Purpose:
In order to attract the best faculty and staff, Centenary College of Louisiana (“College”) employment offers must be competitive. The College may choose to provide a relocation stipend provided adequate funding is available and proper approval has been obtained.

Policy:

• Relocation assistance will be paid as a hiring incentive and will be taxable income to the employee under revised IRS guidelines
• The relocation hiring stipend can be offered at $1,200 (any amount above may be subject to additional approval and clawback provisions) and will be specified in the offer letter.
• New employees generally live at least 50 miles from Shreveport, LA
• The employee must be assigned to a full-time position for a period expected to exceed one year. In general, only positions that are either tenure track faculty, or Director level and above staff positions, or mission-critical are eligible for consideration. Exceptions will be granted with the approval of the Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Provost or the President.

Procedures
A relocation stipend is a lump sum, one-time salary payment provided to assist a newly hired employee in the cost of moving to accept a position within the college. The decision to offer a relocation stipend to a candidate is determined by the hiring manager with the approval of their Cabinet Member.

To be eligible the employee’s relocation must meet the following conditions:

1. Full-time Position – The employee must be assigned to a full-time position for a period expected to exceed one year. In general, only positions that are either tenure track faculty, or Director level and above staff positions, or mission-critical are eligible for consideration. Exceptions will be granted with the approval of the Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Provost or the President.
2. Distance – The recruit must reside, at the time of hire, more than 100 miles from the Centenary College office to which the employee will report and the employee's commuting distance from the old residence to the new job must have increased by at least 100 miles one-way.
3. If the employee’s spouse or partner is an employee and otherwise eligible the stipend will be paid only once to move the primary household to the new location.

Hiring Manager’s responsibilities:

• Obtain appropriate approval prior to offering a relocation stipend.
• Include the following in the offer letter:
  • This offer includes a one-time taxable relocation stipend in the amount of $____.
• Payment will be included in the first payroll the employee receives from the College, where possible.
• Submit the signed offer letter to the Office of Human Resources.

Payroll responsibilities:
The Payroll Department is responsible for ensuring payments are appropriately processed and reported correctly on the employee’s W-2 form.

Employee responsibilities:
All relocation expenses must be billed directly to and paid by the employee.