Revised: 08/14/2008

 

Outside Employment and Activities                                 UPPS No. 04.04.06
Issue No. 5
Effective Date: 01/18/2006
Review: June 1 ONY

 

01.       POLICY STATEMENTS

01.01  This UPPS establishes the policies and procedures for individuals to have concurrent employment or participate in certain activities outside the University.

01.02  Texas State recognizes the common practice of faculty and staff employees to hold more than one employment or position due to needs, interests, or development. However, other activity interests outside Texas State are considered secondary to the employee's Texas State duties and responsibilities and must not interfere or conflict with these duties and responsibilities.

02.       DEFINITIONS

02.01  Outside employment – Any compensated employment, consulting, or service performed by the employee outside of the employee's employment relationship with Texas State for the direct or indirect benefit of the employee or the organization served.

02.02  Outside activity – Any uncompensated employment, consulting, or service performed by the employee outside of the employee's employment relationship with Texas State for the direct or indirect benefit of the employee or the organization served.

The holding of a non-elective or elective public office with boards, commissions, and other state, political subdivision, or federal entities is considered an outside activity for the purposes of this policy.

02.03  Public employment or activity – Any outside employment or activity as defined in Sections 02.01 and 02.02 performed for a public institution of higher education or local, state or federal government agency.

02.04  Private employment or activity – Any outside employment or activity as defined in Sections 02.01 and 02.02 performed for an entity that is not a public institution of higher education or local, state or federal government agency.

02.05  Conflict of interest – Any outside employment or activity, as determined by the President, that interferes or conflicts with the employee's Texas State duties and responsibilities, and includes as a minimum the situations described in UPPS No. 01.04.02 and Chapter V, Sections 4.832 and 4.(11) and Chapter VIII of the TSUS Regents’ Rules.

03.       BACKGROUND

03.01  The Texas Constitution and Texas law have special provisions for holding public offices with the State of Texas and the United States. These provisions cover individuals such as elected and appointed judges, members of city councils and public school boards, mayors, and county commissioners. Such individuals are not considered participants in outside activities and are not required to comply with Section 04.03.

NOTE: Examples of participants in outside activities (see Section 04.03) include individuals appointed to city or county boards, committees, commissions, and the like.

a.   Non-elective office – Employees may hold non-elective public offices with boards, commissions, and other state, political subdivision, or federal entities if the holding of such office benefits the state or political subdivision or is required by state or federal law. The holding of such office must not conflict with the employee's duties at Texas State.

b.   Elective office – Employees may serve as members of governing bodies of school districts, cities, towns, or other governmental districts if they receive no salary for serving as members of these bodies and if their holding such positions does not conflict with their duties at Texas State. Prior to seeking election, the employee should consult with his or her supervisor about how duties will be fulfilled and how time will be managed both during any election campaign and if elected.  

*03.02 Public Employment or Activity

General – The Texas State University System (TSUS or System) Rules and Regulations provide that staff employees should not be discouraged from accepting outside employment or participating in other outside activities provided such employment or participation do not conflict with the staff employee's work at Texas State. Similarly, faculty are encouraged to accept appropriate appointments of a consultative or advisory capacity with governmental agencies, industry, and other educational institutions, but are discouraged from accepting regular employment (TSUS Rules and Regulations, Chapter V, Sections 4.83 and 5.4).

The TSUS Rules and Regulations also provide that no full time employee shall be employed in any outside work or activity or receive from an outside source a regular retainer fee or salary during the period of employment by Texas State until a description of the nature and extent of the employment has been filed with and approved by the President or designee. The President has extended the application of this requirement at Texas State to part-time employees as well. The Rules and Regulations further direct the President to approve policies governing outside employment or activities and incorporate such policies into the faculty and staff handbooks (TSUS Rules and Regulations, Chapter V, Sections 4 and 5).

Notification – The Appropriations Act requires that all state employees must inform their state agencies or institutions of higher education before accepting an additional employment with another agency or institution.  Furthermore, they are to be informed that:

a.   Completely separate leave records will be maintained for each employment;

b.   Time worked in one position may not be used as additional service credit for purposes of longevity or annual leave accrual for the other positions;

c.   Upon termination of one employment, the leave balances accrued under one employment may not be transferred to the remaining employment;

d.   The state contribution towards the employee's benefit replacement pay will be subject to the overall individual limit, meaning that the employee will be treated as if he or she holds only one position with the state;

e.   The total state contribution towards the employee's group insurance will be limited to no more than the amount specified in the Appropriations Act for full-time active employees;

f.    The employee will be entitled to receive state longevity payment for no more than one employment; and

g.   Overtime compensation will accrue to each employment independent of the other except in those instances in which the employee is subject to the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). When the employee is subject to FLSA provisions, the employing state entities must consider all combined time worked in excess of forty hours per week as overtime and compensate the employee in accordance with the FLSA provisions applicable to joint employment relationships. The two entities shall coordinate in order to determine which entity will have the responsibility for ensuring that the employee is properly compensated.  

