1. 2016 SPaRC Retreat Afternoon Concurrent Session #2 Ask HR!

2. Presenters Sandy Jones Associate Director, Academic Human Resources
Deb Stone
Director, Academic Human Resources
Lori Willoughby
Executive Director of Engineering HR, Engineering Administration
Jayne Goby
Associate Director, Grants and Contracts Post-Award
SPaRC Retreat

3. Fair Labor Standards Act---Governs Pay and Overtime Eligibility
Exempt
(Not Eligible for Overtime Pay)
Paid on a salaried basis
Duties meet Professional level test
Salary is at or above $23,360 or $455/week
CURRENTLY
SPaRC Retreat

4. Fair Labor Standards Act---Governs Pay and Overtime Eligibility
Exempt
(Not Eligible for Overtime Pay)
Paid on a salaried basis
Duties meet Professional level test
Salary is at or above $47,476 or $913/week
Effective Dec. 1, 2016
Automatic updates to Salary every three years
SPaRC Retreat

5. Impacted Not Impacted Faculty (including Specialized Faculty)
Academic Professionals
Currently Exempt
Civil Service
Research Associates
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Not Impacted
Faculty (including Specialized Faculty)
Physicians
Medical Residents and Veterinary Medical Residents
Attorneys
Postdoctoral Fellows
SPaRC Retreat

6. Compliance Options Convert employee to hourly non-exempt status
Raise salary to meet or exceed $47,476
Convert employee to hourly non-exempt status
Convert employee to salaried non-exempt status
SPaRC Retreat

7. Employees newly eligible for overtime
Must track and report hours worked
Will receive their current salary plus pay for overtime hours at 1 ½ their hourly rate equivalent
Academic employees will receive regular monthly pay
Time worked will be reported on a biweekly basis
Overtime will be paid on a biweekly pay event
SPaRC Retreat

8. Policies under development
Requirements related to authorization to work overtime
Travel
Comp Time
Overtime and Leave usage reporting increments
SPaRC’Ed

9. Agency-Specific Guidance
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have provided information about the expected impact to project funding as a result of the increase to the FLSA minimum threshold to $47,476
Anticipating that other larger federal agencies will have some form of information or guidance available by Dec 1, 2016
For the Urbana campus
funding received from NIH and NSF accounts for
approximately 51% of federal funding and
approximately 37% of all sponsored project funding
SPaRC’Ed

10. NIH 2017 *Projected Stipend Levels Kirschstein-NRSA awards
NIH 2017 Stipend levels, notice available at:
Effective Dec 01, 2016 (planned)
*Projected stipend levels to be finalized,
additional guidance in coming months
(NIH provided notice for planning)
Years of Experience
Actual
2016 Stipend
*Projected
2017 Stipend
$43,692
$47,484 1
$45,444
$47,844 2
$47,268
$48,216 3
$49,152
$50,316 4
$51,120
$52,140 5
$53,160
$54,228 6
$55,296
$56,400
7 or more
$57,504
$58,560
SPaRC’Ed

11. NSF FAQs on FLSA NSF FAQs on FLSA available at
Standard NSF rebudgeting policies apply for any budgetary changes resulting from implementation of the new rule
Can rebudget as soon as an institutional policy is implemented that addresses the FLSA final overtime rule
If rebudgeting changes the objectives or scope of the award, or if supplemental funding is needed, grantee should contact NSF to discuss; any supplemental funding is at the discretion of NSF
SPaRC’Ed

12. NSF FAQs on FLSA (continued)
Overtime compensation may be included in a proposal or award budget for employees not exempted from overtime
Payment of overtime must be consistent with documented institutional policy and consistently applied.
Grantee must comply with requirements in Uniform Guidance
§ “Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses”
(i) “Allowable Activities”
SPaRC’Ed

13. Impact of FLSA change to Sponsored Projects
More individuals may be affected by higher threshold
No change to treatment of overtime compensation, same as now
Overtime paid from sponsored project funding must be:
Consistent with University policies and procedures
Not prohibited by sponsor’s policies or the individual award’s terms and conditions
An “Allowable Cost” meeting this general criteria from UG § :
Necessary and reasonable for the performance of the sponsored project
Allocable to the sponsored project
Consistently treated
Conforms to limitations/exclusions in policy, regulations, or award terms and conditions
Adequately documented
In accordance with GAAP
Determining if an allowable cost
-- Uniform Guidance §   ”Factors affecting allowability of costs”
SPaRC’Ed

14. Postdoctoral Research Associates new minimum salary threshold
For the Urbana campus –
Policy and FAQs available at:
Effective Nov 16, 2016 the minimum Postdoctoral Research Associate salary will be $47,476 regardless of the service basis (applies uniformly to 9 and 12 month positions)
Minimum salary applies to all current Postdoctoral Research Associates and newly hired Postdoctoral Research Associates
Appointments must be full-time (total FTE of all positions = 100%)
0% appointments with no salary are not subject to FLSA
SPaRC’Ed

15. Postdoctoral Research Associate salary threshold (continued)
Postdoctoral Fellows are not subject to the provisions of FLSA (not considered employees)
Postdoctoral Research Associates may not be reclassified as Fellows in order to avoid FLSA requirements
New sponsored project proposals should use the $47,476 salary threshold
Proposals that extend to 2020 or further need to account for an automatic increase in the FLSA threshold in Jan 2020; anticipated level is $51,168
SPaRC’Ed

16. What must you do?
Ensure overtime charged to a sponsored project is adequately documented when it is paid out
Determining if overtime is an allowable cost on a sponsored project
What specifically was the employee doing that created the overtime?
Explain what activity was necessary for the performance of the sponsored project and why it had to be undertaken outside of “normal” work hours
Are you complying with institutional and departmental policies and procedures?
Determine who approved the overtime to be worked?
How was the overtime time tracked and reported?
SPaRC’Ed

17. What else can you do? Be Proactive
Implement procedures to help employees manage workloads and minimize the need for overtime
Provide periodic training to employees regarding the requirements of charging time to a sponsored project and in maintaining adequate records to support overtime
When it is known in advance that overtime will likely result due to the special nature of work necessary for the sponsored project, include overtime in the proposal budget (if this is not prohibited; be familiar with your sponsor’s policies and guidelines)
SPaRC’Ed