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Secondary Employment (SHRA)

A State Agency or University employee working full-time has primary employment responsibility to the State. Other employment outside of State Agencies or Universities is considered secondary employment.  An employee must notify his/her supervisor before engaging in any secondary employment.

The purpose of this policy and procedure is to ensure that an employee’s secondary employment does not have an adverse effect on the employee’s primary employment and does not create a conflict of interest.

These provisions for secondary employment apply to all employment not covered by the Dual Employment or Additional Employment policies.

This policy applies to all permanent SHRA employees (including probationary, trainee, and time-limited) regularly scheduled to work 30 hours or more per work week.

It is the University’s responsibility to ensure that Secondary Employment is not permitted when it would:

  • Create either directly or indirectly a conflict of interest with the employee’s primary employment; or
  • Have an impact on, or create any possibility of conflict with, State operations; or
  • Impair in any way the employee’s ability to perform all expected duties, or to make decisions and carry out in an objective fashion the responsibilities of the employee’s position.

Before accepting an offer of secondary employment, an employee must submit a Secondary Employment Request Form (see link at bottom of this webpage) to their supervisor.  The supervisor must assess the impact of the secondary employment based on the reasons for denial listed above.

If no reason for denial exists, the supervisor signs the Request Form and follows the procedures in the “Recordkeeping” section below.

If the supervisor believes there may be a reason for denial, the supervisor consults with the Talent Acquisition Partner in the Office of Human Resources assigned to work with the department.  If this collaborative review results in denial, the reason is documented on the Request Form and the supervisor notifies the employee that he/she will not be allowed to pursue the secondary employment offer.

If the Secondary Employment has any impact on, or may create potential conflict with State operations, the Request Form must be forwarded to the State Human Resources Director for review.

The nature of the employee’s proposed secondary employment cannot in and of itself prevent an employee from being allowed to pursue the secondary employment. Reasonable secondary employment will not prohibit the selection of an applicant for permanent employment with the University.  Selected candidates for permanent employment should submit a Secondary Employment Request Form (if applicable) to their new supervisor prior to their first day of work.

A copy of the signed Secondary Employment Request Form is kept in the employee’s departmental personnel file.  The original form is sent via campus mail or email to the Staffing Support Services Specialist, for reporting and placement in the employee’s personnel file located in the Office of Human Resources.

Employees must report any changes in secondary employment status as they occur by completing a new Secondary Employment Request Form and submitting it to their supervisor.

As of January of each year, employees who are continuing secondary employment must submit an updated Secondary Employment Request Form to their supervisors.

An employee’s secondary employment is considered public information and may be disclosed to third parties upon request.

Withdrawal due to conflict of interest

A supervisor, after consultation with the Talent Acquisition Partner in the Office of Human Resources assigned to work with the department, may deny an employee’s secondary employment immediately if:

  • The supervisor becomes aware of secondary employment that the employee has not reported and there is evidence that the failure to report has been willful; or
  • The supervisor becomes aware that an employee’s secondary employment presents a conflict of interest with his/her primary employment or a possible conflict with State operations.

Withdrawal Due to performance

If the supervisor believes that the secondary employment has caused the employee’s overall work performance to drop below a “good” performance level, the supervisor must first approach the matter with the employee as a performance issue and provide the employee adequate time to demonstrate improved performance.

If the employee’s performance does not improve within a reasonable period of time, and if the supervisor continues to believe that the secondary employment is the cause of these performance problems, the supervisor, after discussion with their assigned Consultants in Employee & Management Relations and Employment, may deny the employee’s secondary employment.  The supervisor should allow the employee a reasonable amount of time to give notice of termination to the secondary employer.

An employee’s refusal to end his/her secondary employment as directed by this policy is considered a matter of personal misconduct and may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Supervisors should contact their Employee & Management Relations consultant in such cases.

Secondary Employment Request Form | pdf