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Division of Human Resources

Floater Service FAQs

The Floater Pool is an in-house temporary employment service available to fulfill your temporary (long or short-term) staffing demands. Whether you have a recent vacancy, employee on extended leave or an unexpected business demand — our service is dedicated to providing skilled and experienced temporary personnel to support your department.

To request a floater, the requesting department must complete the floater request form [pdf] in its entirety and submit it by email at hrfloat@mailbox.sc.edu

The floater pool supervisor will respond by email within 24 to 48 hours upon receipt of the submitted floater request form to acknowledge receipt and to discuss specific departmental needs.

Depending upon the needed skill set and current floater availability, departments should expect a minimum of 1 to 2 weeks for their request to be filled. This time can be expedited if floater services are given advance notice when available.

Floater Services prescreens all applicants to include face to face interviews, reference checks and background checks.

Departments are charged an hourly rate based on the tier level selected within the floater request form [pdf]. Departments are required to select a tier that best represents the level of job duties that will be performed. An invoice will be sent to the department with the charge amount and departments will be billed once a month to the department number and fund number provided on the floater request form. Please see the floater website for a list of daily rates.

Floater Services takes into consideration all of the needs and requirements requested by the department through the floater request form. Based on those requests, Floater Services selects or recruits candidates that possess the needed skills and qualifications to successfully perform the duties of the position. If more than one candidate fits the description, Floater Services will send the department the work history and experience of the top 3 candidates. The department can then choose the applicant they feel best fits their need.

Floaters are given access to the university's Time and Absence System in order to enter their daily hours. In addition, floaters must complete a paper timesheet given by Floater Services to track their time for each week. The paper time sheet must be signed by the department contact and the floater, and then submitted to Floater Services every Friday no later than 5 pm. Based on the paper time sheet, the floater supervisor will approve the time in ITAMS.

All floaters are given a general overview of the assignment to include the job description provided by the department, the department location, the department contact they are to report to, and the anticipated length of the assignment. On the job training is the responsibility of the requesting department. Although floaters possess the required skill set, the department must provide the essential resources and tools in order for floaters to complete the assignment successfully.

If the floater assigned has proven to lack the required knowledge, skills and ability to perform the assignment, the department contact can discuss their concerns with the floater pool supervisor to seek other alternatives if available.

Floaters are given a USC email account through VIP once all new hire paperwork is submitted by Floater Services. The department contact is responsible for establishing an email account for the floater if the department requires a certain type of email account other than the @mailbox account.

Departments will be asked to give an anticipated end date for their assignment. If it is foreseen that the assignment will be ending before the given anticipated end date, please let Floater Services know as soon as possible to avoid employment gaps for the floaters.


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