1 Personnel Policies and Practices, University of Wisconsin System Legislative Audit Bureau November 2006

2 UW System Employees

3 UW System Governance and Personnel Policies u UW Board of Regents is statutorily responsible for personnel policies u UW System employees participate in the Wisconsin Retirement System u Negotiated contracts apply to classified, represented UW System staff

4 Reported Average Sick Leave Use by UW System Staff

5 Sick Leave Use Reported by Faculty, Academic Staff, and Limited Appointees in 2005

6 Average Value of Converted Sick Leave for UW System Employees u Faculty - $222,100 u Limited appointees - $153,900 u Academic staff - $112,200 u Classified staff - $47,600

7 Vacation Time Reporting Policies and Practices u 9-month appointees do not earn vacation time u 12-month appointees earn 22 days of vacation time each year u UW policies allow the placement of limited amounts of unused vacation time in individual reserve accounts

8 Limited Appointments u Statutes identify certain senior administrative positions as limited appointments u Statutes grant the Board of Regents authority to categorize other administrative positions as limited appointments u Administrative code allows the UW System President and the chancellors to designate additional positions as limited appointments

9 Position Titles Designated as Limited Appointments

10 Transfers into Back-Up Positions u 95 employees transferred into their back-up positions between July 2002 and December 2005 u 58 of these transfers were at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee u 50 of the 95 transfers appear to have been voluntary, and 45 were involuntary

11 Settlement Agreements u UW System executed 13 settlement agreements with employees from 2003 through 2005 u The Department of Administration’s Risk Management program paid $1.1 million for UW System personnel claims from 2003 through 2005 u The Department of Workforce Development’s Division of Equal Rights substantiated none of the 147 employment discrimination complaints filed against UW System

12 UW System Employees with the Position Title “Consultant” u “Consultant” is a position title used for both classified and unclassified employees u UW policies require these to be short-term appointments u 134 unclassified UW System staff held the “consultant” position title in December 2005

13 UW System Unclassified Consultants with Salaries of at Least $65,000

14 UW System Faculty Sabbaticals

15 Compliance with Policies Related to Sabbaticals u 73 files were reviewed u Sick leave reporting is not uniformly enforced u Not all faculty were in compliance with a statutory requirement to return to the institution for one year upon completion of the sabbatical u Standardized forms would help to ensure consistent application of statutes and UW policies

16 Audit Recommendations u Board of Regents –Modify policies for reporting sick leave and vacation time use –Review position titles designated as limited appointments –Report to the Committee in June 2007 u UW System Administration –Report to the Committee in June 2007 on efforts to provide and track concurrent and back-up positions uniformly –Annually report to Board of Regents on hiring of consultants –Develop a standard agreement on faculty sabbaticals and a standard form to use in determining compensation u Legislature –Review sick leave conversion credit program

17 Personnel Policies and Practices, University of Wisconsin System Legislative Audit Bureau November 2006