7.12 – Hardship Differential Pay

PART 1: RULE STATEMENT

Hardship differential pay is extra compensation occasionally paid to employees assigned to work for a fixed period of time on a specific project to meet an objective, and under extraordinary working conditions.

PART 2: PROCEDURAL GUIDANCE

1. Management should attempt to schedule staff and faculty such that excessive overtime and hardship to the employee is avoided; the hardship differential pay addresses those situations where this cannot be avoided.
2. Extraordinary working conditions include situations when the employee is required to work an inordinate number of hours beyond the normal forty (40) hour work week, or to work under unusually risky and/or hazardous conditions, or to work away from home through a holiday. Such working conditions should not be the norm, and payment of extra compensation is justified due to the significant hardship placed on the employee during the period of time necessary to meet the work objective.
3. In order to receive hardship differential pay, the appropriate dean, vice president or designee and the Office of Human Resource Services must approve it in writing.
4. The amount of the hardship differential pay will be a differential over and above the employee’s regular salary, to be paid for the duration of the project.
   1. Hardship differential pay will be included in the calculation of overtime compensation for nonexempt employees.
   2. The differential for exempt and faculty employees shall not exceed their regular base rate of pay.