Spot Policy Guidelines

Q: "I am looking for sample policy statements on spot rewards. If you don't have a written statement, I would still appreciate learning any dollar guidelines you apply."

Title Question: Can one use "Principal Scientist"?

From one of our members:
I am about to hire a person and am looking for an appropriate title. They have a Ph.D., have been a Senior Scientist for a number of years and are not ready to become a Director. We have no titles currently between Senior Scientists and Directors, so I will be setting a precedence. We have had Principal Engineers; is there such a thing as Principal Scientist? Any suggestions?
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Yes, there are Principal Scientists and also Research Fellows. Our Principal Scientists are equivalent to Associate Director and Director, and the Research Fellows are equivalent to Senior Director and Executive Director.
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We've used Principal Scientists in the past, but have now have a broadband system with the following levels/titles:

Lab Assistants/Interns/Post Docs/Associate Scientist, Research Principal Investigator, Research Director, Research VP, Research

We just classify (exempt/non-exempt) and pay differently within each level (multiple ranges within a level).
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Yes, Principal Scientist and even Senior Principal Scientist is acceptable!
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Our career ladder goes like this:

* Research Scientist
* Sr. Research Scientist
* Staff Scientist, Engineer, Manager
* Sr. Staff Scientist, Sr. Engineer, Sr. Manager
* Principal Scientist, Principal Engineer
* Associate Director
* Director
* Sr. Director
* Exec. Director
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Yes, our top Scientists in R & D at our former Santa Clara facility were referred to as Principal Scientist.
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Scientific Fellow?
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The next step here would be Associate Director, perhaps that's an option?
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I've used Principal Scientist in the past and it was the level between Sr. Scientist and Director.
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We have Senior Scientist I and II and than Assistant Director, Associate Director and than Director.
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Yes...we do have a Principal Scientist title and it tracks at approximately the Associate Director level (when compared to management positions) within our company. The title is a conventional one within the industry.
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We have several position titles:
Senior Scientist I and II
Principal Scientist and
Sr. Principal Scientist
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What we do here is Scientist I, II, III & IV (this is in line with the BEDC comp survey book). We put our Senior Scientists in either a III or IV level, based on years of experience. I believe Principal Scientist would work well too though.
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We use the Principal Scientist title in our research group. As you suggested, it comes between the Senior Scientist and Director family titles.
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There are Principle Scientists. In fact that is our next level up on the scientific track (after Sr. Scientist).
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Yes, Principal Scientist is absolutely a title and a highly respected one....
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Yes, we have Principal Scientists and Sr. Principal Scientists.
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We have used the Principal Scientist for high level individual contributors, and the Associate Director for those who have the potential (based on soft skills) to become Leaders of people
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We do have Principal Scientists, it is a very common title. We also have Research Advisors and Fellows that are more senior scientists that are on a technical track as opposed to a managerial track.
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We have Principal Scientist as well as a Staff Scientist.
Sr Scientist = Associate Dir
Staff Scientist = Director
Principal Scientist = Sr. Director

We have separate ladders - one for management and one for individual contributor.
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Principal Scientist would be my recommendation as this is typical for a non management scientific ladder.
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I've used Principal Scientist, Principal Investigator, Associate Director...
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We have a dual career ladder and yes there are Principal Scientist on the tech side and we have Associate Directors on the management side of the ladder.
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Definitely! We have the title of Principal Scientist. I think it's a pretty common title although matching it up with the BEDC surveys is sometimes tough. Also consider Associate Director if you use that title.
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Yes, we do have a Principal Scientist I, II - these are scientist normally on the scientific track, not necessarily on the management track. That said, some of these principal scientist have moved on to an associate director or director level.
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Yes, Principal Scientist is a commonly used title above the Sr. Scientist level.
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We have a principal scientist that is equal to our associate director level.

