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HR employee resources - Processing payroll with irregular (i.e. 10 or 11 months) Non-Instructional Academic appointments
This article provides information for employees whose appointment is for 10 or 11-months, rather than the full 12-month appointment.
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse may employ individuals on an annual basis and who will not work the full twelve-month period. These employees are paid on an irregular contract basis. This document serves to provide an explanation of how your compensation is administered through the payroll system and represented to you in this offer of employment.
FTB vs. FTE
The university pays employees using two distinct employment characteristics.
The first is the Full Time Equivalent status, or FTE. The FTE for a standard, full time employee working on an annual (or twelve-month basis) can expect to work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks. This equates to a 100% or 1 FTE. Employees working an irregular contract will be presented with a reduced FTE which represents the total budget allocated for the position.
The second characteristic is the Full Time Base salary – or what the equivalent would be if the person being compensated worked 100% or 1 FTE. The FTB multiplied by the FTE results in the total gross earnings the employee can expect per their appointment.
Payroll Implications
The way your employment will be transacted in the Human Resources Information/Payroll System (HRS) will be as follows:
- For the months that you are engaged in work, you will see payment at 100% FTE of the FTB for those periods.
- For the months that you are not engaged in work, you will be placed on a short work break, which will pause your payroll for the period of inactivity. It is the department’s responsibility to notify Human Resources of the periods of inactivity and when the employee should be reactivated in the HRS program.
Benefit Implications
As a result of payroll being distributed in this manner, your benefits will be affected in two ways.
- First, you will accrue leave time, (if applicable), at the 100% FTE rate for the periods of active engagement. This will, unfortunately, incorrectly present your available leave balance in the HRS program. If you are leave eligible, by policy, your leave time is pro-rated based on your budgeted FTE. The amount or pro-ration is presented on the appointment document as the FTE. You will not have the full 100% FTE leave time balance to use. When you are placed on an inactive status, the leave will not accrue, achieving the pro-rated amount to which you are entitled.
- Second, you may be required to pre-pay for some or all your benefit premiums before your short-work break, or period of inactivity begins.
For additional questions regarding irregular appointments, please contact Human Resources at hrinfo@uwlax.edu or 608.785.8013.