School of Medicine Intranet

Types of Appointments

Please partner with your Human Resources representative on the recruitment/onboarding process.

Career Appointment

A competitive recruitment via HRMS must be conducted.

An appointment established at a fixed or variable percentage of time at 50 percent or more of full-time, which is expected to continue for one year or longer.  The Staff Request Form must be completed and approved prior to the position being posted.

Casual/Restricted Appointment

Must be UCR student

An appointment reserved for a registered undergraduate or graduate student of the University of California. Casual/restricted appointments assist students in gaining work experience and financial support while pursuing their educational objectives. The number of working hours must take into consideration the student’s educational workload. The maximum a student may be appointed is 49% (19 hours per week). Outside the regular school year students may work 40 hours a week.

A casual/restricted appointee may be released at any time at the discretion of the university; however, the appointee must be notified of an early release in writing by the University. A casual/restricted appointment will automatically terminate on the last day of the appointment unless there is an earlier separation or formal extension of the appointment in writing. The Staff Request Form must be completed and approved prior to extending an offer of employment.  A competitive recruitment is not required; however, posting on Handshake is recommended.

UCR Employment Contract Appointment

A competitive recruitment via HRMS must be conducted

An appointment established at a fixed or variable percentage of time for up to a four-year duration. A contract appointment can be extended for up to one additional year for a maximum total of five years. Contract appointments have a specific, pre-established end date and may be appropriate under circumstances such as:

  • Projects with specific objectives and defined outcomes;
  • Position has special salary requirements;
  • Position funding may be short-term; or
  • Department has a temporary need during restructuring, reorganization, or workflow redesign efforts.

A contract appointment may be converted to a career appointment if the employee was selected through a competitive recruitment process in accordance with PPSM 20 (Recruitment).  The staff request form must be completed and approved prior to the position being posted.

Limited Appointment

An appointment established at any percentage of time, fixed or variable, during which the appointee is expected to be on pay status for less than 1,000 hours in a period of 12 consecutive months. Limited appointments are most appropriate for short-term work with an expected end date. The staff request Form must be completed and approved prior to extending an offer of employment.  A competitive recruitment is not required; however, the hiring manager must be prepared with a staffing plan to assure no limited employee exceeds 1,000 hours.

Independent Contractor Appointment

Definition: Independent Contractor vs. Employee

The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done. The earnings of a person who is working as an independent contractor are subject to self-employment tax. See the "Independent Contractor vs. Employee" link above for information form the IRS website.

You are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer (what will be done and how it will be done). This applies even if you are given freedom of action. What matters is that the employer has the legal right to control the details of how the services are performed. If an employer-employee relationship exists (regardless of what the relationship is called), you are not an independent contractor.

The first step in the process is to submit the Independent Contractor Classification form to HR Service Link for approval.

After the HR approvals have been obtained, the second step is to submit the request to Business Operations via the Service Link form: Procurement Service Request.  The following workflows have been created to assist with the process.

Contingent Workers (Volunteers)

Contingent workers (CWR) are not an employee of UC; an individual engaged by UCR on a non-permanent basis to complete a specific function or task who do not have an employee relationship with UCR and do not receive compensation through UC Path.

Contingent workers who are assigned at any of the School of Medicine clinics must provide HR their immunization records and obtain approval prior to beginning their appointment.

The following forms are to be completed by the contingent worker:

Graduate Student Researcher

GSR’s are students who perform research related to the student's degree program in an academic department or research unit under the direction of a faculty member or authorized principal investigator. Graduate students may be employed during the

academic year on a part-time basis that does not exceed 50% time or 20 hours per week during the academic year in any combination of appointments. Outside the regular school year students may work 40 hours a week. These appointments are awarded by academic programs.

Once appointed, students are expected to continue to adhere to the above requirements and to enroll in and complete 12 units of coursework or research.

Per Diem

An appointment to complement or substitute for career and limited appointments, when necessary, to maintain appropriate staffing levels for temporary periods. The university does not generally intend to replace career employees with Per Diem employees. An appointee may be scheduled on a pre-scheduled basis or as needed on a day-to-day basis or called off from a pre-established schedule as determined by the university.

Additionally, an appointee may not simultaneously hold a per diem and a career, limited or floater appointment. A per diem appointee’s eligibility for scheduling may end at any time without notice and without cause at the sole discretion of the University and without recourse to the complaint resolution procedures.

Per diem appointments are subject to working hour rules per the Personnel Policies for Staff Members or to the covered bargaining unit of the job code the per diem appointment falls within. Per diem appointments who exceed the working hours rules as applicable to the policy agreement covered may be subject to career status rights, corrective action rights, discipline process rights, or grievance procedure rights.

Tutor

A tutor is an individual who assists students in the understanding of subject matter independent of and supplementary to scheduled class instruction. Tutors may work on a one-to-one basis or in a group setting. Tutors hired by the Academic Resource Center must be at least undergraduates who hold sophomore status, with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0, and a B+ or higher in the subject to be tutored. Exceptions may be granted at the sole discretion of the Academic Resource Center. A tutor is not to exceed an FTE of 50% or more than 20 working hours per week.

Temporary Worker

A temporary worker refers to an employee of a temporary staffing agency assigned to the university to work on a specific short-term assignment or for a finite period of time; to

complete special projects; to respond to workload fluctuations that are unusual or episodic in nature; to fill in for employees who are on leave; or to fill in during a recruitment period.

Temporary workers may be used by campus departments for assignments expected to last six (6) months or less than 1,000 hours in a 12-month period, whichever will not exceed 1,000 hours. During their assignment at the university temporary workers remain employees of the temporary staffing agency, and the campus contracts with the agency for their services. For more information, please refer to the temporary worker guidelines.

Reader

The title reader is given to a student employed for the ability to render diverse services as a "course assistant," which will normally include the grading of student papers and examinations. A reader will not be given the responsibilities customarily accorded a teaching assistant. Readers will usually be graduate students; but qualified undergraduate students may be so employed, especially when graduate students are not available. Professional readers, not enrolled as students, may be employed to meet special needs, but only on an hourly basis.

Readers should have maintained at least a 3.0 grade-point average in their previous academic work, and should have taken and received at least a "B" grade in the course or equivalent in which they are serving.

The total length of service rendered in any one or any combination of the following titles may not exceed four years: Reader on annual stipend, teaching assistant, teaching fellow, and/or associate. Under special circumstances, the chancellor, upon recommendation of the department chairperson and the dean of the school or college, may authorize a longer period, but in no case for more than six years.

Contracting Out for Services

Whenever possible, the University of California (UC) will prioritize the use of UC employees prior to contracting workers or services outside of the UC to perform work or services. Concept approval is the initial step to contracting services with a non-UCR employee.

Guidance for the campus regarding Regent’s Policy 5402 and Article 5 of the AFSCME (EX and SX) collective bargaining agreements as they relate to contracting out for covered services can be found in the links below.