospital’s doors. Please 

discuss any questions you have about these plans 

with your supervisor. 

Safe Work Practices 

There are a number of steps and precautions you 

can take to help you and others ensure safe work 

practices, including: 

• Perform all tasks in a safe manner (if in doubt, ask 

your supervisor). 

• Use the appropriate safety equipment (gowns, 

gloves, masks, ear and eye protection, etc.) for 

the work you are doing. If such personal safety 

equipment is not immediately available, ask 

your supervisor. 

• Report loose or defective floor tiles, spilled liquids 

or other conditions that could cause someone to 

slip or fall. Wipe up wet spots immediately. 

• Report unsafe conditions to your supervisor or 

the appropriate department (broken glass or 

furniture, defective equipment, etc.) and take 

protective action such as removing the equipment 

from service or putting out a “wet floor” sign. 

11 





12 

• Always follow the label and Material Safety Data 

Sheets (MSDS) instructions when working with 

any chemical or potentially hazardous material. 

Ask your supervisor for the MSDA sheets for 

your work area. 

• Report any illness or injury immediately to 

your supervisor. 

• Report non-injury accidents or injuries involving 

yourself or co-workers immediately to your 

supervisor. Such occurrences should also be 

documented. 

• Walk (don’t run) in hallways and on stairs. Stay 

to the right and approach corridor intersections 

carefully. Keep corridors and passageways clear 

of all equipment and other obstacles. Use the 

safety mirrors. 

• Keep your shoes, especially the heels, in 

good repair. 

• Refrain from practical jokes and horseplay. 

• Keep your work area neat and clean. 

• Avoid wearing personal items that might become 

caught in equipment or be grabbed by a patient, 

causing injury (such as long necklaces or I.D. 

badge lanyards that do not easily break away). 

• Follow all established safety guidelines. 

Fire Safety 

Knowing and following fire safety regulations is a 

critical part of your job. Your well-being and the 

well-being of our patients and visitors depends on 

your knowledge of fire precautions and your ability 

to implement proper procedures during emergencies. 

Properly maintained smoke-detection systems, 

fire-suppression systems and smoke compartments 

throughout our buildings are specifically designed 

to ensure that occupants will be safe from fire and 

protected from combustible materials. In addition, 

several policies and procedures, such as the 

R.A.C.E. and P.A.S.S. protocols, are in place to help 

manage fire events and to inform everyone how to 

use a hand-held fire extinguisher. 

Your supervisor will review the fire safety plans 

for your work area, including the location of fire 

extinguishers. Become familiar with the plan for 

your area and understand your responsibility in the 

event that a fire occurs. 

An easy way to remember your responsibilities 

during a fire emergency is to follow the acronym 

“RACE”: 

Rescue – Remove anyone in immediate danger 

from the area of fire. 

Fire drills are periodically conducted to prepare you 

for proper action in the event of an actual fire. 

These drills are required by city and state fire codes, 

and your participation is essential. 

Safety Committee 

The hospital’s Health and Safety Committee 

plays a valuable role in promoting and improving 

workplace conditions. The committee members 

represent all work activities and job levels, including 

clinical, support and administrative services. At 

monthly meetings, they review hospital-wide 

compliance with various safety regulations, as well 

as internal policies designed to ensure a safe and 

healthy workplace and patient-care environment. 

To refer issues to the committee, contact your 

department representative, a member of your 

safety team or a committee co-chair. Ask your 

manager for contact information. 

13 

Accident and Crime Prevention 

Our goal is preventing criminal incidents and 

avoiding accidents. However, we need your help 

to make this proactive approach work. That means 

expressing your concerns about potential safety 

and security problems to your supervisor or the 

Protective Services department. 

Protective Services officers are available to assist 

you and your department in reviewing incidents and 

developing strategies to help reduce security problems 

and accidents. Accident prevention is beneficial 

to you and the organization by reducing costs, 

lost time and injuries. All employees are required to 

complete an annual safety refresher course covering 

fire safety, hazardous-materials handling and other 

important safety issues. 

Alarm – Activate the fire alarm system by dialing 

911 from any location, and activate the nearest fire 

alarm pull box. 

Confine – Close as many doors as possible to 

compartmentalize the fire and stop the spread of 

toxic smoke and gases. 

Extinguish – Extinguish the fire, if you feel you 

are able to safely. 

The “P.A.S.S.” acronym reminds you of the steps 

to follow to activate a fire extinguisher: 

Pull the ring pin on the fire extinguisher. 

Aim the extinguisher directly at the base 

of the fire. 

Squeeze the handles together. 

Sweep the extinguisher from side to side. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital

Working at YNHH 

14 

Working at 


Employment Status Classifications 

You are a Regular Full-Time Employee if: 

You are regularly scheduled to work 40 hours 

per week and your employment is not limited 

by the terms and conditions of the formal 

employment offer. 

You are a Regular Part-Time Employee if: 

You are regularly scheduled to work less than 40 

hours per week and your employment has not been 

limited by the terms and conditions of the formal 

employment offer. 

You are in a Flex Position if: 

You are regularly scheduled for either a full-time 

40-hour or part-time 36-32-hour per week position, 

and you agree, as a condition of employment, to 

flex down to no less than 24 hours per week to 

adjust for changes in patient volume. 

You are a Casual Status Employee if: 

You are not scheduled to work a set number of 

hours per week on a regular and consistent basis. 

Your duration of employment may or may not be 

limited by the terms and conditions of the formal 

employment offer. You won’t be able to accrue 

seniority credit, but will retain any seniority earned 

as a regular status employee if there has been no 

break in service. 

You are a Temporary Employee if: 

You are regularly scheduled to work and your 

duration of employment has a set completion date. 

Temporary employees can be either full-time or 

part-time. Employees who work for less than six 

months are not eligible for hospital benefits. 

In addition to the above classifications, employees 

are categorized as either “exempt” or “non-exempt” 

in compliance with federal and state wage 

and hour laws. Exempt employees are not eligible 

to receive overtime pay; they generally receive the 

same weekly salary, regardless of hours worked. 

You will be informed of your classification upon 

hire, and informed of any subsequent changes to 

your classification. If you are in a non-exempt job, 

you will be paid for all work authorized by Yale-New 

Haven Hospital. For example, if your job requires 

you to miss an unpaid meal period, you will be paid 

for that meal period, unless you are granted another 

meal period during your work shift. 

Department Policies 

You can review the hospital’s administrative and 

Human Resources (HR) policies through the HR 

Intranet, which is accessible from any hospital 

computer. In addition to hospital-wide administrative 

and HR policies, each department may maintain 

policies specific to its operations. You should 

become familiar with those policies so that your job 

performance is consistent with the expectations of 

your department manager. 

Starting a New Job 

Yale-New Haven Hospital employees who transfer 

to a new position, as well as new employees, need a 

period of time to determine if the selection process 

has resulted in a good fit. We want you to be successful, 

therefore we consider your first months to be an 

orientation or probationary period, during which you 

are oriented and trained to perform the duties 

required for the job. It is the hospital’s policy to use 

the orientation period to determine general suitability 

and adaptability to your position. The orientation 

period will be either three or six months, depending 

on your job classification. There will be an evaluation 

at the end of that period to ensure that the job is 

right for you. Under special circumstances, the 

orientation period may be extended. 

Inservice education programs will be provided 

for you to maintain current, state-of-the art delivery 

of services. Each department will offer a regular 

schedule of inservice programs appropriate for your 

job, and the department’s leadership will assure and 

document the attendance at these programs in 

appropriate employee files. 

Parking and Commuting Options 

Yale-New Haven Hospital does its best to supply 

its employees with easy and convenient parking 

options and partially subsidizes the cost of parking 

for employees. Parking lots are located near most of 

the hospital’s buildings, and there are shuttles available 

to ensure quick and safe transportation between 

your work area, your car and your assigned lot. 

Alternatives to using hospital parking lots are 

available at reduced costs, partially subsidized by the 

hospital, such as reduced train fares, free shuttle 

service from the train station, bus service subsidy 

and free park-and-ride commuter lots. More information 

on these and other transportation options 

will be provided to you during orientation and is 

available through the Parking Office. 

