Compensation and Benefits
1. Pay Periods
2. Timekeeping and Pay
3. Regular-Salaried Employees
4. Hourly and Student Employees
5. Emergency Pay
6. Meal and Rest Periods
7. Overtime
8. Performance Reports
9. Employee Benefits
10. Paid Time Off
11. Vacation
12. Carryover of Accrued Vacation Benefits
13. Holidays
14. Sick Leave
15. Leaves of Absence a Brief Overview
16. Employee Assistance Program
17. Employee Assistance Referrals by Supervisors
1. Pay Periods
All SDSU Research Foundation employees are paid twice a month, usually on the tenth and twenty-fifth of the month. Work performed on or between the first and the fifteenth of the month is paid on the twenty-fifth or first working day thereafter. Work performed on or between the 16th and the last day of the month is paid on the tenth day of the following month or the first working day thereafter. Employees may view their pay stub information by logging into SDSU Research Foundation’s web-based employee information center, Employee Gateway. Deductions are taken automatically from earnings for federal and state tax withholding, state disability insurance and social security (FICA). Optional deductions may also include such items as parking and tax-sheltered annuities. Paychecks are mailed directly to those who have not elected direct deposit.
2. Timekeeping and Pay
Please note it is the responsibility of each employee to submit his/her timecard to SDSU Research Foundation payroll by the specified deadline. In addition, every employee is responsible for completing all forms required prior to the issuing of a timecard
3. Regular-Salaried Employees
A time report is sent to each regular-salaried employee's work location before the first working day of the pay period. Regular-salaried employees report only those hours, which are "exceptions" to their regular schedules (i.e., vacation, holiday, sick leave, overtime, etc.) All employees may use vacationand personal holiday hoursin 15-minute increments but not less. After both the employee and the supervisor or PI signs the time report it should be submitted to the payroll office by the "date due back" printed on the front of the report.
4. Hourly and Student Employees
All hourly employees are paid at an hourly rate based upon an appropriate SDSU Research Foundation classification. Time reports are issued before the first working day of a pay period. Hourly employees record all hours worked on their time reports. All time reports must be signed by the employee and a second person, normally the supervisor or PI, and must be submitted to the payroll office by the date due back printed on the time report or the employee's pay will be delayed.
5. Emergency Pay
Under very special circumstances, or when a procedural or administrative failure has occurred, human resources will review requests for an emergency paycheck to be issued in accordance with the following procedures:
- The PI will initiate a written request to the SR administrator describing the situation causing the necessity for an emergency paycheck and describing what steps will be taken for future prevention. A copy of the Employee’s Appointment form, PAS sheet and/or Time Report should be attached.
- The SR administrator will review the request to ensure all required items are attached, complete an Emergency Pay Request form and forward the documents to her/his supervisor for approval. If the request is approved, it will be forwarded to human resources for final approval.
- Emergency paychecks will not be issued for employees who do not have a completed appointment form, W-4, SDSU Research Foundation Personal Data Sheet, I-9 and e-verify verifications, and any other necessary documents on file plus properly signed time reports or time sheets for the dates to be paid.
- Emergency paychecks are issued twice per month. Checks will be processed approximately four working days following each payday. SDSU Research Foundation human resources must receive all requests for emergency paychecks by noon on the day preceding the emergency payday.
6. Meal and Rest Periods
Meal Periods: All non-exempt employees must take at least a 30-minute unpaid meal period when they work more than five hours. Employees who work in excess of 10 hours in a workday are eligible to receive a second unpaid meal period. A meal period is at least 30 minutes and should be arranged to provide adequate office coverage. There may be variations in this schedule depending on the departmental or project needs as determined by each employee’s supervisor.
Rest Periods: All non-exempt California employees are required to take one ten to fifteen-minute rest break for every four hours worked. This rest period should be taken during the middle of the work period as the workday permits. Rest periods cannot be taken during the first or last half hour of the workday and may not be accumulated to be taken at a meal period or a later time.
Penalty for Failure to Provide a Meal Perid
If a supervisor fails to provide a non-exempt employee a meal period, the employee is owed one additional hour of pay at their regular rate of pay for the missed meal period. Employees should record these penalty hours under “Pen Pay PLP” on their time report. Any hours recorded do not count toward overtime for the day or the week.
