Policy Manual

The following policies apply to staff members who are eligible for overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This includes all merit staff, as well as non-exempt professional and scientific staff. Faculty and exempt professional and scientific staff members are excluded, as are staff nurses and allied health professionals whose terms of employment are established in the UI Health Care Employee Manual (available through The Point or a local Human Resource Representative). 

1. Hours. The basic work schedule for FLSA-covered staff members is a 40-hour workweek. For the majority of staff members, this involves work from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, because of the demands of the University's varied operations, many staff members work other time schedules as set by their departments. FLSA-covered staff are paid for the hours they work. Exceptions for extra hours or undertime must be recorded on the employee payroll record to be paid accordingly. If the total hours worked in a workweek exceed 40, the individual will be eligible for overtime. Consistent with FLSA, holiday or special event hours paid at a premium rate will be converted to overtime hours and paid at the appropriate FLSA overtime rate. There shall be no duplication or pyramiding of any premium pay in a week for the same hours worked.
2. Overtime.
   1. Merit staff members who are eligible will receive overtime compensation for hours in excess of 40 in any workweek. The basic workweek is defined as 168 consecutive hours running from the first shift beginning on or after 12:00 a.m. Sunday through the first shift beginning before 12:00 midnight the following Saturday. Alternate workweeks may be established based on a critical business need for a defined group of employees and must be approved by university leadership.  Only hours worked are used for the calculation of overtime.  Adjustments for overtime and undertime are made on the basis of Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records or electronic data files submitted by the departments. The Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Record must include the staff member and supervisor signature as approval of the submitted hours. If signatures are not provided on the time records submitted to University Payroll, documentation containing the appropriate signatures must be maintained by the employing department.
      
      Compensation for overtime hours, as defined above, can be in the form of cash (at 1 1/2 times the staff member's base rate of pay) or compensatory time off sometime before the close of the current fiscal year in which it was earned. Such compensatory time is earned at the rate of 1 1/2 times the actual overtime hours. Compensatory hours can be accumulated and carried over each month up to a maximum of 160 hours. Any hours over 160 will be paid out to the staff member on the next monthly payroll. Accumulated and unused compensatory time at the end of the fiscal year must be paid in cash and cannot be carried over into a new fiscal year.
      
      The appropriate departmental authority is charged with the final responsibility for deciding the method of compensating the staff member. The staff member's wishes regarding their preference for taking time off will be considered in light of departmental scheduling and staffing needs. The final decision on when time is to be taken rests with the appropriate departmental authority.
   2. Professional and scientific staff members who are non-exempt from FLSA and eligible will receive overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 in any workweek. The basic workweek is defined as 168 consecutive hours running from the first shift beginning on or after 12:00 a.m. Sunday through the first shift beginning before 12:00 midnight the following Saturday. Alternate workweeks may be established based on a critical business need for a defined group of employees and must be approved by University leadership. Only hours worked are used for the calculation of overtime. Adjustments for overtime and undertime are made on the basis of Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records or electronic data files submitted by the departments. The Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Record must include the staff member and supervisor signature as approval of the submitted hours. If signatures are not provided on the time record submitted to University Payroll, documentation containing the appropriate signatures must be maintained by the employing department.
      
      Compensation for overtime hours, as defined above, can be in the form of cash (at 1 1/2 times the staff member's base rate of pay) or compensatory time off sometime before the close of the current fiscal year in which it was earned. Such compensatory time is earned at the rate of 1 1/2 times the actual overtime hours. Compensatory hours can be accumulated and carried over each month up to a maximum of 160 hours. Any hours over 160 will be paid out to the staff member on the next monthly payroll. Accumulated and unused compensatory time at the end of the fiscal year must be paid in cash and cannot be carried over into a new fiscal year.
      
      The appropriate departmental authority is charged with the final responsibility for deciding the method of compensating the staff member. The staff member's wishes regarding their preference for cash or taking time off will be considered in light of departmental budgetary, scheduling, and staffing needs. The appropriate departmental authority will schedule or designate the use of accrued compensatory time.
3. Call Back. A full-time merit staff member who is called back to work after regularly scheduled hours receives a minimum of three hours pay for such work. This provision does not apply in cases where the additional work time is immediately preceding or immediately following regularly scheduled work.
   
