Human Subject Payment Guidelines

  • University of Maine researchers may provide cash (or cash equivalents [incentives], including gift cards, meal money, apparel, etc.) to human subjects if the protocol has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).
  • It is the responsibility of the researcher (not the IRB, Office of Research Administration, or the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School) to make appropriate funding arrangements.
  • If the approved IRB protocol assures the confidentiality of human subjects, researchers will maintain the following data1, as specified in the IRB-approved protocol, in a secure project file:
    • Subject name
    • Subject address
    • Date the payment was provided
    • Value or amount of the payment
    • Form of the payment
    • Name of researcher providing the payment
    • Peoplesoft chartfield combination
    • University of Maine System (UMS) employee status of the subject (UMS employee or non-employee).
  • If the University of Maine is subject to an audit, researchers may be required to provide auditors access to confidential data.
  • If the value of a one-time payment exceeds $75.00, subject data must be reported to other offices within the University of Maine and University of Maine System, as follows:
    • If the human subject is an employee of the University of Maine, the researcher must report any such payments to the Department of Human Resources. The Department of Human Resources will determine whether the value of the reported incentive needs to be added to the employee’s gross wages, and whether the payment will be subject to taxation and withholding.
    • If the human subject is not an employee of the University of Maine, the researcher shall report any such payments to Michael Noblet in the Department of Purchasing. The researcher will work with the Department of Purchasing to comply with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations that require the University of Maine System to issue a Form 1099 when cumulative payments to a non-employee reach $600 in a calendar year.

1If the subjects are minors, contact the IRB office for further guidance.

Guidelines last revised 09/29/2015.