All ePARs with an effective date vary per semester should be immediately submitted to HR to ensure timely processing. The Monthly Final Payroll is scheduled vary per semester. Departments must submit ePARs as soon as possible to meet necessary deadlines and for the employees to receive their payment on time.

All new hires or rehires with more than one year separation, must have a completed I-9, Direct Deposit, and 4-page Personal Data Sheet. Departments must ensure that employees do not have outstanding debt with the university campuses before initiating an ePAR.

A. Research Assistants assignments starts date vary per semester and must have applied the 12-month officer code. They must be enrolled full-time (9 credit hour minimum) and placed in the job codes listed below:

• 3080 Research Assistant – does not qualify to receive GTF
• 3081 Research Assistant/TE – will receive GTF

B. Teaching Assistants (TA), Teaching Fellows (TF), and Instructional Assistants (IA) assignments starts date vary per semester and must have applied the 9 pay 9 officer code. They must be enrolled full-time (9 credit hour minimum) and placed in one of the job codes listed below:

• 1100 Teaching Assistant
• 1110 Teaching Fellow
• 1120 Instructional Assistant

C. Graduate Assistants (GA) assignments starts date vary per semester and must have applied the 12-month officer code. They must be enrolled full-time (9 credit hour minimum) and placed in the job code listed below:

• 3160 Graduate Assistant

D. Graduate students who are enrolled during the Spring, but are not eligible for the above titles are to be paid an hourly rate. This title is not insurance eligible and will not generate an insurance stipend for the employee.

• 5050 Graduate Assistant/Non-Exempt

E. Graduate students who are working but not enrolled during the Spring should be placed in one of the following temporary job codes. These titles are not insurance eligible and will not generate an insurance stipend for the employee.

• 3200 Non-Ben Exempt Staff – The monthly rate must be $3,956.33 or greater to be paid in an exempt position (regardless of FTE).
• 5200 Non-Ben Non-Exempt Staff – If the monthly rate falls below $3,956.33, the employee must be placed in a Non-Ben Non-Exempt position, paid hourly, and will be eligible for overtime if working more than 40 hours in a week.

* Employees hired into the above job codes working 20 hours or more should not exceed 4 and a half months and should have a clear termination date in the system.

F. Insurance Coverage Eligibility – RA/TE, RA, TA, TF, IA, and GA are eligible for the university health insurance through the Employee Retirement System (ERS) if employed for 4 and a half months and working 20 hours a week. Graduate students are not automatically enrolled in ERS and must contact the HR Service Center for enrollment.

G. Work Break and Leave of Absence – RA/TE, RA, TA, TF, IA, and GA are not placed on Work Break or Leave of Absence for the Spring. If RA/TE, RA, TA, TF, IA, and GA will not continue employment for the Spring/Fall, then the department should create a Change Employment Status ePAR to terminate the assignment effective date vary per semester.

TA, TF, and IAs are automatically placed on Work Break for the summer effective date vary per semester, and pre-collected at 2.5x their insurance premiums and pre-paid at 2.5x their insurance stipend in for payroll.

H. Benefits Orientation – Benefits Orientation sessions will not be held for the Spring/Fall, unless there is sufficient demand. HR can conduct a Benefits Orientation session in your department with a minimum of 10 or more graduate students. For additional information, please contact Deanna Holmes at X3-3689 or dholmes4 [at] uh.edu (dholmes4[at]uh[dot]edu).

I. Employment Verification – a new I-9 must be completed for foreign national graduate students rehired by the university if:

1. They have not worked for the university within the past 12 months, or
2. They have changed the expiration date of their current visa since their last I-9, or
3. They have changed visa status type since their last I-9, or
4. They were previously on a visa but have become a permanent resident or US citizen.

Employees must come to the HR Service Center prior to their first day of employment to update their I-9. To shorten HR lobby wait time for your student employee hire, please contact Ashley Waggoner at X3-3217 or awaggoner [at] uh.edu (awaggoner[at]uh[dot]edu).

The HR Service Center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, McElhinney Hall Room 325. If other arrangements need to be made, please call X3-3988.

J. TA/RA Employment Tuition Waiver Deadline – the deadline date vary per semester TA/RA employment tuition waiver forms need to be submitted as soon as possible. The deadline for TA/RA employment tuition waiver spreadsheets dates vary per semester. View MAPP 11.03.03 for additional information.

K. Student FICA Exemption – to qualify for FICA exemption, the student must be actively enrolled at least half-time and actively employed in a student worker (Empl Class “J” and “I”) or a graduate student (Empl Class “S”) position. This information will be utilized for payroll FICA calculation. For additional tax information refer to UH Student FICA Exemption link.

L. Queries – eForms can be monitored and tracked by viewing the eForm workflow page, which is available under View an eForm. This page indicates where an eForm is in the process. Also, the following queries are available to monitor pending ePARs and ePRFs:

• HRMS_EPAR_PENDING_BY_DEPT
• HRMS_EPRF_PENDING_BY_DEPT

The queries will prompt you for a Division/College/Department ID. The queries provide you with the eForm #, ePAR Type, Empl ID or Position #, Originator, Last eForm Approver, and Next eForm Approver.

Additionally, the following queries are available to confirm job data and associated position funding has been entered correctly for the new fiscal year:

• HRMS_JOB_DATA Job Data by Div/Coll/Dept
• HRMS_JOB_DATA_W_CC Job Data w/Cost Center by Div/Coll/Dept

The queries will prompt you for a Division/College/Department ID, Job Data/Dept Budget Table Effective Date, and Fiscal Year.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• Compensation Department – John Chen 3-7982 or jlchen [at] uh.edu (jlchen[at]uh[dot]edu)
• HRIS Department – Raysa Caba 3-1783 or caba [at] uh.edu (caba[at]uh[dot]edu)

Thanks in advance for your cooperation and assistance.