Personnel Policies and Administrative Procedures

Atlantic Fellows stipend are based on the appointed institution's established stipend scales. As a result, stipend amounts among sites may vary. Typical deductions from the stipend may include US federal and state taxes. The amount of tax withheld from your monthly stipend may vary based on tax treaties between the U.S. and your country.

Check with your home country if you have to pay taxes there also while living and working in the USA.

Twelve-month in-residence fellows receive compensation through UCSF payroll. 

As a student at UCSF, you will receive your monthly stipend at the beginning of every month. Therefore, we anticipate that it will be several weeks before your first paycheck. Please plan accordingly to have enough funds for housing, food, and transportation, etc. until your first paycheck.

Students must have health insurance while enrolled in the program. Those who elect to use the UCSF Student Health Insurance Plan will have insurance under the University of California Student Health Insurance Plan (UCSHIP). The program will cover the fees associated with your health insurance.

A. STUDENT HEALTH INSURANCE

• All registered students have access to SHCS, even students who waive the UC Student Health Insurance Plan (UC SHIP see below for more information).

• There are two clinics: one at Mission Bay (Rutter Center) and the other at Parnassus (Millberry Union).

• SHCS offers primary care, mental health, nursing consults, wellness and prevention programs, and administrative services support.

• SHCS offers primary care appointments (in-person and via telehealth) and mental health appointments (currently via telehealth only).

• Students can schedule a primary care appointment by logging onto myhealthrecord.ucsf.edu.

• Mental Health appointments can be scheduled through the administrative team by calling 415.476.1281, Option 1.

• Next Day Mental Health consults can be made 24 hours in advance by logging onto myhealthrecord.ucsf.edu.

• There is no cost to be seen at SHCS.

Please note that Atlantic Fellows at GBHI are unable to access campus clinics for medical care. They must check with their insurance carrier to determine where to seek appropriate medical attention. Your health insurance benefits may include medical, dental, and vision plans. The different health plan will be discussed during your HR orientation.

The U.S. healthcare system can be very complicated to navigate.

Taxes may be deducted from your salaries, stipends and fellowships. The amount withheld from your paycheck is dependent upon your tax status which, in turn, is determined by your visa classification and the amount of time you have been in the U.S.

The following information taken from the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) website is to provide a basic understanding of the U.S. tax system. The ISSO is not legally authorized to offer tax advice. The ISSO offer the following general information; however, the ISSO are not responsible for misinformation.

Income Tax Filing Requirement

International students and scholars who have been in the U.S. for any portion of the previous calendar year must file an annual tax return by the following year’s tax filing deadline. The deadline to submit state and federal taxes is usually April 15. Income that is taxed includes wages, scholarships, and earnings on investments. The most common type of income is wages; the money withheld from each paycheck is an estimated payment of the federal and state income tax obligation. Please note: international students and scholars must file a tax return even if they did not work in the U.S. the previous year.

Tax Treaties

Tax treaties may exempt you from paying federal income tax in the United States (IRS Publication 901). Information about treaties can be obtained from Su Lin in the Controller’s Office, su.lin@ucsf.edu. In order to file a tax return and save time, individuals should apply for a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer’s Identification Number (ITIN) 10 business days after they have checked in with the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO). Please download application information regarding SSN at www.ssa.gov/online/ss-5.pdf and ITIN at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf.

How to File

Forms and Publications (Instructions) are available on the federal and state tax websites. Federal Forms and Publications is available by mail by calling 1 (800) 829-3676. In addition, UCSF has purchased Glacier Complete International Tax Preparation – an internet-based tax preparation system for nonresidents for federal tax purposes. ISSO makes this program available to international students and scholars at UCSF in February. Those who are taking advantage of their country’s tax treaty with the U.S. will also have the ability to access Glacier via their GLACIER Online Tax Compliance Software account.

What is the Internal Revenue Service?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is an agency of the Department of the Treasury. It administers U.S. tax collection and enforces internal revenue laws at the national level. You will report your immigration status and personal income to the IRS. Regardless of your nonresident tax or immigration status, you should file a Form 8843 upon arrival to the US.

What is the California Franchise Tax Board?

The California Franchise Tax Board is the state level administration of personal income tax and corporation tax. Note that your federal nonresident tax status might not necessarily mean you will be nonresident for state tax purposes. An international scholar can be a resident for state tax purposes. To determine residency for California state tax purposes, see State of California Franchise Tax Board Publication 1031.

The IRS offers live assistance at local offices and via telephone, and they have a Frequently Asked Questions section on their website. Assistance is also available through tax preparation services for nonresident and resident aliens. The following list is not an endorsement or recommendation for any of the preparation services but names to help begin your research.

• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
• Tax Aid
• H&R Block
• Online Taxes
• TaxBrain.com
• Taxengine
• TurboTax for the web
• WorldWideWeb Tax
• TaxACT

The ISSO does not endorse any specific software, nor do we assume liability if software is used incorrectly or if information on our site may be incorrect.

Please visit the ISSO office for additional Tax information: https://isso.ucsf.edu/taxes

Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) History The USA Fair Labor Standards Act, (FLSA), is a federal law dating back over half a century which establishes certain minimum requirements for employees' hours of work, wages, premium overtime and payroll records. The FLSA, identifies two types of employees: non-exempt employees and exempt employees:

• Non-exempt employees are employees who, based on the duties performed and the manner of compensation, are required to account for time worked and sick leave, vacation, and other leave on an hourly and fractional hourly basis. The FLSA requires that these employees be paid overtime at the premium (time-and-one-half) for actual time worked in excess of 40 hours per week.