Referring Others 

We encourage you to refer and recommend 

people for employment at Yale-New Haven Hospital. 

This is one of the best ways for us to recruit 

candidates for open positions. You might even be 

eligible for a referral award when referring qualified 

applicants for certain positions. A list of position 

titles currently eligible for referral awards, as well 

as policy guidelines, can be found in Human 

Resources Policy C:13. 

Employment of Friends, Relatives and 

Significant Others 

We know that employees often recommend 

relatives and friends for employment at the hospital. 

While we encourage such referrals, please be aware 

that there are certain restrictions and guidelines we 

must adhere to. When hiring individuals with whom 

current employees are closely related, reside together 

as domestic partners or are involved in relationships 

that might create conflicts of interest in the 

workplace, the hospital must exercise sound business 

judgment. The hospital must be careful to 

avoid any conflict of interest or appearance of a 

conflict of interest, avoid favoritism or the appearance 

of favoritism, and minimize the distraction of 

personal relationships in the work setting. 

As an employee, you are not allowed to be placed 

in a position where you are directly supervising or 

being directly supervised by a relative, domestic 

partner or significant other. Also, no relative, 

domestic partner or significant other of yours will 

be hired or permitted to work within your direct 

chain of command. 

If you are employed in a direct chain of command 

and develop such a relationship, you should advise 

your supervisor of that relationship. In no case will 

such reporting relationship be permitted to continue. 

This policy also applies in any organizational 

or business situation in which the hospital believes 

the potential of favoritism or the appearance of 

favoritism may exist or develop. 

Work Schedules 

Work schedules are established by each department 

according to the needs of the patients and the 

efficient functioning of the hospital. Reasonable 

efforts will be made to provide fair work schedules 

for you, but scheduling may change due to patient 

care requirements and emergencies. When changes 

in schedules are necessary, you will be given as 

much prior notice as possible. 

Working from Home 

There are unique situations that may permit 

employees to work from home, such as: 

• If they are approved for a telecommuting 

arrangement. 

• If they obtain prior permission from their 

immediate supervisor. 

Under no circumstances are employees permitted 

to work at home without prior permission. 

Meals and Rest Periods 

Whenever possible, there will be a paid 15-minute 

rest period or break provided for every four hours 

of work not interrupted by a meal period. Rest 

periods or breaks are to be taken according to 

departmental procedure when work demands 

permit. While breaks are not required, you are 

encouraged to take advantage of such time, as 

long as it does not interfere with patient care or 

hospital operations. 

An unpaid meal period of at least 30 minutes will 

be provided at approximately the middle of each 

15 





16 

work shift of 8 hours or more. Your department has 

the responsibility to schedule your breaks in accordance 

with work needs. As such, your breaks might 

not take place at the same time every day. Please 

note that it is not acceptable to skip your rest periods 

or meal breaks as a means of shortening the 

workday, except with prior approval from your 

department head. 

Recording of Work Time 

You are required to record your work time daily 

by swiping your I.D. badge in a designated card 

reader closest to your work area at both the start 

and end of your assigned shift, careful to do so 

within seven minutes of the assigned time. If not 

reporting to your regularly assigned location, 

another card reader on the campus may be used. If 

working off campus, your manager is to be notified 

so the in and out swipe times can be entered into 

your time card. Your unpaid meal break of 30 

minutes is automatically deducted. Yale-New Haven 

Hospital will compensate non-exempt employees for 

all hours worked. 

Any deviations from your regular work schedule 

must be documented and authorized by your 

supervisor. If you work through your meal period, it 

is your responsibility to record this according to 

your department’s procedures. If you are unsure 

how to record time worked during previously 

unscheduled time, please contact your supervisor 

or Human Resources. 

You are responsible for keeping your own time 

record, and may neither record the time of another 

employee nor record time other than that actually 

worked. Willful falsification of time records or 

recording another employee’s time is considered a 

major violation of the rules of employee conduct 

and can result in disciplinary action up to and 

including discharge. 

Leaving the Premises during a Work Shift 

If you need to leave your work area or department 

during the workday for any reason other than a 

scheduled meal break, you must get permission from 

your manager. You should clock in and out if this 

period extends beyond your normal meal period. 

Pay Periods / Payday / Direct Deposit / 

Online Pay Stubs 

You will receive your paycheck every other week, 

on a Thursday. The pay period ends on a Saturday 

at midnight before the payday. Your check will be 

given to you in person or deposited directly to your 

personal bank account, if you set up direct deposit. 

Direct deposit for your paycheck is a good option, 

as it allows you to receive the funds from your check 

immediately and more quickly than you would by 

receiving a physical check and depositing it yourself. 

Direct deposit forms are available in the Human 

Resources Office for your convenience. Your 

supervisor can help answer any further questions 

you might have regarding payroll at Yale-New 

Haven Hospital. If you choose to use direct deposit, 

you can elect to view your check stub online, using 

Employee Self Service, instead of receiving a paper 

check stub. 

Transfers and Promotions 

Yale-New Haven Hospital encourages employees 

to advance their careers at the hospital. You may 

want to apply for other positions within your department, 

another area of the hospital or within the Yale 

New Haven Health System. Transfers and promotions 

are determined by the requirements of the 

position and the need to hire the most qualified 

individual for each position. 

The hospital supports your goals for career 

advancement and assists you in those efforts. In 

addition to tuition assistance and career counseling, 

the hospital ensures all vacant positions are initially 

made available to current employees before external 

candidates are considered. 

Once a vacant position has been approved for 

recruitment, the Recruitment and Staffing department 

prepares a job posting, which is made available 

online on the hospital website or in the “Jobs” 

section of the Human Resources Intranet. You can 

access the online job postings from any computer 

terminal within Yale-New Haven Hospital, including 

available terminals in the Human Resources department, 

between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday. Step-by-step instructions are available 

on the hospital’s Intranet. 

In addition, employees can access internal job 

postings via the Internet from home, school or any 

computer with Internet access. Employees who are 

on vacation or unable to spend time at a hospitalbased 

computer can view internal job postings 

at their leisure by going to www.ynhh.org. If you 

encounter any difficulties, contact the Help Desk 

at 203-688-4357. 

Jobs are posted internally for seven days, during 

which, if interested and qualified, you can apply for 

the position. Employees who respond during the 

seven-day posting period are considered before any 

commitment is made to external candidates. 

You are eligible to apply for a posting if: 

• You have completed your orientation period. 

• You have been in your present position for at 

least six months. 

• You have a score on your most recent 

performance evaluation of at least “meets 

expectations” / “successful.” 

• You do not have any active written disciplinary 

warnings in your personnel file. 

• You meet the minimum qualifications of the job 

for which you are applying. 

All applications are reviewed by one of the HR 

recruiters. Those applicants who are eligible to 

apply and who qualify based on the posted job 

requirements are referred to the hiring managers 

for review. 

The hiring managers will interview those candidates 

who best meet the needs of the department. 

Although all referred applications are reviewed, 

there is no requirement that all referred candidates 

are to be interviewed by the manager. 

All candidates will be notified in writing by 

a representative of the Recruitment and 

Staffing department at the conclusion of the 

selection process regarding the outcome of the 

selection process. 

17 


Expectations and Guidelines 

18 

Workplace Expectations 

And Guidelines 

Evaluating Job Performance 

We believe it is important to give you periodic 

feedback about your job performance as a way of 

helping you to grow, develop and achieve your 

career goals at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Your 

success is a shared responsibility between you and 

the hospital. 

In addition to meeting job-specific competencies 

and expectations, all employees are expected to 

demonstrate a commitment to our Six Core Success 

Factors. These factors define desirable work behaviors 

consistent with the hospital’s commitment to 

Service Excellence. 

