The Employment Service Agreement (ESA) - Form and Instructions
Please read the instructions below BEFORE completing your ESA. This web page was designed to help you better understand the ESA process, regulations, practices and to hopefully answer any questions you may have (by using our "frequently asked questions" link). If you have comments or suggestions on how to make this web page more user friendly, please call or e-mail Stacy Robinson at 916-568-3179, your input is welcomed!
Step 1: Determine if an ESA is the appropriate way to pay an individual.
Is the person being hired as an independent contractor or as an employee?
If the person is being hired as an employee, do the services fall under the Los Rios Classified Job Descriptions including Special Service? If so, payment should be processed through the Classified temporary process. Please contact your Business Office for directions.
Is the employee teaching a "for credit" class or "academic guidance"? If so, payment should be processed through the TCS process. If not, an ESA is the correct way to process a payment.
Step 2: Determine if the ESA is subject to the 60% rule.
Please look at the Employment Service Agreement Ancillary Activities List to help determine if the ESA is subject to the 60% rule.
This list is not all-inclusive, it's simply a compiling of our most used ESA categories. Please contact Stacy Robinson or Dolly Green If you need additional help with this determination. Remember, "when in doubt", it's best to consider the work as being subject to the 60% rule and have Human Resources (HR) review as opposed to finding out that the work is subject after exceeding the FTE limit!
It is our practice to look at the FTE for all ESAs issued to Full Time Faculty members (except for ESAs for Adjunct Evaluations and FDIP Mentor ESAs). This practice is due to the "quality of teaching" concern for all full time faculty members.
To compute the FTE, divide the total number of hours by 652.50. If the payment is a "lump sum" payment, then first divide the "lump sum" by the rate of salary of class 1, step 1 of the B-2 salary schedule and then divide the result by 652.50.
Step 3: Determine if the ESA is subject to the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) requirements.
Please look at the Employment Service Agreement Ancillary Activities List to help determine if the ESA is subject to STRS.
If the service being provided requires minimum qualifications, then the work IS subject to STRS.
Step 4: Determine the Employment Service Agreement (ESA) Number
If you are using the "hard copy" ESA form, then you can skip this step. This is only necessary if you are going to use the PDF version as described below.
The "hard copies" of ESAs include a pre-printed ESA number in the upper right hand corner. The ESA number is used to help the campus staff input ESA hours onto the payroll worksheet for the correct ESA. It also helps with communication between Human Resources and campus staff if there is a questionson an ESA.
The PDF version does NOT include the ESA number.
Please develop your own numbering system using five digits or less. When Human Resources inputs the ESA into Peoplesoft an "E" will be added at the end of the number if the ESA is not subject to the 60% law.
Step 5: Complete the campus/location information and the employee's personal information and type of service.
Type the campus location and/or center.
Complete the outreach location, if applicable.
Type the current date in the "Date" field.
Type the employee's name and complete address in the appropriate fields.
For continuing employees, the phone number is optional. It is mandatory for new employees.
The ESA must include either the employee ID or the social security number. For confidentiality, please use the employee ID whenever possible.
Please check one of the three boxes under the address fields (Community Service Fee Classes, Contract Classes or Special Services).
Step 6: Determine the beginning and ending dates to be used.
ESAs should be written for one semester at a time. (There is a greater opportunity for error and overpayment to occur if an ESA is written for the entire year.) However, if the assignment is for an entire year without a break, you may submit an ESA covering the fiscal year only (July 1 - June 30). Any portion that crosses the fiscal year must be submitted on a separate ESA.
The beginning and ending date on the ESA should be consistent with the date the work is being performed. Example - if an ESA is submitted that begins on July 1 and ends on June 30, but under "Description of Services to be Rendered" it states that it is for "Two workshops", then you also need to provide the dates of the two workshops because the ESA should only appear on the payroll worksheets for the specific months when there are hours to pay. If the workshops are on August 15 and December 15, the ESA should only appear on the August Variable Payroll Worksheets and the December Variable Payroll Worksheets. Additional workshops should be submitted on a new ESA.
The beginning and ending dates CANNOT cross fiscal years.
Step 7: Description of Services to be Rendered.
Please provide a detailed description of the type of service to be performed and how payment is to be made. This will help us to determine STRS and 60% creditability.
Give as much information as possible about the assignment or work to be performed.
Only use the word "stipend" if the ESA is for one of the LRCFT stipend payments.
Step 8: Determining the Position number and the Budget String.
If the work being performed is subject to STRS, then the position number must be a "certificated" number and the account code must start with a "1".
If the work being performed is not subject to STRS, the the position number must be a "classified" number and the account code must be 2305.
The exception to the account code rule is if you are using a "Due From" account. 917X account codes can be used for either option described above.
