Implementing the Affordable Care Act at Penn State--Employer Responsibility Provisions and the Part Time Employee

 (Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2014)

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) ― also known as the Affordable CareAct or ACA ― is the health reform legislation passed by the 111th Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010. The so-called employer responsibility provision of ACA (ACA § 1511 et seq.) must be implemented by all large employers, including Penn State, in 2014. The employer responsibility provisions primarily affect part-time faculty and staff. Employer penalties will be assessed if Penn State does not offer affordable health care to 95% of its employee population who meet the "full time" employee criteria of ACA.

But this requires defining part time employees. This is a straightforward exercise for hourly employees (assuming hours are fairly and completely counted, something of an open question in some institutions given working time assumptions). It becomes more difficult where hours are not counted directly, especially for example for teaching staff. As such, the determination of part time employment may in reality involve policy choices, and produce consequences, well beyond the extent to which the university is compelled by law, or obliged through the constraints of the social norms within which it operates, to provide benefits. And as an "industry leader", the choices Penn State makes will have some substantial influence of the approach generally adopted by other universities. As such, consideration of Penn State's ACA requirements has national dimensions.

Though it already appears to have moved to implement these provisions as it sees fit, Penn State has also nodded, if only as a matter of empty courtesy, in the direction of consultation with affected stakeholders, including the university faculty Senate. Originally that "transparency" effort was to be presented in the form of an "informational report" funneled through the Senate Faculty Benefits Committee. After sustained discussion about its form and content, I agreed to sponsor, in its place, a forensic discussion about the university's approach to ACA compliance (at least in this respect) as originally set out in that draft report.

This post includes the Forensic materials: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at Penn State: Employer Responsibility Provisions; Part Time Benefits and High Deductible Plans.
Feedback and comments on the university's implementation approaches as described below would be most welcome. 

Pursuant to Standing Rules Art. I, Section 7(b), notice is hereby given of an intention to raise forensic business at the January 2013 University Faculty Senate meeting.  The title and summary thereof follows:

TITLE:

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at Penn State:

Employer Responsibility Provisions; Part Time Benefits and High Deductible Plans

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), provides, over the course of 906 pages, a variety of protections for individuals and obligations for employers related to health benefits.  These obligations require a variety of policy choices by enployers seeking to comply with ACA mandates.  This forensic is meant to provide faculty an opportunity to discuss and provide views about one set of such policy choices, implementation of the employer responsibility provisions of ACA to part time employees. [1]

ACA §4980H provides that beginning in 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees will be required to provide “minimum essential” health care coverage for their full-time employees or pay an annual penalty. A “full-time” employee is one who works an average of at least 30 hours per week in any given month (H.R. 3590—137). 

In response, the university would consider instituting the following policies:

1. Penn State faculty and staff who are in Standing and Fixed Term 1 appointments are eligible for benefits (including health care) and will continue to maintain benefit eligibility.

 2. Post-Doctoral Scholars are eligible for health care benefits and will continue to maintain that eligibility.

A particular problem, and the particular focus of this forensic exercise, touches on part time faculty. As understood by university administrators, one of the major challenges for Penn State and other institutions of higher education is the difficulty in categorizing part-time faculty.  The problem is augmented because of information gaps and gap filling practices, which result from Penn State’s administrative practices.  These administrative information gaps and gap producing practices include the following:

a. Penn State does not currently have a central system to track hours University-wide or to integrate positions over multiple units; many part-time employees work multiple jobs that report to different units.

b. Part-time faculty members  (however defined) do not track hours worked, so an alternative method for determining eligibility for ACA healthcare must be instituted.

c. Measurement of part-time faculty workload is inconsistent for reasons such as contact hours, lab and studio course requirements, number of students, new- versus already- developed courses, etc. 

It appears that part-time faculty members at Penn State are those individuals who are NOT on Standing or Fixed-Term appointments but are on Fixed-Term 2 appointments. We are told that full-time students make up the majority of the current non-faculty part-time positions (70%) with only a very small percentage working 30 hours or greater per week.

University administrators have proposed (as shared with Senate Council January 2014) the following policy choices to comply with the employer responsibility provisions of ACA:[2]

1. Define measurement period as January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2014.  The Measurement period is the period of time that the University will be measuring employee work hours to determine eligibility for health care benefits in 2015.

