Vice Chancellor Administration Unit

Human Resources Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Guide

Vice Chancellor Administration Unit

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Guide

For Human Resources Actions

This guide is a summary of the internal processes, policies and procedures related to Human Resources actions within the VCA unit, and is tailored to our unit environment and management approaches. This guide is supplemental to UCR and UC policies and procedures, and applicable laws. A list of additional information resources is presented in Appendix A.

Table of Contents

Roles of HR Coordinators
Staffing
VCA Unit Staffing Plan Administration Guidelines
Employee Recruitment Procedures
VCA Unit Review of Employee Recruitment Packets
Reviewing Interview Results & Approving Interview Lists
Suggested/Sample Email Transmittal Formats
Staff Appointments
Promotions
Demotions
Lateral Transfers
Guidelines in Considering and Recommending Appointment Salaries and Salary Increases
Hiring Near Relatives
Hiring Retirees
Types of Appointments
Career
Casual-Restricted
Contract
Types of Contracts
Contracts & Conflicts of Interest
Limited
Job Descriptions
Boilerplate Job Description For Manager Positions
Tricks Of The Trade In Using JDT To Create Job Descriptions
Monthly HR Reports
1,000 Hour
Core Medical
Out of Compliance
Collective Bargaining Units at UCR
Administrative Stipends and Out of Class Assignment Approvals
VCA Unit Staff Development Expense Reimbursement Guidelines
VCA Unit SRDP Program Guidelines
Time Off
Work Schedules and Time Away From Campus
Vacation Accruals and Banking Vacation Beyond Maximum Accruals
Types of Leave
Workers’ Compensation
FAQ’s
Appendix: Important Links & Resources / Appendix A

Roles of VCA Unit HR Coordinators

  • Advise managers and staff on HR policies and VCA Unit guidelines.
  • Coordinate staff recruitments, compensation reviews, performance review and merit processes.
  • Serve as the liaison with Human Resources, Labor Relations and the VCA Office on employee issues.

Typical HR Coordinator Responsibilities:

Ensure that the following packets forwarded to VCA Office are complete and adhere to campus and VCA unit guidelines and policies:

  1. Recruitment packets
  2. Employment Contract packets
  3. Compensation Review packets (reclass or equity review requests)
  4. Reorganization Plans

Coordinate the recruitment and appointment process, including:

  1. Working with the supervisor or manager to develop the recruitment plan.
  2. Working with HR in implementing the recruitment plan (e.g., reviewing drafts of job ads).
  3. Helping department supervisors with the recruitment process.
  4. Ensuring that proposed applicant interview lists are forwarded to VCA office for approval.
  5. Advising on appointment salary and salary adjustment policies and ensure that required notifications or requests for exceptions are sent.
  6. Advising on appointment of near relative issues and policies and ensure that required notifications or requests for exceptions are sent.
  7. Returning recruitment materials to HR in a timely manner (e.g., Department Record of Interview form, applications of unsuccessful candidates, interview questions.)
  8. Ensuring background investigations are conducted as appropriate.

Ensure that temporary salary increases (i.e., administrative stipends and out of class pay adjustments) adhere to campus and VCA unit guidelines and that required notifications or requests for approvals are sent.

Ensure that notifications of layoff, termination, or medical separation adhere to campus and VCA unit guidelines and required notifications are sent.

Coordinate the annual performance review and merit roster processes.

Keep abreast of HR policy and process changes, and incorporate into departmental processes.

HR Coordinator Group Objectives:

Bring together VCA unit HR coordinators to share information on HR processes, policies, and emerging issues, and work through challenges and speed bumps.

Employee Recruitments – VCA Unit

I. Policy

Consistent with our equal opportunity and affirmative action objectives, within the VCA Unit, we use the campus position recruitment process to obtain qualified applicants for all types of staff positions:

  • Career
  • Contract
  • Limited
  • Casual/restricted
  • Per Diem

We post notices of position vacancies through Human Resources, providing all qualified applicants with equal opportunity to apply. Please refer to the VCA Unit HR Actions Information Routing Grid for more information on the VCA Unit recruitment process:

II. Exceptions to Recruitment Requirement Provided Through Policy:

A. UC Staff Personnel Policy 20 “Recruitment” specifies that a recruitment is not required when a position is to be filled by:

  1. the demotion or lateral transfer of an employee within the same organizational unit, as defined in local procedures;
  2. lateral transfer of an employee along with the budgetary provision for that employee's position;
  3. transfer or reemployment of an employee in accordance with Policy 81.D, Reasonable Accommodation; Policy 66.D, Medical Separation; Policy 43.B, Pregnancy Disability Leave; or Policy 43.C, Family and Medical Leave;
  4. a qualified employee who has become disabled;
  5. recall of a laid-off employee or placement of an employee with preference for reemployment or transfer;
  6. an employee whose responsibilities or title have changed as a result of a reorganization or reassignment of functions among positions within the same organizational unit; or
  7. an employee who is competitively selected for a University-sponsored internship program, and upon completion of the internship, as authorized in local guidelines and with the approval of the department head, is appointed to a vacant position for which he or she meets the minimum qualifications.