   Full-time merit system staff members of one University department may not be hired by other University departments except on a temporary basis to render special services in cases of emergency, and only with approval of the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer. In such cases, the following will be applicable:
   1. The base hourly rate for overtime pay is the merit staff member's 12-month budget salary divided by the number of hours in the calendar year. Any hours worked in excess of 40 in one week is subject to the premium pay provisions of this policy.
   2. A Special Compensation Form is to be completed and approved by the executive officer of the department for which the extra work is performed.
4. Standby (On Call). Merit staff members eligible for standby (on call) compensation under this policy shall be those Merit System staff members who are scheduled for standby duty by their department head (or designee) and, as a consequence, are required to restrict their whereabouts and activities in order to be available for immediate consultation or return to work.
   1. "Required to restrict their whereabouts" means being within immediate radio pager or telephone contact, and, if requested, returning to the department and ready to work within thirty minutes.
   2. Merit staff members scheduled in a standby status and who fail to respond to initial radio pager/telephone contact, or violate the thirty-minute return-to-work limitation, will be subject to prevailing discipline policy.
   3. If a merit staff member scheduled to be on standby wishes to be removed from such standby status due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, the staff member shall first notify and obtain the expressed approval of their supervisor.
   4. Standby pay commences with the beginning of the scheduled standby period and terminates with the staff member's completion of the scheduled standby period. Merit staff members while in standby status are paid at the hourly rate of ten percent of their base hourly rate of pay. Standby merit staff members who are required to return to the department by their supervisor will be paid their regular rate of pay for time actually worked, or three hours, whichever is greater. Overtime compensation and shift differential shall be paid, where applicable.
   5. Time spent in standby status and travel time to and from work shall not be considered as time worked for purpose of computing overtime.
      
      The following procedures are the responsibility of the department head or designee:
      1. Departmental standby compliance procedures and scheduling system shall be documented and subject to joint review and approval of the appropriate administrative staff member and the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer to ascertain compliance with this standby policy.
      2. Prospective and new merit staff members will be notified of the potential requirement to accept standby at the time of employment.
      3. Standby status is initiated only with formal approval of the department head or designee.
      4. The merit staff member will be notified of standby status through regular work schedule notification.
      5. The department will maintain a record of each merit staff member's standby status as it occurs and record each incidence of actual return and departure from assigned place of work. Such record shall be validated with signatures of standby employee and supervisor.
      6. Total standby hours and actual standby pay to be received during each pay period will be calculated and recorded on appropriate Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records.
      7. Appropriate Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records or electronic data files will be forwarded to Payroll on the respective payroll cutoff dates. A copy will be retained for departmental files. The Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Record must include the staff member and supervisor signature as approval of hours submitted. If signatures are not provided on the time record submitted to University Payroll, documentation containing the appropriate signatures must be maintained by the employing department.
      8. Departments are responsible for reconciling/reviewing all time records by department. This includes reviewing and keeping a record for those employees who report no usage for any reporting period.

The University Business Office does not cash staff members' payroll checks or personal checks unless such checks are used in payments of amounts due the University.

Faculty members appointed on an academic-year basis are paid on a twelve-payment basis. The twelve payments will be paid in twelve equal installments beginning with a payment on August 1 and ending with a payment on the following July 1 of each fiscal year.

Newly appointed academic-year faculty members will not be paid on August 1 the first year. Instead, they will receive a payment on September 1 for two-twelfths of their salary, with the ten remaining installments paid monthly ending on July 1.

Partial academic year payments are calculated using the total number of academic-year working days as the denominator with the numerator being the actual number of academic days worked. This fraction is applied to the academic rate of pay to determine the earnings.

1. Academic Year Appointments. Unless otherwise indicated in the appointment record, faculty and staff members appointed on an academic year basis, who serve only part of the academic year, receive compensation equivalent to their academic year salary multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the actual days served, and the denominator of which is the number of service days in the academic year. For the purpose of this computation, service days shall not include Saturdays, Sundays, or days on which the University is officially closed. In computing compensation for a portion of an academic year, the minimum number of service days shall begin three working days before the beginning of classes in the fall semester and end on the spring commencement day of the college calendar.
   