2. The High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) will be offered in 2015 to those employees who reach the hour requirement during the measurement period.  The University will not provide a contribution to the HSA.

3. The current part-time benefit plan will be discontinued.  Current employees who are currently qualified or will qualify for part-time benefits (health care eligibility, earned time, and holiday time) as of June 30, 2014, will be grandfathered and will continue those benefits.  After June 30, 2014, there will be no new entrants to that grandfathered group. 

4. Define positions that are full-time, benefits-eligible:

• Academic: greater than 9 credits taught or 75% FTE or greater for two semesters per calendar year.
• Staff: regularly scheduled to work 30+ hours per week year-round or 40 hours per week for a continuous period of 9 months/36 weeks or longer during a calendar year. 

5. Define positions that are part-time, not benefits-eligible:

• Academic: More than 9 credits taught or 75% FTE or greater for one semester per calendar year; 9 credits or less taught or less than 75% FTE for one or more semesters per calendar year; must have primary unit that monitors/approves any simultaneous assignments
• Staff (non-student): work maximum of 24 hours per week; work short-term full-time assignment (40 hours per week) for 16 weeks or less once per calendar year; must have primary unit that monitors/approves any simultaneous assignments.
• Staff (full-time student): meet status based on Bursar’s report for full-time students; can work multiple assignments; will be offered ACA healthcare if meet requirements.

6. Encourage creation of full-time benefits eligible positions, as defined above, where appropriate, with the use of part-time or short-term full-time positions to fill remaining gaps.

7.  A unit-independent mechanism of appeal will be established for employees (academic and staff) to review credited hours for ACA purposes.

QUESTION POSED:

Who will be affected by this policy and in what way?

In answering that question it might be useful to consider two others: (a) How and by whom are the categories of "full time" and "part time" employees defined?  What are the budgetary implications for employees and for the University?; (b) Aside from this forensic session, and the work of our Senate committee, what opportunities for employee input will there be?

To aid discussion I have included the following Appendices:

APPENDIX 1: COMMENTS TO PROPOSED PENN STATE RULES

APPENDIX 2; BACKGROUND INFORMATION (with links) to ACA.

HR 5, and 6

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[1] It is important to note that this forensic, and the policy choices considered, are only one of what are likely to be additional policy choices that the university might be required to make and for which faculty participation ought to be sought. In particular  the following issues remain to be determined: (1) Method for determining Fixed-Term II hours worked; (2) IBIS logistics; (3) Reporting; (3) Fringe rates; and (4) Administration of new hires (those hired after January 1, 2014).  It is expected that the faculty will be engaged in discussion of these issues before final policy choices are made into binding rules.

[2] We are told that the Office of Human Resources will continue to monitor government guidance for any updates to the employer responsibility provisions that may occur during 2014. It would be useful for the Office of Human Resources, along with the Office of the General Counsel, where appropriate, to share such updates and analysis of consequences for university policy, with faculty committees on a timely basis.

__________________________

APPENDIX 1:  Comments

Comments are included in bold and italics

General Comments

a.  There are substantial issues of ambiguity throughout. Some of these ambiguities are set out in more detail below.  With respect to benefits and benefits policy it ought to be a fundamental objective of administrators to draft provisions in an accessible way; that objective is not always reached here.

b.  It would be useful to understand the reasons for the policy choices reflected in these proposed approaches. 

c.  A cross reference between these provisions (once drafted in useful form) and HR 5, 6, 34 etc. would be useful

1. Define measurement period as January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2014.  The Measurement period is the period of time that the University will be measuring employee work hours to determine eligibility for health care benefits in 2015.  Calendar year calculations (rather than academic year calculation base) appears to be required by statute.

2. The High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) will be offered in 2015 to those employees who reach the hour requirement during the measurement period.  The University will not provide a contribution to the HSA. This provision does not specify what it means by “employees who reach the hour requirement” (eg what hour requirement—assume this implies there are categories of employees below the floor required for regular benefits coverage and a ceiling for those entitled to nothing). If this is related to those formerly qualified by the part time benefit plan, that is not clear.

