Staff Handbook

(Board Policy 405.1)

There are, broadly defined, three categories of employees of the University: faculty, administrators, and staff.

Faculty are employees who hold the academic rank of lecturer, master lecturer, assistant instructor, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, distinguished professor, University professor, or one of these titles modified by clinical, research, adjunct, visiting, executive in residence, or emeritus, e.g., clinical professor, adjunct assistant professor.

Other titles which have faculty status and academic rank are dean of libraries, librarian, associate librarian, assistant librarian, curator, associate curator, assistant curator, instructional development specialist I and II, and extension specialist I, II, III, and IV. Extension specialists hold academic rank only when they are appointed in academic units.

Administrators are employees who hold the titles assistant director, associate director, director, assistant dean, associate dean, dean, assistant vice chancellor, associate vice chancellor, vice chancellor, assistant chancellor, associate chancellor, chancellor, or one of these titles modified by the term executive. Some administrators also hold faculty rank.

Staff are all employees of the University who are not faculty or administrators. Staff may be classified or non-classified.

All University titles are authorized by the Arkansas General Assembly in the campus biennial appropriations act and are designated as classified or non-classified.

Classified staff positions are grouped or classed, under the Arkansas Uniform Classification and Compensation Act, with positions that have similar duties and responsibilities and that require similar knowledge, abilities, skills, education, and experience. Each classification is assigned to one of twenty-six pay grades which has a minimum and a maximum pay level. Section 6.1 of this handbook provides more detailed information about the pay grades.

Non-Classified staff positions are not assigned to a pay grade, but each non-classified title has a maximum salary for each year of the biennium, called a line-item maximum, which is specified in the campus appropriations act. The actual pay for each non-classified position is determined by the University and department budget and by the employee's qualifications; it is not usually as high as the line-item maximum. Faculty titles and most administrative titles are also non-classified.

University employees may be appointed or extra-help hourly. Both categories of employees may work full-time or part-time.

Appointed employees include faculty, staff, and administrators who are on salary and are paid once a month. If their appointments are half-time (50%) or greater, they are eligible to participate in the University's fringe benefits program.

Extra-Help Hourly employees are hired on a temporary, as-needed basis, are paid semi-monthly for the hours they actually work, and are not eligible to participate in the University's fringe benefits program. However, non-student extra-help hourly employees are eligible for pay for University holidays, equivalent to the number of hours per day they usually work, provided they work the scheduled day before and the scheduled day after a University holiday, and provided they usually work twenty hours (half-time) or more per week. Hourly employees may also participate in the University's retirement plan, although their contributions will not be matched. Undergraduate students taking 12 hours or more are not eligible to participate in the retirement plan. Extra-help hourly employees cannot work more than 1,500 hours in a fiscal year, which begins July 1. Both the employee and the hiring department will be notified before the 1,500 hour limit is reached and the employee will sign a letter of termination upon receiving the last paycheck allowable under the 1,500 hour limit.

Specifically, notices will be sent to the employee, the employee's immediate supervisor, and to the hiring department's representative who enters hourly time in BASIS, according to the following schedule:

• 1100-1299 hours worked - E-mail notification will be sent to the employee, the employee's immediate supervisor, and to the hiring department's representative who enters hourly time in BASIS
   
• 1300-1499 hours worked - Payroll will place a hold on the employee's paycheck and e-mail a form requiring the signatures of the employee and the employee's supervisor. When the form is returned, the hold will be removed from the paycheck and a manual check will be sent to the employee's department on payday.
   
• 1500 hours worked - A letter terminating employment will be mailed to the employee. The employee's final paycheck will be held until the employee has signed and returned the letter.

All forms or letters may be faxed, scanned and e-mailed, or returned through campus mail.

(U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act - Public Law 99-150; Arkansas Human Resources Management System Policy Manual, [hereinafter AHRMS Policy Manual] 110)

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) designates state job titles as exempt or non-exempt under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Certain individuals may, because of the nature of their responsibilities, be exceptions to OPM's general designations. Human Resources can test specific positions for exempt or non-exempt status.

Exempt employees are those whose work is at least 80% executive, administrative, or professional. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require them to be paid overtime for working more than 40 hours in a work week.

Non-Exempt employees are those who are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. They earn overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in any work week. For more information on overtime compensation, see Section 5.3 of this handbook.

(Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 312.0, 324.0)

Persons who provide professional and consultant services to the University on a one-time or short-term basis are not considered University employees. Their pay, including honoraria, is arranged through a Professional and Consultant Services Contract. See the Business Affairs web site at http://www.uark.edu/admin/busaffrs/purchasing/pcsinfo.html for further details.

Most University staff employees have twelve-month appointments. Many faculty and some staff have nine-month, or academic year, appointments. A few have appointments for other periods, including spring or fall semester appointments, summer appointments, or appointments for a specified period to coincide with a grant or project.

An appointment is not an employment contract. Administrative and staff employees may be terminated at any time or dismissed for cause under University procedures. See Section 10 of this handbook for further information about terminations.