Guidelines for Temporary Additional Payment to Employees – Administrative Increments, Stipends, Lump Sum, and Service in Excess of 100%

Quick Guide

Note: This is a companion document to the Salary Approval Guidelines, which describe approvals needed for these payments.

Background & General Guidance

These guidelines describe best practices for deciding the appropriate type of temporary additional pay for employees, as well as whether temporary additional pay is appropriate. These mechanisms are not intended for payment in lieu of a base salary increase, and should not be confused with "other duties as assigned" or a payment for additional hours worked in their primary position.

All employees have responsibility to assist with work delegated by their supervisor to support necessary operations within their unit. In those limited instances in which a unit has critical and urgent operational needs that cannot be reasonably met within the current employment terms of their permanent staff or through use of non-permanent hourly help, additional compensation may be considered. The compensation method depends on the classification of the employee and both the duration and scope of work required.

Before considering additional compensation to staff, supervisors and unit heads are encouraged to evaluate all options for redistributing workloads especially where opportunities present themselves to provide a professional development opportunity to their staff. If someone is being temporarily reassigned for business purposes or asked to help another unit, an alternative to additional compensation is simply to temporarily reduce expectations in their current role. In selecting staff for temporary assignments, unit heads or their designees are also responsible for ensuring the absence of a conflict of interest; that all required approvals have been obtained; and that the selection is defensible.

Units are also responsible for reviewing whether additional work is allowed under the constraints of a visa or sponsored funding source for the employee’s position. (Consult with ISSS for visa-related questions or SPA for grant / sponsored programs questions.)

Stipend / Administrative Increment

Units sometimes provide temporary payments to staff when they are asked to take on additional / higher-level responsibilities. These instances are rare, based on the criteria below. Rates for these stipends or increments are determined case-by-case, based on the work involved and not based on hours worked. The rate may be based on a percentage of the employee's base salary, or a set fixed amount based on the work.

Criteria for stipends / administrative increments

The following questions should be considered when reviewing work assignments to determine if temporary payments are appropriate to promote internal consistency:

• Is the work within the current position and current unit?
• Yes - Providing additional payments are not likely to be appropriate. It is common for employees to experience changing roles and project assignments without additional compensation. In cases where work assignments result in frequent or excessive additional hours, while salaried employees do not receive additional compensation, supervisors should first consult with their unit HR about managing the workload or escalating resource issues to leadership.
• No - Assignments outside the employee's current duties and responsibilities, normally within a different department can be considered for additional payments.

• Is the higher-level assignment working towards the next level progression or promotion?

• Yes - Providing additional payments would not be appropriate. Temporary compensation is not a way to "pre-promote" an employee.

• Is this work expected to be permanently assigned to this employee?
• Yes – Stipends are expected to be temporary in nature, so providing additional payments would not be appropriate. Instead, the unit leadership and HR should assess whether changes in duties should be addressed with a permanent job change (e.g., future promotion or salary increase).
• No - Additional payment may be appropriate. Since temporary circumstances often persist longer than expected, consideration should be given to what would happen if the temporary situation continued even where temporary pay is deemed appropriate.
• Initially No, but eventually Yes - The fact that temporary assignments often become permanent even when they were not planned to be is a significant reason to be cautious with temporary payment options. If it does happen, supervisors and unit heads should consult with HR to identify options for appropriately reflecting the permanent change to the employee's position.

Other considerations when considering increments, particularly driven by a vacancy:

• What responsibilities are already included in the employee’s job description that would potentially cover these tasks?
• What duties can be distributed amongst current staff?
  • Training/managing the work – what is involved?
• Temporary hourly position?
• What are the projects/tasks that can pause during this time?
• Timeline for filling the vacancy/search process
• Financial impact
• General expectation for those in management and leadership positions to cover the lower-level work, strategize how to redistribute the work, or forgo specific services/programs during times of vacancies and leaves.
• Work-life balance – what does this look like with additional workload?
• Is there a clear definition of the work expectations associated with the proposed pay?
• What is the plan for the cessation of the stipend, if one is granted? How can that expectation be set with the employee and reinforced?
• Potential exceptions are made when an individual is taking on higher-level responsibilities to cover the work.

Interim or Acting appointments

One specific case for stipends is when a staff member is asked to fill in for a higher-level position on a temporary basis. Units may establish standard stipend amounts in absolute dollars or percentages of the appointed employee's pay for such appointments at specific titles or levels of the organization. Whether the position is considered "interim" or "acting" is defined in Provost Communication 3. 

When a vacancy occurs, there is not an expectation that it will be filled on an Interim basis. Alternatives include temporarily having an employee serve roles at two levels (e.g., a manager temporarily also acting as a director) or having an employee at the same level temporarily perform that role for two groups (e.g., a director temporarily acting as director for an additional area). To avoid ongoing burdens to those staff, unit HR can prioritize searches to address those gaps as quickly as practicable. When identifying who might serve in an interim or acting role, consult the Recruitment and Hiring Guidelines.

Service in Excess (SIE) or Lump Sum Payment

Staff working outside of their primary unit can receive additional pay for performing additional work for another unit on campus for services beyond their current position. Where units work collaboratively on projects assigned within their employees' regular positions, SIE/Lump Sums are not provided. Normally, special projects resulting in this type of payment are outside the home unit. In some cases, an SIE or Lump Sum payment could be appropriate for work performed in the current unit completely outside of an employee's current job description and/or classification to meet a need within another group. This essentially treats two parts of a unit as if they were different units and requires justification that the SIE/Lump Sum work is sufficiently separate from their primary position.

• Service in excess of a full-time appointment should be temporary and kept to a minimum; total payment is not to be paid until all service has been performed. Payment may be divided into multiple payments as long as payment is only provided for work that has been completed.
• Service time for the SIE/Lump Sum payment cannot interfere with the employee’s primary full-time position. It is the employee’s home unit supervisor’s responsibility to ensure that primary work obligations will be fulfilled. The Lump Sum/SIE form documents the details of the assignment but also the employee’s home unit’s agreement that the assignment does not interfere with their operational needs. The arrangement must be in consultation with the primary position supervisor, prior to services being performed.
• Lump Sum/SIE payments are not permitted for part-time employees whose FTEs represent a regular workweek of less than 30 hours per week (75% FTE for a 40-hour workweek classification or 80% FTE for a 37.5-hour workweek classification). This is a compliance requirement for the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) because these jobs do not provide a reportable record of the number of hours worked. PPACA requires the university to confirm which employees are defined as full-time.
• Overtime-eligible employees working lump sum assignments are paid on an hourly basis, so if the employee is full-time in their primary job, all hours associated with lump sum are time-and-a-half overtime. If the duties of the lump sum assignment are within their classification, their rate is linked to their primary job’s current rate. (See also: Salary Approval Guidelines)

Temporary upgrade

Temporary upgrades involve clear cessation of work in the employee’s primary classification and beginning of work that is clearly in another specific classification. Generally, temporary upgrades are not appropriate for clerical or professional positions because there is not this clear cutoff stopping one role and starting another, and it is difficult to differentiate that specific duties are only associated with one specific, other classification that the employee is now working in.

Temporary upgrades follow SUCSS guidelines, including that the employee must meet the minimum qualifications and have taken the civil service exam for the upgrading classification. Upgrades are also time-limited to no more than 30 consecutive business days per SUCSS rules.

Related Resources

Recruitment and Hiring Guidelines

Provost Communication 3

Administrative Salary Policy

CAM Lump Sum Payments for Civil Service Employees

CAM Service in Excess of 100% for Academic Employees