Position management policy for staff and student employment
Table of Contents
Create a new position or edit position restrictions?
Last updated: September 1, 2023
The Staff and Student Position Management Policy provides an overview of key definitions, outlines rules associated with positions, and guides the management of positions and their lifespan. The tracking of job history, including worker history, simplifies the creation of employment requisitions, streamlines the succession planning process, and supports vacancy reporting for ad hoc and annual budgeting processes.
Position management preserves the continuity and history of not only the job, but of all the workers who held the job and enables the UW to be in compliance with state law and collective bargaining agreements:
- Benefits: The Washington Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Washington State Healthcare Authority requirements for benefits eligibility require the employer to have a positions policy under RCW 41.40.010 and RCW 41.05.065.
- Civil Service Exemption: The definitions exempting certain types of limited term work from state civil service law necessitate the appropriate management of a position’s lifespan under RCW 41.06.070.
- Union Implications: Position management allows the tracking of bargaining unit work so that the University may honor its obligation to report on and bargain any changes to positions that contain bargaining unit work.
Definitions
Job: A job is a group of duties and responsibilities to be performed by an employee. These duties and responsibilities are outlined in a position description, which documents the essential tasks, functions, and qualifications required to perform the work and is used to determine the job profile that best describes the work. Job profiles are defined by the families and classifications they are in, which drive everything about a position from pay rate type, eligibility criteria for benefits, employment program provisions, accruals, accounting groups, and reporting codes.
Position: A position is a specific occurrence of a job within an organization. It is linked to the job profile and inherits all its characteristics. For example, the job may be Program Coordinator (17256), but the position could be Commencement Program Coordinator in the Dean’s office.
Lifespan: Each position has a lifespan, which drives whether the work is considered regular, nonpermanent, intermittent, fixed term or temporary. A position’s lifespan, in part, is defined by the employee sub-type.
- Regular positions, whether hourly or salaried, have a start date but no end date. Regular positions represent work that remains after the incumbent leaves, appear in vacancy reports when unfilled, and their duties and responsibilities are defined without a specific employee in mind.
- Nonpermanent positions are classified positions with a start date and an expected future end date. As defined in state civil service rules or certain collective bargaining agreements, they are limited to 12 month classified appointments with the ability to extend an additional 12 months (unless a collective bargaining agreement states otherwise) based on departmental needs. Hourly-paid nonpermanent positions are called “nonpermanent hourly” while salaried nonpermanent positions are called “nonpermanent fixed duration.”
- Intermittent positions are classified hourly positions without an expected future end date. The nature of work must be sporadic and not fit a particular pattern.
- Fixed term positions may be made for assignments of limited duration if the position meets a civil service exemption. These may be paid either salary or hourly, depending on how the work is scheduled.
- Temporary positions are student positions with end dates.
A position’s lifespan continues until the work is no longer needed or the rules defining the employee sub-type requires that the position is eliminated.
Staffing Model: Staffing models in Workday support, in part, the management of a position’s lifespan. The “job management” staffing model, used for student positions, results in positions only existing when an incumbent is in the job. By comparison, the “position management” staffing model persists positions. Any limited term positions with an end date in the position management staffing model must be actively managed.
Create a new position or edit position restrictions?
The integrity of a regular position once created is critical. When a department wants to change a position, it should only be reclassified if both the duties and responsibilities fundamentally change the job.
A regular position should not be modified if any of the following criteria are true:
- If the lifespan of the work changes resulting in a different employee sub-type (e.g., cannot edit a position from nonpermanent to regular, or vice versa), unless the position is vacant and has never been filled.
- There are exceptions to how this is administered in Workday. See the applicable edit position restrictions user guide for staff on the ISC webpage for more information.
- The position remains in the same major organization and the work is moving from one position to another.
- The position’s personnel type changes between the following categories:
- Staff
- Academic Personnel
- Student
- The position is a stipend or contingent worker position.
- The position is a Professional Staff Temporary Position (PSTP).
During position management activities, positions may be frozen, eliminated/closed, or reclassified. See the User Guide Library on the Integrated Service Center (ISC) webpage for more information.
