Policy Statement

A retention bonus may be awarded to retain an eligible employee with valuable knowledge, skills or abilities that are vital to the accomplishment of the strategic plan.

Policy Requirements

Retention bonus requests require:

• written justification of how and why the eligible employee is deemed to be vital to the execution of the university's or department's strategic plan,
• approval of supervisor, department chair/director or dean (as applicable) and Vice President(s), and
• at least two signatures (approval is required at least through Vice President).

Bonus payments are taxable at the time of payment.

Bonus payments can not be made from sponsored funds.

If the bonus recipient leaves the university within one year (one calendar year for staff or contract term for faculty) of receiving the bonus, the bonus must be returned to the university.

Reason for Policy

Established to provide a monetary bonus to retain a faculty or staff member who is highly skilled and loss of their services may create a significant void for the University. The retention bonus policy supports the University's Strategic Plan, Goal 1: 1.1, which states the University will "provide competitive compensation, recognize and reward successful faculty and staff."

Related Policy Information

Eligible employees may receive only one retention bonus a year.

There is a one-year waiting period between retention bonus awards.

Monetary bonus is not added to institutional base salary (IBS).

Exclusions

Hourly (including represented employees), fixed term, and temporary employees are not eligible to receive retention bonuses.

Contacts

Definitions

Eligible Employee - Regular full- and/or part-time non-represented employees.

Institutional Base Salary (IBS) - Annual compensation paid by the University for an employee's appointment, whether that individual's time is spent on research, instruction, administration or service. IBS does not include additional, bonus, or faculty summer compensation. IBS also excludes any income that an individual is permitted to earn outside of duties for the University.

Responsibilities

Department Chair/Director, Dean and Vice President(s) (as applicable) - Reviews the request and signs the Bonus Request Form indicating approval.

Eligible Employee's Primary Department - Completes the Bonus Request Form, ensures appropriate approvals (of at least two signatures) on the request form, identifies funding source for the bonus payment, and ensures written justification is included with the form.

Human Resources - Receives the completed form and reviews for accuracy and appropriate signatures, obtains provost/vice president signatures as applicable, and processes request for payment.

Supervisor of Eligible Employee - Provides written justification including the qualities and contributions that the eligible employee provides and why they are deemed to be vital to the execution of the University's or department's strategic plan.

Procedures

In support of this policy, the following procedures are included:

Procedure

2.6009.1 Retention Bonus Request

Forms and Instructions

In support of this policy, the following forms/instructions are included:

Forms

Bonus Request Form

Appendices

Account Code Listings Report

History