63.03.01 Employment Definitions
College Policy Number/Title:
This procedure provides employment definitions and related information for Howard Community College (HCC) employees.
Term of Contract Employees and Employment Periods
- Term of contract is defined as the expectation of employment to be continued for a specified period of time.
- The term of contract period for 10-month full-time faculty is two years and is indicated by a two-year continuing contract. The employment period is for 10 months in each of the two years.
- The term of contract period for 12-month faculty is two years and is indicated by a two-year continuing contract. The employment period is 12 months in each of the two years, including a paid vacation period.
- The employment period and term of contract period for administrator, professional/technical, and support group members is 10 or 12 months, including a paid vacation period.
Non-Term of Contract Employees and Employment Periods
- Full-time 10- and 12-month faculty on probationary status receive one-year assignments as long as they are on probationary status. The probationary period is a minimum of three years and may be extended to a maximum of five years. The employment is at-will during the probationary period.
- Full-time administrator, professional/technical, and support group members on probationary status are employed for a probationary period for one year and the employment relationship is at-will during the probationary period (see policy 63.03, Employment). An employee who is promoted within the same area or department is placed on a minimum three-month probationary period. To be eligible for the three-month probationary period with promotion, employees must have first successfully completed the one-year probationary period. Probation can be extended as determined by the supervisor and approved by the President or area Vice President. See procedure 63.03.04, Promotion and procedure 63.03.02, Probation.
- For part-time budgeted employees, the employment period is at least 18.75 hours, but not more than 25 hours per week. The employment relationship for such employees is at-will.
- For temporary with benefits employees, the employment relationship is at-will, and these employees are not considered budgeted employees.
- Adjunct faculty receive assignments ranging from one day to one semester and contracts for adjunct faculty teaching credit courses are for one semester at a time. Adjunct faculty who teach in the credit division can teach no more than 22 credit hours per year. If an adjunct faculty teaches in both the credit and noncredit divisions, or is teaching and also performing hourly work, the teaching limit is based on hours per week, not simply credits; the limit is 25 hours/week.
- Hourly/temporary employees may work in multiple cost centers but may not average more than 25 hours per week without president/vice-president approval. A listing of departments is available on the human resources web page.
- Employees who are full-time budgeted or full-time temporary with benefits, but who are eligible for a health benefit subsidy in accordance with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), are defined as part-time-ACA employees. Under the Affordable Care Act, employees are considered full-time when working an average of 30 hours per week or more or teaching 22.5 credits or more during a measurement period. HCC's measurement period is September 1 - August 31 of each year. Employees in this category must have approval to work equal to or greater than 30 hours per week or 22.5 credits per year or a combination of the hours and credits. The employment relationship for such employees is at-will.
- Acting or interim employees are individuals who are temporarily working in a budgeted position for a specified and limited period of time, which is normally a minimum of a full academic year or a full fiscal year.
- A grant appointment is for that period of time that monies are available in whole or in part from a grant or similar outside source. Such appointments are terminated when no longer needed or when funds are no longer available.
Budgeted Core Work Force Positions
Budgeted positions are positions that have been authorized by college administration and are listed on the Howard Community College Position Control Report. Procedure 63.06.07, Position Control provides a description of the position control documentation records in the office of human resources.
Non-Budgeted Positions
Non-budgeted positions are all positions that do not appear on the Position Control Report.
Exempt Employees
An exempt employee is one who is exempt from provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. These usually include executive, administrator, and professional/technical employees who meet certain wage/salary thresholds and who do not receive overtime pay or compensatory time.
Non-Exempt Employees
Non-exempt employees are those employees who are not exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including minimum wage and overtime provision. This group includes support group and some professional/technical employees. The employee receives overtime pay or compensatory time for work over 40 hours per week.
NOTE: Refer to procedure 63.06.03, Job Descriptions.
Effective Date: 06/30/22b
President's Office Use: CHRO