03.03  The President has delegated authority to approve and disapprove requests for participation in outside employment or activity to the vice presidents.

03.04  Employment with System Components – The Texas State University System may establish policies defining a person's employment within components of the System.

04.       PROCEDURES FOR APPROVING OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT OR ACTIVITIES

04.01  Public Employment

a.   Hiring a Public Employee – The following steps will be taken prior to hiring a person already employed by another public Texas institution of higher education or by a state, federal, or local agency.

*1) The prospective employee and department head of the department offering employment will complete the Request for Public Outside Employment or Activity Form. If the other public employer is a state entity, the employee will also complete the Additional State of Texas Employment or Activity Acknowledgment Form. The department head will submit the completed request form, and acknowledgment form if applicable, through the appropriate administrative channels to the employee’s vice president for decision. The vice president will approve or disapprove the request and return all paperwork to the department head.

2)   If the vice president approves the request, the department head will submit the prospective employee’s appointment form through normal processing channels. The department head will attach the approved request form and the acknowledgment form, if applicable, to the appointment form. The request and acknowledgment forms will be retained in Human Resources in the new employee’s personnel file.

b.   Texas State Employee Desiring Other Public Employment – The following steps will be taken prior to the acceptance of the outside employment when a Texas State employee desires to accept another non-elective position with a public Texas institution of higher education or with a state, federal, or local agency.

*1) The employee will complete sections 1 through 5 of the Request for Public Outside Employment or Activity Form and submit it to the employee’s department head. If the other public employer is a state entity, the employee will also complete the Additional State of Texas Employment or Activity Acknowledgment Form and attach it to the request form. The department head will review the request form and submit the form through the appropriate administrative channels to the employee’s vice president for decision. The vice president will approve or disapprove the request and return all paperwork to the department head.

2)   If the outside public employment is approved, the department head will forward the original of the approved request form to Human Resources to be retained in the individual’s personnel file.

04.02  Private Employment

The following steps will be taken at any time a current or prospective employee desires to hold both Texas State and other outside employment with an entity that is not a public institution of higher education or a state, federal, or local agency. If the person is a current Texas State employee, the steps will be taken prior to acceptance of the outside employment. If the individual is a prospective Texas State employee, the steps will be taken prior to the individual’s employment with Texas State.

*a. The individual will complete sections I through V of the Request for Private Employment or Activity Form and submit it to his or her department head for approval. The department head will approve the request if the outside employment or activity appears not to conflict with the employee’s Texas State duties and responsibilities.

b.   If the department head feels the outside employment may conflict with the employee’s Texas State duties and responsibilities, he or she will state in writing the basis of the conflict and forward the request form to the dean or division vice president through appropriate administrative channels for decision. The dean or vice president will approve or disapprove the request and return the form to the department head.

c.   If the outside private employment is approved, the department head will forward the original of the approved request form to Human Resources to be retained in the individual’s personnel file.

04.03  Outside Activities

a.   Outside activities are not required to be submitted for approval unless (1) the outside activity is a public outside activity as defined in Section 02.03, (2) the employee participating in the outside activity feels such participation may conflict with the employee’s Texas State duties and responsibilities, or (3) the employee’s vice president becomes aware of the employee’s outside activity, believes that this activity may conflict with the employee’s Texas State duties and responsibilities, and requires a request for approval to be submitted to ensure such activity is not in conflict with the employee’s Texas State duties and responsibilities.

*b. Requests for approval of outside activities will be handled in the same manner as noted above for public or private employment or activity as appropriate.

04.04  Approvals for outside employment or activities for staff are required for each such event and are good for the duration of the employment or activity. For faculty, annual approval is required.

05.       RESPONSIBILITY FOR IDENTIFICATION AND NOTIFICATION

05.01  As required, Human Resources will report to the Vice President for Finance and Support Services, the names of those Texas State employees who are also employed by other State of Texas institutions of higher education.

06.       FORMS

 

06.01  All forms referred to within this document are available on the University’s Human Resources website located at: http://www.humanresources.txstate.edu.

07.       REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS

07.01  Reviewers of this UPPS include the following: 

Position                                                         Date  

Director, Human Resources                      June 1 ONY

Provost and VPAA                                       June 1 ONY

Chair, Staff Council                                    June 1 ONY

Chair, Faculty Senate                                 June 1 ONY

08.       CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

This UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

Director, Human Resources; senior reviewer of this UPPS

Vice President for Finance and Support Services

President