Hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow

The policy and procedures that must be followed for hiring a postdoctoral fellow are summarized below. For hiring, postdoctoral positions do not have to be posted nor does the recall list need to be used.

Policy

• Managers/faculty who engage in hiring activities that are in violation of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action.
• All postdoctoral research fellows placed on the payroll must have proper authorization.
• Postdoctoral research fellows found working without proper authorization will be immediately released from duty by Human Resources and will not be allowed to continue work until the hire is authorized and appropriately processed.
• Offers of employment can be made only for valid, authorized, and budgeted positions.
• Salary offers to potential employees must conform to the compensation policy.
• All appropriate pre-employment screening will take place before the new postdoctoral research fellow may start work. All appointments and continuations are subject to clearance through criminal background and federal sanction checks.
• All new hires must receive clearance through Occupational Medicine.
• All new hires must complete appropriate orientation.
• Recruitment efforts must show good faith efforts in support of the diversity and AA/EEO goals of the UConn Health Center.
• The Office for International Programs in Human Resources must be contacted prior to any commitment to international candidates.

Procedures

I. The hiring Principal Investigator completes the Offer Letter (see Sample Offer Letter), the Personnel Transaction Form and the Search Request Form. It is imperative that the funding sources are identified on these forms.

All offer letters must specify that appointments are subject to clearance through criminal background and federal sanction checks, Occupational Medicine pre-employment screening, continuation of satisfactory performance, and compliance with UConn Health Center policies.

For international hires, the letter must also specify that the appointment, and any continuation, is contingent upon obtaining and retaining valid immigration status.

After receiving department head review and approval, these forms are submitted to the Dean’s Office for review and approval.

II. This offer letter is sent by the department only after approved by Dr. Gerald Maxwell, Associate Dean for Postdoctoral and External Affairs.

III. Once approved, the offer letter, along with the Background Information Sheet and the Authorization and Release Form, must be sent to the candidate.

These forms must be returned as soon as possible. Although the candidate may begin employment prior to the completion of the background check, the candidate should be informed that he/she may be separated immediately if information prohibiting clearance is discovered on the background check.

IV. For international hires, the hiring department will need to initiate paperwork with the Office of International Programs to request sponsoring of visa, etc. UConn Health Center visa sponsorship is contingent upon background check clearance.

V. The department is responsible for securing background clearance through the Dean’s Office and Public Safety, Occupational Medicine pre-employment screening and clearance, and ensuring completion of OSHA required training through the Environmental Safety Office.

VI. As soon as possible, prior to the start date, an Assignment Authorization should be submitted to the Dean’s Office.

VII. Human Resources must be contacted in order to schedule new employee orientation and sign-up.

Continuation Appointment and Annual Evaluations

Written evaluations must be prepared by the faculty mentor and reviewed with the postdoctoral research fellow on an annual basis. Both the fellow and the mentor must sign this evaluation. Copies of evaluations should be submitted to Human Resources prior to April 30 of each year.

Continuation of appointments and salary adjustments will be processed as determined by the UHP contract and implemented by Human Resources.

Continuation appointments require that current evaluation be on file in the respective Dean’s Office.