6.08—Signing Bonus

Effective: 03/01/2010
Senate Proposal: No
Responsible University Officer: Vice President for Administration
Responsible Office: Human Resources

Policy Statement

A monetary signing bonus may be offered to an eligible candidate as an enticement to commit to employment at the University.


Policy Requirements

A signing bonus is:

  • offered only under extraordinary circumstances to secure the hire,
  • agreed upon during the pre-employment negotiation process, and
  • not added to the eligible candidate's institutional base salary.

Signing bonus requests require:

  • approval of supervisor, department chair/director or dean (as applicable) and Vice President(s).
  • at least two signatures (approval is required at least through Vice President).
  • written justification of the candidate's qualities and contributions they would provide to the University.

Bonus payments are taxable at the time of payment. The payment schedule of a signing bonus for:

  • Faculty - full bonus amount is paid on the first paycheck.
  • Staff - 1/2 of the bonus amount is paid on the first paycheck with the remainder of the bonus paid at completion of probationary period.

Reason for Policy

A signing bonus is established as a commit-to-employment incentive for a candidate whose high quality leadership and/or expected performance can make a competitive difference to the University in support of the Strategic Plan. The signing bonus policy supports the University's Strategic Plan, Goal 1, which states "Attract, retain, and support a world-class and diverse faculty, staff, and student population."

Exclusions

None.

Contacts

Office/Unit Name Telephone Number
Human Resources 487-2280
https://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/  

Definitions

Eligible Employee - An individual being considered for a regular full- and/or part-time non-represented position.

Institutional Base Salary (IBS) - Annual compensation paid by the University for an employee's appointment, whether that individual's time is spent on research, instruction, administration or service. IBS does not include additional, bonus, or faculty summer compensation. IBS also excludes any income that an individual is permitted to earn outside of duties for the University.

Responsibilities

Department Chair/Director, Dean and Vice President(s) (as applicable) - Reviews the request and signs the Bonus Request Form indicating approval.

Hiring Department - Completes the Bonus Request Form, ensures appropriate approvals (of at least two signatures) on the request form, identifies the funding source for the bonus, and ensures written justification is included with the form.

Human Resources - Receives the completed form and reviews for accuracy and appropriate signatures, obtains provost/vice president signatures as applicable, and processes request for payment.

Procedures

In support of this policy, the following procedures are included:

Forms and Instructions

In support of this policy, the following forms/instructions are included:

Forms

Appendices


Adoption Date

02/23/2010 Approved by VP for Administration.

Revisions

04/10/2017 Transfer of policy page from HTML to CMS. Business and Finance numbers renamed from "2.6000" to "6. Human Resources". Specifically from "2.6008—Signing Bonus" to "6.08—Signing Bonus".
05/08/2012 To reflect current University titles and practice, MTU is now Michigan Tech and the email address for questions is now hbwebmaster.