People, Processes and Solutions

With the high volume and broad variety of transactions reviewed by the team, please expect a turnaround time of at least 3 – 5 business days for time-sensitive transactions (see section below for more information how we prioritize requests).  General inquiries or future dated transactions may take longer to resolve.

Please note: While we are always busy, our peak periods are April, September and January. During this time, we are typically strained to meet the normal customer service levels, please consider this when putting forward requests for processing and submit your requests and transactions well in advance.

Requests sent to HR are often date-sensitive and our team makes every effort to prioritize the following requests: 

• Requests made before system cut offs (see section on ‘HR Transactions in PeopleSoft and Payroll’ below for more details)
• Requests that impact an employee’s next pay 
• System access to ensure employees can perform their work 
• Requests for offer letters (salaried hires)

Transaction that are not as date-sensitive may have longer approval periods. We will strive to accommodate, but cannot guarantee, last minute requests.

Please consider the dates outlined in the payroll calendar for cut off periods for time entry and pay sensitive transactions.  We are dedicated to completing any HR related transactions received before these deadlines (in relation to the pay calendar), but appreciate more time. We will always try our best to try and accommodate last minute and urgent requests especially for pay sensitive matters or where people need system access to start their jobs. Please note that less time sensitive transactions (e.g. future dated hires, reports to or accounting updates, general inquiries, etc.) may take a bit longer to process if volumes are high.

When engaging with HR by email, you will first get an automated notice that your email has been received by the UService system. Please be patient while our team works through the queue as quickly as they can to address all incoming messages.

Once an agent has picked up your email, you will either get a response from them directly or get an email with a ticket number for your reference. Which means your request has been escalated and assigned to another team to complete.

Once you have received the email with the ticket number, send all status updates and inquiries by REPLYING to the email with the ticket number. This ensures your questions / comments are linked to your existing ticket in your existing place in their queue.

If you have not heard from an advisor or received a ticket number and would like to inquire about the status of your email, please DO NOT send a new email, as this creates multiple tickets and delays in processing. Instead, it is much more effective to call UService at 403.210.9300 and they will track down your email / ticket, expedite if necessary and provide you a status update.

Peak periods for the team are April, September and January. During this time, we typically are strained to meet the normal customer service levels, please consider this when submitting requests for processing and submit your requests well in advance.

Our Team Leads are responsible for managing workloads and responding to requests and inquiries on a timely basis. By using ServiceNow’s ticketing system, we have visibility to requests submitted through UService or through our shared process specific email accounts. See the sections on questions and follow up or dealing with urgent matters or escalations if you have related questions.

Once you have received the email with the ticket number, send all status updates and inquiries by REPLYING to that email . This ensures your questions / comments are linked to your existing ticket in your existing place in their queue.

DO NOT send a new email for status updates as that will only create a new ticket, not connected to the original and will be at the bottom of the queue.

If you have not heard from an advisor or gotten a ticket number yet, and would like to inquire about the status of your email, please DO NOT send a new email, as this creates multiple tickets and delays in processing. Instead, it's much more effective to call UService at 403.210.9300 and they will track down your email / ticket, expedite if necessary and provide you a status update.

Please phone UService at 403.210.9300 if your request is urgent and they will track down your email / ticket, expedite if necessary and provide you a status update.

The HR People, Processes & Solutions team receives and processes thousands of requests/transactions each month. Prioritization is given to ensuring employees have the appropriate status to able to perform their work and employees are paid the correct amount on a timely basis.

Typically, we request you follow up and escalate issues by contacting UService by phone 403.210.9300 (to avoid multiple tickets and confusion).

If you have a concern about the timeliness or quality of work by our team, escalations can be addressed through:

Email: Kyle Fraser, Manager, People, Processes and Solutions
Call: 403.220.7478 (call may be sent to voicemail or forwarded to cell phone)

Email: Heather Crawley, Manager, People, Processes and Solutions
Call: 403.220.2626 (call may be sent to voicemail or forwarded to cell phone)

Email: Louise Percy, Director, People, Processes and Solutions
Call: 403.210.9622 (call may be sent to voicemail or forwarded to cell phone)