University of Wisconsin–Madison

Zero Dollar Appointments in Workday

Overview

A zero-dollar appointment is a temporary unpaid position used to provide an official affiliation and identification with the University. Use cases include but are not limited to visiting scholars, honorary fellows, individual collaborating with a current project on research, or individuals closing out research duties after ending a project.

A zero-dollar appointment is not appropriate for alumni or donors who have university affiliations who wish to keep their university email and systems access. These appointments should only be set up if a working relationship is established between the individual and your School/College/Division.

In Workday

How to enter this in Workday depends on whether the individual in question has any existing affiliation with the Universities of Wisconsin. 

Past/Present Affiliation With UW: Create Position
Step 1: Create Position

Follow the steps in the Create a Position (Link KB 151553) process, making note of the following field values:

  • Position Request Reason: Create Position > Create Position > No Pay Basis
  • Job Posting Title: Fill in what is most appropriate to describe the purpose of the appointment
  • Number of Positions: Defaults to 1
  • Availability Date: This is the first day you can see the position in the sup org. Best practice is to enter the current date.
  • Earliest Hire Date: A worker cannot be hired into this position prior to this date. Best practice is to enter the first day the individual will need systems access.
  • Job Profile: Select By Job Family > Other Group > Other > Honorary Associate/Fellow
  • Job Description: Leave blank
  • Location: Enter a four-digit code from the searchable campus database.
  • Time Type: Enter part time
  • Worker Type: Employee
  • Worker Sub-Type: Terminal
  • Scheduled Weekly Hours: Can be left at 0
    Note: You will see a soft error (Yellow) notifying you that the FTE is set to zero and to confirm whether this was intentional. This is informational and can be clicked through.
  • Difficulty to Fill: Captures information related to position cap, based off of the selected Job Profile. Update this field if the default value is not accurate. Ensure a corresponding JTAP form was submitted to justify the change. See Justification to Advance Position, Online Form for more information. 
  • Available for Overlap: Check this box if more than one person can be hired under this position number for a period of time. 

Click Submit to finalize this portion of the process, or click Save for Later to save and finalize at a later time.

Once this step is complete, the Change Organization Assignments task will be sent to the initiator.

Step 2: Assign Organizations 

Either click the pop-up or the inbox to review the task to Change Organization Assignments:

  • Cost Center, Fund, and Function: Defaults based on the sup org used
  • Compensation: Enter No Pay
  • Position of Trust: Update as necessary
  • Campus Security Authority (CSA): Check this box if this position is considered a campus security authority.
  • Note: Company should never be changed. Legacy information should not be updated/added for new employees.

Click Submit to finalize this portion of the process, or click Save for Later to save and finalize at a later time.

At this point, the Position will route to the HR Partner (Supervisory) for review and approval. No Pay Basis positions do not route to the Position Budget Manager nor the Cost Center Accounting Specialist to enter any default funding.

Step 3: Direct Hire/Add Job

Once the Position is created, you can either Add an Additional Job for the individual (if they have a concurrent appointment in the system) or Direct Hire the individual into the position (if this will be their only appointment).

No Affiliation with UW - Contract Contingent Worker
Step 1: Contract Contingent Worker

Follow the steps in the Contract Contingent Worker guide, making note of the following field values:

  • Contingent Worker Type: Contingent Worker
  • Job Profile: Select By Job Family > Other Group > Other > Honorary Associate/Fellow
  • Time Type: Select part time
  • Location: Enter a four-digit code from the searchable campus database.
  • Supplier: Contingent Worker
  • Default Payment Terms: Leave blank
  • Contract End Date: Enter the end date for this individual's relationship with your unit
  • Contract Pay Rate: Leave this field as 0
  • Currency: Leave blank
  • Frequency: Leave blank

Click Submit to finalize this portion of the process.

Questions?

Contact your Talent Acquisition Specialist

Updated: Sep. 26, 2025
Source URL: https://hr.wisc.edu/hr-guides/for-hr-professionals/zero-dollar-appointments-in-workday/

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