To recognize retiring faculty members or administrators for distinguished service to the University of Tennessee over an extended period of time.

To define employee groups, employee subgroups, employment percentage, employment status, and other employment issues, which specify employment conditions and applicability of human resources policies to each University of Tennessee employee or affiliate.

To provide guidelines concerning age restrictions and conditions of employment.

To prevent conflict of interest in decision-making due to factors of kinship in reporting relationships among employees.

To state the conditions under which employees retired from service with the University of Tennessee, the Tennessee Board of Regents institutions, Locally Governed Institutions or the state of Tennessee (including all TCRS participating employees) may be further employed by the University of Tennessee.

To provide guidelines for the employment of university staff by other university employees in an employment situation external to the university.

To solicit employees’ comments about their work experience at the university and their reasons for leaving, to secure return of university property, and to guard against unjustified unemployment compensation.

To establish and define the university’s policy concerning the professional development and training of employees.

To provide all regular staff employees and their supervisors an opportunity to discuss the employee’s job performance, set goals for professional development and establish objectives for contributing to the department’s mission.

To assure that accurate and complete personnel data are maintained, that individual employees are afforded an opportunity to see that their records reflect such standards, and that the release of information from personnel files is adequately monitored.

To establish a period of time during which a newly hired regular staff (non-faculty) employee’s work performance can be evaluated by the supervisor.

Human resources shall develop procedures governing recruiting to fill position vacancies. Such procedures shall conform to the search requirements outlined in the applicable affirmative action plan.

To provide a consistent and equitable method of eliminating positions as the result of reorganization, curtailment of operations, or lack of funding. This policy does not apply to faculty positions or limited duration appointments.

To provide a consistent and equitable method of reinstating former staff employees who were laid off pursuant to a reduction in force.

To identify the types of terminations and establish termination categories for university employees.

To establish and maintain a uniform list of job titles for all university employees.

To state the university policy concerning fair employment practices, which is designed to promote equal employment opportunity for all university employees and applicants for employment.

To state university policy prohibiting all employees from engaging in sexual harassment, other discriminatory harassment, and retaliation, and to inform members of the university community about how to complain about and to report potential violations of this policy.

To provide eligible regular staff and 12-month faculty with paid time away from work.

To provide a benefit payment in the event of the death of a regular university employee who dies while in an active pay status.

To establish a systematic method of computing the length of service for each staff employee for educational assistance, leave of absence, service as an employee representative, and reduction in force.

To protect employees from loss of pay while serving on jury duty or as a witness in state, federal, or local court.

To define administrative closings and compensation guidelines for regular employees.

To enable regular faculty and staff to perform their present duties more effectively and to assist them in preparing for future opportunities by providing a plan of educational assistance.

To assist regular employees by providing a student fee discount for their spouses and depended children who are classified as undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee and to encourage such qualified students to attend the university.

To provide time off to regular university employees to continue their education and/or participate in research, grants, or fellowships.

To provide time off to eligible university employees consistent with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. (“FMLA”) and Tennessee Parental Leave Act, Tennessee Code Annotated § 4-21-408 (“TPLA”) for the following reasons: childbirth, or adoption; foster care placement; serious health condition of the employee; serious health condition of the employee’s family member; to provide care for a family member injured while on active military duty; or for qualifying exigent circumstances arising from a family member’s military service.

HR0339 – Parental Leave Policy provides eligible (75% or greater) University faculty and regular staff paid time off to spend time with a new child.

To provide time off without loss of pay for regular university employees for bereavement and to attend the funeral of a close relative.

To specify holidays and compensation guidelines for regular university employees.

To provide time off to university employees due to such reasons as illness or injury of an employee or other personal or family reasons.

To assure the transfer of annual and sick leave for employees transferring between the university, state agencies, a Tennessee Locally Governed Institution, a Tennessee Board of Regents institution and local school boards.

To ensure university employees have the opportunity to continue employment with the university while fulfilling their military obligation and to provide appropriate reemployment opportunities.

To define personal leave and compensation guidelines for regular non-exempt employees.

To provide tenured faculty a transition from full-time service to retirement.

To provide a retirement plan for university faculty and staff.

To protect eligible regular staff and 12-month faculty against loss of earnings due to personal or family (spouse, child, or parent) illness, injury, and/or due to childbirth or adoption.

