HR-01: ACADEMIC AND GRADUATE HOURLY APPOINTMENT AND PAY 

Individuals on academic or graduate hourly appointment are considered nonexempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. Hours worked over 40 hours per week must be paid overtime. A baccalaureate degree is required for an appointment to such an hourly appointment.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, positions paid on an hourly basis are normally considered as nonexempt from the Act. Therefore, all academic and graduate hourly appointments including hourly appointments added to percentage appointments are subject to overtime pay. That is, if an individual works more than 40 hours per week, the hours in excess of 40 hours will be paid as overtime at the rate of time and one-half. For an employee or student holding only an hourly appointment, this is easy to adhere to and calculate. In the case of an employee or graduate student holding a percentage appointment as well as an hourly appointment, total hours per week must be kept for both the percentage appointment and the hourly appointment and any time worked in excess of 40 hours per week must be paid at the hourly overtime rate. Departments and units are responsible for keeping accurate records of hours worked and submitting the correct information to payroll.

Lump sum payments for individuals who hold academic or graduate hourly appointments are not allowed. Any services performed should be reported as hours worked. If the services performed are for another department/unit, an additional appointment line may be established with an appropriate hourly rate and account number in order to facilitate payment to the individual. For an individual to be placed on an academic or graduate hourly appointment, a minimum of a baccalaureate degree is required and the job must clearly be outside of a Civil Service classification. All positions covered under Civil Service must be processed through Staff Human Resources Office.

Further questions concerning this policy should be directed to the Office of Academic Human Resources, (217) 333-6747.