Job Referral Bonus Program

The mission of the Division of Business Services is to support UW–Madison’s institutional responsibilities of higher education and research by offering a broad range of services and transaction processing to campus. Continuing to recruit the best candidates remain critical to building this community that advances our mission, vision, and values.

UW–Madison recognizes the need to occasionally provide referral bonuses to encourage current employees to refer qualified candidates to the campus for specific hard-to-fill jobs. Research has shown new hires who come into organizations through a referral by a current employee are excellent contributors, stay with organizations longer, and are more cost-effective recruits.

That’s where you come in! If you know someone who would be a good addition to the Division of Business Services, you may be awarded a referral bonus if you refer a candidate who is hired and fulfills six months of service in the position.

UW-5023 provides the Office of Human Resources (OHR) the ability to award Supplemental Lump Sum Payments, which the Referral Bonus Program is considered.

Current employees may receive a $500 referral bonus when referring an individual to a Division of Business Services position in any of these employee categories:

  • Limited appointees
  • Academic Staff (renewable)
  • University Staff (ongoing)

The positions must be recruited externally through jobs.wisc.edu.

Eligibility, how to note a referral, and exceptions

Eligibility

Employees in the following employment types are eligible to receive a referral bonus as the “referring employee”:

  • Limited Appointees
  • Academic Staff
  • University Staff
  • Temporary Employees

The candidate hired into the designated position (or the “referred employee”) shall not have held a UW–Madison position within the past 12 months.

How to note a referral for the Referral Bonus Program

The candidate must complete the referral step in the application process for the referring employee to qualify for the referral bonus.

Referral steps

  1. The referring employee completes the “Refer a Friend” section on the jobs.wisc.edu position listing to email the listing to the candidate.
  2. The candidate will receive an email from Jobs at UW–Madison inviting them to apply for the position. They must use the “Here” hyperlink from the email, which will take them directly to the position listing.
  3. The candidate locates the Apply Now section and chooses the relevant application option (external candidate or current employee*).
  4. The candidate completes the job application. On the My Information page, the two questions below will appear, and the candidate should respond accordingly.
    • “How Did You Hear About Us?” – Candidate should choose “Employee Referral” option
    • “What’s their name or email address?” – Candidate should put the referring employee’s name or “@wisc.edu” email address

Alternatively, the referring employee can share the position link from the “Job Talk” email (sent by the Administrative Services Unit (ASU)) with the candidate. The candidate uses the link in that email to apply, answering the My Information section’s referral questions as noted above.

The referring employee will receive the referral bonus if the candidate is hired and fulfills six months of service in the position.

Important notes

  • The referring employee is ineligible for the referral bonus if these steps are not completed correctly.
  • *The referring employee is ineligible for the referral bonus if the referred employee is a current UW–Madison employee or has held a UW–Madison position within the past 12 months.

Exceptions

  • Current employees may not receive a referral bonus when referring an individual to a position in an ineligible categories, such as Fixed-term Terminal appointments, post-retirement rehires, student hourly, student employees, zero-dollar and lump sum appointments, and employee-in-training.
  • Hiring managers/supervisors or any other employees making the final hiring decisions for the position are ineligible for a referral bonus to avoid ethics concerns (Code of Ethics Policies – See UWS 8.03 and BOR 20-22).
  • Employees referring immediate family are ineligible for a referral bonus.
  • Employees referring current UW–Madison employees are ineligible for a referral bonus. Exceptions may be made in cases where retaining employees that hold temporary or terminal positions is a consideration.
  • In all cases, if the referring employee or the referred employee is no longer employed by UW–Madison at the time of payment, the bonus payment is no longer valid.

Questions?

Contact the Administrative Services Unit (ASU) at asu.hr@ohr.wisc.edu.