To provide guidelines for establishing a sick leave bank for employee use only at any University of Tennessee campus or institute for regular employees who are eligible to accrue sick leave. The sick leave bank shall provide emergency sick leave to member employees who have suffered disability due to an unplanned personal illness, injury, or quarantine and who have exhausted their compensatory time and personal, sick, and annual leave balances.

To define guidelines by which sick leave may be voluntarily transferred to sick leave bank members who have suffered a continuing disability due to illness or injury.

To provide eligible university employees with social security benefits.

To allow regular employees to divert portions of their current pre-tax earnings into a deferred compensation plan through payroll reduction service.

To encourage all university employees to vote in state, national, and local elections.

Workers’ compensation benefits for university employees are provided by the State of Tennessee in accordance with state law. The State of Tennessee and its Third-Party Administrator (TPA) are responsible for determining benefits payable for work-related injuries and illnesses and for medical treatment decisions.
This policy explains the responsibilities of employees who sustain work-related injuries and their supervisors and provides other information for injured employees. Campus and unit procedures may include additional responsibilities for injured employees and their supervisors.

As part of its commitment to employees who experience a work-related injury or illness, the University has a program designed to assist employees in their return to meaningful, productive employment as quickly as possible. This policy explains the university’s transitional return-to-work program, which is designed to facilitate temporary, transitional duty assignments for employees who may be unable to return immediately to regular, full duty due to a work-related illness or injury.
This policy also explains how to request modification of assigned job duties for employees who may be unable to perform their regular job duties due to pregnancy.

To provide eligible University faculty and staff paid time off (separate from and in addition to accrued Sick and Annual Leave) to donate a body organ or bone marrow.

To provide a fair, flexible and competitive compensation program that will support efforts to attract, retain and reward high-performing employees at all levels in accordance with the Equal Employment Opportunity policy HR0220. (This policy is not intended to supersede the provision in Faculty Handbooks regarding Compensated Outside Services. Faculty are directed to those provisions for guidance regarding that subject.)

To recognize faculty and staff for their years of service with the university and state.

To compensate staff and student employees in non-exempt wage and hour categories who work in excess of 40 hours per week.

The purpose of this policy is to establish principles to aid and guide University campuses and institutes to develop effective procedures related to volunteer work during work hours.

To recruit and retain qualified staff within existing policies and resources of the institution while providing salaries that balance equity and competitiveness.

To reward regular, staff non-exempt clerical secretarial or clerical management employees or any employees performing closely related administrative support duties who pass the Certified Administrative Professional Examination.

To establish parameters for compensating employees in specific, defined working situations where supplemental compensation is appropriate, such as shift differentials, emergency call back, extra services pay, and temporary assignments.

To establish standards for work schedules which accommodate both the business needs of the university and, as feasible, employee requests.

To establish attendance standards and to encourage staff and student employees to meet their work schedules.

To provide a fair, objective, and legally sufficient method of settling debts held by the university against its employees.

To set forth the University’s policy for disciplinary action, termination, and appeals. This policy applies to regular and temporary employees (i.e., not faculty or student employees) who have completed any required probationary period.
All regular staff employees, including those hired pursuant to a Limited Duration Appointment, serve on an at will basis, meaning that either the University or the employee may end the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, unless the University and employee have executed a written contract in accordance with Fiscal Policy FI0420, Contracts. Nothing in this policy alters or affects the at-will status of any employee.

To provide employees of the University of Tennessee with guidance on the proper coordination and reporting of federal lobbying activities.

To provide a means of equitably handling garnishments against university employees.

The purpose of this policy is to define community aspirations for workplace behavior, to provide guidance to employees about expectations for ethical and responsible conduct, and to articulate processes for enforcement of this policy.

This policy articulates the legal reporting obligations for members of the University community with respect to fraud, waste, and abuse; child abuse; and child sexual abuse.

To provide for a direct channel of communications between regular staff employees and university officials for information and advisory purposes, and to provide university officials with an effective method of soliciting and disseminating information concerning plans and programs affecting regular staff university employees.

To provide a method for the resolution of problems which may arise between the university and regular, staff non-exempt employees.

To encourage and maintain a safe, healthful, and drug-free environment within the University of Tennessee.