3. The current part-time benefit plan will be discontinued.  Current employees who are currently qualified or will qualify for part-time benefits (health care eligibility, earned time, and holiday time) as of June 30, 2014, will be grandfathered and will continue those benefits.  After June 30, 2014, there will be no new entrants to that grandfathered group.  (here is an example of a substantial policy choice  offered with no explanation or justification; e.g., is one to assume here that those formerly qualified for the part time benefits plan will now qualify for either “regular” benefits or the HDHP with HSA? What are the differences between benefits previously offered and the new ones; what are the cost savings to the university; additionally will the same grandfathered group extend in perpetuity (2015, 2016, …) for the same people). It is my understanding that

beginning January 1, 2014, positions which are expected to require 30 hours of work or more per week or an effort of 75% or more for greater than 16 consecutive weeks, are to be created and posted as full-time, benefit- eligible positions.  Positions which are currently staffed by wage payroll employees who have worked an average of 30 hours or more per week or an effort of 75% or more for greater than 16 weeks, may also be examined to determine whether there is an ongoing need for such work, and determine whether Fixed-Term I or Standing positions should be created and posted.
4. Define positions that are full-time, benefits-eligible:

• Academic: greater than 9 credits taught or 75% FTE or greater for two semesters per calendar year.  NOTE: This provision appears riddled with ambiguity; 9 credits total per semester or for the academic year, the greater of 75% FTE or 9 credits; etc.;  it ignores the reality that some faculty teach during Summer terms and that some may teach in short courses (e.g., Maymester). NOTE THAT HR 5 speaks to semester or summer session (see below).  Even if the meaning were to be made clear, the import may unacceptable.  Alternative drafting: (1) “for any two semesters within a single calendar year, including summer session and Maymester terms and any reasonable equivalents thereof, NO LESS than 9 credits or 75% FTE” This might require modification of HR 5 and/or 6.
• Staff: regularly scheduled to work 30+ hours per week year-round or 40 hours per week for a continuous period of 9 months/36 weeks or longer during a calendar year.            NOTE: We are not told how these are measured.  It is not clear what continuous means. However, because we are the faculty senate, it has also been suggested that we should focus on Faculty/Academic issues, and urge that staff (both student and non-student) be given the opportunity to discuss these wage-payroll salary issues.

5. Define positions that are part-time, not benefits-eligible: (It is not clear how this meshes with HR5 or whether this contemplates changes in HR 5 which includes the traditional 750 hour rule; and if so, what changes are contemplated?).  It is my understanding that individuals who have achieved eligibility for healthcare, earned time, and holiday time provided by HR05 as of June 30, 2014, will continue to be offered those benefits in accordance with the current policy; individuals who have not achieved eligibility for healthcare, earned time, and holiday time provided by HR05 as of June 30, 2014, will no longer be eligible to attain such benefits; also policy changes will be made to reflect the changes in more detail

• Academic: [Less than] More than 9 credits taught or 75% FTE [or greater] for one semester per calendar year; 9 credits or less taught[,] or less than 75% FTE[,] for [only Fall or Spring] semesters per calendar year [even if summer or Maymester teaching is 100% FTE]; must have primary unit that monitors/approves any simultaneous assignments.  The interlineations suggest both the ambiguities of the current approach and a possible suggestion for clarity. The provision, for example, cannot mean more than 9 credits etc., because then there is no difference between full and part time employees;  But clarity also implies policy choices that are essentially hidden in the language of the policy as written.  Why MORE than 9 credits? Why MORE THAN 75% FTE? (alternatives are lower numbers or an “AT LEAST” standard.  More over it has been suggested that, for example, a faculty member teaches 12 credit hours in the spring, 3 credit hours in the summer, and 9 credit hours in the fall. They would be teaching 24 credits worth of information, but not eligible for benefits, whereas someone teaching 10 credit hours in the spring and fall (20 credit hours total) would receive benefits.  
• Staff (non-student): work maximum of 24 hours per week; work short-term full-time assignment (40 hours per week) for 16 weeks or less once per calendar year; must have primary unit that monitors/approves any simultaneous assignments.  Ambiguity; NOTE THAT HR 34 provides “Nonexempt Staff: The standard work week is 40 hours for a 100% FTE position”; NOTE also HRG02 /flexible scheduling rules).
• Staff (full-time student): meet status based on Bursar’s report for full-time students; can work multiple assignments; will be offered ACA healthcare if meet requirements. Ambiguity issues (what requirements? Reference to High Deductible Plan?)