7. Overtime
Due to workload, supervisors may require employees to work beyond normal hours. Although advance notice is given when feasible, this is not always possible. To determine whether an employee is non-exempt and thus eligible for overtime pay, please speak with a representative in human resources. Each time report also notes the employee’s exempt or non-exempt status. A majority of SDSURF employees are non-exempt. Included in this category are professionals, scientific and supervisory employees not specifically excluded, as well as technicians, administrative, maintenance personnel and student employees.
For the purposes of determining overtime, SDSU Research Foundation’s workday and workweek usually begins at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday and ends at 12:00 midnight the following Saturday. However, other workweeks may also be established for a particular group of employees. Workweek schedules for any group of non-exempt employees will be formal and ongoing, not situational or intermittent.
All non-exempt employees must have supervisory approval before working overtime. Because unauthorized overtime is against SDSU Research Foundation policy, non-exempt employees who work unauthorized overtime are subject to discipline, which may include termination.
By the same token, employees cannot waive or agree to forgo their overtime premium pay – either voluntarily or involuntarily. For that reason, the PI or supervisor has the responsibility to ensure that overtime hours for employees are correctly documented and timely submitted to SDSU Research Foundation’s payroll office.
Exempt employees are generally those in executive, some scientific, some professional or some supervisory positions. These employees do not receive pay or compensating time off for any time worked in excess of eight (8) hours in a day or forty (40) hours in a week. However, from time to time as approved by their supervisors, exempt employees may be allowed informal time off of less than one day.
Non-exempt employees will be paid one and one-half (1 ½) times their regular rate for all hours worked in excess of eight (8) hours in a workday, over forty (40) hours in a workweek, or for the first eight (8) hours on the seventh (7th) consecutive day of work in a workweek. Non-exempt employees will also be paid two (2) times their regular rate for all hours worked in excess of twelve (12) hours in a workday or in excess of eight (8) hours on the seventh (7th) consecutive day of work in a workweek. For purposes of determining which hours constitute overtime, only actual hours worked in a given workday or workweek will be counted. Vacation, sick or holiday time is not counted as “hours worked”. Employees, who participate in an ongoing, established compressed workweek (such as a ten-hour-a-day, four-day workweek or a “4/10”) will have different overtime rules. For instance, those participating in a 4/10 receive overtime pay after ten (10) hours are worked in a workday or forty (40) hours in one workweek. Overtime pay is usually received on the next scheduled payday.
Time worked on a holiday is paid at straight time up to eight (8) hours in the day unless the employee has already worked forty (40) hours that week. Since work on a holiday is not overtime pay, both non-exempt and exempt employees may earn holiday credit for working on a SDSU Research Foundation designated holiday.
8. Performance Reports
Regular-Salaried SDSU Research Foundation employees should be evaluated annually by their supervisors. The supervisor or PI and employee have an opportunity to review strengths, weaknesses and expectations for the coming year. The PI or supervisor and employee should discuss and sign the performance report and the employee should receive a copy before the report becomes a permanent part of the employee's personnel record. Special performance reports may be initiated by the supervisor or requested by the employee at any time. A guide to conducting a performance evaluation is available on the human resources website at HR forms.
Regular-salaried employees are paid according to their classification. After completion of one year (six months in some cases) of satisfactory service in the same classification, regular-salaried employees may be eligible for a merit increase. When an employee is eligible for a merit increase, or even when they are not eligible for an increase but it is their anniversary date, the supervisor should take this opportunity to review performance and when appropriate, recommend or deny a merit increase.
Merit increases are not routinely awarded to hourly employees. Therefore, the PI or supervisor must print a blank Report of Performance form from the human resources website to award a merit increase to an hourly employee. This form may be used to award a merit increase under the same guidelines as used for regular-salaried employees.
9. Employee Benefits
SDSU Research Foundation employees may be eligible to receive benefits as outlined below. Further information on each of these benefits is available from human resources. For more information on employee benefits see SDSU Research Foundation's human resources website at Benefits.
