01 NOVEMBER 00 | A bonus program, announced by Chancellor Berdahl in late September will award staff with up to $1,000 for referring non-Berkeley employees to any nonacademic campus job.

Employees who refer successful job applicants will receive cash bonuses under the pilot program that begins this month. The program is designed to engage current staff in helping solve tough recruitment challenges Berkeley faces in a booming job market.

"Referral bonuses are a common practice in private industry," said Associate Director of Human Resources David Scronce, who oversees the Employment Services unit. "Given the extremely low unemployment rates and our competition in the Bay Area, we need a variety of recruitment tools to attract job applicants."

The bonuses will be paid for referring an external applicant who is hired into any open nonacademic position on campus. The first installment of $500 will be paid when the applicant has been on the job for 30 days, with another $500 paid after the new employee completes the probationary period.

All staff employees at MSP II level and below, including casual and Temporary Assistance Pool employees, are eligible to receive the bonuses. They must be on the campus payroll at the time of payment. The only employees excluded from the program are those who work in the Office of Human Resources. (Departmental personnel managers cannot claim bonuses for referrals in their own departments, and supervisors are excluded from bonuses for positions in their own reporting chains.)

The program will be coordinated by Human Resources staff, who will verify the referral with the new employee and then processs the bonus payment through the payroll office.

The bonus program is effective Nov. 1, for non-represented employees. For represented employees, the notice period is still under way. Details for those employees will be announced as soon as possible.

The bonus referral was one of several steps the chancellor outlined in September to address staff workload and compensation issues. Those measures are part of the chancellor's cabinet initiatives to tackle staff workforce issues.

When the pilot program ends Oct. 31 next year, Human Resources will evaluate its success and determine with campus management whether to continue or change it. Visit http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/initiatives/chancellor.htm for additional details.