• Exempt employees are employees who, based on the duties performed and the manner of compensation, are exempt from the FLSA minimum wage and overtime provisions. Exempt employees are paid an established monthly or annual salary and are expected to fulfill the duties of their positions regardless of the hours worked. They do not receive premium overtime, straight overtime or compensatory time for working more than 40 hours in a work week. Atlantic Fellows at GBHI are exempt employees. The workweek for full-time exempt employees is normally considered to be 40 hours; however greater emphasis is placed on meetings the responsibilities assigned to the position than on working a specified number of hours. 

Atlantic Fellows at UCSF are expected to keep the following office hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 5 PM.

As a UCSF exempt employee, you will be paid monthly at the beginning of every month. Therefore, we anticipate that it will be several weeks before your first pay check. Please plan accordingly to have enough funds for housing, food, and transportation, etc. until your first paycheck.

As in any workplace setting, you are expected to communicate known absences, particularly if for an extended period.

Twelve-month in-residence fellows generally accrue sixteen paid vacation hours per month and eight paid sick hours leave per month. Vacation can only be used once accrued. These hours accumulate and should be submitted in your monthly timesheet as appropriate paid absences. For extended sick leave, UCSF policies may require a note from a doctor.

Work-related travel and attendance at conferences, holiday and sick leave, personal conflicts and obligations are all acceptable reasons to miss an event and/or limit participation. You are expected to make your best effort to participate as much as possible. Many events such as salons and grand rounds are planned and organized by Atlantic Fellows and other fellows who are part of the UCSF Memory and Aging Center (www.memory.ucsf.edu) (MAC). Your mutual support of your colleagues is appreciated and recognized.

We suggest creating a list of upcoming conferences, trips or vacation/holiday you have planned and submitting this to the Fellowship Experience Manager at FellowSupport.UCSF@gbhi.org.

Types of Leave:

1. UCSF VACATION/SICK LEAVE

Vacation Leave - All vacation leaves must be requested and approved through proper channels – The HBS Timekeeping System. – If more leave time is taken than allotted, it would be leave without pay. All leaves must follow standard HR procedures.

*If you plan to take vacation or holiday leave, please submit notice to the GBHI Fellowship Experience Manager, FellowSupport.UCSF@gbhi.org. Please provide as much notice as possible.

Sick Leave - We understand that sometimes you might have to be out of the office due to unexpected illness. All absences due to illness must be documented. Please notify GBHI Fellowship Experience Manager at FellowSupport.UCSF@gbhi.org of any absence due to illness (indicate duration of the absence if possible), and also send an email to rotation lead and/or Clinical Lived Experiences Director if applicable, and lastly note your absence in the GBHI Absence Calendar so that colleagues and GBHI staff are informed of your absence.

2 . EDUCATION LEAVE

Educational leave must have approval from GBHI Executive Director, Victor Valcour, and GBHI mentor in writing (email is okay for both). If you are planning to be out of the office for a work related conference, email both your GBHI mentor and the Executive Director simultaneously explaining the need to attend the conference or why you need to be at that site and what added educational gains you will get that will not that you could not otherwise get at UCSF. Please send both approval emails to GBHI Fellowship Experience Manager at FellowSupport.UCSF@gbhi.org and note your absence in the GBHI Absence Calendar (instructions are noted below).

When in doubt, please contact the GBHI Fellowship Experience Manager at FellowSupport.UCSF@gbhi.org to discuss leave request.

Atlantic Fellows and staff at GBHI input all work-related and annual leave absences into a central calendar (so that colleagues can be kept informed).

When known schedule conflicts or planned leave limits participation in an event or activity, please do the following:

• Inform the GBHI Fellowship Experience Manager at FellowSupport.UCSF@gbhi.org, and also
• Use the GBHI Google “Absence Calendar” to indicate when you are taking vacation/holiday or will be out for an extended period (i.e. conferences, meetings, etc.)

Here are some basic instructions for how to indicate absences using the GBHI Google Absence Calendar:

• Using Google Calendars through your GBHI Account, create an all-day event on the dates you will be out.
• Include your name in the event name, for example, "[Fellow Name] on Vacation".
• Make the event to "Show me as Busy" instead of available, so people trying to schedule an appointment with you will see that you are busy.
• KEY STEP: Invite the Absence Calendar, absence.ucsf@gbhi.org
• Save the event

GBHI at UCSF is closed during public holidays in the US. The University of California Holiday Schedule can be found on the University of California Office of the President website. Please note that UCSF does not observe “Winter Curtailment”. All GBHI public holidays and school closures are located in the GBHI Academic Calendar. A summary is provided below.

• Labor Day Holiday - First Monday in September
• Veterans Day – Annually on November 11
• Thanksgiving Holiday - Fourth Thursday & Friday in November
• Winter Holiday – December 24th & 25th
• New Year's Holiday – December 31st and January 1st
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Third Monday in January
• President’s Day Holiday – Third Monday in February
• Cesar Chavez, Sr. Day Holiday – Last Friday in March
• Memorial Day Holiday – Last Monday in May
• Juneteenth Holiday - Annually on June 19
• Independence Day Holiday – Annually on July 4

Your appointment at UCSF requires online training through the UC Learning Center before beginning Clinical Lived Experiences, interacting with patients, caregivers or accessing protected health information. You will need your UCSF Employee ID number, which you will receive during orientation, to log on to the UC Learning Center to complete this mandatory training. Please complete all required training as soon as possible and email receipt of training completion to Fellowship Experience Manager at FellowSupport.UCSF@gbhi.org.

Consequences of not completing the required trainings will result in delay of Clinical Rotations and Lived Experiences. Please see below for all required training.

12 Month In-Residence Fellows

• HIPAA
• Foundations of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Cyber Security
• Sexual Violence & Sexual Harassment Prevention
• Ethical Values and Conduct
• Office Ergonomics Training & Self-Evaluation
• HBS Timekeeping System