Faculty Handbook: Human Resources Information

The Human Resources website includes a wealth of information, such as whom to contact for various questions/issues (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/hr-staffservices-directory); HR forms, policies and procedures; benefits information; and Employee Assistance Program information (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/employee-resources/cuny-worklife-program). They also manage general inquiry emails to answer questions: AskHR@jjay.cuny.edu, AskPayroll@jjay.cuny.edu and Benefits@jjay.cuny.edu.

Faculty salaries (and raises) are negotiated between the PSC and CUNY, and are published in the contract. Contractual salary increases occur in two ways. First, on dates agreed upon by CUNY and the PSC, salaries increase by a fixed percentage. This is represented by a horizontal move from one column to the next on the salary schedule. Second, on January 1^st, salaries move along the salary schedule vertically from their current step to the next higher step. Exceptions to this include “longevity steps” and service at a given step less than one year. Please see the PSC-CUNY website (https://www.psc-cuny.org/salary-schedules) for full details.

If a full-time faculty member has held a prior full-time, tenure-track position at another CUNY campus before coming to John Jay, it is important to make that known to the Department Chair, Provost and Office of Human Resources at John Jay, to ensure time in service toward tenure is calculated correctly.

Salary payments are disbursed once every other week. For faculty who participate in the Direct Deposit program, checks will be electronically deposited on pay days (dates are posted on the HR website each year). To begin Direct Deposit, a completed Direct Deposit Form must be submitted to Payroll alongside a voided check (go to https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/hr-forms --> PAYROLL AND TIME & LEAVE --> Forms). It may take up to three pay cycles from the submission date for Direct Deposit to commence. Once Direct Deposit is in effect, a check stub (not the actual check) will be placed in the faculty member’s Department mailbox on pay days or mailed to the faculty member’s home to reflect the pay amount for the previous two-week period.

For faculty who opt out of Direct Deposit, New York State is currently issuing paper checks, mailed directly to the address on file in CUNYFirst. Thus, any address changes must be updated in CUNYFirst to ensure the NYS pay system will be changed as well, and checks will be mailed to the correct address. Faculty are encouraged to contact the Payroll unit for more information (askpayroll@jjay.cuny.edu).

New York State Payroll Online

Adapted from an email received 9/17/21: The Office of the New York State Comptroller recently implemented New York State Payroll Online (NYSPO), a service offered through NY.gov which allows employees on New York State payroll to access pay stubs, W-2s and other pay information electronically. In addition, NYSPO grants employees the option to go “paperless” and to discontinue receiving mailed pay stubs and W-2s.

Beginning 9/17/21, faculty can request activation of their NY.gov account using the following path in CUNYFirst: Human Capital Management --> Self Service --> New York State Payroll Online. After formally submitting the request in CUNYFirst, the NY.gov account will be activated within approximately 15-20 business days. After the NY.gov account is officially activated, a confirmation message will be sent to the faculty member’s primary business email address in CUNYFirst with additional instructions on how to verify their identity and to access NYSPO. All employees must verify their identities within NY.gov in order for NYSPO to be accessible within their NY.gov accounts.

If faculty create their NY.gov accounts outside of CUNYFirst, they will experience issues accessing NYSPO. Additionally, if they have existing NY.gov accounts for previous/other NYS organizations, they will need to request an additional NY.gov account via this process to view their CUNY-pay information. Additional NYSPO resources and updates can be found at: https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/hr/university-payroll/new-york-state-payroll-online/. To begin the process, follow the instructions on that webpage starting with Tab “1. Requesting NY.gov Account Activation.” For questions, faculty can contact University Payroll Security (University_Payroll_Security_Adm@cuny.edu).

The Commuter Benefits Program, administered by WageWorks, provides CUNY employees with a personal commuter account funded on a pre-tax basis through payroll deductions. The tax-free funds may be used for MTA NYCT, Long Island Railroad, Metro-North Railroad, NJ Transit, PATH, NY Waterway, Paratransit and the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program and parking at or near public transit to commute to work. For enrollment forms, go to HR Forms (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/hr-forms) under "Benefits and Wellness". Benefits questions can be directed to: Benefits@jjay.cuny.edu.

