Personnel Agreements

Due to the nature of research funding, support for salaries may be derived from different entities even as an employee continues to work for a single Principal Investigator.  For this reason PAVIR utilizes written agreements with Stanford University and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) to “borrow” and “loan” employees without their having to have more than one employer or to be terminated and re-hired frequently.  The agreements are listed below, along with some guidelines.  To determine the appropriate agreement please review the table below.  Your assigned Contract & Grant Administrator (CGA) will work with you in completing the agreement.

Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) – While this type of agreement can be used in the other direction, it is most often used to reimburse for salary and benefit costs of a University or nonprofit employee working on a VA funded project.  The employee must have worked for the employer for 90 days before they are eligible for assignment on an IPA.  There are also limits on the length of time employees can work on IPAs.  In the case of a VA employee to be charged to a PAVIR project the federal employee must have a career appointment.  See https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/intergovernment-personnel-act/  for additional IPA requirements and check with your CGA for specifics.

Joint Personnel Agreement (JPA) – The JPA is an agreement between Stanford University and PAVIR.  This billing mechanism is used when a Stanford employee works at VAPAHCS on a PAVIR administered sponsored project and PAVIR reimburses Stanford for salary and benefit costs.  When Stanford employees work on the Stanford campus in support of PAVIR administered projects a subaward is usually the most appropriate mechanism.

Reverse Joint Personnel Agreement (rJPA) – This agreement is used when a PAVIR employee will be billed to a Stanford administered project and Stanford provides salary reimbursement to PAVIR.  Contact your CGA for assistance.

Personal Services Agreement (PSA) – This agreement is used when PAVIR's purchase of services of Stanford staff will be charged to an account other than a sponsored project.  Used infrequently so contact your CGA for guidance.

What factors determine when to use an IPA, JPA, rJPA or PSA?

To prepare an agreement your CGA will require the following information:

• Employee’s full name
• Annual Salary
• Date of Hire (Note: employee must be paid via other sources for 90 days prior to IPA)
• Job Title and Job Duties
• Project # or Project Title to which the employee will be assigned
• Include % of effort if less than 100% on the agreement
• Supervisor’s name, if different than PI
• Length of agreement (start and end date)