Recruiting and Staffing
As a project director, each principal investigator (PI) takes responsibility for managing their project and overseeing project staff. This includes ensuring compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and guidelines for employee hiring, fair compensation, and timely work hours submission.
The Human Resources department of the Research Foundation works with project directors and administrators to uphold proper business practices, adhere to hiring regulations, and comply with guidelines set by the Research Foundation, sponsoring agencies, federal and state authorities.
The Recruitment Process
Please note that employees are only authorized to begin work once all required steps have been approved and completed.
Recruiting Employees
Benefited Positions:
To recruit for benefited positions, submit a Request to Recruit Form and job description to HR. These roles require at least 50% FTE and last for more than six months. The position must be posted for seven days. The hiring manager will oversee the selection process and inform HR of the selected candidate. The hiring manager also provides the summary of the selection process (candidates interviewed, why certain candidate selected). HR will send the offer letter to the selected candidate. Once the offer accepted, the new hire will go through a background check and livescan (for sensitive positions only). Once the background check is completed successfully, new hire will be given instructions for the onboarding process.
Non-Benefited Positions:
The project director can hire non-benefited positions directly. If needed assistance, HR can post the non-benefited position to get the qualified candidate. Please note that non-benefited positions are considered temporary positions. If the employee is hired for long term, then he/she should be hired as a benefited employee.
Recruiting Student Assistants
Students who are attending classes at SJSU or another institution of higher education may be hired as student assistants. As stipulated in both the CSU policy and the Research Foundation policy, student assistants may work no more than:
- 20 hours per week while school is in session
- 40 hours during winter and summer intersessions
Hiring and Making Appointments
When an employment offer is accepted, the hiring manager must complete the appropriate appointment form for the new employee:
Non-Academic Appointments
Use this Non-Academic Appointment Form for all non-faculty appointments, such as benefited, non-benefited and student assistants, working on a sponsored programs project.
Academic Appointments
Use the Academic Appointment Form if the employee is a San José State University faculty member and is working overload (up to 25% during academic year and/or 125% during summer/intersession on a non-federal award; 100% on a federal award) on the sponsored programs project. Please note that new hire/rehire faculty will also need to go through new hire process (new hire forms and e-verify) as we are separate entity and do not have access to SJSU records.
Employment Changes During Appointment
If there is a change in rate, account number (assigned project), duration of appointment period or percentage of work, a new appointment form is required.
New Employee Onboarding
Prior to beginning work, all newly hired employees must complete the required new hire documentation and related processes.
New Hire Documentation
Hiring managers are responsible for ensuring that the required documentation for all new or rehired employees is completed before the employee begins working:
- E-Verify
- Glacier (non-residents)
- Background Checks (for all new or re-hired benefited and employees hired for sensitive category positions)
- Live Scan (all employees hired for sensitive category positions)
- New hire forms
Terminations
In the event of an employee's resignation or the conclusion of a project, it is necessary to terminate the employee by submitting an appointment form. According to CA labor law, it is mandatory to provide the employee's final wages within 72 hours of notification. To ensure compliance, the appointment form and final timesheet must be submitted at least 3 business days prior to the termination date.
For additional details on hiring and staffing support as well as the full range of HR services, contact Research Foundation Human Resources.