Core Success Factors 

Every Yale-New Haven Hospital employee is 

expected to be: 

• A Team Player – displaying willingness and 

cooperation when interacting with others 

• A Communicator – effectively expressing your 

thoughts and engaging in productive dialogue 

• Open-minded and Flexible – demonstrating 

willingness to entertain new ideas, people and 

approaches to work 

• A Problem Solver – demonstrating a mindset and 

skills to address and resolve issues and obstacles 

to progress 

• Helpful – demonstrating responsive, respectful 

and caring behavior toward customers 

• Friendly – treating people as guests, with warmth 

and goodwill 

• Personally Effective and Accountable – 

accepting ownership and accountability for 

job-related outcomes 

As part of your development plan, we encourage 

managers to have informal and formal performance 

evaluation conversations with their employees. It is 

very important to your success that your manager 

talks with you on an ongoing, informal basis about 

your job performance. Those discussions may 

include coaching, problem solving, recognition and 

progress reports on projects and assignments, as 

well as assessment of the competencies and expected 

work behaviors specific to your job. 

You will also have a more formal performance 

review discussion with your manager at the conclusion 

of your orientation period (usually three to six 

months, depending on your job category) and at 

least once a year after that. As part of those discussions, 

you will have an evaluation of your performance 

relative to the responsibilities and expectations 

of your position and your established goals for 

the year. You and your supervisor will document a 

performance improvement plan for any competencies 

where it is felt that you need improvement. 

Managing Performance 

We want employees to be successful at performing 

their jobs. However, if an employee’s performance 

is not meeting expectations, the hospital will 

attempt to work with that employee to correct the 

performance. Depending on the circumstances 

surrounding the performance concerns, corrective 

action could include counseling, development of a 

performance improvement plan or, if warranted, 

progressive discipline. 

Basic Code of Employee Conduct 

Your adherence to certain rules and expectations 

governing employee behavior is necessary for the 

efficient operation of Yale-New Haven Hospital, as 

well as for the benefit and safety of all employees 

and patients. Conduct that interferes with hospital 

operations, is offensive to others or is not in the best 

interests of other staff or patients cannot be tolerated. 

It is important to be familiar with these expectations 

in order to help ensure a positive, productive 

workplace and the safety and well-being of patients 

and co-workers. 

The Code of Employee Conduct, listed below, is 

by no means all-inclusive, and it does not preclude 

any hospital employee from being required to 

comply with additional rules or standards as set out 

by their department and/or the hospital where 

appropriate. Appropriate disciplinary measures will 

be taken in cases where there has been a violation of 

the Code. While some aspects of the Code may be 

discussed in more detail elsewhere in this Handbook, 

the following lays out a brief description of 

your responsibilities as an employee of Yale-New 

Haven Hospital: 

• Patient information must only be discussed with 

authorized personnel, in private areas and in 

strict compliance with HIPAA guidelines. 

• You must wear your I.D. badge while on duty as a 

means of identification to patients, visitors and 

other hospital personnel. 

• You must refrain from engaging in abusive, 

provocative or profane language or actions, and 

must refrain from creating or being party to any 

form of physical violence or threatening behavior. 

• You should observe the principles of mutual 

respect in your contact with patients and visitors, 

as well as in your working relationships with your 

supervisor and co-workers. 

• Sexual harassment that includes unwelcome 

advances, requests for sexual favors, offensive 

verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature (e.g. 

unsolicited remarks, gestures or physical contact, 

name calling, sexually suggestive comments, 

conduct or profanity) is strictly prohibited. 

• Soliciting or accepting gratuities, gifts or personal 

favors from patients or visitors is strictly forbidden. 

Offers of gratuities or personal gifts should 

be graciously declined. 

• Unclaimed property found on hospital premises 

must be delivered to the Protective Services 

Department, where a lost-and-found service 

is provided. 

• Written, oral and posted instructions from authorized 

personnel (e.g. supervisor, department 

head, Protective Services staff) must be followed. 

• Regular and punctual attendance must be maintained. 

Departmental instructions for reporting 

absenteeism from work should be followed. 

• You must not report to work or be on hospital 

premises while under the influence or exhibiting 

odor of intoxicating liquor or controlled 

substances, or be otherwise unfit for duty. 

• You must obtain permission from your supervisor 

when it becomes necessary to leave your work 

area during working hours. 

• Your working time must be accurately recorded, 

and you may not record the working time of 

other employees. This includes daily “swiping” in 

and out at appropriate card readers. 

• Whenever needed, you are expected to respond 

to work assignments outside of regularly scheduled 

hours as may be necessary to provide essential 

staffing. 

• Because of the large volume of hospital business 

transacted by telephone, incoming and outgoing 

personal telephone calls must be limited to those 

of an urgent nature. 

• Personal mail must be addressed to your residence 

rather than the hospital. 

• Packages, handbags, purses, tote bags, brief cases, 

shopping bags or other containers being brought 

into or taken from the hospital must be opened 

for inspection upon request by supervisors or 

Protective Services staff. 

• You should assist in keeping hospital equipment, 

buildings and grounds clean, orderly and in good 

condition. In general, you should avoid creating 

or contributing to unsanitary conditions. 

• Public lounges, lobbies and waiting areas, including 

patient care division solaria, are provided for 

patients and visitors, and should not be used for 

employee breaks or meal periods. 

• You may be expected to wear prescribed uniforms 

while on duty, if your position warrants it. 

• Sleeping on the job, except while on an on-call 

status, is strictly forbidden. 

• Theft, misappropriation or the removal from 

hospital premises (without supervisory approval) 

of property belonging to patients, visitors, contractors, 

other employees or the hospital is strictly 

forbidden. This includes the removal of hospital 

property that has been discarded or sample 

products, unless prior approval has been granted 

by the supervisor. 

• Inaccurate or false information must not be 

entered on hospital records, including patient 

records, time records, employment applications 

or other personnel forms. 

• Under no circumstances should unauthorized 

firearms or weapons of any kind be brought onto 

hospital premises. 

• Hospital property and equipment must be used 

or operated in a safe and proper manner. Failing 

19 





20 

to use safety devices or making them inoperative 

is a serious offense. All hospital property must be 

returned upon termination. 

• You should not engage in horseplay, scuffling, 

running, throwing of any objects or unprofessional 

behavior while on hospital premises. 

• Gambling, including the sale of lottery or raffle 

tickets, is prohibited on hospital premises. 

• You may not sell or otherwise solicit payment for 

any form of merchandise or services for your own 

account while on hospital property. 

• You must observe safe work practices and 

published safety rules. 

• You must observe the hospital’s tobacco-free 

policy. 

• You must know and observe established fire 

emergency procedures. 

• You should not have other employees or guests 

visit you in work areas. 

• When not on duty, you may not be on hospital 

premises, with the exception of hospital parking 

lots or outside non-working areas, except to 

receive medical care, to visit a patient or for valid 

work-related reasons. 

• You must not commit any criminal act on hospital 

premises or against hospital employees, patients 

or visitors. 

• When purporting to represent Yale-New Haven 

Hospital, you must accurately represent the 

hospital, yourself and your position to patients, 

visitors and the general public. You must not 

use another employee’s identification card or 

I.D. badge. 

• You should use only authorized hospital entrances 

and exits. 

• Violation of access to confidential information, 

including dissemination of computer security 

access codes and/or unauthorized use, is strictly 

prohibited. 

• You are expected to be properly dressed and 

groomed appropriate to a professional business 

environment. 

• You are expected to obey any other rules, regulations 

or guidelines as laid out by your department 

and/or the hospital. 

Employee Records 

Yale-New Haven Hospital maintains employee 

records that must be updated and accessible for 

authorized business reasons. 

Changes to your record are submitted by the 

department management staff or Employee Self 

Service (ESS). It is your responsibility to update 

information using ESS, as changes occur, in the 

following categories: 

• Name 

• Home Address 

• Home Telephone Number 

• Marital Status 

• Emergency Notification Data 

• Licensure or Registration Required 

• Education Completed 

Your records are maintained in confidence and 

with appropriate security. 

You have the right to inspect your own personnel 

files. Your records are accessible, for legitimate 

business reasons, through the Human Resources 

staff and your manager. 

Attendance and Absenteeism 

Because the hospital’s primary mission is to 

provide quality care and service to patients and their 

families at all times, it is essential that you maintain 

good attendance and punctuality in the performance 

of your job. If you are going to be late or 

unable to come to work, it is important that you 

contact your manager to make him or her aware of 

the situation. Poor attendance or excessive absenteeism 

may result in disciplinary action, up to and 

including discharge. 

