Hiring and Paying People

Reimbursed Release Time (RRT) (Course Buyout):

• Is not a monetary payment to the Principal Investigator/Project Director (PI/PD), it is a transfer of funds between ORSP and the PI's/PD's school to temporarily release the PI/PD from some teaching obligations in order to fulfill requirements of a sponsored award.
• Is only available during Fall & Spring semesters.
• Benefits charged to the project are based on institutional pooled benefit rates.
• Reimbursements to the school (and charges to the grant) will be paid as a lump sum during October of the fall semester and March of the spring semester.

Faculty Additional Employment (Overload):

• Is a monetary payment to the PI/PD.
• May be for a set number of days or for an entire semester.
• Includes summer pay for AY appointed faculty.
• Is subject to policies and procedures of Faculty Affairs and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
• Faculty may not exceed a total of 1.25 FTE for all of their appointments combined.

Please note the following:

• In order to request either RRT or Faculty Additional Pay, faculty pay/salary must be included in the budget approved by the funding agency.
• PIs are responsible for fulfilling Time & Effort Reporting requirements for RRT and Faculty Additional Employment on their awards.

Staff

Identify Staffing Need: Based on the requirements, terms, and conditions of an award agreement, the PI/PD should work with their Project Administrator (PA) to identify potential staffing needs. Once a staffing need has been identified and it is agreed that the award allowed for the staff position, the PI/PD should contact the appropriate AM to obtain guidance on the next steps of the hiring process. ORSP will work with the AM and, if necessary, the PI/PD to determine if a personnel action or a recruitment is required and will assist the AM and the PI/PD in initiating the process, as necessary. 

For sponsored programs, personnel actions and recruitment will only occur upon approvals required on the Personnel Action Form or Staff Recruitment Requisition Form, including the Appropriate Administrator, Unit (e.g. School Dean/Department Chair), Administrative Approval (i.e. President or designee), SSU Budget Office, ORSP and HR.

Complete Personnel Action Form or Staff Recruitment Requisition Form: HR is available to assist in completing the forms and to facilitate their flow through approval process. These forms provide detailed information related to the staff need identified. These forms are typically completed by an Administrator but do require approval by PI and other officials prior to processing. 

In addition to the information on the forms, this forms requires multiple levels of approval including: Appropriate Administrator, Dean, Administrative Approval (President or designee), SSU Budget Office and HR. 

Create Position Description: Generally, it is the responsibility of the PI/PD to develop the Position Description and submit to the AM. The Position Description requires the PI/PD to identify the purpose of the position, major duties, secondary duties, work environment, and minimum qualifications of the position. HR may be contacted to assist with the development, classification, salary and review of the Position Description.

Submit Documents to Employment Services: After the position description has been developed and approved by HR and the staff requisition form has been signed, they should be forwarded to HR who will obtain signatures from the SSU Budget Office and Project Administrator.

Recruitment Search and Selection: Under the direction of Employment Services, this process includes activities performed by Employment Services and the Appropriate Administrator and/or the PI/PD. For complete guidelines, please contact HR for assistance and online access to the Managers Tool Box.

Hiring: HR extends all offers of employment related to sponsored programs administered by SSU. The hiring process is initiated when the PI/PD and/or the Appropriate Administrator submit a Recruitment Report to HR. Additional steps in the hiring process by HR include:

Review of the selection process and recommendation for hire to ensure that the search was conducted in accordance with  SSU Recruitment Policy. 

Scheduling required pre-placement physicals, drug screens, and background investigations

Notification of unsuccessful applicants

New employee sign-up and orientation

Staff Oversight & Management: While outside the scope of these procedures, it should be noted that staff oversight should be a high priority for PIs/PDs. Faculty PIs/PDs cannot serve as appropriate administrators. However, PIs/PDs must be able to confirm that the employee working on the PI's/PD's project have expended effort consistent with the number of hours/days for which the employee is being paid. 

All other responsibilities related to staff management (including pay rate increases, reclassification, evaluation, discipline, termination, etc.) should be handled by the employee's appropriate administrator in collaboration with HR.

Special Consultants & Casual Workers

Following is a description of Special Consultants and Casual Workers as well as an overview of the process: 

A special consultant:

• Can be a Faculty Special Consultant or a Staff Special Consultant.
• Performs special assignments of a temporary nature, based on a particular knowledge, ability or expertise.
• Meets the “exempt” criteria of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and is not to be used for non-exempt work;
• Is paid at a daily rate.