Workday configuration automatically manages regular positions and intermittent positions that are intended to persist. The lifespan of positions with end employment dates must be actively managed.
Worker overlap
If an incumbent employee and their replacement overlap, a separate position must be created for the incoming employee. Once the incumbent vacates their position, the incoming employee should be moved to the intended position, and the additional position should then be closed.
Lifespan of staff and student positions
Manage positions according to the chart below for staff positions:
| Position Lifespan (Employee subtype) | Description | Work Limitations | FTE | End Employment Date Set As | Staffing Model in Workday | Position Management | Management of End Employment Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | Indefinite Lifespan | N/A | Yes | N/A | Position Management | Position may be closed, frozen, reclassified, or refilled as-is depending on the need for the work | N/A |
| Nonpermanent – Fixed Duration | Used for leave of absence backfill, when recruiting to fill a vacant position with a permanent appointment, or to address a short-term workload peak project | Limited to 12 months from appointment date with the ability to extend an additional 12 months (unless a collective bargaining agreement states otherwise) based on departmental needs | Yes | Duration of position not to exceed 12 months | Position Management | Position may be closed or refilled as-is depending on the need for the work | Review end employment date and request extension of no more than 12 additional months (for a total of 24 months, except for positions represented by SEIU 925 which are limited to a total of 18 months) based on department needs |
| Non-permanent – Hourly | Used for leave of absence backfill, when recruiting to fill a vacant position with a permanent appointment, or to address a short-term workload peak project | Limited to 12 months from appointment date with the ability to extend an additional 12 months on departmental needs | No | Duration of position not to exceed 12 months | Position Management | Position may be closed or refilled as-is depending on the need for the work | Review end employment date and request extension of no more than 12 additional months (for a total of 24 months) based on department needs |
| Intermittent | Nature of the work is sporadic and does not fit a particular pattern | N/A | No | N/A | Position management. | Position may be closed, frozen, reclassified, or refilled as-is depending on the need for the work | N/A |
| Professional Staff Temporary Position – Salary | Short-term staffing, project work, workload peaks that meet professional staff exemption criteria | Positions of up to 12 months in duration that are regularly scheduled and hold an FTE. Project positions likely to exceed 12 months should be treated as regular professional staff positions. | Yes | No more than 12 months from date of hire or most recent job change date | Position Management | The position must be closed after end employment date is met. | Review end employment date and extend by no more than 12 months if needed. Requested through and approved by Compensation |
| Professional Staff Temporary Position – Hourly |
Short-term staffing, project work, workload peaks that meet professional staff exemption criteria | Hourly positions up to 12 months in duration used when the work will not have a predictable schedule and not assigned an FTE. | No | No more than 12 months from most recent hire date or most recent job change job date | Position Management | Position may be closed, frozen, reclassified, or refilled as-is depending on the need for the work. | Requested through and approved by Compensation |
Manage positions according to the chart below for student positions:
| Position Lifespan (Employee subtype) | Description | Work Limitations | FTE | End Employment Date Set As | Staffing Model in Workday | Position Management | Management of End Employment Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Salaried UAW Academic Student Employee (ASE) | Job profiles outlined in UAW contract | ASEs with a 50% FTE will not be required to work for more than 220 hours per quarter. Alternative FTE appointments will be prorated based on hours worked per week and per quarter. | Yes, typically 50% FTE | Typically 50% for the academic quarter. Salaried ASE** positions vary and can be less than 50% or less than the academic quarter. Most positions are 50% or greater for at least one academic quarter or 5 of the 6 pay periods of the quarter. | Job Management | Position goes away once incumbent vacates. | Extend end date per contract.
For summer, enter hiatus LOA if returning in autumn or per contract |
||
| Temporary Student Hourly | Short-term staffing, project work, workload peaks, occasional, limited ongoing work | Limited to less than 516 hours/6 months or 19.5 hrs/week when classes are in session | No | No more than 12 months from most recent hire date or most recent job change job date | Job Management | Position only exists when an incumbent is in it (i.e., staffing model “job management”) | Extend end employment date if employee still meets student employment eligibility criteria.