Unscheduled absence is defined as any scheduled 

work period that an employee misses without prior 

management approval. We track unscheduled 

absences. For continued absences, the action that is 

taken depends on your number of absences during 

the last 12 months for a full-time employee, as 

outlined below: 

Four occurrences within a 90-day period – You will 

receive verbal counseling, including an action plan 

and consequences of future unscheduled absences. 

Seven occurrences (including the four prior 

absences) – You will receive a written warning, 

including next steps and consequences if the 

behavior continues. 

Nine occurrences (including the seven prior 

absences) – You will receive a final written warning, 

which is considered to be final notice for this issue/ 

behavior, and employment will be terminated if the 

behavior continues. 

Eleven occurrences (including the nine prior 

absences) – Your employment will be terminated. 

Part-time employee unscheduled absences are 

subject to discipline based on scheduled hours. 

Please refer to Human Resources Policy B:6 for 

details. 

Lateness or early departure is defined as reporting 

for work after the starting time of your shift or 

leaving before your shift is completed. If this is a 

recurring problem, your manager will talk with you 

about correcting such behavior. Each incident of 

tardiness or early departure counts as half an incident 

of unscheduled absenteeism. 

Solicitation and Distribution 

No solicitation or distribution of any kind will be 

allowed during working time. Working time is 

defined as any portion of the working day during 

which you are paid to perform your job duties; 

that does not include unpaid time, such as unpaid 

meal periods. 

No solicitation or distribution of any kind to 

other employees who are on working time will be 

allowed, even if you are on non-working time. 

Additionally, no solicitation or distribution of 

any kind will be allowed to take place in patient 

care areas. 

Non-employees will not be allowed on the hospital 

premises to solicit or distribute for any reason, 

unless authorized by the hospital. 

These rules will be strongly enforced in order to 

avoid the disruption of patient care at the hospital. 

Hospital Equipment and Materials 

You may use the equipment and materials owned 

by the hospital to complete business needs. However, 

remember that such materials and equipment 

belong to Yale-New Haven Hospital and should be 

treated accordingly. You will be expected to keep 

hospital equipment, buildings and grounds clean, 

orderly and in good condition, and should avoid 

creating or contributing to unsanitary conditions. 

Hospital property and equipment must be used or 

operated in a safe and proper manner. Making 

equipment inoperative or failing to use safety 

devices is a serious offense. All hospital property 

must be returned upon termination. 

Gifts and Gratuities 

If you have direct contact with patients or visitors, 

you may at no time say or do anything that could be 

construed as inviting gifts or gratuities. When gifts 

of a personal nature are offered by patients or visitors, 

they should be discouraged. In circumstances where 

acceptance is unavoidable, a nominal gift, such as 

flowers or candy, which is intended as a token of 

appreciation, may be accepted. Such gifts must be in 

good taste and may not include money, loans of 

money or intoxicating beverages. 

When relatives, patients or friends express a 

desire to make a gift to the hospital in appreciation, 

they should be referred to the Development Office 

at 203-688-9644, which will advise the donor with 

respect to a suitable gift. 

Adverse Weather Conditions 

Yale-New Haven Hospital needs to provide 

essential services to our hospital patients during 

emergency weather conditions. Any employee 

scheduled to work during a declared state weather 

emergency is expected to make every reasonable 

effort to be at work. During such periods, employees 

may be reassigned to best meet patient and 

operational needs. If an employee is unable to be at 

work, they will need to use any accumulated paid 

time off (PTO). If an employee is able to come to 

work, but will arrive late for their shift due to 

weather conditions, they will be paid from the start 

of their regularly scheduled shift. Department 

management will determine what constitutes a 

reasonable timeframe on a case-by-case basis. 

Employees who receive permission to leave 

early due to weather conditions will be paid for 

hours worked. 

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22 

Licensure, Registration and Required 

Certification 

You will need to provide satisfactory proof 

that you meet licensure, registration or certification 

required for your job prior to beginning employment. 

It is your responsibility to maintain all required 

licenses, registrations and certification. You will also 

need to provide proof of any re-licensing, re-registration 

or re-certification at appropriate times. 

Standards of Appearance 

Your personal appearance is important to the 

level of confidence patients have in our care and 

services, and significantly impacts patient satisfaction. 

Neat, clean, appropriate attire is a visual 

confirmation of the pride we take in what we do; it 

also relates to the image we present to patients, 

families, co-workers and visitors. How we appear to 

patients and visitors is an important component of 

maintaining a great first impression as described in 

our Service Excellence Pledge. 

Dress code requirements should meet a business 

standard as determined by your department. Your 

clothing should always be clean and in good condition. 

Any item of clothing, jewelry, makeup or hair 

style that distracts or detracts from the hospital’s 

public image, proper performance of your job 

responsibilities, or compromises the health or safety 

of patients, staff or visitors will not be permitted. 

Personal grooming and attire should respect the 

diversity of taste and style, but avoid extremes of 

fashion. Personal statements expressed by symbols, 

messages or insignia must be appropriate and 

consistent with our goals and policies of safety and 

patient satisfaction. 

If you request an exception to these guidelines 

based on medical or religious needs, you must do so 

in writing to your manager. 

The hospital may require you to wear a designated 

uniform during your working hours. These uniforms 

will be issued by the hospital or furnished by you 

according to established policies. Uniforms issued 

by the hospital are not to be taken from or worn off 

hospital premises, except on meal periods or in the 

performance of hospital duties. Uniforms should 

not be altered or changed from the intended design 

and appearance. Please refer to Human Resources 

Policy B:4 for more details about workplace appearance 

expectations and guidelines. Be sure to consult 

with your manager about any job-specific or uniform 

requirements. 

Photo I.D. Badge 

An I.D. badge will be issued by Protective Services 

at the beginning of your employment and should be 

returned to your manager upon completion of 

employment. Employees are required to identify 

themselves to hospital management or security staff 

upon request. 

You are required to visibly display the hospitalissued 

photo-identification card, or I.D. badge, on 

your clothing at all times while on hospital property. 

I.D. badges should not be altered or defaced in any 

way or decorated by the addition of decals, insignias 

or pins of any type. 

Lost or stolen I.D. badges should be immediately 

reported to the Protective Services Department. 

Replacement I.D. badges will be issued by Protective 

Services for a fee. Replacement I.D. badges will be 

provided at no charge for change of name, title, 

position, department or appearance when the 

original badge is returned. 

Telephone Courtesy 

Hospital telephones are for hospital business 

only, except in cases of emergency. Please use public 

phones or your personal cell phone for personal 

calls. To the extent possible, personal calls should 

not be made during work time. The hospital may 

charge you for the cost of any personal calls made 

on hospital phones. 

Your courtesy when using the telephone in the 

course of conducting hospital business reflects well 

on the hospital and makes work more pleasant for 

you and those with whom you communicate. In using 

the telephone, please answer promptly. Identify 

yourself and your department. Be careful to give 

accurate answers. Always be kind and courteous. 

Electronic Communications 

Yale-New Haven Hospital provides staff with 

access and authorization to use electronic communications 

systems and devices in order to perform 

their jobs more efficiently and effectively. You 

should use these electronic communications 

responsibly and for business purposes only. Along 

with such use goes a responsibility to safeguard 

devices assigned to you, comply with policies governing 

their use and protect the confidentiality of 

patient information. All hospital computers, portable 

drives and PDAs that contain patient or 

confidential information must be encrypted. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital reserves the right to 

monitor, at its discretion, the use of electronic 

communications systems by means of direct or 

remote observation and access. 

Electronic communication systems include, but 

are not limited to, email (and electronically transmitted 

data files), electronic calendar, telephone, 

voice mail, pagers, Internet and Intranet, and may 

be modified from time to time without notice. 

You should refer to Human Resources Policy 

B:16 for details about electronic communications. 

Tobacco-Free Environment 

As a healthcare institution, Yale-New Haven 

Hospital is committed to providing a tobacco-free 

environment for patients, employees, visitors and 

others on properties owned or leased by the hospital. 

This includes buildings, parking lots and most 

sidewalk areas surrounding the hospital. This policy 

supports not only good health but also our Service 

Excellence Pledge to make a great first impression. 