Regular-salaried employees other than research scholars are eligible for health benefits (including vision), dental, group life insurance, supplemental life insurance, flexible spending accounts for health care and dependent care, long term disability, retirement, unemployment compensation, FICA/OASDI (social security), workers' compensation, state disability, vacation, sick leave, paid holidays, direct deposit, employee assistance program (EAP) and voluntary tax sheltered annuities.
Research scholar employees are eligible for health benefits including vision, dental, flexible spending accounts for health care and dependent care, unemployment compensation, FICA/OASDI, Social Security, workers’ compensation and state disability, paid family leave, direct deposit, employee assistance program (EAP) and voluntary tax sheltered annuities.
Certain hourly employees are eligible for retirement, unemployment compensation, FICA/OASDI, workers' compensation, state disability, paid family leave, vacation, sick leave, paid holidays, direct deposit, EAP, and voluntary tax sheltered annuities.
Hourly casual employees are eligible for retirement, unemployment compensation, FICA/OASDI, workers' compensation, state disability, paid family leave, direct deposit, EAP, and voluntary tax sheltered annuities.
Student employees are eligible for unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, state disability, direct deposit, and voluntary tax sheltered annuities.
10. Paid Time Off
Only regular-salaried and employees in some hourly classifications are eligible for paid vacations, holidays and sick leave. Employees who receive paid academic breaks are not eligible for holiday or vacation pay. Casual, student, and research scholar employees are not eligible for any paid absences.
11. Vacation
Vacation Rates and Limits of Accruals: Vacation benefits for eligible project employees are awarded at various rates. The rate depends upon the length of service as shown on the following chart.
If a regular-salaried employee is employed on less than a full-time (100% FTE) basis, the applicable vacation accrual rate will be prorated based on actual percent of effort.
- Less then 3 years (first 36 months)
- Regular-Salaried: 3.33 hours per pay period (10 days per year)
- Hourly: .0384 hours per hour worked
- 3 years but less than 6 years (37 to 72 months)
- Regular-Salaried: 5 hours per pay period (15 days per year)
- Hourly: .0577 hours per hour worked
- 6 years but less than 15 years (73 to 180 months)
- Regular-Salaried: 6.67 hours per pay period (20 days per year)
- Hourly: .0768 hours per hour worked
- Over 15 years (181 months plus)
- Regular-Salaried: 8 hours per pay period (24 days per year)
- Hourly: .0923 hours per hour worked
- All Management Employees (class RM, only)
- 8 hours per pay period (24 days per year)
12. Carryover of Accrued Vacation Benefits
Eligible project employees are permitted to carry over accrued vacation benefits from one year to another to the maximum limit allowed for their category as described in the following chart. Eligible project employees do not continue to earn vacation when they reach the capped limit. For project employees who reach the capped limit, once vacation is taken, vacation hours will accrue again and will continue to accrue until the cap is again reached.
Accrual Limits Based on Years of Service
- Less than 6 years: 160 hours
- Over 6 years of service: 280 hours
- Management Employees: 280 hours
Normally, a break in service requires an employee to begin accruing vacation as a new employee and at the lowest rate of accrual unless a project employee returns with less than a one-year break of service. Such employees may continue to accrue vacation as if there was no break in service.
Distribution of Vacation Benefits
Eligible project employees accrue vacation from the first day they are hired into an employee class that offers vacation. Employees may not use vacation prior to accruing it even with supervisory approval.
If an eligible project employee terminates employment, is transferred to an ineligible employee class, or has a break in service as those caused by funding delays, unused vacation will be paid off.
Scheduling and Recording Time Off
Accrued vacation as well as any accrued holiday time is taken at the mutual convenience of the employee and the project or SDSU Research Foundation. From time to time, SDSU Research Foundation may require employees to take time off and to use accrued but unused vacation time, due to scheduling needs and/or budgetary considerations. SDSU Research Foundation will try to give employees as much advance notice as is practical when they are required to take time off and use their vacation. All vacation and accrued holiday time must be requested in advance by the employee, (at least 24 hours) and approved by the supervisor. All employees may use vacation and personal holiday hours in 15-minute increments but not less. Any employee who uses vacation or holiday time without approval by her/his supervisor is subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment. Employees unable to take time off during a funding term due to workload may be paid off for unused accrued holidays and/or vacation days at the request of the project director, or upon the approval of human resources.
