The following term is used in this document:
Term |
Definition |
Institutional Base Salary (IBS) |
Annual salary paid to an individual for performance of all professional obligations required by the individual’s primary appointment. These professional obligations may include research, teaching, administrative functions, and/or other service activities and are generally identified in the individual’s appointment or reappointment letter. Unless otherwise specified, the annual salary stated in the appointment or reappointment letter fully compensates the individual for all professional obligations required by his/her primary appointment. IBS excludes any income that an individual is permitted to earn outside of duties performed as part his/her primary appointment. |
Bonus payments must be approved in accordance with RF Salary Administration policies and procedures, and comply with federal and state laws. Bonus payments made to nonexempt employees must comply with the rules outlined in Requirements for Overtime Pay document. Generally bonuses, other than lump sum discretionary, are includable in the regular rate of pay when calculating the overtime rate.
If the funding source is sponsored programs, the award must be reviewed to ensure the payment complies with sponsor requirements and there are no restrictions on bonus payments.
Bonus payments must be awarded and processed according to the documentation, approvals, and requirements outlined in this document.
A bonus is defined as a lump sum, non-cumulative cash award that may be granted to an employee in the following situations:
Performance: for a significant contribution that substantially benefits the Research Foundation, project, or unit, or as a productivity bonus when certain pre-determined productivity measures are met during the performance period
Sign-On: used as an incentive in recruiting employees with high demand skills or key talent requirements. These awards can help avoid higher, ongoing fixed compensation costs when recruiting key, hard to fill positions
Retention: used to retain employees
Bonus payments cannot be awarded to:
A bonus payment to an RF employee should not be given for activity that is considered part of the institutional base salary and cannot be used:
Incentive awards for garnering external funding cannot be paid from sponsored awards.
Documentation for bonus payments must include the following:
Written documentation showing that funds are available.
Documentation should include the individual’s relationship to the project if the person is not actively being paid on that project. The methodology for distribution must be included when more than one employee receives a bonus. Copies of written backup and appropriate review are generally retained in the employee’s personnel file.
The payment is appropriate and consistent with RF rules. This includes the following:
The project director/principal investigator or designee is responsible for:
The Research Foundation operations manager or designee is responsible for:
The vice president of human resources or designee is responsible for
A signed "Oracle Information Change Form" or another document containing similar data elements.
Date |
Change History |
April 27, 2011 |
New Document |
Effective Date: April 27, 2011
Responsible Party: Human Resources
Contact Information: 518-434-7080
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Copyright © 2011 The Research Foundation of State University of New York