Work Environment 

We all have a responsibility to ensure a safe and 

respectful work environment for everyone. Part of 

this requires that you support the hospital’s Equal 

Employment Opportunity, Affirmative Action and 

other employee-development policies and programs. 

The hospital prohibits discrimination on the 

basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national 

origin, sexual orientation, disability, genetic information, 

military or veteran status or other characteristics 

protected by federal, state and local law. 

You also should strive to maintain a safe and 

healthy work and patient care environment. This 

includes following all policies, procedures, laws and 

regulations applicable to the environmental aspects 

of the hospital’s operations, including use of buildings, 

property, laboratory processes, chemicals and 

medical equipment and products. 

Elevator Use 

You will notice that certain elevators in the hospital 

are designated for patient transport only. Please 

obey the posted signs on or near elevators. This 

helps to ensure that our patient transport needs are 

met in the safest and most efficient manner. 

Media Contact 

Any newspaper, radio or television inquiries 

you receive for information about the hospital or 

requests for interviews should be brought to the 

attention of your supervisor. Any such information 

provided to the media must first be routed through 

the Yale-New Haven Hospital Marketing and 

Communications Department (203-688-2488). 

Threats or Aggressive Behavior 

It is the hospital’s goal to maintain an environment 

for employees, patients and visitors that is 

free from threats and acts of violence and any 

behaviors intended to intimidate or create fear. 

Threats against individuals, regardless of how 

transmitted (written, verbally, electronically), are 

not tolerated under any circumstance and are 

grounds for dismissal. If you should observe any 

such act by any person on hospital property, you 

should immediately report it to the appropriate 

supervisor and/or Employee Relations. 

Sexual Harassment 

It is our policy that all individuals should enjoy a 

work atmosphere free from sexual harassment. 

Sexual harassment infringes on an individual’s right 

to a comfortable work environment and serves to 

undermine the integrity of the employment relationship. 

No individual — male or female — should be 

subject to unsolicited or unwelcome sexual advances 

or harassing conduct, either verbal or physical. 

23 





Sexual harassment in the workplace is also a form of 

employment discrimination and is prohibited by law. 

Sexual harassment refers to unwelcome sexual 

advances, requests for sexual favors and other 

conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment can 

also include vulgar and crude comments and jokes, 

gestures and behavior. Physical contact is not a 

necessary element of sexual harassment. 

All questions, complaints or allegations concerning 

sexual harassment should be brought to the 

attention of your supervisor or the manager of 

Employee Relations. If appropriate, the manager of 

Employee Relations will undertake an investigation 

of all allegations of sexual harassment in a prompt 

and confidential manner and will take appropriate 

corrective action, where warranted. 

The hospital will take disciplinary action against 

any person found to have engaged in sexual 

harassment. Such action may include discharge. 

In addition, where appropriate, the complainant 

will be informed of the ultimate disposition of 

the investigation. 

Retaliation in any form against an employee who 

HAVEN, the Health Assistance interVention 

Education Network, was established to provide 

confidential support to caregivers with chemical 

dependency or mental health issues. In June 2007, 

HAVEN and the Department of Public Health 

joined forces to support P.A. 07-103, a statute 

enabling confidential treatment and counseling for 

Connecticut Health Professionals, with the common 

goal of “Intervention Before Harm.” Where appropriate, 

the Yale-New Haven Hospital Employee 

Assistance Program uses HAVEN as a referral 

source for caregiver staff experiencing substance or 

other problems that may affect their practice. 

Progressive Corrective Action 

Yale-New Haven Hospital encourages the highest 

standards in employee conduct in order to promote 

Employees in their orientation period normally 

the best possible patient care, safeguard hospital 

will not be issued disciplinary actions. Any newly 

equipment and property and ensure that the rights 

hired orientation-status employee may be released 

of patients, visitors and employees are respected. 

at will and without further notice, and such action 

When an employee displays unacceptable job 

is not subject to review under the hospital-wide 

behavior, violates established customer-service 

Problem Review Procedure. 

24 exercises his or her right to make a complaint under 

25 

this policy, or against a witness who participates in 

an investigation, is strictly prohibited and will itself 

be cause for appropriate disciplinary action, including 

termination. Failure to participate fully and 

truthfully in the investigation can also result in 

disciplinary action, including termination. 

Substance-Free Workplace 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is committed to a work 

environment free of substance abuse. The unlawful 

manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, 

presence in the body or use of a controlled substance 

and/or alcohol, drugs, perception-altering or 

other substances is prohibited at any time during 

work hours, whether or not you are on duty or on 

hospital premises. Compliance with this policy is a 

condition of employment. 

If you are convicted of drug abuse or possession, 

you will be reviewed by your department to determine 

what action may be necessary as the conviction 

relates to your duties for the hospital. 

If you suspect a co-worker of abusing this policy, 

you should speak to your manager or the Human 

Resources Department. 

standards, fails to comply with policies and procedures 

or commits an act of misconduct, the hospital 

follows a formal procedure to document such 

actions and reinforce what is expected. The usual 

procedures are: 

Employee Counseling: The employee is counseled 

by his or her supervisor or department head in an 

effort to eliminate possible misunderstandings and 

to explain what is considered appropriate behavior 

or acceptable job performance. 

Verbal Warning: Following unsuccessful attempts to 

correct the problem through repeated counseling, 

the employee will be verbally warned that the 

repetition and severity of the offense is a violation 

of departmental and/or hospital policy, and that 

further discipline may follow if the employee continues 

to commit the offense in question or does not 

otherwise correct the problem. 

Written Reprimand: The employee receives written 

notice of discipline following intentional or repeated 

offenses. 

Final Written Warning: The employee receives 

final written notice of discipline, following 

serious misconduct or further repeated offenses. 

Disciplinary time off without pay or suspension 

may also be given, except in the case of attendance 

and punctuality. 

Discharge: The employee receives written notice 

of discharge. 

For serious acts of misconduct or where the 

employee is under a performance improvement 

plan or other form of discipline, one or more of the 

procedures described above may be bypassed. 

Depending on the seriousness of the offense, the 

above procedures may be accelerated, up to and 

including immediate discharge. 

Employee Code of Conduct and Discipline 

During Orientation Period 

Problem Review Procedure 

In this organization, as in any organization, 

there will be times when job-related misunderstandings 

and problems may arise. It is always 

preferable for employees to try to resolve differences 

through discussion in a respectful and open 

manner. If issues cannot be satisfactorily resolved 

in this way, an employee has the option of using 

the Problem Review Procedure. While not every 

problem can be resolved to the full satisfaction of 

all parties, Yale-New Haven Hospital has developed 

a Problem Review Procedure to help improve 

communication and reach a satisfactory resolution 

to problems in the workplace. Employees can use 

this process without fear of reprisal. It is policy that 

you deal professionally and courteously with all 

involved throughout such a process. The Problem 

Review Procedure can be used for any employee 

dissatisfaction relating to employment. Casual 

status, temporary and newly hired probationary 

employees are ineligible to use the Problem 

Review Procedure. Please refer to Human 

Resources Policy B:2 for details. 


Compensation and Benefits 

26 

Compensation 

and Benefits 

Compensation System 

Yale-New Haven Hospital seeks to ensure that 

you are fairly compensated for the work you do and 

for your level of performance in your job. The 

hospital aims to maintain competitive levels of 

compensation, and ensures that there is a written 

job description and position evaluation plan for all 

positions in order to provide a standard method for 

effectively administering and planning compensation. 

Your pay rate is based on the salary grade of 

your position and your related work experience, 

among other factors. 

Additional compensation programs include 

the Employee Performance Incentive Plan (PIP) 

and opportunities for special achievement awards, 

both of which are described in the section “Recognition 

Programs.” 

Our Employee Performance Incentive Plan (PIP) 

is a program that provides a monetary reward to all 

employees if specific, measurable, hospital-wide 

goals are met or exceeded each fiscal year. The goals 

and earning potential vary from year to year, but 

focus on key performance factors that include 

financial, patient safety and satisfaction and department-specific 

goals. You can participate in PIP 

during any fiscal year in which you work at least 

1,000 hours. 