A casual worker:

• Is hired on a temporary, part time, intermittent basis to perform non-bargaining unit work that meets the "non-exempt" criteria of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
• Is intended to perform intermittent work of a limited duration, for example, to proctor an examination or model for an art class.
• Is paid at an hourly rate and are not eligible for benefits, sick leave, vacation leave or shift differential

Please note that this classification is not intended for temporary appointments that accommodate on-going work schedules.

Identify Staffing Need: Based on the requirements, terms, and conditions of an award agreement, the Principal Investigator/Project Director (PI/PD) should work with their Project Administrator to identify potential special consultant and casual worker needs. 

Once a special consultant or casual worker need has been identified and it is agreed that the award allows for the special consultant or casual worker position, the PI/PD should contact the appropriate Administrative Manager to obtain guidance on the next steps of the hiring process.

Complete Human Resources or Faculty Affairs Forms: These forms provide detailed information related to the special consultant or casual worker need identified. These forms are typically completed by an Administrator but do require approval by PI and other officials prior to processing. 

In addition to the information on the forms, this forms requires multiple levels of approval including: Appropriate Administrator, Dean, Administrative Approval (President or designee), SSU Budget Office and HR. The Procedures and Instructions for the Appointment of Faculty Special Consultants and Pre-Authorization and Faculty Special Consultant Payment Request Form can be found on the Faculty Affairs website forms page. A pre-authorization must be submitted prior to commencement of work. 

Information on the process for Staff Special Consultants and Special Consultant Agreement Form can be found on the Employment Services website. The Personnel Action Form is used to set up Casual Worker appointments. HR and FA are available to assist in completing the forms and to facilitate their flow through approval process. 

Staff Oversight & Management: While outside the scope of these procedures, it should be noted that staff oversight should be a high priority for PI/PD. Faculty PIs/PDs cannot serve as appropriate administrators. However, PIs/PDs must be able to confirm that the employee working on the PI's/PD's project have expended effort consistent with the number of hours/days for which the employee is being paid. 

All other responsibilities related to staff management (including pay rate increases, reclassification, evaluation, discipline, termination, etc.) should be handled by the employee's appropriate administrator in collaboration with HR.

These guidelines are intended to provide information about student employment at Sonoma State University for Student Assistants (Regular or Bridge), Work Study Student Assistants, and International Student Assistants. Please contact Human Resources, 664-3100, if you require additional support or have questions that are not covered by the guidelines herein.

This information does not cover Instructional Student Assistants, Teaching Assistants, or Graduate Assistants. For more information regarding Instructional Student Assistants, Teaching Assistants, or Graduate Assistants, please contact the Faculty Affairs, 664-2192.

Identify Student Employment Need: Based on the requirements, terms, and conditions of an award agreement, the Principal Investigator/Project Director (PI/PD) should work with their Project Administrator to identify potential student employment needs. 

Once a student employment need has been identified and it is agreed that the award allowed for the student position, the PI/PD should follow the SSU Student Assistant Employment Guidelines and contact the appropriate Administrative Manager to obtain guidance on the next steps of the hiring process. 

Staff Oversight & Management: While outside the scope of these procedures, it should be noted that oversight of student employees should be a high priority for PI/PD. Faculty PIs/PDs cannot serve as appropriate administrators. However, PIs/PDs must be able to confirm that the student employee working on the PI's/PD's project have expended effort consistent with the number of hours/days for which the employee is being paid. 

All other responsibilities related to the management of student employees (including pay rate increases, reclassification, evaluation, discipline, termination, etc.) should be handled by the student employee's appropriate administrator in collaboration with HR.

An independent contractor:

• Is not a current CSU or state employee.
• Is not hired as an SSU employee.
• Has a distinct occupation, profession, business, or trade that is not regularly part of SSU business.
• Agrees to complete a specific piece of work for an agreed upon fee.
• Also provides services to non-SSU clients.
• Supplies his/her own tools, materials and work space.

Independent Contractors should be included in proposal budgets, and are therefore approved by the agency via the budget in the award notification. If such an arrangement was not pre-approved by the funding agency, check with your Project Administrator (PA) to find out if it can be added later.

In all cases, you must contact your PA to determine if the Independent Contractor process is appropriate for your project. You must do this prior to making arrangements for a potential Independent Contractor to work on your project.

A contract between SSU and the independent contractor must be established through the SSU Procurement Office. Principal Investigators/Project Directors (PIs/PDs) may contact their PA or their division’s/school’s administrative manager to initiate the process with an EREQ which must include the Human Resources Independent Contractor Review Form.

