Personnel

• Employee vs. Independent Contractor
• Independent Contractor/Consultant
• Employees
• Overload
• Students
• Employee Benefits

Employee vs. Independent Contractor

Determine whether the personnel in your grant should be "Employees" or "Contractors/Consultants." Drake's Department of Human Resources can help make that determination.

See Drake's Policy for Employees vs. Independent Contractors and Independent Contractor Checklist.

Back to Top

Independent Contractor/Consultant

Independent contractors should be bonded and insured. Payments should be made to the consultant within a month of providing services.

See Drake's Policy for Independent Contractors and Consultants

Back to Top 

Employees

Grant-funded employees are treated the same as other Drake employees. The PI must contact Human Resources regarding the process for new hires and Grants Accounting regarding available budget dollars before making any commitments for hiring. Grant-funded employees will be subject to the same pay scale as other Drake employees in similar positions. Human Resources will help in determining the appropriate pay scale based on the job description and requirements.

Drake employees being paid through grants will receive the same rate of pay as they receive for similar duties at Drake University. When exempt Drake employees receive summer or additional pay, an appointment letter must be drafted by the Dean's Office and routed through Sponsored Programs Administration. This must be done before the work is initiated.

For non-exempt Drake employees paid hourly, a time card must be completed and submitted to payroll weekly as the work is done.

Back to Top

Overload

There may be unusual cases where consulting arrangements for work to be performed is in addition to the faculty member's regular departmental load, and for which overload compensation is specifically provided for in the grant agreement and approved in writing by the sponsoring agency. For these exceptions, written approval of the department dean and the Provost are also required.

OMB Circular A-21 J.10.d.1: "Overload salaries during the academic year are not allowable. However, in unusual cases where consultation is across departmental lines or involves a separate or remote operation, and the work performed by the consultant is in addition to his regular departmental load, any charge for such work representing extra compensation above the base salary are allowable provided that such consulting arrangements are specifically provided for in the agreement or approved in writing by the sponsoring agency."

A-21 further states: "Since intra university consulting is assumed to be undertaken as a university obligation requiring no compensation in addition to full-time base salary, the principle also applies to faculty members who function as consultants or otherwise contribute to a sponsored agreement conducted by another faculty member of the same institution."

Back to Top

Students

Staff and faculty who receive grants and wish to employ students to work with them should contact Human Resources. Before students begin working, they are required to complete specific forms (I-9, W4s, and direct deposit). Additionally, a position control number for the grant-specific job and an hourly wage (based on the grant) will be assigned by Human Resources.

Students record their time worked online, using a timesheet through blueView. In rare instances, some student work hours are recorded on a paper timecard. Questions pertaining to the method of recording the time should be directed to Human Resources.

Regardless of the method of recording time, students should record their time as they work. Timesheets are to be submitted by the 2nd business day of the following month, at noon, for processing. Timesheets then need to be approved by the PI, or a proxy, within a timely manner. Time cards must use the student's Banner ID number. Also, each timesheet must include the rate of pay and the grant fund code. Timesheets should also be signed by the student employee and the PI, and turned into payroll before 9:00 a.m. on the second working day of the following month.

Students are paid on the 12th of each month, with payment directly deposited into a checking or savings account. If, for any reason, students need to change their direct deposit account information, an updated form is required.

Back to Top

Employee Benefits

Grant employees have the same benefits as other Drake employees (see Benefits).

Drake negotiates staff benefit rates with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for use on all grants (see Quick Info).

These rates are applied to all non-student salaries, for both full-and part-time employees. The negotiated rates are charged to all externally funded grants on a monthly basis. If staff benefits are an allowable cost to the funding agency, but no benefits are budgeted, the salary budget will be reduced to allow for charging the grant for benefits at the negotiated rates. If a private foundation will not pay for staff benefits, the costs will be charged to the grant and funded by the Drake match account (with preapproval of the Provost and Vice President of Business & Finance).

Benefits are not charged on student wages paid by a grant during the academic year. However, students employed during the summer are not classified as full-time students and, therefore, FICA will be charged on student summer wages paid by a grant.

Back to Top