Basic Personal Service Agreements

A Basic Personal Service Agreement (a “Basic PSA”) is a PSA entered into using the form of PSA available through the PSA Tool.

When using a Basic PSA, a Department is responsible for (a) ensuring that such PSA is consistent with this procedure; (b) negotiating business terms and including the terms in the PSA; (c) determining any measures, such as background checks, that the vendor must take to protect any students with whom the vendor will be interacting and including those measures in the PSA; (d) securing the signature of the vendor. The Basic PSA process is designed for simple transactions that do not require the participation of a UConn Buyer to assist with sourcing and with the settlement of business terms.

This Procedure does not apply to Clinical Affiliations Agreements, which must be effectuated under the Clinical Agreement Guidelines with the oversight of the Office of General Counsel.

A Confidentiality Agreement is required whenever a vendor will have access to personally identifiable information of UConn students or any other information (such as trade secrets) that UConn wishes to protect.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this procedure, the Director of Procurement Services or an Associate Director in Procurement Services may approve use of a Basic PSA under any circumstances the Director/Associate Director deems to be in the best interest of UConn.

A Basic PSA may only be used as follows:

HIPAA

A Basic PSA should not be used where the vendor will have access to any medical or health data protected by HIPAA.

IP Rights

A Basic PSA should not be used where UConn expects to have a right to any work product or inventions produced by the vendor.

Term

The term of a Basic PSA may not exceed one year. 

Employment Status

To comply with State and Federal requirements, a Basic PSA may only be used for an independent contractor. As such, a Basic PSA may only be used for a vendor (a) that is a corporate entity; or (b) that is clear to Procurement Services, utilizing the Labor Relations Guidelines, to be an independent contractor; or (c) that UConn’s Department of Labor Relations determines, in writing, to be an independent contractor; or (c) that is giving a lecture, speech, or performance, or a series of three or fewer lectures, speeches or performances, that are open to the public. A lecture, speech, or performance can be considered “open to the public” if admission is ticketed. To aid Procurement Services and Labor Relations in their review, an End User Department may be asked to complete and submit an Independent Contractor vs. Employee Questionnaire.

The reason for this restriction is that use of a Basic PSA for an employee (as opposed to an independent contractor) could cause a violation of State and/or Federal law. In the event of a violation, the State and/or UConn could be liable for income taxes, employee social security and Medicare taxes, and unemployment compensation taxes. Information about the distinction between independent contractors and employees can be found in Memorandum No. 94-9 of the Office of the State Comptroller.

Compensation

A Basic PSA should only be used when the vendor is (a) to be paid a pre-determined dollar value and (b) that payment is to be made after services have been satisfactorily complete.

A Basic PSA may also be used when the vendor is both (a) paid on an hourly basis for hours worked and (b) not required to provide particular deliverables to UConn as a condition of payment. However, departments should be aware that such hourly contracts are generally inadvisable because such contracts do not ensure that the department will get value from the relationship.

Sourcing

A Basic PSA may only be used where competitive procurement is clearly not required. As such, a Basic PSA may only be used where (a) all payments to the vendor during the fiscal year (whether under the Basic PSA or under a separate contract) will not exceed $25,000 or (b) the vendor is providing a lecture, speech, or performance that is available only from the vendor and documented as such with a valid Sole Source Justification Questionnaire.

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