6. Encourage creation of full-time benefits eligible positions, as defined above, where appropriate, with the use of part-time or short-term full-time positions to fill remaining gaps.  A positive expression of policy choice; It is not clear if this is meant to establish a policy standard that is unenforceable; if there are procedures to be established requiring administrators to justify part time hirings; approval processes? Who exercises discretion relative to these decisions?;  or if it is going to be the basis for evaluating the performance of supervisors. 

7.  A unit-independent mechanism of appeal will be established for employees (academic and staff) to review credited hours for ACA purposes. Valuable provision, but does not indicate whether benefit status will remain in effect during pendency of challenge.

APPENDIX 2 Background.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) ― also known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA ― is the health reform legislation passed by the 111^th Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010. The text of the ACA may be accessed at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr3590enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr3590enr.pdf. The legislation includes health-related provisions that began taking effect in 2010 and will continue to be rolled out over the next several years.  Key provisions are intended to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, to implement measures that will lower health care costs and improve system efficiency, and to eliminate industry practices that include rescission and denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

As a large employer that offers health care insurance to its employees, Penn State must comply with the provisions of ACA.  Numerous changes to health benefits have already been implemented form compliance.  Provisions such as expanded coverage of children to age 26, expanded preventive coverage with no cost share for flu shots and smoking cessation programs, and enhanced women’s preventive services including prescription drug coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptives have been added to the University’s health care coverage for faculty and staff.  Additional changes that have been implemented include a reduction in the flexible spending account limit to $2500 and the reporting of the cost of health insurance coverage on W-2’s for all faculty and staff.  Additionally, the Medicare tax increased for those earning over $200,000.

As reported in the 2012-2013 Annual Report of the Joint Committee on Insurance and Benefits, the University will continue to implement the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). More specifically, the so-called employer responsibility provision of ACA (ACA § 1511 et seq.) must be implemented by all large employers, including Penn State, in 2014.  The employer responsibility provisions primarily affect part-time faculty and staff. Employer penalties will be assessed if Penn State does not offer affordable health care to 95% of its employee population who meet the 30 hours per week criteria of ACA. Penalties were delayed until January 2015, however a period for measuring employee work hours (measurement period) must be defined and implemented prior to that date.

More specifically, ACA § 4980H provides that beginning in 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees will be required to provide “minimum essential” health care coverage for their full-time employees or pay an annual penalty. This provision defines “full-time” employee as one who works an average of at least 30 hours per week in any given month (see H. R. 3590—137).  With respect to variable-hour and seasonal employees, that section provides “The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall prescribe such regulations, rules, and guidance as may be necessary to determine the hours of service of an employee, including rules for the application of this paragraph to employees who are not compensated on an hourly basis.”

The new guidance, IRS Notice 2012-58 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-12-58.pdf),  expands on previously issued guidance on this topic and discusses a safe harbor method that employers can apply to newly hired employees. IRS Notice 2011-36 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-11-36.pdf)  describes a lookback/stability period for determining the full-time status of ongoing employees. It provides in part:

2. Calculation of hours for service for non-hourly employees. For employees not paid on an hourly basis (non-hourly employees), the employer would be permitted to calculate the number of hours of service under any of the following three methods: (1) counting actual hours of service from records of hours worked and hours for which payment is made or due for vacation, holiday, illness, incapacity, etc., as described above; (2) using a days-worked equivalency method whereby the employee is credited with eight hours of service for each day for which the employee would be required to be credited with at least one hour of service under the rule in Section III.C above; or (3) using a weeks-worked equivalency of 40 hours of service per week for each week for which the employee would be required to be credited with at least one hour of service under the rule in Section III.C above. These equivalents are based on Labor regulations at 29 C.F.R. § 2530.200b-2(a), modified as under prior guidance under other provisions of the Affordable Care Act. (at page 7).

IRS Notice 2012-17 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-12-17.pdf) suggests possible approaches for determining the full-time status of new employees. The provisions are both complicated and contingent.  But it is all there is to go on.

