POSTDOC DEFINITION
General requirements for all Postdocs, title codes 3252, 3253 and 3254 defined by Visiting
Scholar and Postdoc Affairs(VSPA). (More info found at http://vspa.berkeley.edu)
Applicants must satisfy all of the following specifications:
 possess a Ph.D. or foreign equivalent conferred less than five years ago (however,
extenuating circumstances, including health and family care, will allow for
exceptions to this requirement);
 proposed appointment may not total more than five years of service including
previous postdoctoral experience at other institutions;
 have an institutional source of funding, e.g., fellowship, traineeship, or equivalent
external support;
 pursue a program of research and training under the direction of a faculty member
with approval of an academic department or organized research unit (ORU) and
registration with the VSPA Program;
 may not have been employed as an assistant professor, associate professor, or
professor;
 the appointment term must be at least one month in duration.
Postdoctoral Scholar – Employee (Job Code 3252)
An appointment is made in the title “Postdoctoral Scholar – Employee” when (1) the agency funding the salary
requires or permits the appointee to be an employee of the University, or (2) whenever General Funds,
Opportunity Funds or other University discretionary funds are used to support the position.
Postdoctoral Scholar – Fellow (Job Code 3253)
An appointment is made in the title “Postdoctoral Scholar – Fellow” when the Postdoctoral Scholar has been
awarded a fellowship or traineeship for postdoctoral study by an extramural agency and the fellowship or
traineeship is paid through a University account.
Postdoctoral Scholar – Paid Direct (Job Code 3254)
An appointment is made in the title “Postdoctoral Scholar – Paid Direct” when the Postdoctoral Scholar has
been awarded a fellowship or traineeship for postdoctoral study by an extramural agency and the agency pays
the fellowship or traineeship directly to the Postdoctoral Scholar, rather than through the University. Such
appointments shall have a “without-salary” status.
Postdoctoral Scholars may be assigned to more than one Postdoctoral Scholar title concurrently depending on
University and extramural funding agency requirements.
The approval process for Postdocs varies from department to department, so you will need to consult with your
Deans’ office or control unit to verify the appointment process for these employees.
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GUIDE TO HIRING POSTDOCS IN HCM:
Employment Paperwork needed for the appointment of Postdoctoral Scholars:
https://vspa.berkeley.edu/pdstaff3.pdf
Human Capital Management System (HCM): HCM fields covered in this job aid
represent a sample of the key fields that most individuals have questions about when hiring
Postdocs. Other fields may be required to save the record.
3252 – Postdoctoral Scholar-Employee
WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATION >JOB DATA
Job Information tab:
Appt Type: Y- Academic Non Faculty
Pay Schedule: MO-MnthCur
Leave Code: None
FTE: 1.00
Salary Plan tab:
Step: Must be paid on the Postdoctoral Fellow scale posted on the Academic Personnel Office
web site http://apo.chance.berkeley.edu/comp.html under Table 26A for the appropriate
academic year. As of 9/1/10, 3252 Postdocs are no longer on steps.
Compensation tab:
Rate Code: Automatically derives when job code is entered. Should be 11/12.
Enter the monthly salary.
Earnings Distribution tab:
Earnings Distribution: Earnings Code is always REG.
Distribution %: Other than in exceptional cases, appointment should be 100%.
PERSONAL INFORMATION> MODIFY A PERSON
Eligibility tab:
BELI Code: P (Postdoc) should be the indicator for benefits eligibility.
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3253 – Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow
WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATION >JOB DATA
Job Information tab:
Appt Type: Y- Academic Non Faculty
Pay Schedule: MO-MnthCur
Leave Code: None
FTE: Should enter as 1.00. Even though Distribution % is blank, 1.0 FTE must be entered to
enable PPS to recognize benefits eligibility.
Salary Plan tab:
Step: Leave blank. The funding agency determines the annual salary and HCM does not require
that these Postdocs be paid on step. However, Postdoc Fellows must be paid at least the
minimum step 1 on the Postdoctoral Fellow scale posted on the Academic Personnel Office web
site http://apo.chance.berkeley.edu/comp.html, Table 26A of the appropriate academic year.
You may need to work with your Dean’s office to establish if a Postdoc paid below Step 1
should be supplemented.
Compensation tab:
Rate Code: Automatically derives when job code is entered. Should be 11/12.
Earnings Distribution tab:
Earnings Distribution Code: Earnings Code is either FEN, FEL or PDD.
FEN: Resident Alien or Citizen
FEL: NON Resident Alien
PDD: Indicates that the distribution represents a supplementation to provide a negotiated
amount of additional compensation. Can be used in a 2nd Distribution line or may stand alone.
Distribution %: Leave blank
PERSONAL INFORMATION > MODIFY A PERSON
Eligibility tab:
BELI Code: P (Postdoc) should be the indicator for benefits eligibility.
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3254 – Postdoctoral Scholar-Paid Direct
WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATION >JOB DATA
Job Information tab:
Job Code: 3254C
Appt Type: Y- Academic Non Faculty
Pay Schedule: MO-MnthCur
Leave Code: None
Time code: E-Exception time
FTE: Should enter as 1.00. Even though Distribution % is blank, 1.0 FTE must be entered to
enable PPS to recognize benefits eligibility.
Payroll tab: Should default to PDF. (If PDF does not show here the system will not allow
the earning code of PDE to be used on Earnings Distribution page.)
Salary Plan tab:
Salary Administration Plan: WOS
Step: Leave Blank. The funding agency determines the annual salary and HCM does not
require that these Postdocs be paid on step. These postdocs are not paid through the UC
Berkeley Payroll System. However, all postdocs must be paid at least the minimum step 1 on
the Postdoctoral Fellow scale posted on the Academic Personnel Office web site
http://apo.chance.berkeley.edu/comp.html, Table 26A of the appropriate academic year. If your
3254 postdoc is paid below the minimum, you may need to process a salary supplementation on
title code 3253.
Compensation tab:
Rate Code: Should be Month.
Comp Rate: Leave blank.
Earnings Distribution:
Earnings Code: PDW-Postdoctoral Scholar without salary
Distribution %: Leave blank.
Payrate: Leave blank
Click the plus button to add a new distribution line.
On the Distribution page a new row with PDE is added to reflect the monthly external fund amount for 3254C.
This amount will NOT be charged to the assigned chart string.
Earnings Code: PDE-Postdoctoral Scholar external pay
Distribution %: Leave blank.
Payrate: Fill in monthly salary.
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Click the Save button, then click OK to acknowledge the warnings about blank compensation
amount and/or Job FTE and Distribution % must be within 1%.
PERSONAL INFORMATION > MODIFY A PERSON
Eligibility:
BELI Code: P (Postdoc) should be set as the indicator for benefits eligibility.
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