Temporary Positions - FAQs

• Temporary employees are not allowed to work more than 999 hours in a calendar year. 
• Temporary employees are generally not to be appointed for longer than one year, however they may be ongoing or seasonal in the event the 999 hour limit is not exceeded in the calendar year period. 
• Non-Exempt (paid hourly) temporary employees are not eligible for compensatory time, if they work over the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) threshold of 40 hours in a week they are to be paid overtime. (All hours count towards the 999 hours limit.) 
• Temporary positions do not have any anticipated or expected appointment renewal and may be terminated at any time.  For cause terminations due to performance or conduct issues should be directed to the Human Resource Management Employee Relations unit prior to dismissal. 
• Time worked on a temporary position does not count towards length of service for State or KU. 
• Temporary positions are only eligible for certain voluntary benefits (listed below). 

Employees holding only temporary positions are not benefits eligible. Specifically, employees in temporary position generally:

• are not eligible to participate in mandatory benefit plans: group life insurance, retirement and long term disability; 
• are not eligible to participate in voluntary benefit plans such as: group health insurance, optional group life insurance, 403(b) voluntary retirement plan and flexible spending accounts;
• do not accrue sick or vacation leave;
• are not eligible to participate in special leave programs;
• are not eligible for Staff Tuition Assistance;
• are eligible to participate in the following voluntary benefit plans: 457 Deferred Compensation, section 529 Education Savings Plan (LearningQuest) and Organizational Dues;
• may become ACA (Affordable Care Act) eligible in the event he/she works the minimum number of hours during the eligibility period. 

• These are to be very rare cases and are to be approved in advance by Human Resource Management and Payroll since employees are unable to be paid in temporary or regular positions simultaneously.  Facilitating this work arrangement would require agreement by HRM and both departments that they were mutually agreeable for both positions to become regular and share the same FLSA designation.  The position moving from temporary to regular may be denoted as limited term to the employee. If the current regular employee is in KPERS, per KPERS rules retirement contributions must be made on all positions; thus compensation paid on the temporary position will be charged both employee and employer contributions. 
• If the current regular employee is in the KBOR mandatory retirement plan, arrangements will need to be made with the Payroll Office to pay the temporary position on the off cycle as per Board of Regents retirement plan rules, contributions are not to be made on temporary positions. This may have an impact of under withholding of taxes and the employee may want to adjust his/her W-4. 
• Leave earned on the regular position is not allowed to be used on the temporary position. 
• It is also possible the Fair Labor Standards Act designation (exempt/non-exempt) on the regular position may have to be changed to match the temporary position.