Exempt employees taking full or partial day absences (of 4 hours or more), should record vacation or personal holiday time taken off. An exempt time report received in payroll with less than 4 hours of vacation or personal holiday recorded will be processed as if no time off has been taken.
Transfers from the University
Employees earning vacation whose position moves from the university to SDSU Research Foundation in the same project and where the employee continues to perform the same duties, without a break in service, will earn vacation at the same rate at SDSU Research Foundation as would have been accrued at the university, although SDSU Research Foundation’s caps for similar service would apply. Unfortunately, vacation hours from the university cannot be transferred to SDSU Research Foundation. Employees moving from the university to a different job on a project at SDSU Research Foundation will earn vacation at the same rate as a new employee without credit for university service.
Policy Exceptions
Employees or project directors may request exceptions by writing to the director of human resources. Exceptions may include a vacation pay-off at the end of a funding cycle, or at the time that an employee is transferred to or hired on a different project. No exceptions can be made in the capped amount or in the amount of vacation an employee is eligible to accrue.
Terminating employees who are eligible for vacation pay-off are paid at their current rate of pay for all unused vacation from SDSU Research Foundation’s vacation pool.
13. Holidays
Generally, SDSU Research Foundation attempts to follow a calendar of holidays similar to the one established by San Diego State University. The university observes some holidays on their recognized calendar dates and observes other holidays on a different date, such as the day after Thanksgiving and days off during winter break. SDSU Research Foundation’s calendar of holidays therefore necessitates that employees work on some traditional holidays, but allows employees to be off work on non-traditional dates. There are thirteen and a half holidays a year recognized by SDSU Research Foundation. SDSU Research Foundation’s human resources department publishes the exact schedule of holidays on the website.
If a holiday is assigned by SDSU Research Foundation to be observed (taken off) on a date that is different from the date traditionally recognized, no holiday time or pay accrues on the holiday date that is traditionally recognized. Holiday time or pay only accrues on the date that the holiday is actually observed by SDSU Research Foundation.
Holiday pay is based on the eligible employee's percentage of time (i.e., full-time employees who are regularly scheduled to work forty (40) hours per week receive eight (8) hours, half-time employees receive four (4) hours). In order for an eligible part-time employee to receive holiday pay or credit, the holiday must fall on one of the employee's regularly scheduled workdays.
If a holiday is observed on a scheduled workday during an employee’s vacation or sick leave, the employee will be paid holiday pay. The time off will not be charged to sick leave or vacation time. Employees who are absent from work due to an unpaid leave of absence on a day that a holiday is observed by SDSU Research Foundation will not, in most circumstances, be eligible to receive holiday pay or credit.
Holiday Accrual Banks: If an employee works on a SDSU Research Foundation holiday, the employee is paid his or her regular rate of pay for the time actually worked and the holiday time that would have been paid is placed in an eligible employee’s holiday accrual bank. Eligible exempt employees may also “bank” personal holiday time for hours worked on the date that a holiday is actually observed by SDSU Research Foundation. Holidays that have been “banked” may be used only with the prior approval of the employee’s supervisor. Holiday time may not exceed eight (8) hours in a day.
In addition to the thirteen and a half (13 ½) holidays that SDSU Research Foundation observes, eligible employees are also awarded a personal holiday each calendar year to take for any personal reason. Personal holidays are automatically added to each eligible employee’s holiday accrual each January.
Accrued but unused personal holidays and banked holidays will be paid at an employee’s termination. However, employees terminating employment may not elect to “run out” their time to include imminent holidays.
14. Sick Leave
Sick leave for eligible full-time employees is credited at the rate of eight hours per calendar month. Eligible part-time employees earn sick leave based on the percentage of time they work (i.e., a half-time employee earns four hours a month). Student employees, casual employees and additional temporary employment employees are not eligible for paid sick leave.