   As indicated in III-17.9, this does not imply that professional services may not be expected of faculty and staff members for classes or other scheduled events at any time during the academic year.
2. Academic Semester Appointments. In the computation of compensation for appointments for one semester, the minimum number of service days per semester shall begin three working days before the beginning of classes in the fall semester and end on the spring commencement day of the college calendar. Compensation for less than one semester shall be computed on the basis of the percentage of service days rendered to the total number of service days in that academic semester.
3. Appointees on a Monthly or Twelve-Month Basis. When staff members appointed on a twelve-month basis or on a month-to-month basis are absent without pay for a part of the month in which they are employed, the compensation for the actual days worked in the month shall be computed by multiplying their monthly salary rate by a fraction, the numerator of which is the actual days worked by the staff member in that month, and the denominator of which is the total working days in that month. In computing compensation, working days will include holidays celebrated on weekdays, Monday through Friday, and will exclude Saturdays and Sundays.

All staff members of the University, other than staff employed temporarily for 6 months or less, who are members of the National Guard, organized reserves, or any component part of the military, naval, air forces, or nurse corps of this state or nation or who are inducted into the military service of this state or of the United States, shall when ordered by proper authority to active state or federal service, be entitled to a leave of absence from the University for the period of such active state or federal service, without loss of status or efficiency rating, and without loss of pay during the first 30 work days in a calendar year. This provision shall also apply to a leave of absence by a member of the national disaster medical system of the United States when activated for federal service with the system.

Compensation for such leave will be paid only after Human Resources is presented a statement signed by the staff member's commanding officer indicating that the staff member has been ordered to active duty and that the staff member has in fact reported for active duty.

(IC 29A.28, Atty. Gen. #74-2-10; see also IAC [681]3.144(8A).)

1. The deadline for submitting final grades is 72 hours (excluding weekends and University holidays) after the end of final examination week (fall and spring semesters) or after the last day of the session (summer and winter sessions). For courses that end "off-cycle," final grade submission is subject to deadlines established by the University Registrar in compliance with University policy.
2. At the end of each academic period, the University Registrar shall prepare a list of faculty members who failed to submit one or more final grades by the established deadline.
3. A copy of the list of faculty members delinquent in reporting of grades shall be forwarded by the Registrar to the appropriate collegiate dean and to the Payroll Unit of Human Resources.
4. A faculty member whose final grades are delinquent shall be notified of their delinquency by the dean, and the issue of the next paycheck shall be delayed ten days. If the delinquent final grades have not been reported after ten days, no paycheck will be issued until the delinquent grades are reported.
5. The Registrar shall retain a session-by-session record of faculty members whose grades are delinquent. In case of repetition in successive sessions, the initial penalty for the faculty member will be increased to fifteen days, and the Provost will be notified.
6. In the case of a faculty member whose University employment is terminated, the entire last paycheck may be withheld until the faculty member has submitted all final grades.

1. The following procedural guideline covers all compensation to faculty and staff who are not subject to the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (see III-1.2b) in excess of base salary as set forth in the President's salary letter from sources within the University or from other state funds:
   1. When another state agency proposes to pay excess compensation to a faculty or staff member of the University, initial application shall be made to the head of the faculty or staff member's major functional unit for approval.
   2. When a faculty or staff member within one or more major functional units is seeking extra compensation from a source within another major functional unit, initial application shall be made to the heads of all such units and approval obtained.
   3. When a faculty or staff member within a major functional unit is seeking extra compensation from a source within the unit, initial application shall be made to the head of such unit and approval obtained.
   4. All requests for extra compensation are to be made in writing in advance of the work to be accomplished. Requests not specifically covered by other policies listed in III-17.16d are to be accompanied by a concise statement of justification as described in III-17.16e and forwarded for approval or disapproval to the appropriate unit head(s) identified above in subparagraphs (1), (2), or (3). Payments for extra compensation may be made upon completion of the work and upon approval by such unit head(s), unless subject to III-17.16a(5).
   5. The Executive Vice President and Provost and the Chief Human Resources Officer shall establish parameters for extra compensation amounts. Requests that exceed the established parameters must be approved in advance by the appropriate department, dean, or vice president, and Executive Vice President and Provost or Chief Human Resources Officer or their designees.
      1. P&S and House Staff: $3,000 single payment, $5,000 cumulative fiscal year;
      2. Faculty and Fellows: $3,000 single payment, $8,000 cumulative fiscal year.
2. The guidelines of III-17.16a apply to all situations regardless of whether the work for which extra compensation is being claimed is accomplished during regular working hours, off-duty hours, leave without pay, or vacation periods.
3. The major functional units are set forth in the University organizational chart (see Appendix A-1). For purposes of this regulation the deans of each college and for the Division of Continuing Education rather than the Executive Vice President and Provost shall be considered the head of their respective units.
   
