Employee Definitions

No. 3-2 Rev. 11-1-16 Date 8-17-77

 

I. REFERENCES

II. DEFINITIONS

A.  At Will - Employment status wherein the university may terminate an employee without cause.

B.  Employee - A person who performs services for the institution and receives a W-2 for his/her work from the university.

C. Salaried Employee - An employee paid on the salaried payroll and eligible, depending on the percent of time worked, for benefits defined in PPM 3-45.

1. Executive - a salaried employee serving as an officer of the administration with or without faculty appointment whose primary function is the management of the university or a major subdivision of the university. Executive status is designated by the president of the university consistent with a classification system administered by the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources and with the approval of the supervising vice president. Positions designated as Executive must qualify for exemption from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

2. Faculty - a salaried employee holding academic rank or title as defined in PPM 8-6 whose primary function is that of instruction. Positions designated as Faculty must qualify for exemption from the overtime provisions of the FLSA.

3. Exempt Staff - a salaried employee with non-faculty status whose primary responsibility is administrative or professional in nature. Positions normally require at least a four-year degree and/or equivalent experience with specialized training. Exempt status is designated by the supervising vice president consistent with a classification system administered by the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources. Positions designated as Exempt must qualify for exemption from the overtime provisions of the FLSA. At least 80 percent of the employee's time should be designated toward supervisory, administrative or professional responsibilities which demand independent judgment or discretion. Flexible hours are centered around an average work week of 40-50 hours.

4.  Academic Admin Exempt Staff - a salaried employee with non-faculty status whose primary responsibility is performing adminstrative functions directly related to academic instruction or training.  Positions generally elegible for the exemption include academic counselors and advisors, intervention specialists whomust be available to respond to student academic issues, and other employees with similar responsibilities.  Academic Admin exempt status is designated by the supervising vice president consistent with a classification system administrered by the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources.  Positions designated as Academic Admin Exempt must qualify for exemption from the overtime provisions of the FLSA, including being paid a salary that equals or exceeds the entrance salary for WSU instructors.  See 29 CFT 541.204.  Flexible hours are centered around an average workweek of 40-50 hours.

5. Admin Non-Exempt Staff - a salaried employee fitting the general description above for Exempt employees whose position does not qualify for exemption from the overtime provisions of the FLSA. Admin non-exempt status is designated by the supervising vice president consistent with a classification system administered by the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources.

6. Non-Exempt Staff - a salaried employee without faculty appointment whose position primarily requires paraprofessional, clerical, skilled crafts or service training and capabilities and whose position does not qualify for exemption from the overtime provisions of the FLSA Non-Exempt status is designated by the supervising vice president consistent with a classification system administered by the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources.

D. Non-Salaried Employee - An employee paid for hours worked or by project who does not qualify for benefits defined in PPM 3-45, except as noted.

1. Adjunct Faculty - an individual having professional or specialized training, employed on a temporary or part-time basis, to provide instruction or instructional related services for one or more credit bearing courses. An adjunct faculty must be appointed by an academic dean for a specific period of time and may be given a title containing an academic rank provided the additional title of "adjunct" precedes the designation of rank. Such appointment has no significance for the achieving or holding of tenure.

2.  Hourly Employee - a student or non-student employee paid for hours worked.

a.  Seasonal Hourly Employee - an hourly employee who is hired for a short period (usually less than six months) to assist with the seasonal work of the university.  Human Resources shall designate hourly positions as "seasonal."
b.  Federal Work Study Student - an hourly employee who is in the federal work study program and who aqualifies for exemption from FICA under IRS regulations.

E. Affiliates

1. Clinical Faculty - an individual whose continuing professional activities do not relate primarily to university affairs but who makes a substantial regular contribution to the academic activities of the institution. A clinical faculty must be appointed by an academic dean for a specific period of time and may be given a title containing an academic rank provided the additional title of "clinical" precedes the designation of rank. Such appointment has no significance for the achieving or holding of tenure. Examples of clinical faculty include student teacher supervisors, cooperative teachers, etc.

2. Concurrent Faculty - faculty in high schools which have been approved by the respective departments at WSU to teach concurrent enrollment courses. Generally these are courses taught at the faculty member's home institution.

3. Research Faculty - persons working on campus in a position whose primary support comes from an external agency or institution. Typically, these faculty are engaged in scholarship associated with a particular department or organization on campus. Research faculty must be appointed by an academic dean for a specific period of time and may be given a title containing an academic rank provided the additional title of "research" precedes the designation of rank. Such appointment has no significance for the achieving or holding of tenure.

4. Affiliate Faculty - a special category awarded by the President upon recommendation of the appropriate department chair and dean. The title would apply to a person whose employment is with an organization that is associated with the university by contract or to a person who is a practicing professional or independent scholar associated with the university for specific research purposes. Affiliate faculty may be given a title containing an academic rank provided the additional title of "affiliate" precedes the designation of rank. Such appointment has no significance for the achieving or holding of tenure.

5. Independent Contractor - an individual who is told the expected result of the work, but not what will be done and how it will be done.  The earnings of a person who is workihng as an independent contractor are subject to Self-Employment Tax.

6.  Volunteer - a person who donatesservice without pay or other compensation except expenses actually and reasonably incurred as approved by the university.  Such services cannot be the same type of services for which the individual is employed by the university.

III. POLICY

A. The individual classifications identified in one of the categories above are subject to the policies and benefits defined for that category unless specifically exempted from such by contract or agreement.

B. The term of service for non-salaried employees is subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory
performance and work requirements. Unless specifically stated, Weber State university policies related to
personnel actions and benefits do not apply to non-salaried employees.
 
C. Hourly employees cannot work for the university more than 59 hours per pay period. Federal Work
study students cannot receive payment from the Federal Work Study Program for more than 20 hours
per week.
 
D. Seasonal Hourly Employees cannot work for the university more than 1500 hours per year.  Further,
when seasonal hourly employees terminate from the university, they are ineligible for rehire for six
months.
 
E. Hourly Employees (including Seasonal Hourly Employees) are eligible for workers' compensation. 
Hourly Employees (including Seasonal Employees) who are not students are also eligible for
unemployment and Social Security contributions.