Other Workers and Temporary Employees

Temporary Employees

Temporary employment policies have been updated to remain in compliance with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). An Occasional Worker, Temporary Employee, or Seasonal Temporary title is appropriate when an appointment is not classified as a student, staff, or academic title. Click on the drop-down menu to determine which type of temporary employee will work best for you.

Occasional Worker

Norman job code: 0450
HSC job code: 9515

Appointments consist of 19 hours or less per week (0.47 FTE) over a year.
Occasional Worker appointments may be continued indefinitely.
Occasional Workers will not qualify for benefits under the ACA.
The role does not need to go through a competitive hiring process. However, a job listing must still be created to allow the individual to complete onboarding.
A background check on file will be required.
A Preauthorization 1 form is not required.

Temporary Worker

Norman job code: 0454
HSC job code: 9506

Appointments consist of at least 20 hours per week for up to 90 days.
Temporary employment extended beyond 90 days will require written approval from the Department Head and either the Director of Talent Acquisition, Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer (DCHRO), or the VP and Chief Human Resources Officer.
The total length of temporary employment may not exceed one year.
A Temporary Employee may become eligible for medical insurance under the ACA after 90 days of employment and if they average 30 work hours or more per week at the university. Human Resources will notify qualified employees.
When a temporary assignment is terminated, a break in service is not required for reemployment as a Temporary Employee.
The role does not need to go through a competitive hiring process. However, a job listing must still be created to allow the individual to complete onboarding.
A background check on file will be required.
A Preauthorization 1 form is not required.

Seasonal Temporary

Norman job code: 0870
HSC job code: 9513

Appointments must be six months or less and for the same six-month period each year.
Appointments may not be extended beyond six months.
Departments are responsible for terminating Seasonal Temporary employees reaching their maximum service period. These individuals may not be reemployed as a Seasonal Temporary until a six month break in service has been completed.
There is no limitation to the number of hours worked per week.
Seasonal Temporary employees will not qualify for benefits under the ACA.
The normal hiring process is required.
A background check will be required.
A Preauthorization 1 form is not required.

Peak Temporary Staffing

PEAK Temporary Staffing is managed by OU Human Resources and offers qualified temporary employees to the OU Norman Campus, the HSC Campus, and the OU-Tulsa Campus. HR maintains a pool of qualified workers with a wide variety of skills to send out on assignments across all 3 campuses.

PEAK appointments may be continued indefinitely.
There is no limit to how many hours a PEAK employee may work.
The job listing process is optional, but the employee is required to create a Taleo Profile.
A background check will be required.
A PreAuthorization 1 form is not required.

Benefits of hiring through PEAK

Reduces the risk of hiring by providing departments with the opportunity to evaluate a potential employee on the job before making a final hiring decision. – And no hiring/finder’s fee like most temporary agencies.
Save money – PEAK charges 15% plus the fringe rate compared to 40-55% with other staffing agencies.
Time savings – PEAK recruits and processes hires based on the department’s requirements.
Reduce labor costs by adding staff when needed to meet deadlines.
You control the hire – If you know who you would like to hire you are not required to posting the listing.

Pooled Positions

Pooled positions are position numbers that are shared among multiple employees. Pooled positions are used for Temporary and Student appointments. If a pooled position is needed, or if a regular position needs to be turned into a pooled position, please reach out to compensation at HRCompensation@ou.edu.

Multiple Appointments

When hiring any employee, it is important to determine if the individual holds any other jobs at the university, which is especially true for temporary appointments. Please consult the guidelines below on how an employee may or may not have multiple temporary appointments at once.

An employee cannot hold the following appointments concurrently:
- Occasional Worker and Seasonal Temporary
- Temporary Employee and Occasional Worker
- Temporary Employee and Seasonal Temporary
A Temporary Employee may have multiple, concurrent appointments as a Temporary Employee. This individual may become eligible for medical insurance under the ACA as described above.
A Seasonal Temporary employee may have multiple, concurrent appointments as a Seasonal Temporary as long as the multiple positions occur during the same six-month period each year.
An Occasional Worker may have multiple, concurrent appointments as an Occasional Worker as long as their average combined work hours is 19 hours or less per week (0.47 FTE) over a year.