3503 PR.17 Student Employment

Revision Date: 
July 23, 2021

Contents

1.      Overview

2.      Administration of Student Employment

3.      Hourly Student Payments

4.      Non-Hourly Student Payments

5.      Pay Schedule and Method

6.      Separation

7.      Graduating Students

8.      Confidentiality

9.      Roles and Responsibilities

1. Overview

This procedure details the processes for payments made to Yale students for hourly and non-hourly employment.

This procedure does not cover students enrolled in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences who are not paid on an hourly basis.  These students should consult the following sources of information:

Students at other institutions (i.e., non-Yale) may be hired, but they are processed and paid as temporary employees (see Temporary Staffing). 

2. Administration of Student Employment

The Student Employment Office (SEO) administers the employment of all undergraduate, graduate, and professional student hourly and non-hourly employees at Yale.

Non-hourly payments include those for:

  • Student Teaching Assistantships (payment for teaching professional school courses);
  • Student Stipends (payment to assist with academic and living expenses while enrolled);
  • Research Assistant (payment based on research assistant duties); and
  • Other Student Earnings (wages earned for non-hourly services performed).

For advice or information regarding student job categories, job descriptions, rates of pay, and other student employment issues, contact the Student Employment Office:

3. Hourly Student Payments      

A. Hiring

To ensure that Yale has a record of each of the positions a student has worked during their time at the University, Yale requires that all student jobs be posted on the SEO website (further advertisement of posted positions is permitted but not required).  After obtaining the approvals required by your department, begin the SEO hiring process by going to the SEO website and logging into the Supervisor Control Panel.  The Supervisor Control Panel guides the supervisor through the following steps:

  • Completing the online job posting form, which includes the Job Profile and wage level definition;
  • Reviewing online applications from students;
  • Setting up interview times with potential employees using the “View Applicants” feature of the Control Panel; and
  • Notifying the selected student.

Once the supervisor selects a student, the hiring department’s business office logs into the Business Office Control Panel to notify SEO of the selected student via the “Hire a Student” function of the SEO website.  SEO will send a confirmation email to the student, notifying the student of his/her selection and of the online forms that must be completed via Workday prior to starting the job.  The student completes the Federal and State W-4 forms and his/her part of the I-9 form online and then brings the required documents to the 221 Whitney Avenue I-9 Center for completion.

B. Hours Limitation

Students may not work greater than 19 hours (combined for all jobs) in any week during academic terms.  Exceptions are PhD students, who may not work greater than 10 hours (combined for all hourly jobs) in any week during academic terms unless they have the required permission of the director of graduate studies, in consultation with the appropriate associate dean.

This hour limitation does not apply during recess and summer when school is not in session.  During these periods, students should not work more than 40 hours per week.  However, if a student works more than 40 hours per week, he or she must be paid time and a half for the hours worked in excess of 40.

C. Hourly Rates

Hourly rates are based on three official pay rates issued by the Deputy Provost for Undergraduate & Graduate Programs, in collaboration with Compensation Planning.  The SEO job posting process helps supervisors determine the appropriate wage for a position.  Any exceptions to the three official pay rates should be approved by the Deputy Provost for Undergraduate & Graduate Programs.

D. Weekly eTimesheets

Students are required to log into the Student Control Panel on the SEO website and complete their eTimesheet on a weekly basis.  The supervisor will be able to approve a student’s eTimesheet once it has been submitted by going into the Supervisor’s Control Panel.  eTimesheets must be approved by the supervisor by 3:00 pm each Monday (or if Monday is a holiday, by 3:00pm Tuesday).

4. Non-Hourly Student Payments

Users need Business Officer access to the student employment site to process these payments.  Business Officer access can be granted by a current user with Business Officer access to your specific department by submitting the “Add/Change Access for a user” request form.

A. Create an Award

The Business Officer creates an award for the total amount of the payment.  A COA is assigned at the time the award is created.

B. Create a Hire Record

Students receiving a non-hourly payment must be hired into a position.  You can hire the student into an already created position or you can create a new position prior to awarding the student.

New student hires will be sent to Workday daily and will be created in the Student Employment supervisory organization on the Weekly pay schedule.

5. Pay Schedule and Method

Student employees are paid by one of the following methods:

A. Direct Deposit

The student may enroll in Direct Deposit via Workday.  Direct deposit of weekly wages is made into the student’s account each Thursday.  Payslips are available in Workday for all direct deposit participants.

B.  Paycheck

In the absence of an active direct deposit enrollment, a paycheck will be issued each Thursday for students in the “Weekly” pay group.

For graduate students on a stipend also doing hourly work and in the “Semi-Monthly” pay group (Teaching Assistantship, Research Assistantship, etc.):

  • Hourly wage and stipend will be paid jointly in the same check;
  • Paychecks are issued semi-monthly;
  • Hourly wages may be a week behind at each paycheck due to Payroll entry deadlines (refer to the Payroll Schedule for cutoff dates); and
  • Hours entered after the cutoff will be paid in the subsequent semi-monthly check.

Paychecks are currently being mailed to the student’s “Mailing address,” as identified in the student database.

6. Separation

When the student is hired, a start and end date is entered on the hire record.  eTimesheets are created for the employment period on the hire record.  No further actions are required to end the student’s employment.

7. Graduating Students

Graduating students are allowed to continue as student employees for a specified period under the following conditions:

  • they are continuing in the same position from the academic year; or
  • they are hired to your department prior to their end of their last term.

8. Confidentiality

Employment and payroll information is confidential, and as such should be provided on a need-to-know basis only.

Everyone who has responsibility for any aspect of the employment and payroll function must handle and store all documents and electronic records related to employment and payroll in a manner consistent with their confidentiality.

9. Roles and Responsibilities

The process of hiring and paying a student employee involves the following roles and responsibilities:

Role

Responsibilities

Position supervisor

  • Posts student job online with the Student Employment Office.
  • Interviews and selects student employee.
  • Reviews and approves timesheets.

Hiring Department’s Business Office

  • Approves hiring of student employee and submits online hiring notification to SEO.
  • Updates information in the student record (charging instructions, end dates, hourly rates, etc.) in the SEO website.
  • Processes non-hourly payments.

Student Employment Office (SEO)

  • Reviews online job postings and ensures wage worksheet calculations are done according to the rates established and communicated annually by the Deputy Provost for Undergraduate & Graduate Programs.
  • Notifies hiring department of approved hourly rate via e-mail.
  • Reviews pending hire requests for accuracy.
  • Notifies hiring department and student when hire is completed.
  • Informs student about the online forms that must be completed. 
  • Manages the data within the student employment system.
  • Acts as a Student Employee Service Center for all student employment questions.

Student

  • Completes required tax withholding documents within Workday.
  • Completes employee portion of I-9 in Workday on or before their hire date.
  • Submits completed weekly timesheet to supervisor.