Sign-on bonuses and relocation benefits

I'm looking for repayment practices on sign-on bonuses and relocation benefits. I realize they can be hard to collect, but we don't want to give these benefits away in the event someone departs within a year.
Thank you to all who responded to the survey question. There were 20 responses:

• 16 say 100% repayment if leave within a year (3 of these say if leave within 2 years pro-rata amount due back)
• 4 have a variable schedule based on dollar amount/position level
• Additionally a good majority describe the bonus as an earned item that is not wholly earned until month 12 even though is paid in month 1. Various companies utilize specific forms to address the repayment issue, in addition to wording in the offer letter.

IT Recommendations anyone?

Q: "I am looking for referrals to outside companies for the provision of IT services. We have outgrown the small two-man operation we have been using and need a more sophisticated level of service. If you contract with an outside source and feel comfortable providing a recommendation, I would be happy to hear from you."

Checking for Debarment: Section 306 of the FDA Act

We were curious how member organizations handle ensuring that none of the employees hired have been debarred under the section 306 of the FDA Act. This section requires that drug product applications received by the FDA after 1992 for NDA's, ANDA's, PLA's, and BLA's must include a certification statement that none of the employees (and there are other categories as well) utilizied in the connection with the development and submission have ever been debarred. According the regs, you can have employees complete a certification or check an FDA website which is updated quarterly. Are any of you familiar with this and have incorporated it into your new hire processes?

RESPONSES:
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We have built this check into our hiring process, both for employees and consultants. For employees, it is part of our background checks. We use a company called Certiphi, as they have a Sanctions check against the FDA and the like. We just started doing the same for employees. To document the process, it is stated in our Work Instruction Document for our Hiring Process. However, you can do this manually. Once a year, we chose year end, we run an audit of any actions that may have taken place throughout the year. We simply run an active employee list and an an active consultant list and run the list off the FDA public website and compare. I am attaching a document we created just to document this process. The website is below. Hope that helps! http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/debar/
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Yes, this as part of the new hire process. We simply have a form for them to check yes or no if they have every been debarred, then they sign and date and it goes in their personnel file.
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We have a statement in our offer letters and will be putting it on our employment application as well.
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At another company, we had the background check company include this item in their report on each new hire. The background check company included it for a nominal charge.
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We check the FDA website for each new employee as part of the pre-offer process.
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Unfortunately I am not familiar with this, however, would be very interested in receiving information from your responses
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I have never heard of this, and would greatly appreciate any feedback you receive.
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Cellphone/Blackberry Policy Survey

Regarding Cellphone/Blackberry policies for employees:

1. Do you provide cell phones for employees? Yes or No
( If Yes, please answer the following questions, if No, please go to questions #2)
a. What positions/levels do you provide company cell phones to?
b. Do you require reimbursement of costs over a certain level?

2. Do you reimburse employees for using their own cell phones? Yes or No
( If Yes, please answer the following questions)
a. Do you reimburse according to a flat rate, if yes please describe.
b. Do you reimburse actual cost based on submitted bill/receipt

3. Do you provide handheld devise for email/internet, blackberry or similar for employees? Yes or No
( If Yes, please answer the following questions, if No, please go to questions #4)
c. What positions/levels do you provide company handheld devises to?
d. Do you require reimbursement of costs over a certain level?

4. Do you reimburse employees for using their own handheld devise for email/internet, blackberry or similar? Yes or No
( If Yes, please answer the following questions)
c. Do you reimburse according to a flat rate, if yes please describe.
d. Do you reimburse actual cost based on submitted bill/receipt

Out of 16 particpants, 14 provide cell phones to selected employees. Of those 14, 13 also provide handheld devises which can check email and internet. Most of the companies generally pay and provide the equipment. Two companies provide a flat rate to cover business use on a personal phone/devise; one as an exception, the other as a regular policy. About ½ of the companies will reimburse for business use on a personal phone w/ receipts.

Participating companies (in alpha order): Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Accumetrics, Ambit Biosciences, Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Ardea Biosciences, Biocept, Celgene, Ceregene, Cylene Pharmaceuticals, Cyntellect, Gen-Probe, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Millipore, Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Signal Pharmaceuticals, and Synteract.

Public Transportation Costs Survey

Survey of 18 member companies asking:

• Do you currently reimburse ee's for public transportation costs?
• If so, at what %?
• Are there any restrictions?
• Other/Comments

Download the spreadsheet.