It is important to note that requirements for implementation of the employer responsibility provisions continue to evolve, and guidance, particularly in the area of part-time faculty, has not been finalized but has been recommended by the government.  It is important for Penn State to implement practices that will position the University to effectively implement the ACA as currently recommended.

We are told that the federal government, for purposes of the Affordable Care Act, requires that Universities use a “reasonable method” for measuring hours worked that will be consistent for all part-time faculty.  HOWEVER, we know that “Although an employer would be required to use one of these three methods for counting hours of service for all non-hourly employees, an employer need not use the same method for all non-hourly employees, but may apply different methods for different classifications of non-hourly employees, if the classifications are reasonable and consistently applied.” (IRS Notice 2011-36 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-11-36.pdf, at page 7).

We have been told, and thus assume, that higher education institutions are lobbying through professional organizations to get better clarity on measuring part-time faculty work hours that is within the regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and is reasonable for institutions of higher education.  Revised guidance, however, has not been released to date.

Policy HR05 "REGULAR" AND "NONREGULAR" UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES

POLICY'S INITIAL DATE: July 1, 1948
THIS VERSION EFFECTIVE: June 1, 2011

Contents:

·  Purpose

·  Regular/Nonregular

·  Regular Employee Defined

·  Nonregular Employee Defined

·  Conditions of Regular Employment

·  Conditions of Nonregular Employment

·  ....Retirement Plan

·  ....Tax-deferred Annuity

·  ....Overtime

·  ....Educational Privileges

·  ....Family and Medical Leave

·  ....Healthcare Plan

·  ....Earned Time

·  .....Eligibility and Accural

·  .....Use of Accumulated Earned Time

·  .....Transfer and Payoff of Accumulated Earned Time

·  ....Holiday Time

·  Note

·  Cross References

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PURPOSE:

To define regular and nonregular employees and to provide conditions of employment for nonregular employees.

REGULAR/NONREGULAR:

Each University employee is classified as either regular or nonregular. This includes any employee who is classified in one of the following categories;

Executive	Academic Administrator
Academic	Staff
Administrator	Technical-Service

NOTE: An employee paid hourly (i.e., wage payroll) cannot be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (overtime eligibility), even though the individual is performing the same type of work as an exempt position.

REGULAR EMPLOYEE DEFINED:

A regular employee is a person who is appointed to a full-time position under one of the above classifications, and which position will exist for six months or longer (except that a person granted an academic appointment designated as "Visiting" is non-regular).

NONREGULAR EMPLOYEE DEFINED:

A nonregular employee is defined as follows:

1. A person granted an academic or exempt staff appointment designated as Fixed Term II or Visiting; or
2. A person who fills a position that will exist for less than six months; or
3. A person who is working on less than a full-time work schedule, or whose position title includes the words "part-time."

CONDITIONS OF REGULAR EMPLOYMENT:

Each regular University employee is subject to the provisions of:

1. Policies regulating the employee benefits plans.
2. Policy of educational privileges for an employee and eligible dependents.
3. Regulations concerning Workers' Compensation insurance.
4. Regulations concerning Unemployment Compensation insurance.
5. All other University Policies governing each respective employee classification.

CONDITIONS OF NONREGULAR EMPLOYMENT:

Each nonstudent, nonregular employee is subject to the provisions of the following policies or regulations (policies affecting employees represented by a union are found in the appropriate Agreements):

1. Policies regulating the employee benefits plans during the second of abutting, full-time, Fixed Term II appointments.
2. Regulations concerning Workers' Compensation insurance.
3. Regulations concerning Unemployment Compensation insurance.
4. Retirement Plan - subject to the regulations governing membership in a University retirement plan.
5. Tax-deferred Annuity - Employees may elect to participate in a University tax-deferred annuity plan. Such deduction shall be based on a percentage of salary (up to the legal limits) and shall be taken only if sufficient salary remains to cover taxes, fees, or other required deductions.
6. Overtime - For nonacademic appointments other than Fixed Term II, payment of time and one-half based on the hourly rate for any work performed by an employee in excess of 40 hours actually worked per week.
7. Educational Privileges - A faculty or exempt staff member appointed on a full-time Fixed-Term II, or full-time, faculty Visiting Appointment for at least one semester or summer session, is eligible for educational privileges for self and eligible dependents during any time covered by that appointment which encompasses both the beginning and end of a semester or summer session.
8. Family and Medical Leave - The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) mandates that a qualifying employee be eligible for a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave, 26 weeks for military caregiver leave, during any consecutive 12-month period for one or more of the following:
   
