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104 Airport Drive Suite 2200, CB 1350
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-1350
Phone: (919) 966-3411
Fax: (919) 962-5011 or (919) 962-3352
Email: resadminosr@unc.edu
RAMSeS Help desk: (919) 843-2594

Time and Effort Reporting 

Overview of Time and Effort Reporting

The Personnel Activity Reporting Section (PARS) department in the Office of Sponsored Research is responsible for distributing, collecting, reviewing, and maintaining the official file of time and effort reports in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21.  The reports confirm, on a best-judgment basis, the percentage distribution of effort for the period reported and serve to substantiate salary and wage charges to federal grants and contracts.

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5 Key Points for Time and Effort Reporting

  1. A 40 hour/week IS NOT the definition of 100% effort from which percentage of research effort is certified.
    • Under federal regulations on effort reporting, 100% effort is an employee’s total hours actually spent on work within the scope of his or her employment regardless of how many or how few hours an employee works and regardless of the percent FTE listed on the appointment. Effort certification must reflect actual work performed and cannot be budget driven.
    • Just as an employee’s total effort is not defined by regular business hours of the employer or by the percent FTE of the appointment, research effort does not necessarily take place only in the research facility/lab or only on university premises. Research effort can occur at home, at a conference or in off-site research-related meetings, etc. Remember that if these types of hours are included in calculating research effort, they must also be included in the calculation of total effort.
  2. Federal Auditors are looking for patterns that suggest that an effort certification is formulated by factors other than actual effort on the project:
    • Patterns of retroactive adjustments to effort certifications or retroactive cost transfers. (Do these have a reasonable justification or do they appear to be motivated by desire to “mop up” or transfer unused grant funds?)
    • Very small effort percentages on many grants. (Real research project contribution or just salary support?)
    • Research effort certifications that appear not to include accounting for actual administrative and/or teaching and/or clinical effort as part of total effort. (If you certify research effort for your research grants totaling 95% that leaves only 5% for all other work performances – teaching, clinical, administrative. If you are teaching two classes that each meet for three hours a week, classroom time alone equals six hours per week. For 6 hours to be 5% or less of your total effort – leaving at least 95% for your 95% research effort certifications - you need to be prepared to document the claim that your workweek is 120 hours or more.)
  3. What if one or more of these patterns exist in my effort reporting but are legitimate reflections of my actual effort?
    • Maintain documentation that supports your research contribution - in research content and in time/percentage of effort (calendars, correspondence, work products, etc.)
    • A request for retroactive adjustment to an effort certification also requires a Letter of Justification to OSR (link to form)
    • If an adjustment is needed, do not delay - 90 days is the usual limit for accepting a retroactive adjustment.
  4. What if I disagree with this effort reporting approach?
    • If you accept federal funds, you are accepting this obligation as a condition of taking the funds.
    • Compliance with relevant federal regulations is also a condition of employment at UNC Chapel Hill.
    • If you are skeptical about the magnitude and likelihood of serious jeopardy regarding noncompliance in effort reporting, please call us to get more information.
  5. What if I have questions related to effort certification?
    • For technical questions about effort certification processes and paperwork, contact Karen Mansfield in the Office of Sponsored Research at 2-4666.
    • For legal and regulatory questions related to effort certification, contact Leslie Strohm or David Parker of the Office of General Counsel, 2-1219
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PAR Signature Policy

Personnel Activity Report (PAR) certification signature policy changed effective July 1, 2004 to require a dated original signature on the PAR by all employees (SPA and EPA) for whom a PAR has been generated. Each employee is to be responsible for the certification of his or her own effort. Compliance with effort certification regulations is a critical requirement of proper stewardship of federal funds. This change of signature policy is to simplify and clarify who should certify effort, and will strengthen the University’s position in defining who is most knowledgeable of an employee’s activity. Timely return of the PAR is also a federal regulatory requirement.

Should the employee be away from campus, the Chairman or Department Head must sign for the absent employee, notating on the PAR why the employee is not available for signature. Upon return, the employee must confirm or correct the PAR and send a copy with original signature to OSR.

If you have questions on the PAR signature policy please call Karen Mansfield at 962-4666 or Kelly Spivey at 962-4665.

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Training Materials Examples:

The Office of University Counsel and the Office of Sponsored Research are conducting training across campus for Principle Investigators that provides information regarding current requirements for effort certification. 

Retention of files:

Description of Records
Personnel Activity Reports (PAR) are records in paper and/or electronic format concerning a federal requirement (OMB Circular A-21, section J10c) that employees compensated from sponsored agreements periodically confirm the salary distribution that is a reasonable estimate of the work they performed during the reporting period.
Disposition Instructions for Original Files Maintained by OSR
The PARS retention policy is to maintain six (6) years plus the current fiscal year. Therefore erase or destroy in-office records on paper and electronic format at the beginning of the seventh fiscal year following the fiscal year’s records to be destroyed.

Disposition Instructions for Reference Copies Maintained by Departments
The PARS retention policy is to maintain three (3) years plus the current fiscal year. Therefore erase or destroy in-office records on paper and electronic format at the beginning of the fourth fiscal year following the fiscal year’s records to be destroyed.


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