Library Administration - Human Resources
Back to Human Resources - MainFrequently Asked Questions concerning 9 month flex appointments for staff and 9 month academic appointments for faculty
- How does the flex year appointment work with non-exempt staff schedules and bi-weekly payroll?
- Is there still a shift differential for flex year employees?
- How are salary increases handled?
- How are benefits deducted over a shorted work year?
- How is creditable services calculated for retirement purposes?
- How is longevity calculated?
- Do flex year employees earn a personal leave day?
- How is leave accrued?
- Do flex year employees pay parking fees during off months?
- Does working flex time impact full-time benefits?
- Does working a flex schedule impact the calculation of retirement earnings?
- How do I request a flex year appointment?
- Is it possible for a flex year appointment to be temporary?
A 9 month flex appointment for staff runs August – July. Staff who are interested in a 9 month flex appointment with off months of May 15-Aug 15 (as approved by Library Administration) must be on the monthly payroll. Biweekly appointments are not allowed because of the way time is input. UT Payroll will allow staff to transfer to the monthly payroll if they decide they want a 9 month flex appt.
Staff who are interested in a flex appointment during FY09, in order to be off May 15-Aug 15, must understand that their salary will be less than the normal 9 month flex salary. This is because we are already into the month of October rather than at the August start of a normal flex appointment, so salary is prorated.
There is no shift differential on monthly payroll and therefore none for flex year employees.
Any mid year salary increases are given on the first day of the flex appointment in August. If there are increases other times during the year i.e. January, Payroll does not automatically apply the increase to flex employees. HR will recalculate each flex employee’s new salary effective to January and the changes are manually entered into IRIS.
All benefits are deducted from each paycheck because there will be a paycheck during the summer months.
Each flex-year of service for full time employees results in a full year (12 months) of creditable service for retirement purposes. For part-time employees creditable service is prorated based upon the employee’s percent full-time.
For longevity purposes a flex-year of service is considered a full year of creditable service.
Personal leave day continues for full time non-exempt employees in flex-year positions.
There are no leave accruals for the months staff do not work.
Parking deductions will continue to come out of the paycheck during the summer UNLESS you turn in your permit to Parking Services.
Being a 9 month flex employee means the employee is a 75% flex, but would remain 100% full-time employee. The only difference in benefits is there are no leave accruals during the off months.
In calculating the salary for retirement purposes – per the Retirement Office – “The 5-high salary average is not the last 5 years. It can occur anywhere in the individual’s career as long as they are consecutive. So the 9 month flex would not affect the retirement check amount.”
A flex appointment must be approved by the Library Administration. The Libraries core mission to support research, teaching, and learning in today’s environment must continue to be met. The process for requesting a 9 month flex appointment is still under development.
There is no guarantee if a staff member transfers to a flex appointment that they will be allowed to transfer back to a 12 month appointment.
Library 12 month faculty transferring to 9 month appointment:
When 12 month library faculty transfer to a 9 month appointment, they no longer accrue leave. The accrued leave balances are left intact until the faculty member transfers back to a 12 month appointment or terminates their employment.
The 9 month faculty appointment runs August-May only and coincides with the dates of fall and spring semester.
Below is the link to the HR0126 Policy on Flex-Year Positions:
https://my.tennessee.edu/portal/page?_pageid=34,140536&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&p_policy=HR0126