   a.) the birth of an employee's child, including prenatal doctor visits as well as caring for the newborn child;
   
   b.) the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care;
   
   c.) the care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent of the employee;
   
   d.) the employee's own serious illness which causes the employee to be unable to perform the functions of his/her position;
   
   e.) a qualifying military exigency; or
   
   f.) the care of a covered servicemember injured in the line of duty.
   
   Absences may be of an ongoing nature or, when medically necessary, may be taken as an intermittent leave or on a reduced leave schedule. Whenever possible, the employee shall make a reasonable effort to schedule any medical treatment visits so as not to unduly disrupt operations.
   
   For purposes of the Family and Medical Leave Act, an eligible employee is a regular or nonregular employee who has worked for the University for at least 12 months, and has worked at least 1,250 hours within the 12-month period immediately prior to the leave.
   
   Employees who meet the eligibility requirements defined above shall be entitled to leave without pay in accordance with the provisions of the FMLA and its implementing regulations as generally set forth above. During a leave, such eligible employees shall first use all accumulated earned time (if applicable) prior to commencement of no-pay status for the balance of the leave. Paid time off shall be included in calculating the leave-time limit.
   
   A workweek for part-time employees shall be equivalent to the average number of hours worked each week. If an employee's schedule varies from week to week, a weekly average of hours worked over the 12 weeks prior to the beginning of the leave period is to be used for calculating the employee's normal workweek.
9. Healthcare Plan - Employees who have two or more years of continuous University service, working at least 750 hours each year, are eligible to participate in a University healthcare plan. Provided there is no break in service, a regular employee who terminates her/his regular position to accept an offer of nonregular employment consisting of at least 750 hours of work each year, is eligible to participate.

Additional information including details regarding deductions and payments is available from the Employee Benefits Division.

Also, see NOTE below.

10. Earned Time
    
    A. Eligibility and Accrual
    When a nonacademic employee has completed two years of continuous University service, working at least 750 hours each year, such employee shall accumulate earned time. Earned time shall be accrued on the basis of 8 hours for each 168 hours paid. Such earned time may be accumulated up to a maximum of 96 hours.
    
    B. Use of Accumulated Earned Time
    Accumulated earned time can be used by an employee to account for work time missed due to illness, vacation, etc. The work requirements of the University shall take priority over the scheduling of time off for an employee. Nevertheless, the University shall give consideration to any specific request for time off by an employee. Except in the case of illness or an emergency, time off is to be charged to the earned time accumulation only when such absence has been scheduled and approved by the supervisor in advance.
    
    C. Transfer and Payoff Of Accumulated Earned Time
    Provided there is no break in service, a regular employee who terminates her/his regular position to accept an offer of nonregular employment consisting of at least 750 hours of work each year, shall have the option to transfer any or all (up to a maximum of 96 hours) of her/his vacation accumulation to earned time.
    
    A nonregular employee who terminates her/his nonregular position to accept a nonbargaining unit regular position shall transfer all of the earned time balance to vacation accumulation, provided there is no break in service. A nonregular employee who terminates his/her nonregular position to accept a position included in a bargaining unit shall receive the cash value of unused earned time.
    
    When a nonregular employee terminates employment, such employee shall receive the cash value of unused earned time, computed up to and including the last day worked, provided the employee has given at least two weeks advance notice.
    
    Also, see NOTE below.
11. Holiday Time - When a nonacademic employee has completed two years of continuous University service, working at least 750 hours each year, such employee shall receive her/his regular pay for the University holidays that occur on a day that the employee is normally scheduled to work. See HR34 for the official closedown and holiday periods.
    
    Such employee required to work on a University holiday, shall be paid at the rate of time and one-half the hourly rate for all hours worked on the holiday.
    
    An employee is granted only those University holidays that occur on a day that the employee is normally scheduled to work.
    
    Also, see NOTE below.

