The NU Temporary Staffing Center:  Making It Easy to Hire a Temporary Employee!

Did you know that NU has its own internal temporary pool?  This pool provides the same services that an outside staffing firm would provide but at a reduced cost.  Alexis Wisniewski manages this talent pool and has been staffing specifically for NU for approximately four years.  Alexis is an extension of the HR Staffing team and works regularly with the staffing consultants to fill various positions on both the Chicago and Evanston campuses.  Whether you have a short term project or need long term coverage in your department, the Temp Center can provide someone, in some cases as soon as the next day.  Any temporary employee provided by the Temp Center has already been screened and interviewed by Alexis, and has completed skills evaluations for MS Office programs.  The Temp Center most commonly staffs for administrative/clerical positions but may often have candidates with accounting, financial and IT backgrounds.  If you currently work with an outside staffing vendor, give the Temp Center a try the next time you have a temporary need! 

If you have a full time vacancy in your department, you can have a temporary employee start and, in some circumstances, hire that individual full time if he/she meets the qualifications of the position.   This is a great way to try someone out in the role before making the full time employment commitment. Check with your staffing consultant to determine if this is an appropriate process for filling your vacancy. If you do decide to move forward with hiring the temporary employee into a regular staff position, please note that temporary employees hired through the Temp Center must remain in temporary status for a minimum of 320 hours or approximately eight weeks before they can be hired into a regular position. At that time, Alexis would partner with your staffing consultant to convert the temporary employee to full time.  Call Alexis at 312-503-1234 or email her at alexis-wisniewski@northwestern.edu the next time you have any type of temporary need and she will be happy to help!

City of Evanston's Summer Youth Employment Program

The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is a nine-week paid summer work experience for Evanston students ages 14 to 18. The City and local businesses employ SYEP participants to perform a variety of full and part-time entry-level tasks to include bank tellers, office assistance, computer/software installation and maintenance, data entry, reception, camp counselors, building maintenance/custodial, painting, food service, and grounds maintenance.  For more details, please visit the program's website at www.cityofevanston.org/departments/humanrelations/youth.shtml.

HR Staffing is participating in this program by attending the SYEP Job Fair on April 17th to recruit students for summer jobs.  If you would like to hire a student for nine weeks during the summer through this program, please contact Beth McDonald at 7-0324 or eamcdonald@northwestern.edu.

Watch for next month's article: "Gearing Up for Summer: Making Staff Recruiting Run Smoothly"

This article will include tips on working with your Staffing Consultant to manage the process, setting a timeline to have the position filled, working with Compensation and Staffing to determine the salary and to close the position, and much more!

Policy Corner

Why do I receive emails about how many hours my temporary employees have worked?

If you supervise temporary employees, you may receive emails when those employees start approaching 1000 work hours.  The emails are a reminder that the employee is nearing the maximum number of hours they can work in a temporary status, as defined by the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  Northwestern's policy, in compliance with ERISA laws, states that temporary employees may not work at the University more than 1000 hours in a 12 month period.  You will start receiving emails when the employee reaches approximately 700 work hours, so you can anticipate when they will reach their limit and plan accordingly.  Once you receive the first email, please contact your Staffing Consultant to discuss options for what to do as your temporary employee reaches their 1000 hour limit.  Unfortunately moving the temporary employee to the payroll of an outside staffing vendor is not an option, so if you cannot hire the individual full time, a replacement most likely will need to be found. For more information, call 312-503-0611 for the Chicago campus or 847-467-0324 for the Evanston campus to be directed to the Staffing Consultant for your department.