Job Groups and Probationary Periods

Regular Exempt

Regular employees are those employed in budgeted exempt or nonexempt positions. Regular employees who work full-time or part-time hours of at least 50 percent of the workweek are eligible to receive the full suite of available employee benefits, including subsidized health benefits, retirement plans, paid leave and holidays, other insurance options, and tuition benefits. Regular employees are initially hired through a competitive process and accrue certain employee rights and entitlements. Regular part-time employees working less than 50 percent of the workweek are ineligible for health benefits and other insurance program and tuition benefits and, depending upon the number of hours worked annually, may also be ineligible for retirement plans.

Policy on Establishment and Assignment of Job Groups

Exempt employees are not covered by the provisions of the FLSA. Exempt staff are paid an annual salary, reflecting the total compensation for all services provided. The nature of exempt work may require exempt employees to work more than the regularly scheduled hours in a given workweek without additional compensation. Exempt employees are “at will” employees and are not eligible for overtime pay. While each position must be assessed for its FLSA status, typical exempt employees are executives and officers of the University, senior managers, administrators and professional staff, and many confidential employees. 

Probationary Period

Probationary periods are trial periods in which regular staff employees must demonstrate their ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of the position. Every new regular UMB employee must serve an original probationary period. Newly hired regular exempt staff must serve an original one-year probationary period. During this period, a regular exempt employee may be rejected and separated from employment with or without cause. After the original probationary period has been completed, in each instance that a regular exempt employee applies for and accepts a different exempt position, the employee must complete an additional one-year probationary period. During this period, a regular exempt employee may be rejected and separated from employment with or without cause.

Regular Non-exempt

Nonexempt employees are those in positions that are determined to be covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law governing hourly wages. Under the FLSA, overtime work performed by nonexempt staff is to be paid at the rate of one and one-half times the regular hourly rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. Nonexempt staff can choose to be granted compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay. In such instances, the nonexempt employee will be given one and one-half hours of compensatory time off for each hour of overtime worked. While each position must be assessed for its FLSA status, typical nonexempt employees are University maintenance, office administrative support, service, technical, and paraprofessional staff.

Probationary Period

Newly hired regular nonexempt staff must serve an original six-month probationary period. During this period, a regular nonexempt employee may be rejected and separated from employment with or without cause.

After the original probationary period has been completed, regular nonexempt employees who are promoted to a new job classification through a competitive process, or who are laterally transferred to a new job classification and/or the same job classification in a different school/department through a competitive process, must serve an additional six-month probationary period. In such instances, where an employee chooses, an employee has 30 calendar days (excluding winter and spring break shutdowns) to indicate in writing, to the former supervisor, the desire to return to the former position unless the position has been eliminated. Any regular nonexempt employee who is rejected during an additional probationary period shall be restored to his/her former position if it is vacant or held by a Contingent Category I employee. 

Contingent 

Contingent I

Contingent I employees are those employed in exempt or nonexempt positions whose employment with UMB is established through a written agreement with the University to provide personal services for a defined time period. For Contingent I staff employees, the time period is six months or less at full-time, part-time, or on an “if and when needed” basis. Contingent I employees may be hired without a competitive process and are ineligible for the benefits afforded to regular employees. All Contingent I employees are “at will” employees and do not accrue any employee rights or entitlements.

Contingent II

Contingent II employees are those employed in exempt or nonexempt positions whose employment with UMB is established through a written agreement with the University to provide personal services for a defined time period greater than six months and not to exceed 12 months. Contingent II employees must be hired through a competitive process and may be eligible for conversion to regular employee status at a later date. All Contingent II employees are “at will” employees and do not accrue any employee rights or entitlements. Contingent II employees may be eligible for paid leave and holidays and some other benefit programs that are offered to regular employees, but without the University subsidy. Contingent II employees may be eligible to receive monetary assistance toward the required full cost of the health benefits and some insurance programs for which they are eligible.