NOTE: An employee who has qualified for items 9, 10, and 11 above who works less than 375 hours OR less than eight pay periods at half-time (40 hours/pay period) during any consecutive six month period, will no longer be eligible to participate in the above referenced programs unless the decrease in hours is directly related to an absence covered by the Family and Medical Leave outlined in No. 8 above. Such employee may requalify for eligibility during the subsequent two year period if in any consecutive six month period she or he works at least 375 hours AND at least eight pay periods at half-time (40 hours/pay period) or more. If reinstated, an employee will again be disqualified if the conditions described above recur.

 
Policy HR06 TYPES OF APPOINTMENTS

POLICY'S INITIAL DATE: June 1, 1955
THIS VERSION EFFECTIVE: July 24, 2009

Contents:

·  Purpose

·  Standing Appointment

·  Fixed-Term Multi-Year Appointment

·  Fixed-Term I Appointment

·  Fixed-Term II Apointment

·  Supplementary I Appointment

·  Supplementary II Appointment

·  Visiting Appointment

·  Appointments Without Remuneration

·  Personnel Appointments

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PURPOSE:

The purpose of this policy is to list the types of appointments which may be made to the faculty or staff of the University and to enumerate certain personnel and budget provisions applicable to each type.

STANDING APPOINTMENT:

Standing appointment designates those appointments which are full-time and for which no ending date is specified. Such appointments are terminable only upon appropriate notice of termination in accordance with University policy. Standing appointments are regular* and must be backed by permanent budgeted funds. The position for each Standing appointment appears as a line item of a departmental budget salary schedule and is assigned a budget position number on the payroll record. Standing appointments are made for both academic and nonacademic personnel. If such an appointment is academic, a Memorandum of Personal Service form outlining the terms of the appointment is completed and given to the incumbent.

FIXED-TERM MULTI-YEAR APPOINTMENT:

Fixed-Term Multi-Year appointment designates those appointments which are full-time for a minimum of 36 weeks, but which have an ending date specified. Such appointments are regular*. The position appears as a line item on the departmental budget salary schedule and is assigned a budget position number on the payroll record. Funding must be committed on a permanent basis from the Non-Standing Fixed-Term Multi-Year Academic budget category before appointments can be made. Such appointments are discontinued at the stated ending date, but may be renewed.
Fixed-Term Multi-Year appointments are made for academic personnel. A Memorandum of Personal Service form outlining the terms of the appointment is completed and given to the incumbent.
Fixed-Term Multi-Year appointments may exceed one year in duration, up to a maximum of five years for a single appointment. These appointments are renewable.

FIXED-TERM I APPOINTMENT:

Fixed-Term I appointment designates those appointments which are full-time for at least six calendar months, but which have an ending date specified. Such appointments are regular*. The position does not appear as a line item of the departmental budget salary schedule and is not assigned a budget position number on a payroll record. The Fixed-Term I position is funded on a temporary basis, although the original source may be either permanent (such as allocation fund) or temporary (such as salary savings from an unfilled position). Such appointments are discontinued at the stated ending date, but may be renewed.
Fixed-Term I appointments are made for both academic and nonacademic personnel (other than technical-service). If such an appointment is academic, a Memorandum of Personal Service form outlining the terms of the appointment is completed and given to the incumbent. If such appointment is nonacademic, a Confirmation of Fixed-Term I Staff Appointment is completed and given to the incumbent.

FIXED-TERM II APPOINTMENT:

Fixed-Term II appointment designates those academic or exempt staff appointments which are:

(a) full-time but less than six calendar months; or

(b) less than full-time.

Such appointments are defined as non-regular*. The position does not appear as a line item on the departmental budget salary schedule and is not assigned a budget position number on the payroll record. The Fixed-Term II appointment position is funded on a temporary basis, although the original source may be either permanent (such as allocation fund) or temporary (such as salary savings from an unfilled position). Such appointments are made to academic or exempt staff personnel only. If such an appointment is academic, a Memorandum of Personal Service form outlining the terms of the appointment is completed and given to the incumbent. If such an appointment is exempt staff, a Confirmation of Fixed-Term II Staff Appointment form is completed and given to the incumbent.
Fixed-Term II appointments are discontinued at the stated ending date, but may be renewed. If an individual receives a second Fixed-Term II appointment on a full-time basis immediately following a full-time Fixed-Term II appointment such that the total continuous full-time service equals or exceeds six calendar months, that individual will be considered as a Fixed-Term I appointment for purposes of classification as regular or non-regular*. Individuals who qualify as Fixed-Term I appointments within the preceding definition shall be classified as regular* as of the date the appointment is considered to have changed from Fixed-Term II to Fixed-Term I. Individuals who continue to be reappointed as full-time Fixed-Term II appointments for consecutive appointments shall retain the classification of regular* as long as the employment is consecutive.