Reasonable accommodations are provided to employees who identify themselves as having a temporary or permanent disability in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and University and college policy. A request for accommodation may be made to Human Resources (see “Reasonable Accommodations” information and forms here: https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/employee-resources/hr-policies-procedures).

CUNY participates in the City of New York Health Benefits Program. Full-time faculty hired on or after July 1, 2019 may initially enroll in only one healthcare plan (EmblemHealth HIP HMO Preferred Plan). However, after a year of service, faculty may participate in the annual transfer period during the fall and may select one of several health plans or remain in their original plan. Some plans impose no cost, while others impose a modest cost. Faculty may also elect to enroll in the Health Care Flexible Spending Account Program to help pay for eligible out-of-pocket medical expenses, while reducing their taxable income. For full-time faculty members, the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund (see http://www.psccunywf.org) provides prescription drug benefits in coordination with their chosen health plan. The Welfare Fund also provides the following coverage for full-time members of the instructional staff (including substitutes): disability insurance, life insurance, dental insurance (copayment may be required), and optical benefits. Other optional items that may be purchased through the Welfare Fund are additional disability or life insurance, long-term disability insurance, catastrophic medical coverage, and long-term/nursing/home care insurance.

Faculty members may also choose to opt out of the health benefit – for instance, if covered by a spouse or partner’s insurance. In that case, faculty will receive $1000 as a result of opting out of health insurance (in 2 semi-annual installments). However, the Welfare Fund benefits are not affected.

Explore the Human Resources site for infrormation on wellness resources (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/employees-wellness-resources), employee resources (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/employee-resources) and HR forms and information on Benefits and Wellness (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/hr-forms). Benefits questions can be directed to: Benefits@jjay.cuny.edu.

Qualifying part-time faculty have access to health insurance and other benefits through the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund. See https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf

The CUNY Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides a wide range of resources for John Jay faculty, staff, and their family members (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/employee-resources/cuny-worklife-program). Available at any time (24/7), CCA offers free, confidential access to professional counselors and online resources to assist with a range of personal and work-related issues, such as stress at home or at work, issues with co-workers, emotional well-being, mental and/or physical health and wellness concerns, alcohol and substance abuse, and legal resources and consultation, among others. To access the program, please call 800-833-8707 or log in using company code “CUNY” at http://www.myccaonline.com.  

The John Jay Children's Center provides on-site care for children ages 6 months through 5 years.  Faculty members can apply for spot (admission priority is given to student parents).  Note that the Center provides full programming (not short-term back-up care, emergency care, drop off services, babysitting or walk-in services.)

For more information and to apply, see here:  https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/student-life/welcome-john-jay-childrens-center

Full-time faculty must complete timesheets each month during the nine-month academic year that are then approved by Department Chairs. This tends to be most relevant should the need for sick leave arise and for travia leave upon retirement (see Retirement (“Travia”) Leave of Absence below). To complete timesheets, faculty can go to: https://e-time.jjay.cuny.edu/login and sign in with their username (JJ email address) and password (JJ email password). There is a “Timesheet Tutorial” at the top of the page. Faculty are on annual leave in summer (June-August) and do not complete timesheets for those months. The monthly rate at which faculty members accrue leave time and the total amount of available leave can be found on the time and leave site, with the maximum accumulation being 160 days (1120 hours).

Faculty members may choose to donate hours to the Dedicated Sick Leave and/or Catastrophic Leave Programs to assist others who may have depleted their available sick leave (for more details, go to https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/hr-forms under “Benefits Forms, Policies, and Procedures” --> “Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank and Dedicated Sick Leave Program”).

Part-time faculty do not complete timesheets, but should see here for additional information on benefits and leaves: https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf 

Fellowship Leave Eligibility

Tenured members of the instructional staff, including those in the title Lecturer with a certificate of continuous employment (CCE), and Lecturers with a CCE on leave from that title and serving without tenure in professorial titles (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor), who have completed six years of continuous paid full-time service with the University, exclusive of non-sabbatical or fellowship leaves, are eligible to apply for a fellowship leave (commonly referred to as sabbatical leave). An application for a fellowship leave may be made for research (including study and related travel), improvement of teaching, and/or creative work in literature or the arts. Applications are due one year prior to the requested leave (Oct 1 & Mar 1 are annual deadlines). See this Faculty Services page for details and an application.

