No./Title: 460 – SPOT BONUS PAY	Resp. Office: HUMAN RESOURCES	Effective Date: 06/10/2014
Category: Compensation	Last Review: 08/24/2018	Next Review: 08/24/2021
Contact: Damon Davis	🕿 901.448.5604	🖂 ddavis24@uthsc.edu
Related Policies:

OBJECTIVE

Spot Bonus Pay is designated to reward extraordinary, meritorious performance

WHO IS AFFECTED?

Regular full and part time staff.

DEFINITION

Spot Bonus Pay is a monetary reward given to recognize employees for extraordinary, meritorious performance that goes beyond expected or required productivity; exceptional contributions in the performance of special projects of significant importance; organizing/implementing an innovation that improves efficiency, reduces costs or increases revenue; or assumption of additional workload for a period of time. Additional duties (or those outside one’s normal job duties) would not have to be a consideration. Spot bonus payments are not entitlements nor should be considered automatic results of performing regular duties on a day-to-day basis.

Spot bonus payments are delivered after the fact, based on a supervisor’s judgment of performance and the warranted reward. It is discretionary in nature and may not be used to incentivize an employee in advance of performing the work.

Note: If a staff employee is informed of a bonus before performing the work, the bonus will be considered an incentive payment. An incentive payment must be included in average hourly earnings when calculating overtime pay for the eligible period.

PROCEDURE

General Guidelines

Supervisors may nominate employees for Spot Bonus Pay by submitting a recommendation to the appropriate department head (or, in the case of System employees, to the appropriate department head) by completing the Spot Bonus Request Form. If approved, the Vice Chancellor or department head should forward the recommendation to UTHSC HR, ddavis24@uthsc.edu. UTHSC HR will review and secure the Executive Vice Chancellor’s or designee’s approval, which is required before the award may be processed.

• Spot bonuses may range from $100 to $1,500.
• The spot bonus is not added to employee’s base pay.
• The spot bonus may be paid from any source of funds from existing unit budgets.
• The spot bonus must be approved by the Executive Vice Chancellor or designee as noted above.

Eligibility Criteria

• Employee must be employed by UTHSC for at least six continuous months immediately preceding the effective date of the payment.
• Six months must have elapsed since the employee’s last spot bonus payment.
• Employee must have:
  • Demonstrated extraordinary, meritorious performance that goes beyond expected or required productivity;
  • Successfully completed a special project of significant importance to warrant special recognition;
  • Organized/implemented an innovation that improves efficiency, reduces costs or increases revenue; or
  • Assumed and successfully performed an additional workload for a defined period of time.

Recording Requirements

• Spot bonus payments require documentation that indicates fulfillment of the criteria set forth above and substantiates the performance or project completion.
• The employee’s base department will process the Additional Pay Form in IRIS once the recommendation has been approved by the Executive Vice Chancellor or designee approval.
• Upon completion of payment processing, UTHSC HR will send an Award Certificate to supervisor for presentation to employee. The monetary reward will be included in the next scheduled pay cycle.

HR0460b–H Spot Bonus Form