SUPPLEMENTARY I APPOINTMENT:

Supplementary I appointments designate those appointments which are supplementary to Standing appointments and have the effect of providing additional contractual obligation beyond the terms of the Standing appointment. For example, a Supplementary appointment will be made so that an individual whose standing contractual obligation is for 36 weeks is employed temporarily for one to twelve additional weeks.
Funds are provided on a temporary basis, although the original source may be either permanent (such as allocation fund) or temporary (such as salary savings from an unfilled position). Normally, Supplementary I appointments are discontinued at the stated ending date, but may be renewed. Supplementary I appointments are made to both academic and exempt staff personnel. If such an appointment is academic, a Memorandum of Personal Service form outlining the terms of the appointment is completed and given to the incumbent.
Payment for Supplemental I appointments is made at the time the services are performed (whenever possible this should be in the same tax year). In no circumstance will the University process payment for services performed more than six months in the past.

SUPPLEMENTARY II APPOINTMENT:

Supplementary II appointments designate appointments which are supplementary to Standing or Fixed-Term I appointments for approved additional services provided during the same weeks of service of these appointments. Funds are provided on a temporary basis. Supplementary II appointments are discontinued at the stated ending dates, but may be renewed. Supplementary II appointments are made to academic personnel, and may be made to exempt staff personnel when performing extra non-continuing assignments as outlined in HR90.
The faculty member's first duty and responsibility is to his/her primary appointment at the University. Therefore, the dean (or assistant or associate dean if delegated by the dean) of the faculty member's college of primary appointment must approve any arrangement for Supplemental II compensation made with another University unit.
Payment for Supplemental II appointments is made at the time the services are performed (whenever possible this should be in the same tax year). In no circumstance will the University process payment for services performed more than six months in the past. The rate of pay for supplemental compensation shall not exceed the amount paid for services under the terms of the faculty member's primary appointment. In addition, any supplementary compensation arrangements which would raise the employee's total pay received from the University to more than 20% above his/her annualized salary in any fiscal year must be approved by the dean of the faculty member's college of primary appointment. The record of such extraordinary payments will be reviewed annually by the Executive Vice President and Provost.
There may also be unique situations that require the use of Supplemental II appointments for academic personnel, which do not fall under the normal guidelines. In those rare situations, the dean must obtain the approval of the Executive Vice President and Provost before making any commitment to the academic employee regarding Supplemental II compensation.

VISITING APPOINTMENT:

Visiting appointment designates an appointment in which "visiting" is part of the title. Such an appointment is non-regular, whether full-time or part-time. All other conditions for either Fixed-Term I or II appointments apply to Visiting appointments. Visiting appointments apply to academic personnel only.

APPOINTMENTS WITHOUT REMUNERATION:

Appointment without remuneration designates an appointment of an individual who does not receive remuneration for the academic position held in the University. Such individuals include those designated as Adjunct, Clinical Faculty, or Faculty Associate as outlined inHR07; those designated as Affiliate in HR85; or those visiting faculty who are not being paid by The Pennsylvania State University. The position does not appear as a line item on the departmental budget salary schedule and is not assigned a budget position number on the payroll record.

PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS:

Type of Appointment	Covered By Employee Benefits	Not Covered By Employee Benefits	Academic Assignment Only	Paid On Monthly Payroll	Line Item on Dept Budget
Standing	X			X	X
Fixed-Term Multi-Year	X		X	X	X
Fixed-Term I	X			X
Fixed-Term II		X		X
Supplementary I	X			X
Supplementary II	X			X
Visiting		X	X	X
Without Remuneration	Affiliate Only	X	X

NOTE: See HR05 for definitions and conditions for employment for "regular" and "non-regular" appointments.

           

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