Special Achievement awards of up to 2 percent of 

salary can be awarded to employees who achieve 

specific challenging goals or perform at exceptionally 

high levels. Department managers can nominate 

an employee for this special award. 

Performance Evaluation and Pay Increases 

Performance reviews take place on a regularly 

scheduled basis, with the goal of developing and 

guiding you in your career at Yale-New Haven 

Hospital. Initial performance evaluations are com- 

pleted three to six months after your date of hire, 

depending on your job category. The performance 

evaluation process consists of a discussion of 

strengths and areas needing improvement in a 

specific, measurable and objective manner. 

Performance reviews evaluate your job competencies 

and work behaviors. They also allow supervisors 

to make merit increase determinations and evaluate 

your suitability for current and future positions. 

Additionally, reviews help the hospital better 

determine training and/or remediation needs, 

provide a record of your progress, and ensure that 

mandatory compliance standards are maintained 

on a timely basis. 

Eligible employees are entitled to a merit pay 

increase at the time of their first annual performance 

evaluation and annually thereafter, according 

to the compensation plan guidelines of the 

hospital for that fiscal year. Merit increases are given 

as a percentage increase, based on your level of 

performance during the past year. If you should 

reach the maximum of the pay range for your job, 

your annual increase may be paid as a lump sum 

bonus instead of as an increase to your rate of pay. 

Merit increases are not guaranteed each year. 

Review dates may be changed if the employee is on 

an extended leave of absence or receives a promotional 

increase during the review year. 

Overtime 

There will be times when you may be asked to 

work overtime. Non-exempt employees will be 

compensated for hours worked in excess of 40 in 

the workweek. The overtime rate is not less than 

one-and-one-half times your regular rate of pay, and 

may be higher, based on pay-rate calculations of all 

hours and dollars earned each week. 

Your manager must authorize overtime work in 

advance. Your manager may require that you 

document your overtime hours worked in a payroll 

log maintained in your department. 

Premium Pay 

As compensation for working evening, night or 

weekend shifts, the hospital provides additional pay 

to non-exempt employees who work any of those 

shifts or any combination of those shifts. 

Differentials 

Off-shift premiums will be paid only for time actually 

worked, and is not to be included in paid time 

off (PTO), extended sick leave or other forms of 

paid leave. For shifts that cross over the designated 

start times for day, evening, night and weekend, the 

determining factor for premium eligibility will be 

where the majority of the hours are worked. 

Definitions of Off-Shift Hours 

Evening Shift – The evening shift is considered to 

be between the hours of 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. An 

evening off-shift premium will be paid for all hours 

for any scheduled shift that begins on or after 

11 a.m. or in which at least one half of the shift 

falls after 3 p.m. 

Night Shift – The night shift is considered to be 

between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. A night off-shift premium 

will be paid for all hours worked between 

11 p.m. and 8 a.m. 

Night Shift Extension – When a night shift is 

extended beyond 8 a.m., a night shift premium 

will be paid for all hours worked on the night shift 

until 12 p.m. 

Weekend Shift – A weekend off-shift premium will 

be paid for all hours worked between 11 p.m. Friday 

night and 12 a.m. Monday morning. For 12-hour 

shifts beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, a weekend 

premium will be paid for all hours between 7 p.m. 

Friday and 7 p.m. Sunday. 

On-Call Pay 

Employees who are regularly required to be 

on-call to meet patient care needs or to maintain 

efficient operations will be compensated appropriately. 

If your position requires you to be on-call, you 

will be notified by your manager. You will be advised 

by your supervisor if your position will require 

you to be on call, how it will work and the rate of 

compensation for on-call hours. 

Benefits 

As part of our total compensation package, 

Yale-New Haven Hospital provides a wide variety of 

benefits to eligible employees, including a variety of 

health and wellness plans, salary continuation plans, 

time-off, retirement plan options and other benefits. 

Please consult your Summary Plan Descriptions 

(SPD) or the Benefits Office for details of the 

benefits plans and options available to you. Below 

you will find a brief summary of our comprehensive 

benefits. 

Health and Welfare Benefits 

These benefits include medical, prescription 

drug, dental, vision care and life insurance benefits 

for you and your dependents, as well as flexible 

spending accounts. The options available allow you 

to choose which plans best meet your needs. 

Each year during our annual open enrollment 

period, you select the benefits you want for the 

following year. Newly hired, eligible employees will 

select their benefits shortly after their hire date. You 

can change those elections during the year only if 

you have a qualifying event in family status (e.g., 

birth of a child, marriage, divorce, etc.). For more 

information, please contact the Benefits Office. 

Retirement Benefits 

Yale-New Haven Hospital provides two retirement 

plans designed to help provide employees 

with future financial security. The first, entirely 

funded by Yale-New Haven Hospital, is the Cash 

Account Pension Plan, to which the hospital annually 

contributes a percentage of your pay based on 

your years of service. The second is the Matching 

Tax Sheltered Annuity (TSA) 403(b) Plan. If you 

contribute at least 5 percent of your pay, YNHH 

will contribute an additional 3 percent. You can 

increase or decrease your contribution at any time. 

You can contribute up to the annual IRS limit for 

a 403(b) Plan. 

There are additional benefits that provide assistance 

with medical care costs upon retirement for 

employees who retire at 55 years of age or older 

with at least 10 years of service. For more information, 

contact the Benefits Office. 

Tuition Assistance / Loan Forgiveness 

Tuition assistance is available to regular benefitseligible 

full-time and part-time employees who have 

27 





28 

When a death occurs in an employee’s immediate 

family, the bereaved employee will be granted time 

off with pay up to three working days, to a maxisatisfied 

the six-month waiting period and have not 

received a recent overall performance evaluation 

of “Not Demonstrated.” 

You will be able to receive tuition assistance for 

individual job-related courses for which college 

credit is granted and are a part of an Associate’s, 

Bachelor’s or Master’s level degree. Some non-degree 

or selected certificate courses are also eligible 

for tuition assistance, if they meet certain criteria. 

You should consult with a Human Resources representative 

to ensure which courses are eligible. 

The Loan Forgiveness Program provides additional 

tuition assistance to eligible employees 

pursuing a career in nursing, respiratory therapy or 

diagnostic radiology. Detailed information is available 

from the Human Resources Office. 

Day Care Center 

The hospital operates an on-site day care center 

for the convenience of employees seeking childcare 

during daytime work hours. The day care center is 

located directly across the street from the main 

hospital complex. Tuition is automatically paid 

through a payroll-deduction program, and some 

scholarship assistance is available. Please call 

203-688-5246 for more information. 

Paid Time Off 

The Paid Time Off (PTO) Program provides a 

specified number of paid days each year for scheduled 

and unscheduled absences from work. Instead 

of separate allowances for vacation time, holiday 

time, sick leave and other personal time, PTO 

combines the specific number of days, which you 

may take according to your individual interests, 

needs or circumstances, into one program. 

You are eligible for PTO if you are regularly 

scheduled for at least 24 hours per week. You will 

begin to earn PTO for each pay period after the first 

90 days of employment. PTO is based on your job 

category and on hours paid each pay period (including 

regular hours worked, jury duty, bereavement, 

PTO used and miscellaneous), up to and including 

80 hours paid in the pay period. PTO accrued in the 

current pay period is available to be used in the next 

pay period. If you are on approved leave of absence, 

you may continue to earn PTO based on PTO used 

during the leave. For more details, please see 

Human Resources Policy H:18. 

Holidays 

Yale-New Haven Hospital observes the following 

eight major holidays each year: 

• New Year’s Day 

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 

• Good Friday 

• Memorial Day 

• Independence Day 

• Labor Day 

• Thanksgiving Day 

• Christmas Day 

A listing of these holidays, and the dates and 

shifts that are observed by the hospital, is provided 

to departments annually by the Department of Compensation 

and Benefits. Please ask your manager for 

the listing for this year. Because we provide patient 

care around the clock, the hospital recognizes that 

working on a holiday sometimes represents time 

away from family celebrations, and thus provides 

additional holiday pay, at the rate of time and a half, 

to all non-exempt staff and certain exempt staff who 

are scheduled to work during one of the eight major 

holidays listed. 

