Temporary Special Assignment

Temporary Special Assignment of Minnesota State Personnel, i.e. paying the employee of another Minnesota State Institution.  This type of agreement is also sometimes referred to as a MinnState Shared Employee Agreement.  This type of Agreement is used only with another Minnesota State Colleges and Universities institution.

1. Using this contract, a temporary Location (SCSU) may reimburse another Minnesota State (Home) Institution for a salary payment they make to their employee on our behalf.

   1. The Home Institution will incur employer fringe benefits such as FICA, retirement and possibly health insurance costs.  These will need to be budgeted for and reimbursed as well.
   2. Being based at another institution there are often costs associated with their travels to and from SCSU. Travel costs can be paid directly to the Minnesota State employee, parallel to this contract. If all you intend to pay is travel, without salary, then a contract is not necessary.
   3. The Temporary Special Assignment contract applies only to paying Minnesota State personnel from other Minnesota State institutions. It does not apply to University of Minnesota or other Minnesota State Agency employees.

2. Create an SCSU purchase order in ISRS as per usual instructions. Note in the PO memo the contract name that will be forthcoming.

   1. The PO Vendor is the Home Institution of the temporarily reassigned employee.
   2. Enter the Fiscal Year and Cost Center indicating the account responsible for this expense.
   3. The object code will be 0880 for the salary and 0881 for the employer fringe benefits. 
      1. See below for information on determining the salary and employer fringe benefits amounts to encumber to 0880 and 0881, respectively.
   4. We do not recommend encumbering the travel costs.
      1. Including travel costs on this contract will create additional complications and delays where the employee’s home institution pays the travel costs and later invoices SCSU for them. Instead, SCSU departments may have any MnSCU employee submit an SCSU Travel Expense Report and reimburse their travel costs directly to them. You may still reference the expectation that there will be some travel reimbursed directly to the employee. For example, “SCSU will reimburse to (employee name) up to $XXXX for XXX round trip(s) from (home location) to SCSU.  Employee shall submit to the SCSU Supervisor all travel expenses using the SCSU Travel Expense Report.”  Add reference to multiple trips, hotel, meals, etc. as needed.
   5. Total – Identify the contract amount total (salary and fringe), but note the expected travel total separately.

3. Information needed to complete a Temporary Special Assignment of Minnesota State Personnel contract:

   1. The Purchase Order information is required across the top.
   2. The Parties involved:
      1. Employee Name & SEMA4 ID of the shared employee.
      2. Home Location will be the MnSCU System Office or other MnSCU Institution.
      3. Temporary Institution is St. Cloud State University (SCSU).
   3. Purpose and Terms of Assignment
      1. Describe the work assignment/responsibility for the temporary employee. Include location, dates, and schedule.
      2. Indicate their Home Institution supervisor name as well as their SCSU (Temporary Institution) supervisor name.
   4. Amount of Payment/Compensation
      1. Salary/Rate of Pay in accordance with applicable bargaining unit.
         1. For faculty, the amount identified in the contract will likely be paid in the form of extra duty days.
         2. For non-faculty (such as HR or IT staff) the actual salary should be calculated based on the number of days and rate of pay. An additional factor to consider is whether amounts paid will be considered overtime (at time and a half) or be part of the employee’s standard 40 hour work week.
      2. Estimated Employer Fringe Benefits
         1. FICA – salaries paid will incur employer FICA of 7.65%.
         2. Retirement – salaries paid will incur employer retirement costs ranging between 5.5% and 7.5%, depending on the retirement plan of the employee. Unclassified employees may also be receiving up to a 5.0% supplemental retirement match.
         3. Health Insurance
            1. For faculty who are likely receiving extra duty day(s) as pay should not incur an allocation of health insurance costs.
            2. Paying a non-faculty, such as an HR or IT staff to assist from another school will likely cause an allocation of health insurance costs to this assignment. Employer Health Insurance is a set amount allocated over the individuals annual expected salary, thus the percentage varies considerably.  Consult the Home Institution’s Human Resources department for an estimate.
         4. Most Shared Employee contracts are for faculty and thus have an expected fringe rate between 13.7% and 20.2%. Ultimately, the Home Institution Human Resources will create the work assignment for the payment and that Institution may follow their own procedures as to whether to include a health insurance charge or not.

4. Route document for signatures

   1. Send the contract to SCSU Purchasing, Attn: Carol John, for encumbrance signature. Contract will be returned to the department after being signed.
      1. As the Temporary Location we are responsible for holding the fully signed agreement. The PO will be approved and printed (450 Status) once the fully signed agreement is returned to Carol John, SCSU Business Services office.
   2. Which institution the agreement is routed through for signatures first isn’t particularly relevant.
      1. Route through SCSU Supervisor, Division Administrator and SCSU Human Resources Director for signature.
      2. Route through the shared employee’s Home Location for their Immediate Supervisor, Division Administrator and Chief Human Resources Officer signature.

5. It will be the requesting Departments responsibility to distribute the fully signed contract to all signatory parties.

   1. A Temporary Reassignment of MnSCU Personnel does not have a final signature by Business Services as to form and execution, therefore the final signature occurs in one Human Resources office or the other.
   2. To avoid holdups in the process please make sure all parties receive fully signed copies as soon as they are available, in particular:
      1. Home Location Human Resources will need the fully signed contract before they can create the work assignment in the payroll system to pay the temporarily reassigned employee.
      2. SCSU Business Services will need the fully signed contract before the purchase order is approved (450 status).  Payment can be made to the Home Institution once the work is performed and an invoice referencing the PO is received.
      3. While original signatures are always preferable, for this type of contract they are not required, thus the contract may be scanned and sent between institutions.