If you need additional help, please contact your administrative services analyst or e-mail Stephen Chan in Fiscal Services or call Stephen at 916-568-3066.
If the budget string is newly established, please remember that you must also contact Fiscal Services so that the budget can be added for HR/PR use. If Fiscal is not contacted, HR will not be able to input the budget even though everything looks correct on your side.
Step 9: Specific Terms of Compensation.
The pay rate for ESA services may be set in certain cases such as faculty stipends. For other types of services, such as community service class offerings, there is some discretion in determining the rate. We do not have an ESA salary schedule but the general practice for most services where a specific rate has not been established is to use class 1, step 1 of the B-2 salary schedule.
If payment is a "lump sum" payment, then put the "lump sum" amount in the Rate per Hour field. Put a "1" in the total number of hours field. (example, if an employee is to be paid $500.00 on September 10th, the Rate per Hour field would show $500.00, and under Total Number of Hours, the fall field would show "1".)
Whether the payment is "lump sum" or hourly; in the Total Number of Hours fields, please make sure to put the hours in the appropriate semester field. This will help us to better determine the employee's FTE.
The Total Cost field should show the total amount the employee will be paid on this ESA. Please double check to make sure that this field equals the Total Number of Hours to be paid times the Rate per Hour.
Step 10: Determine if all the appropriate paperwork is on file or attached to the ESA.
If the employee is already a Los Rios employee, then please check the "All Appropriate Paperwork on File" box.
If the employee is new, then please ensure A - E below are completed.
New employees need to complete the W-4 Form, a demographic form and an Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) (which is required by law). Please follow the instructions on the forms. Include copies of the documents used to complete the I-9 form (i.e. social security card, drivers license, passport, etc.). The person at the campus who saw the original document(s) is the person who completes the verification on the I-9 form, which includes the "Signature of Employer or Authorized Representative", "Printed Name", "Title" and "Date".
All ESA employees are required to have a current TB clearance on file within 15 days of the first date of employment and every 4 years thereafter.
For IRS purposes, a copy of the social security card must be included with the new hire paperwork. Be sure to mail confidentially and in a sealed envelope.
The employee needs to be given the forms listed on the "Compliance Checklist" and he/she also needs to sign and date the form. Please make a copy for the employee. The forms included are the "Employee Rights and Responsibilities", the "New Employee Training Check List", the "Notice of Workers Compensation" and if the employee wishes, a copy of the EDD booklet.
ESA employees must have their fingerprints taken. It is okay for the new ESA employee to start working as soon as Human Resources has received "proof" that the prints have been taken (proof is the completed "Request for Live Scan Service" form). All ESAs will be approved for fingerprints unless you hear otherwise. Fingerprint packets are available through the division where the employee is working. The packet also includes the required Payroll "Fingerprint Deduction" form, which must be returned to Human Resources.
Step 11: Signatures, Approvals and Copies.
Have the employee sign and date the ESA. If the employee is unavailable, it is okay to type "Unavailable for Signature".
The Administrator initiating the agreement also needs to sign and date.
The final signature and date is by the Administrator approving the agreement and this person must be an authorized signer.
Please make any copies you may need including a copy for the employee. Please make sure that the employee also receives a copy of the second page. The second page contains information that we are required by law to provide to the employee.
Please follow the proper campus procedure for ESA contracts (the PDF version and this web page are not intended to change any of the campus practices).
Human Resources needs to receive one copy of the ESA, preferable the original printed on white 8 1/2 x 11 paper.
What else do you need to know?
Please proof your ESA and make sure that it is correct and complete. We will not input incomplete ESAs and incorrect ESAs can effect the employee's retirement and/or payroll check. Therefore, incomplete or incorrect ESAs will be returned to the campus Instruction Office.
Please pay attention to the appropriate variable payroll deadline dates, we use the same dates for ESAs that we use for TCSs. The 2008-2009 payroll calendar has all of the necessary deadline dates.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept faxed copies of ESAs. Faxed copies can lead to double entries which can cause overpayments. If the ESA is being sent via inter-campus mail, please allow enough time so the ESA will be received in Human Resources before the payroll deadline date.
Please send an e-mail or call 568-3179 if you have any questions. We would rather help you get it right the first time than delay a payment to an employee!
If you have additional questions, it might be answered on our ESA Frequently Asked Questions page! Visit this page often as it is a "work in progress" and we will be adding additional questions as they come up.
Don't forget, your comments and suggestions are welcome! Feel free to let us know if there's a way that we can make this page easier for you to use.
PDF Version of the ESA Form Microsoft Word ESA Form (You are not required to use the on-line ESA. We still accept the NCR ESA forms.)