Employment Status Procedure
Section 100, Proc. 105
Effective: 1/29/08
Objective:
To establish the procedures for the determination of employment status, outline of the eligibility for benefits. Each employee is assigned a position that identifies his/her employment status.
Who is affected:
This procedure covers all employees within the UT Knoxville Area and University Administration.
Procedure:
1. Determination of Employment status
A. Staff Employment Status
Regular and term staff positions must be classified through the Human Resources Compensation Unit. Staff positions are classified in accordance with work performed. The university employs one job evaluation plan to classify staff positions. Refer to Policy/Procedure No: HRO430-Job Classification.
B. Faculty Employment Status
Faculty appointments, both tenure and non-tenure track, are under the governance of the Faculty Handbook (http://provost.utk.edu/facultyhandbook). The handbook contains materials that apply to the faculty at The University of Tennessee Knoxville, at The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and at The University of Tennessee Space Institute.
C. Student Employment Status
A student employee is one whose primary function is to be enrolled in an academic program and carries a job title from the Student Job Family. Refer to Policy/Procedure No: HRO165-Job Title Lists.
D. Friend Status
Friends of the university are affiliates of the university who are not paid but serve as volunteers, honoraries, ORNL Affiliates, travelers, and/or Board of Trustees members.
2. Employment Information and Eligibility for Benefits
(A complete description of employee benefits is included in HRO Policies and Procedures – Section 300, Benefits )
A. Regular Staff Employee
- Full Time
A regular, full-time employee is hired in a position for a period of twelve months or more who are regularly scheduled to work 40 hours per week. A regular, full-time employee is eligible to participate fully in all benefits while in an active pay status. - Part Time
A regular, part-time employee is hired in a position established for a period of twelve months or more who are regularly scheduled to work less than 40 hours per week. A regular, part-time employee’s eligibility to participate in the university’s benefits program is dependent upon his/her percent of effort.
B. Term Staff Employees
An employee hired on term basis (which is expected to be for a period of less than twelve months) is not eligible to participate in the university’s standard benefit program with the following exceptions: Worker’s Compensation, Unemployment Compensation, and the Medicare portion of Social Security. After being in an active pay status for six monthly or thirteen bi-weekly pay periods in any twelve-month period, a term employee will be covered by the full Social Security program, exempt as noted in HRO385-Social Security Benefits , and have the option to participate in a retirement plan.
C. Faculty
All tenure and non-tenure track faculty employment status are under the governance of the Faculty Handbook (http://provost.utk.edu/facultyhandbook). The handbook contains materials that apply to all faculty at The University of Tennessee Knoxville, at The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and at The University of Tennessee Space Institute.
D. Student
A student employee so designated does not receive benefits other than those legally required such as Worker’s Compensation. When terminating UT student employees, the procedures outlined in Hilltopics: A Student Handbook should be followed.
E. Friends of the University
A friend does not receive benefits.