Terminate employee if the above criteria is not true or the work is no longer needed. |
||
| Temporary Hourly UAW Academic Student Employee | Job profiles outlined in UAW contract | An ASE who is engaged in projects or assignments on an hourly basis | No | Set as outlined in contract | Job Management | Position only exists when an incumbent is in it (i.e., staffing model “job management”) | Extend end date per contract.
Extend end employment date annually if employee still meets student employment eligibility criteria. |
** ASE appointment quarters are the following: 9/16–12/15, 12/16–3/15, 3/16–6/15, and 6/16–9/15.
Position FTE and multiple positions
With approval from UW Human Resources, staff members may hold more than one staff position. An additional position’s duties and responsibilities must be fundamentally different than the primary job and represent a separate additional position. Positions should be evaluated when additional temporary duties are determined to be a permanent part of a position. The following criteria must be considered before an additional position may be approved:
- Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) –
- Regular, nonpermanent-fixed duration, and fixed term salaried staff positions must not exceed 1.0 FTE. A staff employee holding more than one FTE position cannot hold FTE positions that exceed 1.0 FTE in total.
- Nonpermanent hourly, fixed term hourly, and intermittent staff positions do not have a regular expectation of hours; therefore, they do not hold an FTE. Departments may employ a single employee in both a nonpermanent hourly or intermittent staff position and a regular position, provided overtime rules are managed in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), see below.
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Exemption – Salaried staff positions are either FLSA exempt or nonexempt, as determined by the UW Compensation Office. FLSA requirements evaluate the total body of work performed by the employee, regardless of how many positions are defined. When workers hold positions of different FLSA exemption statuses, accurate determination of overtime cannot always be determined automatically. Due to this complexity, mixing FLSA exemption statuses should generally be avoided. Work with your recruitment representative to evaluate applicable Add Job situations where FLSA exemptions are mixed.
- Multiple Timekeeping Systems – Overtime is calculated in timekeeping systems (Workday for campus and Kronos for medical centers). Having employees with positions in more than one timekeeping system should be avoided and requires UW Human Resources and ISC approval.
- Different Bargaining Units – Consult with Labor Relations (laborrel@uw.edu) if a combination of positions includes work from different bargaining units with different overtime and premium rules.
If additional duties are not representative of distinct work, consider additional forms of temporary compensation (e.g., Temporary Salary Increase).
Nonpermanent-hourly and intermittent staff positions
All nonpermanent – hourly and intermittent staff are FLSA nonexempt and workers may hold more than one nonpermanent-hourly or intermittent staff position provided they are in the same timekeeping system. Having employees with positions in more than one timekeeping system should be avoided and requires UW Human Resources approval. See approval process below.
Nonpermanent-hourly or intermittent and regular staff positions
All multiple position combinations of nonpermanent-hourly or intermittent and regular staff jobs must be evaluated for UW Human Resources for approval before an additional job offer may be approved.
Academic and staff positions
The combination of paid academic and staff positions should always be evaluated for impact by UW Human Resources.
Approval process for different FLSA exemption status and multiple timekeeping systems
At the time of hire, recruiting representatives identify Add Job situations and determine whether the multiple position combination will result in a different FLSA exemption status or a multiple timekeeping systems combination. All such combinations are assessed by Recruiting and Employee Relations Directors, Payroll Directors, and heads of organizations where the positions would exist. If they approve of the Add Job, the Recruiting Office Partner notifies the ISC and Medical Centers Payroll Services to:
- Add the worker with multiple positions as an approved exception to their audit list so they can monitor for overtime situations, and
- Coordinate every payroll to identify overtime adjustments if necessary. If regular hours paid are in excess of 40 for one week, evaluation of overtime owed needs to occur.
Primary positions drive benefits eligibility
If an employee holds multiple positions, a manual evaluation will be made to determine which position is the employee’s “primary” position. The primary position is the position that drives benefits eligibility.