Scholar Incentive Awards

Scholar Incentive Awards are intended to facilitate full-time faculty members’ scholarly research and they provide an opportunity for faculty who are not eligible for fellowship leave to engage in a research leave. They are most appropriate when faculty receive a fellowship to study or complete research elsewhere. Salary is reduced to 25%, but benefits are maintained. Faculty can supplement their pay through external sources up to 100% of their normal salary. Individuals in eligible titles (professorial titles, Lecturer and Instructor) who have completed one full year of continuous paid full-time service with the University can apply. Thereafter, individuals are eligible to apply after six years of creditable service with the University since completion of the last Scholar Incentive Award. Scholar Incentive Awards may not be held concurrently with a Fellowship Leave. See this Faculty Services page for details and an application.

FMLA, Military Leaves, and Leaves of Absence

Faculty are eligible for military leave with partial pay. Faculty are also eligible for FMLA leave of up to 12 weeks to care for themselves, a parent, child or spouse; paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child five years or younger (see 12c); paid family leave (PFL) for the care of a newborn child or immediate family member; unpaid child care leave (special leave for the care of a newborn child); or non-FMLA medical leave, to care for oneself when not eligible for FMLA. CUNY also has a catastrophic sick leave bank program for individuals who need additional sick leave (up to 90 days in one year), donated by other full-time employees. Faculty are eligible for a Leave of Absence of up to two years (three in special circumstances) without pay. The HR Benefits office can help identify the appropriate leave, depending on circumstances (http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/hr-staffservices-directory). Forms for leaves are available on the HR website, on the HR Forms page.

Part-time faculty should see here for additional information on benefits and leaves: https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf  

Faculty called to jury duty must notify their Department Chairperson and Human Resources before beginning their service. Full-time faculty are not entitled to receive the per diem allowance for jury duty service during the academic year, as they receive a salary from CUNY during that service. If they do receive the allowance during the academic year, they must remit to the University an amount equal to the compensation received by them for jury duty. However, full-time teaching faculty who serve jury duty during their summer annual leave period may receive this allowance, provided they are not teaching during the summer term for extra compensation. Part-time faculty may have absences excused if the jury duty service prevents their teaching a particular class or observing a specific assignment. Prior to commencement of jury service, the part-time faculty member should contact the Office of Human Resources for details (askHR@jjay.cuny.edu).

Full-time employees are accorded up to twenty days of temporary disability leave, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, per year. These days accrue up to 160. Part-time faculty should see here for information on benefits and leaves: https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf 

Members of the instructional staff who have at least one year of full-time service may request paid parental leave of up to eight consecutive weeks, not counting annual leave, immediately following the birth of a child or the adoption of a child up to five years of age. For a birth mother, this leave begins immediately after the expiration of temporary disability leave. Untenured faculty must declare whether time on parental leave will be used to ‘pause’ the tenure clock or to continue its count during the leave – a pause cannot be reversed later to revert to the original tenure clock (it would be considered ‘early tenure’). See the letter of agreement on the PSC-CUNY website for details. Department Chairs must work with faculty members and the College’s Labor Designee to resolve class scheduling issues in a way that minimizes the disruptive effect of parental leave on the continuity of teaching. In consultation with the Department Chair and the Labor Designee, a faculty member may request six hours of release time for one semester instead of the prescribed eight-week paid leave. This and all modifications of the standard parental leave arrangement require negotiation by all pertinent parties and a settlement agreement.

Part-time faculty should see here for information on benefits and leaves:
https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf 