In addition, Policy 20 provides that recruitment is not required when:

  1. a filled Academic or Professional and Support Staff position is transferred to a Management and Senior Professional class; or
  2. a filled Academic or Management and Senior Professional class is transferred to a Senior Management class.

The hiring department consults with the VCA Unit CFAO and Human Resources to secure concurrence that the policy exception is being applied appropriately in line with the types of situations listed above.

B. Limited Appointments – potential exceptions to recruitment policy

Definition: A limited appointment is an appointment established at any percentage of time, fixed or variable, during which the appointee is expected to be on pay status for less than 1,000 hours in a 12-month period. It should be used for handling temporary fluctuations in workload due to situations such as covering a leave of absence or seasonal swings. It can also be used for part-time appointments if the hours on pay status will not exceed 1,000 hours in a rolling 12 month period.

UCR Local Procedures, Policy 20 on Recruitment specifies that departments are to recruit for vacant or new limited appointment positions. However, if a limited appointment position has no potential of becoming a career position (e.g., because the nature of the work is temporary), the department may request an individual exception to the recruitment policy. The request for an exception should include the following:

  • Justification for the exception, including information on how the position will be managed to ensure that the appointed employee will not work more than 1,000 hours in a rolling 12 month period (across all appointments and departments).
  • Job description
  • Employee application
  • Proposed term of appointment (start and end dates)
  • Proposed salary, step (or position in range)
  • Any near relative considerations

In addition, there are cases where large departments have fluid, occasionally significant, temporary staffing requirements.They may have a need for a large number of limited positions due to spikes in workload and other business necessities, and the need when it arises is urgent. For example, Dining Services may have a need for additional food services workers for an increase in catered events or the UCR Campus Store may have a need for additional cashiers during a large sale. There is no potential that the employees will work more than 1,000 hours in a rolling 12 month period (across all appointments in all departments), and it’s not feasible to do a recruitment for limited positions due to the time constraints.

Departments can request a blanket limited position group recruitment exception for these types of situations and positions. The request for a blanket limited position group recruitment exception should include the following:

  • Justification for the exception
  • Job Title
  • Estimated # of employees that will be hired
  • Terms of appointments (e.g., period, salary, step, position in range)
  • Any near relative considerations

III. Waivers of Recruitment – Career Positions

Excerpt from UCR Local Procedure for Policy 20, Section V:

  1. WAIVERS OF RECRUITMENT – Career Positions
  2. Human Resources, in consultation with the Affirmative Action Department, may waive recruitment for a career position based on the criteria listed below. It is the University's intent to grant waivers only in limited circumstances.
  3. Business Necessity
  4. If the individual possesses unique skills and talents which were not obtained in the same or similar limited appointment for which the waiver is being requested; and this knowledge is not institutional nor can it be learned in an orientation period; AND if demonstrable recruitment difficulties for the same or similar positions exist; OR
  5. the position has legal or programmatic requirements, or significant financial liability or consequences exist.
  6. Special Appointment Conditions
  7. In circumstances where a new academic appointment also includes the transfer of the academic appointee's employee(s) from the academic's former institution to UCR; or
  8. in circumstances where an organizational entity or program, along with specified current employees, moves to UCR.
  9. Procedure
  10. The hiring authority initiates a written request through the appropriate dean/administrative officer* to Human Resources stating the reasons for the appointment action. A current position description, organizational chart and a current resume or employment application are required.
  11. Human Resources will review the request for conformance with employment policies including appropriate classification and minimum requirements, and identifies any qualified preferential rehire candidates. Departments must consider all qualified preferential rehire candidates prior to the identified recruitment waiver candidate.
  12. If there is no successful preferential rehire candidate, Human Resources reviews whether the identified recruitment waiver candidate exceeds minimum requirements, the department's history of good faith recruitment efforts, and requests for recruitment waivers. Human resources, in consultation with Affirmative Action, will review the resulting effect(s) on diversity in the department. A written determination is made by Human Resources and forwarded to the hiring authority.

* Please email any requests for an exception to the VCA Unit CFAO.

For more details on the recruitment process and helpful tips on interviewing and selecting candidates, please review the Recruitment, Interviewing & Selection Guide at:

VCA Unit Review of Employee Recruitment Packets

50,000 foot level – Organization Model

If recruiting for a replacement employee, has dept. had a chance to consider other organizational designs, and other ways of getting the work done?

Does the organization model align in the VCA unit culture (e.g., shared services; clustering; minimal redundancy)

If the position has essential functions that overlap with other positions in the department, unit or campus, is there enough information provided so it’s understandable how that overlap is handled?

Budget for the Position

Is the position budgeted at this classification and FTE level in the permanent budget system?

Is the position highlighted on the staffing list on the FAU, Title Code, % of time, etc. indicated on the requisition?

Is the position budgeted at or below step 3 (for step based positions) or between minimum and first quartile (for non-step based positions)? If not, discuss further to understand the situation.

Is the salary budget in the permanent budget system in balance with current staffing level (i.e., employees currently on the payroll plus open provisions)? (Review enclosed staffing list to ensure it’s in balance).