Bereavement Days 

Yale-New Haven Hospital will grant reasonable 

bereavement time off without loss of pay if a death 

occurs in your immediate family and, when staffing 

permits, to attend the funeral of a deceased co-worker. 

Immediate Family – Spouse, parent, daughter, 

son, brother, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, 

daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 

a person who is legally acting in one of the 

above capacities, or another relative living in the 

employee’s residence. 

Deceased Co-Worker – A hospital employee at the 

time of death. 

mum of 24 hours, to attend the funeral, to make 

arrangements relating to the death, and as emotional 

stress or other circumstances require. The 

amount of paid bereavement time off authorized 

should be determined by your department head, 

who may require verification of the death and 

relationship. 

This policy applies to all regular employees 

scheduled to work at least 24 hours per week following 

completion of three months of employment. If 

you are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, 

you are not eligible under this policy. 

Jury Duty 

If you are a regular full-time employee, part-time 

employee working 30 hours or more per week, or a 

casual or temporary employee working 30 hours or 

more per week for a period in excess of 90 days, you 

are eligible for lost work time as a result of jury 

duty, if summoned by the state or federal court. 

You must present your notice of summons to 

court to your supervisor as soon as possible, and will 

be expected to work as much of your regularly 

scheduled shift as possible, but not exceeding your 

regularly scheduled hours of work. If you work the 

night shift, you are not required to report to work 

while on jury duty. 

Checks received from the court for jury duty 

compensation must be endorsed to the hospital and 

presented to your supervisor. You should instruct 

the court to issue a separate check for reimbursable 

expenses (mileage, parking). You may retain those 

reimbursable expenses. 

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Absences 

Leaves of absence are available if you are unable 

to work due to a medical condition or illness, the 

serious illness of a family member, or to fulfill 

parental needs for a newborn or adopted child. 

Under this policy, FMLA may be granted for a 

period up to 16 weeks during a 24-month period for 

all eligible employees under Connecticut statutes. 

Under federal provisions, additional time may be 

available if more than 12 months have elapsed since 

the beginning of the last family/medical leave. The 

leave may be paid, unpaid or a combination. For full 

details about FMLA, please see HR Policy C:7. 

Military Leave 

Yale-New Haven Hospital will grant unpaid leaves 

of absence and the right to be re-employed to you if 

you are a member of the armed services. 

Medical benefits will be provided in full for up to 

12 months at the same level of coverage that existed 

for you and eligible dependents prior to the start of 

military leave. For leaves longer than 12 months, 

you may keep your existing group health insurance 

coverage for yourself and/or previously covered 

dependents at full premium under Consolidated 

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). 

When returning from military leave, you will be 

reinstated with all rights and benefits you would 

have attained had you remained continuously 

employed, including health coverage under the 

terms and conditions that existed while you were 

at work. 

When returning from military leave, you will 

receive the full benefits of the employer pension 

plan, including employer contributions accrued 

during the time of leave. 

Personal Leave of Absence 

If you are a regular-status employee, scheduled 

to work 24 hours per week or more, who has completed 

one year of service, and are otherwise eligible, 

you may request an unpaid leave of absence 

for personal reasons for a period not to exceed 

four months. 

Leaves of absence for personal reasons other than 

those related to FMLA will be considered at the 

discretion of your department head or administrative 

officer. 

Extended Sick Leave and Long-Term 

Disability Plans 

Salary continuation benefits will be provided to 

qualifying employees during periods of disability. 

Please consult your Summary Plan Description (SPD) 

or contact the Benefits Office for specifics about 

benefit amounts, waiting periods, duration and other 

particulars regarding qualification for extended sick 

leave and long-term disability coverage. 

29 





30 

Workers’ Compensation 

All employees are covered under Workers’ 

Compensation insurance for any job-related injury 

or illness. You are responsible for immediately 

notifying your supervisor of an accident and/or 

injury that occurs while on the job. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital will do everything 

possible to ensure a speedy return to work if you 

experience a work-related injury or illness. Reasonable 

accommodations will be considered to allow 

you to return to work as soon as possible, and 

include, but are not limited to, modifications to the 

job site, equipment, task and work schedule. 

Other Yale-New Haven Hospital Benefits 

Yale-New Haven Hospital provides a wide variety 

of additional benefits programs designed to provide 

security for you and your family, with opportunities 

for additional cost savings and convenience. Descriptions 

of the programs are available on the 

hospital Intranet, or call the Benefits Office at 

203-688-2401. These programs include: 

• 529 College Savings Plan 

• Adoption Assistance Program 

• Cafeteria Discount 

• Credit Union 

• Dependent Tuition Loan Program 

• Home Ownership Made Easier (H.O.M.E.) 

• On-site Banking 

• Paid Time Off Cash-in 

• Paid Time Off Donation 

• Personal Lines of Insurance (auto, homeowners, 

liability and pet insurance) 

• Retirement Planning Workshops 

• Supplemental Life Insurance (for employees and 

their dependents) 

• Transportation Assistance Programs (mass transit 

subsidy, shuttle bus service) 

Health and Wellness 

Occupational Health Services 

The Occupational Health Services (OHS) at 

Yale-New Haven Hospital provides employmentrelated 

medical care to all employees of the hospital. 

The healthcare professionals in OHS deal constructively 

with the health of employees in relation to 

their work. OHS is committed to ensuring a safe and 

healthy environment for all employees by: 

• Measuring the medical fitness of individuals to 

perform their duties without hazard to themselves 

or others; 

• Establishing a record of the condition of the 

individual at the time of each examination; and 

• Detecting the effects of harmful working conditions 

and advising corrective measures. 

If you become ill or injured on the job, you may 

be referred to OHS for medical evaluation. OHS is 

available to all employees, Monday through Friday, 

from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., and is located in the 

East Pavilion of the main hospital. If you are working 

outside those hours, then your condition should 

be evaluated in the Emergency Department. 

For a full description of services offered, 

please refer to the OHS link in the Human 

Resources Intranet. 

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) 

Yale-New Haven Hospital cares about the health 

and well-being of its employees, and recognizes that 

a variety of personal problems can disrupt their 

personal and work lives. While many employees 

solve their problems either on their own or with the 

help of family and friends, sometimes employees 

need professional assistance and advice. 

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has 

been established to address a variety of issues that 

can negatively affect employees both in and out of 

work, including problems relating to physical illness, 

mental health, financial difficulties, marital/family 

issues, substance abuse or other concerns. Recognizing 

that many of these problems can be successfully 

addressed and treated if identified early on, the 

hospital offers prompt, professional assessment, 

grief counseling and/or referral to other resources 

for ongoing help for you and your immediate family 

to promote remaining healthy and productive, both 

in your career and your family life. 

Participation in EAP is strictly confidential. 

Records are maintained separately from Human 

Resources and employee health files. No information 

revealed by the employee to the counselor will 

be shared, either verbally or in writing, without the 

employee’s knowledge and written consent. Because 

of the confidential nature of the program, the 

counselor will not participate in any disciplinary or 

grievance procedures. 

Minor concerns can become major problems if 

you ignore them. No issue is too small or too large, 

and a professional counselor is available whenever 

you need help. Call 203-688-2256 to contact an EAP 

counselor. 

Wellness Programs 

Yale-New Haven Hospital is committed to 

building a culture of health across the system. 

We provide a variety of programs and services 

designed to educate, motivate and engage employees 

and covered dependents in pursuit of their 

optimal health and well-being. The program’s vision 

is: “Taking Care. Giving Care – Taking excellent 

care of our employees. Giving excellent care to 

our patients.” 

Our system-wide health and wellness program 

is called “livingwell.” It provides a variety of health 

and wellness programs and resources to employees 

to help them make healthy choices everyday. 

You will find more information on current 

“livingwell” programs on the Human Resources 

homepage of the hospital’s Intranet and in 

brochures available in the Human Resources 

department. 

Leaving Yale-New 

Haven Hospital 

Resignation 

If you voluntarily leave your job, you should 

provide your immediate supervisor or department 

head with notice of resignation. The following 

describes what is considered sufficient and insufficient 

notice: 

Sufficient Notice – Should be given either two or 

four weeks in advance of your last day of work, 

depending on your position. 

Insufficient Notice – Notice is less than the period 

of time specified for your position. 