Full-time faculty members who are retiring and have accumulated sufficient unused temporary disability leave (160 days; 1120 hours) are eligible for Retirement leave at full pay for one semester (see "Travia Leave Packet" under "Benefits and Wellness” on the HR Forms website; https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/about/governance-senior-leadership/finance-administration/human-resources/hr-forms). The number of accumulated hours is shown on the faculty member’s electronic timesheets page. Retirement is official at the end of travia leave. A faculty member who has stated an intention to retire may change the decision before the leave ends and return to work the following semester, but travia leave may be taken only once.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between CUNY and the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) has articulated expectations regarding the amount of teaching that a faculty member is required to do in a given year and how that teaching may be managed over time (Article 15). The contractual teaching load for full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, and Full Professors is 18 hours in CUNY senior colleges. The contractual teaching load for Instructors and Lecturers is 24 hours. The contractual teaching load of Substitute Lecturers/Instructors is 27 hours, and that of professorial faculty substitute lines is 21 hours. A complete explanation of John Jay’s workload policies and practices, including information on the University policy on Multiple Positions (see below), can be found at Inside John Jay --> Policies and Procedures Compendium --> Office of Academic Affairs --> Faculty Services, under Faculty Workload Policies and Guidelines. Access requires login with JJ username and email password.

Reassigned Time for Untenured Faculty: Untenured full-time faculty members receive 24 hours of junior faculty reassigned time to be used within their first five annual appointments. Effective for hires beginning Fall 2020, faculty receive 18 hours to be used within their first five annual appointments, and upon receiving appointment with tenure, receive six additional contact hours of reassigned time to be used during the three succeeding academic years (beginning with the year in which tenure becomes effective). For faculty librarians and counselors, 12 contact hours shall be equivalent to the number of clock hours that would be necessary to provide full reassigned time to a faculty librarian or counselor for 15 weeks.

Workload Averaging and Overloads: Any workload excess or deficiency will trigger a three-year period in which the faculty member has to address the excess or deficiency within the next two years so that at the end of the three-year period, the faculty member’s workload averages out to the total number of annual hours specified above. For example, if a full-time professor has a workload excess or deficiency in year 1, the Department Chair and faculty member must collaborate to ensure that the faculty member’s teaching load across years 1-3 totals 54 hours (18 x 3 = 54). Any subsequent excess or deficiency that occurs during the three-year period that was triggered must also be addressed within the three-year timeframe. In other words, any subsequent excess or deficiency that occurs within that three-year window does not trigger another three years; however, a new three-year window will be triggered after the expiration of the old one as soon as a new excess or deficiency occurs. Department Chairs and faculty members will receive workload status reports to assist both parties in tracking and addressing excesses and deficiencies in accordance with the PSC Contract.

Full-time faculty who must report workload include Distinguished Professors, Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Instructors, Distinguished Lecturers, Lecturers, and Substitute faculty. The regular workload reporting requirement does not currently include Librarians, Counselors, or visiting faculty. Only fall and spring terms constitute the annual workload. Instruction performed in the winter session is credited toward spring semester workload (unless faculty opt to teach overload for adjunct funds, in which case Provost approval is required). Faculty workload is recorded and managed through the eWorkload application (https://doitapps2.jjay.cuny.edu/workload/index.php). Overloads for full-time faculty require Provost approval, are subject to fiscal concerns and other constraints and may be denied as a result.

Multiple Positions: As per the Faculty Workload Policies and Guidelines, CUNY established a policy limiting additional employment of full-time faculty. This is known as the Multiple Positions Policy. All full-time faculty members are required to submit a CUNY Multiple Positions Report each semester (fall, spring), reporting any compensated employment or new assignments over and above their full-time employment at the college (signed by the Department Chair, or by the Provost in the case of Department Chairs) or attesting to having no such employment or assignments. Only full-time faculty on long-term disability leave are exempt from submitting the form. The Multiple Positions Policy and Reporting Form are available at: CUNY Multiple Positions Report Form and other docs. For summer work/compensation (including summer teaching and Chair summer salary), faculty submit the Summer Assignments Reporting Form prior to engaging in the summer activity. Collection of Multiple Positions and Summer Assignment Reports is handled by Faculty Workload Managers in Academic Affairs (Kate Gribbin, Christina Czechowicz), who send regular reminders about policies, workload and multiple position reporting, and forms. Please direct reports and questions regarding the Multiple Positions Policy to multiplepositions@jjay.cuny.edu.

Part-time faculty members are also governed by PSC-CUNY limitations on workload and must complete a CUNY Multiple Position Report Form each semester. Those teaching while employed as full-time staff are limited to one course per semester. Otherwise, part-time faculty are limited to teaching up to 9 hours on one CUNY campus, and one additional course (up to 6 hours) on another campus in a given semester (not including professional hours of 1/week per course). For more information, see https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf