The following information provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about hiring a temporary employee. If you have additional questions, please contact Employment Services at 303-492-6475.

What is Temporary Employment?
State personnel rules provide for temporary employment for work assignments that are non-permanent or seasonal in nature. Temporary positions may be filled without applicants going through an examination process. Temporary appointments are limited by state law to six months in any rolling 12-month period.

What are Methods of Hiring a Temporary Employee?
There are two options available. A department may contact a temporary employment agency to request a worker. In this case, the temporary worker is paid by the agency and the university is billed by the agency. The second option is for the department to hire a person directly who will be paid from the university payroll system. Employment Services does not maintain a list of persons interested in doing temporary work.

What is the Required Paperwork for a Temporary Appointment?
To hire a person from a temporary employment agency, please consult the information from the Procurement Services Center on the following link: https://www.cusys.edu/psc/departments/commodities/downloads/TempSvs.pdf. For further information please contact Darlene Morrow, Purchasing Agent, at the Procurement Service Center at 303-315-2786.

For a classified temporary employee paid from the university payroll system create a new temporary position using the job class code P1A1XX, Temporary Aide, and enter the new temporary employee in the position number assigned by PeopleSoft. The temporary employee will require a background check before Employment Services will approve the hire. Please refer to the Background check policy for more details. The employee will require an offer letter which will be retained in the department, an SSA-1945 Form which should be sent to Employment Services and a PERA form which should be sent directly to Payroll and Benefits services. Please note that the temporary employee may not start work until the Background Check has been completed and approved.

What are the Limits?
TThe length of appointment cannot exceed six months in a rolling 12-month period. The 12-month period is counted from the appointment start date, not from January 1st or July 1st. If the work period is continuous, this can be a true six months, e.g. December 15th through June 14th. If the work is intermittent, however, one day worked in a month counts for a whole month. This limit of six months in a rolling 12-month period applies to all temporary employment - one temporary job, a series of temporary jobs, work as an agency temporary, work as a classified temporary, temporary work done at other state agencies, or any combination thereof.

Before a hire is made, departments are advised to determine if the person they are considering for temporary work has done any temporary work for the University or other state agencies in the past year.

Differences between Temporary and Permanent Appointments?
Classified temporary employees are paid on the bi-weekly payroll rather than the monthly payroll. They are paid for the hours they actually work and not for holidays or other leave days. Hours worked must be submitted to the Payroll & Benefit Services Office through PeopleSoft Time Entry at the end of each payroll period. Agency temporary workers are paid by the agency based on the signed time sheets the employee submits to the agency.

Temporary employees do not receive salary survey adjustments. Temporary employees do not earn annual leave or sick leave. A temporary employee may request time off and it may be granted, but it is not paid leave. If temporary employees work overtime they are paid through payroll and do not accrue comp time.

Temporary employees are not eligible to apply for departmental promotional exams. If temporary employees wish to become permanent employees, they must apply for the vacancy they are interested in through JobsatCU, participate in an examination, and be referred from an eligible list for a specific job class.

If a temporary employee becomes a permanent employee, the time worked as a temporary does not count toward length of service or seniority as a permanent employee.

Temporary employees do not have the right to a hearing if dismissed for unsatisfactory performance. Supervisors have a responsibility to communicate to the employee expectations and standards for satisfactory performance.

University Department Responsibilities
Keep a record of dates and hours worked. Submit this information in a timely manner so that the worker is paid at the expected time. For classified temporary employees, this information is submitted on PeopleSoft Time Entry. For agency temporary workers, this information is submitted to the agency through signed weekly time sheets.

Communicate to the temporary worker the expectations and standards for satisfactory performance.

Comply with state law. Do not employ a specific temporary worker longer than six months in any rolling 12-month period. This will require departments to plan carefully.

When a classified temporary appointment ends, terminate the appointment in PeopleSoft immediately. For intermittent temporary workers, this is particularly important. The payroll record should show clearly that a classified temporary appointment did not exceed six months.

For information about temporary agencies currently under contract with the state, or for specialized skills, please contact Darlene Morrow, Procurement Service Center, 303-315-2786. Other questions related to temporary employees should be directed to Employment Services, 303-492-6475.