Some awards include a budget category called ‘participant support costs,’ which are defined as direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with meetings, conferences, symposia, or training projects. These costs are allowable with the prior approval of the awarding agency.

Participant support is allowed by a number of contracts and grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Science Foundation (NSF), including the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. While participant support expenses are handled as direct costs under extramurally supported contracts and grants, agencies vary as to whether some or all of these cost items are included in the direct cost base upon which indirect costs are calculated.

Since guidelines vary from sponsor to sponsor and from program to program, it is important to refer to agency- and program-specific guidelines.

Who is a participant?

A participant is an individual who is receiving a service or training opportunity from a workshop, conference, seminar, symposium or other short-term instructional or information sharing activity funded by a sponsored award. A participant may be an SSU student/scholar, a student/scholar from another institution, a private sector company representative, a K-12 teacher, or a state or local government agency personnel. A participant may not be an SSU employee. Employees from other CSU campuses are eligible if they do not have a role in organizing the event or forwarding the project’s aims. 

A participant is not:

• An employee of SSU
• A student or project staff member receiving compensation directly or indirectly from the grant
• A recipient of any compensation from any other federal government source while participating in the project (applies only to federal grants)
• performing work or services for the project or program other than for their own benefit
• required to deliver anything or provide any service to the university in return for these support costs

What are participant support costs?

Participant support costs are direct costs for items such as participant allowance, supplies, per diem, travel expenses, and/or registration fees paid to or on behalf of a participant in connection with a meeting, workshop, conference, symposium or training project conducted under the award. Amounts must be reasonable, based on the type and duration of the activity, and outlined in the program solicitation. Participant support costs may include the following expenses:

• SSU tuition and registration fees if required to participate in the project
• Event registration fees
• Stipend (predetermined amount regardless of actual costs) for housing and subsistence allowance
• Travel costs when the sole purpose of the trip is to participate in the project activity
• Event support costs for lodging and meal expenses paid directly to the event facility, only if the payment is made on behalf of, or reimbursed directly to, the participant
• Meals and incidentals when on travel status
• Training materials
• Lab supplies

All costs that are reimbursed or paid on behalf of the participant must be incurred within the project period and be specifically allowed by the sponsoring agency. Participant support costs are budgeted in a separate line and must be accounted for separately. Funds provided for participant support costs that are not spent cannot be re-budgeted for use in other categories except with the prior written approval of the sponsor. In most cases, unspent participant costs must be returned to the sponsor.

How to process participant support costs

Payments for $2,500 or less

• Direct Pay/Direct Invoice for cash payment: The Direct Pay/Direct Invoice method may be used up to $2,500 as long as a contract is not required. The participant will sign and submit the Direct Pay template stipulating attendance at meeting, invoice, and submit to PI for approval. All payments will be made to participant in arrears.
• If the participant is not a current vendor (has not received any payment in the past), a completed Vendor Form 204 should be included with the Direct Pay form and supporting invoice.

Payments greater than $2,500

• Department must submit EREQ to Procurement at least two weeks prior to event.
• If the participant is not a current vendor (has not received any payment in the past), a completed Vendor Form 204 should be sent to Procurement with the EREQ.
• Cash payment in excess of $2,500: if a participant is attending a meeting/workshop/conference the EREQ should include the amount of the cash payment to be paid participant, name and place of meeting, and date(s) of attendance.

Travel reimbursement to participants

• Travel Expenses: the EREQ should include what travel expenses will be reimbursed by SSU (i.e. air, hotel, meals, car, mileage, conference registration fee). EREQ should include a maximum amount to not exceed. If travel claim only, MOU will be issued by Procurement.
• Upon receipt of EREQ, Procurement will process and submit to ORSP for approval. A Buyer will be assigned once approved.
• Buyer will issue a Purchase Order or Contract and include a travel reimbursement claim form and instructions to be sent to the participant with the Purchase Order or Contract. Unique needs occasionally occur and Procurement can assist.
• Business related expenses some times are needed to be purchased and are not always known at the time the EREQ is submitted. If a participant needs to be reimbursed for a business related expense, a new EREQ must be submitted to add the expense to the original Purchase Order/Contract.
• If the participant requires assistance to pay in advance (partial or in full) for airfare or a registration fee it should be noted on EREQ and Procurement will secure the airfare/registration/hotel for them. EREQ should include any registration forms or flight information.