The US Department of Labor recently issued new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidance to colleges and universities, effective July 1, 2020, that will affect how the role of graduate assistants is defined for compensation purposes.
The new guidance was shared with UNC Charlotte leadership by Gary Stinnet, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources.
In a memo distributed broadly on campus, Stinnet said the guidance pertains to teachers, coaches and student employees. Specfically, his memo noted, the guidance includes:
-
Graduate Teaching Assistants (TA): Graduate teaching assistants whose primary duty is teaching are exempt. Because they qualify for the teacher exemption, they are not subject to the salary basis and salary level tests (currently $35,568).
-
Research Assistants (RA): Generally, an educational relationship exists when a graduate or undergraduate student performs research under a faculty member’s supervision while obtaining a degree. Under these circumstances, the Department does not assert that an employment relationship exists with either the school or any grantor funding the student’s research. This is true even though the student may receive a stipend for performing the research.
-
Student Residential Assistants: Students enrolled in bona fide educational programs who serve as residential assistants and receive reduced room and board or tuition credits are not generally considered as employees under the FLSA. Therefore, they are not entitled to minimum wages and overtime compensation.
“To ensure current/future compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the University will distinguish graduate administrative assistants from graduate teaching/research assistants moving forward – designating these jobs as FLSA non exempt roles and paid on an hourly basis,” Stinnet said. “While these roles are of no less significance in educational/experiential value than graduate teaching and research assistants, they are not covered as exempt under current FLSA guidance.”
He noted that University will no longer offer graduate administrative assistantships via the eGA system. These roles will be filled through the ePAF process and time accounting will be managed through Banner Web Time Entry.
The changes are included in a review of graduate assistant definitions under way by the Graduate Funding Committee led by Manuel Perez-Quinones, Professor of Software and Information Systems and Graduate Faculty Fellow.
Please forward FLSA questions to Kieffer M.Gaddis, kgaddis@uncc.edu, 7-0654, and student employment questions to Teresa Shook, tshook4@uncc.edu, 7-0671.