No Notice – Absence without notification for three 

consecutive scheduled work days is considered to be 

job abandonment, and you are considered to have 

voluntarily resigned without notice. 

The notice period should be worked as scheduled. 

If you become temporarily disabled during the 

period between giving notice and the termination 

date, Paid Time Off (PTO) will be allowed only if 

approved by your department head. Unused PTO is 

paid at termination in accordance with PTO policy, 

but in no case may PTO be used to extend the 

termination date. For full details about unused 

PTO, please see HR Policy H:18. 

You must notify your immediate supervisor of 

your intention to resign in writing as soon as possible, 

and notify the Parking Office on your last day 

of work to stop parking deductions. 

Retirement 

Yale-New Haven Hospital greatly values the years 

of service provided by all its employees. In recognition 

of this, the hospital offers many benefits to its 

retirees. A retiree is defined as an employee who 

retires at age 55 or older with at least 10 years of 

continuous service. (See pages 27 and 30 for more 

information on the hospital’s retirement benefits 

and plans.) 

Release of Final Paycheck 

The final paycheck will include pay for work 

performed through your last hour worked. Any 

unused PTO accrued based on your last day of 

31 




INDEX 

32 

work is paid in a separate check issued in the pay 

period following the last day worked, in accordance 

with hospital policy. 

The final paycheck may be reduced by required 

legal deductions, authorized Benefit Plan deductions, 

and deductions authorized by the employee 

(e.g. Credit Union, Tax- Sheltered Annuity, United 

Way, tuition repayment, Savings Bonds, etc.). If you 

resign with insufficient notice or have been discharged, 

you will receive the final paycheck with 

unused PTO reduced for insufficient notice. Your 

final paycheck will be available on the regular pay 

day following the date of termination. Such checks 

are issued through normal payroll distribution 

channels unless alternative distribution arrangements 

are made with Payroll. 

If you are being released or discharged, your final 

paycheck will be made available for distribution by 

the close of the next business day following the date 

of termination. 

Your I.D. badge, hospital-issued keys and 

property must be turned in to your manager on 

your last day worked. 

Termination of Insurance Benefits 

Healthcare / Disability Protection 

Healthcare coverage will be continued through 

the last day of the month of termination. Coverage 

may be extended under the group policy for a 

period allowed by Consolidated Omnibus Budget 

Reconciliation Act (COBRA) legislation, if certain 

requirements are met. If you are approved for 

long-term disability benefits, healthcare coverage 

can be extended for up to one year from initial date 

of disability. 

Extended sick leave coverage ends as of your 

termination date. 

Life Insurance 

Your group term life insurance is cancelled as of 

your termination date. You can convert all or part 

of your coverage to an individual policy. To convert 

coverage, you must apply for conversion to the 

insurance carrier and pay the first premium within 

31 days after your group coverage stops. 

Unemployment Compensation 

In accordance with applicable employment laws, 

the hospital is fully compliant with the Connecticut 

Department of Labor in regards to unemployment 

compensation. 

Accident and crime prevention, 11, 12 

Adoption assistance, 30 

Adverse weather conditions, 21 

Affirmative Action, 5, 6, 23, 

Attendance, 10, 14, 19, 20, 25 

Absenteeism, 19, 20, 21 

Banking, 30 

Benefits, 3-8, 14, 26-32 

Bereavement, 28 

Bulletin boards, 8 

Cafeteria discount, 30 

Career development, 8 

Casual status employee, 14, 25 

Code of conduct, 9, 25 

College savings plan, 30 

Communication, 6, 22, 23, 25 

Compensation, 6, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32 

Complaints, 6, 24 

Compliance, 9, 10, 13, 14, 19, 24, 26 

Confidentiality, 9, 23 

Conflict of interest, 9, 15 

Core success factors, 18 

Corporate compliance, 9, 10 

Corrective action, 9, 18, 24 

Credit union, 30, 32 

Cultural diversity, 5 

Day care center, 28 

Department policies, 14 

Dependent Tuition Loan Program, 30 

Destination hospital, 4 

Direct deposit, 16 

Discharge, 12, 18, 20, 24, 32 

Dress code, 22 

Electronic communications, 22 

Elevator use, 23 

Emergencies and disasters, 11, 12, 15 

Employee Assistance Program 

(EAP), 24, 30 

Employee conduct, 2, 9, 16, 18, 

19, 24, 25 

Employee counseling, 8, 16, 18, 

20, 24, 31 

Employee feedback programs, 6, 7 

Employee records, 20 

Employee relations, 6, 23, 24 

Employee Self Service, 7, 16, 20 

Employee surveys, 6, 7 

Employer of choice, 4, 6 

Employment of friends, relatives and 

significant others, 15 

Employment status classifications, 14 

Equal Employment Opportunity, 

5, 6, 23 

Escort services, 11 

Ethics, 9, 10 

Evening shift, 27 

Extended sick leave, 27, 29, 32 

False Claims Act, 10 

Family Medical Leave Act, 29 

Final written warning, 21, 24 

Fire drills, 13 

Fire safety, 12 

Flex position employee, 14 

Full-time employee, 14, 20, 27, 29 

Gifts and gratuities, 21 

Health benefits, 27 

Health Insurance Portability and 

Accountability Act (HIPAA), 9, 19 

Healthcare/disability protection, 32 

History, 4 

Holidays, 28 

Home buyer assistance program 

(H.O.M.E.), 30 

Hospital equipment, 19, 21, 24 

Human resources, 15, 16, 17, 20, 

21, 23, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31 

I.D. badge, 12, 16, 19, 20, 22, 32 

Infection control, 11 

Insurance, 9, 27, 29, 30, 32 

Intranet, 1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, 

23, 30, 31 

Job performance evaluations, 14, 17, 

18, 24, 28, 30 

Jury duty, 29 

Leaving the premises, 16 

Licensure, registration and 

certification, 20, 22 

Life insurance, 27, 30, 32 

Long-term disability plans, 29, 32 

Material safety data sheets (MSDS), 11 

Meals and rest periods, 15 

Media contact, 23 

Military leave, 29 

Mission, 5 

Mock audits, 10 

Mutual respect, 19 

Night shift, 27 

Non-retaliation policy, 10 

Occupational health services, 11, 30 

Office of workforce diversity, 5 

Off-shift premiums, 27 

On-call pay, 27 

Online pay stubs, 16 

Orientation, 7, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 25 

Overtime, 14, 26 

P.A.S.S., 12 

Paid time off (PTO), 7, 21, 27, 28, 30, 

31, 32 

Parking and commuting options, 15 

Part-time employee, 14, 21, 27, 29 

Pay increases, 26 

Pay periods, 16 

Payday, 16 

Performance evaluation, 17, 18, 26, 28 

Performance Incentive Plan (PIP), 8, 26 

Personal leave of absence, 26, 28, 29 

Personal telephone calls, 19 

Premium pay, 26 

Problem review procedure, 25 

Progressive correction action, 24 

Protected health information, 9 

Protective services, 11, 12, 22 

Publications, 7 

R.A.C.E., 12 

Recognition programs, 8, 26 

Recording work time, 16 

Referring others for employment, 15 

Regulatory readiness, 4, 9 

Resignation, 31 

Retirement, 27, 30, 31 

Safety, 3, 6, 8, 10-13, 18, 20-22, 26 

Service excellence pledge, 2, 3, 4, 

22, 23 

Service excellence, 2, 3, 8, 18, 22, 23 

Sexual harassment, 19, 23, 24 

Solicitation and distribution, 21 

Special achievement awards, 8, 26 

Standards of appearance, 22 

Substance-free workplace, 24 

Telephone courtesy, 22 

Temporary employee, 14, 29 

Threats or aggressive behavior, 23 

Tobacco-free policy, 23 

Transfers and promotions, 16 

Transportation, 15, 30 

Tuition assistance, 8, 16, 27, 28 

TV monitors, 8 

Unemployment compensation, 32 

Uniforms, 19, 22 

Website, 8, 10 

Weekend shift, 26, 27 

Wellness programs, 31 

Work schedules, 15 

Workers’ compensation, 30 

33 



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Employee Handbook - We are YNHH Home

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