Recruiting & Rehiring Staff

RFCUNY’s hiring process requires the recruitment, verification of employment eligibility (E-Verify), and documentation of an employee.

Recruitment and Employee Classification

Principal investigators (PIs) are responsible for recruiting individuals for projects administered by RFCUNY through its Personnel Vacancy Notice (PVN) electronic system. A job title and job code are required when advertising a position through the PVN. The PVN system ensures accurate classification of a recruited employee as well as affirmative action reporting. 

Classification of an employee’s status is based on the number of hours an employee works during a two-week pay period. An employee’s classification determines the benefits an employee receives and the fringe benefit rate charged to the sponsored award/grant. The main employee classifications that may be recruited through RFCUNY’s PVN system include:

  • Full-time (employee works 70 hours)
  • Part-time A (employee works more than 38, but less than 70 hours)
  • Part-time B (employee works 38 hours or less)

Recruitment for Part-time B employees, CUNY graduate students, and RFCUNY student interns does not require advertising the available position on the PVN system.

Verifying Employment Eligibility: I-9 & E-Verify

Verification of employment eligibility is required before a new hire begins working, through Form I-9. RFCUNY ensures the accuracy of Form I-9 by validating completed forms through the E-Verify system of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration.

A job offer must be made and accepted by an employee prior to initiating the Form I-9 and E-Verify process. Section 1 of Form I-9 must be completed on or before the employee’s first day of employment. Section 2 of Form I-9 and E-Verify must be completed within three business days from the employee’s first day of employment.

Every new employee is responsible for completing Section 1 of the electronic Form I-9 and providing appropriate identification documents to the employer (RFCUNY).

RFCUNY (the employer) reviews the documents and completes Section 2 of Form I-9. Upon completion, RFCUNY submits the information to E-Verify.

Documenting an Employee

In addition to Form I-9, newly hired employees must complete a group of forms and review a selected number of policies called the New Hire Packet. The New Hire Packet includes the Application for Employment, Personnel Action Form (PAF), Job Duties & Qualifications, Personal Data, EEO Voluntary Identification, IRS Form W-4, IT-2104 Employees Withholding Allowance Certificate, and Social Security Declaration forms, among others. 

Rehire

A rehire is defined as any employee of RFCUNY reappointed after a break in service lasting 120 or more days. The applicability is determined by the last timesheet date of the prior appointment and the start date of the new appointment. Upon an offer of employment, a PI and an employee must jointly complete a rehire packet. A rehire packet is required to reactivate an employee’s record in RFCUNY’s HR database.

When hiring an employee who has previously worked for RFCUNY, contact Human Resources to determine whether the employee is considered a rehire and to verify rehire status and eligibility for employment in the U.S. A rehire cannot be reappointed until a completed rehire packet is submitted and processed by the Research Foundation.

As part of the rehire procedure, a Form I-9 must be completed for all rehires. However, the type of Form I-9 depends on the status of the employee's current I-9 on file (it is important for a PI to consult with their respective Human Resources personnel coordinator to make that determination). Failure to verify the status of the employee's current I-9 may result in severe violations of the Department of Homeland Security regulations. 

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