All accumulated sick leave may be carried from one year to the next. Sick leave may be used in increments of not less than 15-minutes per period of absence
15. Leaves of Absence, a Brief Overview
It is SDSURF's policy to grant leaves of absence to all eligible employees on a non-discriminatory basis according to applicable state and federal law. Under some circumstances, employees may take leave intermittently by taking leave in blocks of time, or by reducing their normal weekly or daily work schedule. It is up to each employee to make a reasonable effort to avoid disruption during working hours. The employee's supervisor and/or project director forwards all information to human resources with her/his recommendations. The human resources director or designee makes all final decisions.
All leaves are unpaid by SDSURF, except to the extent an employee elects to use any available sick leave, vacation time, and/or personal holiday time. Paid time off will supplement any payments received by Workers’ Compensation, State Disability or Paid Family Leave. The combined payments will approximate full wages normally received until the exhaustion of the accrual balances. Employees are responsible for applying for any applicable state or other disability income benefits. Claim forms for California State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave benefits are available from SDSURF and through the Employment Development Department’s website at www.edd.ca.gov.
Employees who need to take a leave of absence should contact SDSURF’s human resources department as soon as they learn of the need for leave (if foreseeable, 30 days in advance), even when they do not know the precise dates that the leave will be needed.
Types of leaves of absence may include:
- Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) – up to 12 weeks in 12 month period. *
- California Family Rights Act (CFRA) – up to 12 weeks in 12 month period. *
- Paid Family Leave (PFL) – up to 6 weeks in 12 month period
- Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)
- Organ and Bone Marrow Donation Leave
- Military Service Leave
- Military Spouse/Domestic Partner Leave
- Military Caregiver Leave/Covered Service Member Leave – up to 26 weeks in 12 month period
- Qualifying Exigency Leave (may be part of FMLA)
- Jury Duty Leave
- Personal Emergency
- Domestic Violence Recovery or Prevention
- Witness and Crime Victim Leave
- School Visitation
- School Leave of Suspended Pupil
- Firefighter Duty
- Literacy Leave
- Time Off for Voting
- Election Officer Leave
- Other Leaves as Required by Law
*An employee must have one year of service within the last seven years and 1250 hours of service within the 12 months that immediately precedes the leave. SDSU Research Foundation determines eligibility of FMLA/CFRA by using a 12 month period rolling backward from the date an employee uses any FMLA.
Unless otherwise stated, all benefits in which the employee is enrolled will continue while the employee is on any paid leave. If the leave is unpaid, most benefits will end the last day of the month in which the employee was in a paid status. The employee will be provided with any applicable COBRA notices and will be able to continue certain coverages on their own through the election of COBRA or Cal-COBRA.
While on a legally mandated leave, under most circumstances, an employee will be reinstated to his or her original job or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions. However, an employee has no greater right to reinstatement than if he or she had been continuously employed rather than on leave. For example, if an employee would have been laid off had he or she not gone on leave, or if the employee’s job is eliminated during the leave and no equivalent or comparable job is available, then the employee would not be entitled to reinstatement. In addition, an employee’s use of leave will not result in the loss of any employment benefit that the employee earned before taking a leave.
Note: Misrepresentations made to obtain or continue any leave of absence is grounds for immediate termination
16. Employee Assistance Program
SDSU Research Foundation offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to all employees except student and additional employment employees. SDSU Research Foundation contracts with a professional group, Horizon Health/Aetna, to provide EAP services. SDSU Research Foundation's EAP offers eligible employees and anyone who resides with the employee the following confidential services which are provided by licensed professional counselors:
Problem assessment, referrals, and brief counseling for relationship/marital issues, child/adolescent issues, psychological issues, emotional issues, stress related issues, grief/loss, drug/alcohol issues, legal and financial referrals and other life changes.
These services are provided either by telephone, or at one of the Center's locations. To obtain services, employees may call toll free 1-800-342-8111. This number is also a 24-hour crisis hot line. Booklets are available at human resources or by viewing the website at: EAP.
17. Employee Assistance Referrals by Supervisors
Work-related problems sometimes result when employees are experiencing personal, financial, family or legal problems. SDSU Research Foundation's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) gives supervisors a place to refer their employees for confidential assistance in resolving problems that may be negatively affecting their work. There is no cost to eligible employees or their dependents for problem assessment, professional counseling or referral services, and there is a 24-hour hotline. Supervisors may refer employees directly to the EAP by having them call 1-800-342-8111.