   The Office of the President issues approvals for the Executive Vice President and Provost and vice presidents.
4. Due consideration shall be given to the effect of the following sections in arriving at the decision on extra compensation:
   1. III-17.8 Summer- and Winter-Session Salaries,
   2. III-17.13 Extra Compensation for Participants in University-Sponsored Short Courses and Conferences,
   3. III-17.17 Supplemental Activities and Extra Compensation,
   4. III-17.17(4) Employment on Grants and Contracts Administered by the University -- Nine- or twelve-month project,
   5. III-17.17(5) Extension Activities, and
   6. V-11.15 Purchases from University Faculty or Staff -- services of staff as outside contractors (see also III-17.15 Staff Remuneration for Materials: Gratuities).
5. The statement of justification referred to in paragraph III-17.16a(4) should enable the appropriate unit head to determine why extra compensation is proper for exceptional service beyond the faculty or staff member's primary duty and regular compensation. It shall also include:
   1. Faculty and staff must provide assurance that the work to be performed will not interfere with performance of regular responsibilities. In the case of staff, the work to be performed will take place outside the employee's regular work hours. In the case of faculty, there is no reduced expectation regarding their contributions to the teaching, scholarship, and service mission of the University. Absent such assurance, the time spent should be charged to leave without pay or to vacation in the case of faculty and staff who earn vacation. The request for approval of extra compensation must indicate which arrangement is being made.
   2. The unit head authorizing the request must certify that a procedure exists to insure that the faculty or staff member deciding upon the need for the activity for which extra compensation is to be paid will not receive any such compensation.

General Guidelines. Payroll withholding programs are permitted according to the following guidelines:

1. Withholdings authorized by federal or state laws.
2. Withholdings in connection with staff member retirement and insurance plans approved by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.
3. Withholdings authorized by individual staff member for institution-wide contributive programs of direct benefit to the institution.
4. Withholdings authorized by individual staff members for United States Savings Bonds.
5. Withholdings for amounts due the institution from and authorized by its staff members or for amounts clearly established to be due from its staff members.
6. Withholdings for amounts authorized by individual staff members for dues for the convenience of organizations which relate to employment conditions such as union organizations or University-wide professional organizations. Payroll withholding programs in this category shall not be initiated without one hundred participants unless justification exists for less than one hundred participants; payroll programs in this category may be discontinued if the number of participants falls below twenty-five. Each payroll withholding program in this category is to be submitted to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, for approval. Any payroll withholding program may be discontinued by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, if a request for a new withholding program has higher priority and cannot be accommodated within existing withholding procedures.
7. Withholdings for amounts authorized by individual staff members for contribution to qualifying charitable organizations. In order to qualify for payroll withholding privileges, an organization must: 1) be eligible to receive contributions which may be deducted on the contributor's Iowa individual income tax return and, 2) have one hundred (100) or more participants within the University.
   
   Any staff member wishing to terminate this deduction shall be required to give 30 days' notice in writing to the University Payroll Office.
   
   Each Regents institution will require the staff member of eligible organization to submit written authorization for payroll withholding for each withholding program.
   
   The Business Officers are required to maintain such records as necessary for audit purposes.