If it is a new position, or a position that is being reclassified upward while it’s open, is information provided on the permanent funding source that will be used to cover the salary and benefits costs on a permanent basis?

Employee Requisition

Is the form filled out completely and correctly?

Is a background investigation required, and is the box marked to indicate that? (Should be for 99% of our jobs, in that they meet the definition of “Critical Position”.)

If the recruitment is to replace an employee, is the position being recruited at the same classification that the predecessor was at? If not, it should be indicated on the requisition that a classification change is being proposed.

Does the summary of essential duties section provide potential applicants a good idea of the purpose of the position – an outline of the responsibilities in the context of the department and/or unit?

Has the department head approved the requisition and job description?

Job (Position) Description

Drawing from what is described in the position purpose section, are all major essential job functions and tasks outlined?

Are percentages of time indicated for the major categories of essential job functions?

In the SKAC section, does it start off with a capstone related experience requirement, and for professional level positions, a capstone experience and college education requirement?

Looking at each essential major job function category, are there related SKAC’s listed for it?

If the duties include financial functions, are the duties and SKAC’s aligned with the VCA unit standards? (See VCA template “Financial Processes, Tasks, SKAC’s and Related On-Campus Training” at

If the duties include human resource functions, are the duties and SKAC’s aligned with the VCA unit standards? (Currently in draft form).

If the position description lists that it supervises employees, are related SKAC’s for supervision included?

Do the SKAC’s include both technical and enabling competencies?

Do the SKAC’s build on the minimum requirements listed in the UC Series and Job Specifications for this classification?

Recruitment Plan – Advertising

Are we taking affirmative steps to ensure a sufficient sized qualified and diversified pool of candidates? What are the proposed advertising sources?

For professional level positions, what is the composition of the search committee?

Organization Chart

Is the Organization Chart the version approved by the VCA / CFAO in the annual operating plan and budget process? Is the position highlighted on the org chart?

Does the reporting structure (who the employee reports to and the positions supervised) align with that shown on the position description?

Reviewing Recruitment Results and Approving Interview Lists

What’s the challenge?

Enhancing diversity in our workforce so that we move toward it being a reflection of California’s diversity.

In response to an audit in the early 90’s by the federal government, the campus agreed to have an INDEPENDENT review of applicant pools to ensure we are making consistent good faith efforts to ensure that all qualified applicants are interviewed.

What does that independent review consist of in the VCA Unit?

VCA Office and HR review the proposed position advertising plan in the recruitment packet to help ensure we’re casting our net widely to generate applicant pools that reflect California’s diversity.

Department Heads email Jennifer Lahmann in the VCA Office the proposed list of applicants that the department would like to interview (please refer to the next section on Sample Transmittals), affirming that:

  • Equal consideration and uniform standards were applied to all applicants;
  • All proposed interviewees indeed meet the minimum SKAC’s specified in the recruitment packet for the essential functions of the position;
  • Applicants not selected for interview have fewer of the required, stated minimum SKAC’s than those being interviewed; and
  • All fully qualified applicants are being interviewed (i.e., those that exceed the stated minimum qualifications for the essential functions of the position, and meet some (or all) of the preferred SKAC’s).

Jennifer reviews the lists of applicants (in consultation with HR and Affirmative Action, if necessary) to assess if the recruitment resulted in an adequate size pool with diversity (considering the availability of applicants for the job type). Jennifer then notifies the department if the interview list is approved as proposed or if there are any problems. If the list is approved, the department can then begin scheduling interviews. In some cases where further clarity is needed, Jennifer may ask for the summary rating spreadsheet used to rank/determine those selected for interview.

What are a few of the speed bumps in the current process?

  • A caution flag is raised if we see minimum SKAC’s in a recruitment packet potentially being understated and perhaps inadvertently leaving out some SKAC’s one would need to be successful in the job. Understating SKAC’s can sometimes lead to a very large number of applicants meeting the minimums (and days of interviews). Jennifer will work with the department to flesh out the SKAC’s so that applicants can get a fuller sense of what one needs to be successful on the job.
  • A caution flag is also raised if we see a large pool of applicants, but only a few are being interviewed. We ask that department managers affirm that all fully qualified applicants are being interviewed.
  • Some of the emails requesting approval of interview lists are missing key pieces of data that help Jennifer quickly process the request. Please ensure the email includes:
  • Position Recruitment #
  • Position Job Title
  • Total # of applications received
  • Names of those applicants proposed to be interviewed

Suggested Email Transmittal Formats

For Notifying VCA Office (or Request Approval of) Staff Appointments, Promotions and Transfers

Action 1: Appointment of New UC Employee at a salary level within the department

manager’s delegated authority

New Employee in step based program, hired at or below step 3 (box 4.A.1 on grid)

New Employee in open salary range programs, hired at or below the 1st quartile (box 4.B.1 on grid)

At this level (where appointment is at or below step 3 or at or below the 1st quartile of the salary range, and there are no near relative situations) the department manager has been delegated the authority to approve the appointment. Department simply notifies the VCA Office of the appointment with an email from the department head to Jennifer Lahmann and a cc to Cheryl Sautter.