Human Resources News

APPROVED REVISED POLICY

SYS 236, Utilization of Independent Contractors

This policy has an effective date of September 2, 2022. 

·         The policy establishes the requirements associated with UW institutions use of independent contractors and the processes that may be used for payments related to their services. Revisions include:

·         In sections 1 and 3, reformulated language for concision and clarity.

·         In section 4, updated reference to Low Dollar Exception pay methodology.

·         In section 5, removed examples of Academic Support Services, added a reference to SYS 540, Non-Competitive Procurement Contracts and spelled out the acronym for the Payment to Individuals Request (PIR) form.

·         In section 5, removed definitions for “authorized,” “consultants,” “entertainer,” “fungible services,” and “signature authority.”

·         In section 6.A.II, added refence to SYS 625, Youth Protection and Compliance requirements for independent contractors.

·         In section 6.A.VII, revised language to clarify specifications for an active supplier record.

·         In section 6.B, revised language to clarify processes before engaging independent contractors and renamed the subsection “Contracting Considerations.”

·         In section 6.C, removed language that is no longer applicable and added a reference to SYS 540, Non-Competitive Procurement Contracts.

·         In section 6, removed subsections related to Public Speaking or Entertainers and to Consultants.

·         In section 6.B.I., re-phrased “system personnel” as “employees."

·         In section 6.D.II, removed language referring to attachment of examples of employment related services.

·         In section 7, updated title of references listed as necessary.
 

·         In response to institutional feedback, the following additional change was made in addition to those outlined above:

·         In sections 6.A.I. and 7, references to SYS 625, Youth Protection and Compliance were added.

SYS 324, Interinstitutional Financial Transactions

This policy has an effective date of September 2, 2022.

·         This policy establishes the principles for accounting for interinstitutional financial transactions and/or when making payments for personal services involving an individual who holds a concurrent appointment at another University of Wisconsin (UW) institution. Revisions include:

·         Updated the policy format to ensure compliance with SYS 1, Developing, Revision, and Approval of UW System Administrative Policies, Procedures, & Guidelines.

·         In Section 4, removed a reference to the rescinded policy SYS 235, Personal Services Payments and a reference to SYS 165, The Academic Calendar, which no longer is relevant to SYS 324 due to revisions to SYS 165.

·         In Section 4, added reference to SYS 237, Utilization of Borrowed Employees/ Employee Interchange Agreements.

·         In Section 5, modified the definition of “interinstitutional transaction” and reconfigured the numbering sequence of transaction categories to account for the fact that category D was removed in 2019.

·         In Section 6, updated reference to the former “Section III” to instead direct readers to SYS 324.A, Procedures for Interinstitutional Financial Transactions.

·         Updated related attachments referenced throughout policy.

·         Drafted a new, related procedure and moving procedural language from the policy into the procedure from former policy sections III. and V. into the new procedure SYS 324.A, Procedures for Interinstitutional Financial Transactions. In this procedure:

·         Reconfigured the numbering sequence of transaction categories to account for the fact that category D was removed in 2019.

·         In section 4.A, spelled out acronyms for FLSA (the Fair Labor Standards Act) and DER (the Department of Employment Relations).

·         In section 4.A.I, replaced “UW Processing Center” with buying institution and added reference to the interunit journal (IUJ).

·         In section 4.A.II.1, removed reference to “the end of the month” payroll.

·         In section 4.A.II.2, replaced “unclassified” with “faculty/academic staff/limited appointee” and removed a note that referenced a definition found in SYS 165.

·         In section 4.A.II.3, removed reference to “the End of the Month” payroll and removed a note that referenced a definition found in SYS 165.

·         In section 4.B, removed specification around the use of account codes 9230 and 9500.

·         In section 4.D, removed much of the language regarding Supplies and Services transactions.
 

·         In response to institutional feedback, no revisions were made in addition to those above:

• Clarification that real property transactions would be outside the scope of this policy and would need to be addressed under SYS 910, Leasing.

APPROVED NEW POLICY

SYS 1220, Postdoc Absence with Pay and Legal Holidays

This policy has an effective date of September 16, 2022.

·         This policy provides the framework for absences with pay and legal holidays for all post-doctoral fellows (“postdocs”) in the university workforce, except for employees at UW-Madison. UW-Madison postdocs are covered by a separate, UW-Madison specific policy.

• This policy creates paid leave for postdocs for the purposes of illness or medical need.

·         This policy creates paid leave for postdocs for the purposes of personal time off.

·         This policy allows postdocs to receive paid leave for legal holidays.

• This policy distinguishes the unique nature of the leave granted to postdocs and clarifies that it is not considered sick leave or vacation leave within the meaning of UWS policies. The leave does not carry over, is not bankable and does not automatically transfer if the employee changes positions within the UW System.
   

·         In response to institutional feedback, the following change was made to the draft distributed in the August institution distribution:

·         Policy scope was clarified to state that it does not apply to postdocs at UW-Madison, rather than not applying to employees at UW-Madison.

·         Language throughout the policy was revised to clarify between the treatment of expended Absence with Pay (personal) and Absence with Pay (medical) credits upon transfer to a new appointment at a UW institution.

APPROVED PROCEDURE

SYS 324.A, Procedures for Institutional Financial Transactions

This procedure has an effective date of September 1, 2022. 

·         This procedure defines how University of Wisconsin (UW) System employees are to account for interinstitutional financial transactions and/or when making payments for personal services involving an individual who holds a concurrent appointment at another UW institution. Prior to approval, the content in this procedure was contained in SYS 324, Interinstitutional Financial Transactions.
 

·         In response to institutional feedback, UW System Administration provided clarification on how to determine which procedure to use under Category A: Payment for Personal Services of SYS 324.A. The determination would be made based on the individual circumstances and by the relevant supervisor. No revisions were made to the procedure as a result of this feedback.