From: Tracey Williams
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 11:05 AM
To: Deans, Directors and Principal Investigators
Subject: 2009 Summer Appointments on Research Foundation Payroll

To:                Deans, Directors and Principal Investigators

C:                  Sponsored Program Administrators and Management Staff  

 

From:            Tracey A. Williams,SPHR

                      Director, Sponsored Funds Personnel

             

To assist you with processing your Research Foundation summer appointments, we are providing you with the following guidelines. This process has not changed from previous years. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 437-4500. 

 

Summer Period Appointment Types

 

Summer-only employees are defined as assignments that occur between May 1 and September 30 and do not exceed four months in duration.  SUNY faculty employees are eligible for summer session employment with the Research Foundation only during periods that do not overlap with their academic year obligation.  For payroll purposes, the suggested 12-week, 2009 summer dates are May 26 through August 14. 

 

Student employees are eligible for employment in a Research Foundation student title, and charged either the graduate or undergraduate student fringe benefit rate. Employment in a student title must satisfy all three of the following criteria:

  1. The employee is enrolled as a full-time SUNY student. An employee is a SUNY student during the period that begins on the first day of the first semester in which he or she is enrolled and ends with the last day of the last semester during which he or she is enrolled.
  1. The employee is working part time or, if employed full time in the summer, was enrolled as a full-time student during the preceding academic year.
  1. The employee is engaged in work related to the student's education and training that leads to the fulfillment of academic requirements.

Required Forms

 

In order to be placed on Research Foundation payroll, the following forms are required:

  • Employee Appointment Form: required for new and rehired employees. 
  • Address/Emergency Contact Form: required for new and rehired employees. 
  • Federal and State Tax Withholding Certificates: required for new employees, rehired employees that have been off the payroll for 1 year or more, and any employee wishing to change exemptions.
  • I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Forms: required for new employees, rehired employees that have been off the payroll for three years or more, and employees with expired work authorizations. I-9 forms must be completed no later than 3 business days after the hire date or on the hire date if the appointment is for less than 3 days.
  • Direct Deposit Forms: will automatically be reinstated for all returning employees; please contact Sponsored Funds Personnel if you would like to discontinue participation, or if your account information has changed.
  • Employment Application: required for new employees. 

Forms can be downloaded at http://hr.albany.edu/content/sfforms.asp#new or you can call 437-4500 to request a new-hire packet. To avoid payroll delays, please ensure that all forms are completed and submitted to Sponsored Funds Personnel, Management Services Center Room 326, by the payroll deadlines listed on http://hr.albany.edu/content/sfcalend.asp .

 

With increased participation in Direct Deposit, many employees have elected NOT to have paystubs generated and delivered each pay period. Instead, employees have elected for pay statements only to be furnished upon request. This is an excellent way to GO GREEN and to REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT! To elect this pay statement option, please complete the form located at http://hr.albany.edu/SPONSOR/forms/Paystub%20election%20Go%20Green.doc.

 

Salary Limitations

 

The following chart should be used to calculate summer salary for any full-time SUNY employee with an academic-year obligation:  

        

Length of Summer Service

Maximum Percentage of Academic-Year Salary 

 

 

1 week

2.67 %

2 weeks

5.33 %

3 weeks

8.00 %

4 weeks

10.67 %

1 month

11.11 %

5 weeks

15.00 %

6 weeks

16.00 %

7 weeks

18.00 %

8 weeks

20.00 %

2 months

22.22 %

More than 2 months Not to exceed 3 months

11.11 % per month

 

Requests to increase maximum salary percentages listed in the chart above cannot be approved. Both SUNY policy and OMB Circular A-21 preclude the salary rate for a SUNY faculty member with an academic year obligation appointed to the Research Foundation's payroll through a summer-only assignment, from exceeding the faculty member's base full-time salary rate divided by the number of months covered by the faculty member's academic year obligation.

 

Summer salary from NSF funded grants is limited to two months of total support.

 

Fringe Benefit Rates

 

Fiscal year 2009 (effective July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009)

Summer-only                     16.0%

Graduate Students             12.5%

Undergraduate students       5.0%

Regular employees             37.5%

SUNY IFR                       42.67% 

 

Fiscal year 2010 (effective July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010)

Summer-only                      16.0%

Graduate Students              13.5%

Undergraduate students        5.0%

Regular employees               37.5%

SUNY IFR (estimate)         42.67%

 

 

Policies and Procedures

 

Research Foundation employees are entitled to receive information regarding their employment. All summer employees who have not received a Research Foundation New Hire Orientation Packet and Handbook within the past year can expect to receive a packet at their campus address. Research Foundation policy requires employees to sign the enclosed certification of receipt and handbook acknowledgement. If you were provided with a new hire packet in the past and did not return your certification of receipt and handbook acknowledgement forms, you will receive a reminder to complete the required forms. 

 

Benefits

 

Summer Research Foundation employees may be eligible for the following benefits, depending on eligibility requirements:

  • Social Security
  • Unemployment Insurance
  • Workers' Compensation
  • New York State Disability
  • Basic Retirement Plan
  • Optional Retirement Plan - employees who meet the eligibility criteria can make voluntary before-tax contributions to the Research Foundation's Optional Retirement Plan. Please contact Gail Redick at 437-4506 to request an enrollment form.

To determine eligibility for participation in any of the benefit programs, please contact Gail Redick at 437-4506.  

 

Please remember that effective January 1, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) amended their 415 regulations. The federal regulations state that payments made after termination, for compensation earned while the employee was active, must be paid within 75 days or the end of the calendar year, whichever is later.  Payments made after 75 days of termination or past the end of the calendar year will not be eligible for a retirement contribution.  These payments include vacation, sick leave contributions, retro pay, retro bonuses and hourly pay.    

 

H-1B Visa Holders

A full-time SUNY employee holding an H-1B visa for work at SUNY must obtain a concurrent H-1B visa for Research Foundation work. The H-1B is an employment based petition. Because SUNY and the Research Foundation are separate employers, an H-1B obtained by SUNY does not authorize the person to work for any other employer, including the Research Foundation. 

 

Since the process for obtaining an H-1B can be time consuming, departments may consider keeping a summer only employee on the SUNY payroll and processing an IFR assignment for the person's Research Foundation work.