Staff

Hiring any staff, Special Consultant or Casual Worker for a sponsored award is a collaborative process between the Principal Investigator (PI/PD), the PI's/PD's School Administrative Manager (AM), Human Resources (HR) and ORSP. The PI/PD should consult with the AM in his/her division or school for guidance on the hiring process.

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.

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.