Paying Work-Study Students

The required documentation for reimbursement must be completed and submitted to the Work-Study Office no later than 15 days after the Work-Study student has been paid by your agency and 30 days after the end of the semester (see the Important Dates). If your agency cannot comply with this schedule, please contact the Work-Study Office. Required documentation for reimbursement:

• Each Work-Study student’s Work-Study Timesheet with original signatures.
• Photocopy of each Work-Study student’s paystub.
• Paycheck Receipt Form for each Work-Study student, except for those whose paychecks are direct deposited to their accounts and whose pay stubs confirm the direct deposit. Regulations require that compensation be made directly to students according to their request (e.g. paper check or direct deposit). The student’s pay stub and Paycheck Receipt Form serve as proof of compliance.
• Billing Statement reflecting the names, listed in alphabetical order, of those Work-Study students paid by your agency during the billing cycle. This form includes the amount your agency is asking to be reimbursed for a particular month.

Employers must download and print copies of the Work-Study Timesheet and Billing Statement as needed from the Off-Campus Employer Forms page. All forms submitted to the Work-Study Office for reimbursement must include the signature of the Work-Study student’s supervisor and/or the payroll accountant who processed the forms.

A weekly record of time worked by students is required by federal regulations.

Complete a Work-Study Timesheet:

• Document the time that students start and stop their daily work schedule.
• Students cannot work during the time period when they are scheduled to be in class.
• Provide original signatures of the supervisor and the student.
• The supervisor’s signature certifies that the student has worked the number of hours reported and performed the assigned job in a satisfactory manner.
• Submit each month for each student who is employed.
• No agency time sheets will be accepted in lieu of the Work-Study Timesheet.

Work-Study Regulation 34 CFR 675.24 states, “Work-Study students must be paid on an hourly wage basis for actual time on the job”. If a student is hired during the latter part of the month, a Work-Study Timesheet with original signatures must be submitted for that month even if the student has worked only a few hours.

Work-Study Regulation 34 CFR 675.19 states: “The Work-Study student’s timesheet must include: certification by the student’s supervisor” that the student has worked and earned the amount being paid; and a time record showing the “total hours worked per day”. Any Timesheets submitted without the supervisor’s original signature will not be honored and will be returned to the agency. Photocopies of Timesheets cannot be accepted due to the risk of duplicate payment and Work-Study audit requirements.

Please review sample documents carefully. Errors on these forms can delay the review process and may require corrections on the student’s timesheets for the following pay period.

«TIP» Audit the Work-Study Timesheet before signing. This will eliminate errors before the student is paid.

«TIP» Have Work-Study students sign-in and sign-out each block of time worked. This log will make the Work-Study Timesheet easier to complete and verify.

In order to comply with federal regulations governing the Work-Study program, the Work-Study Office has found it necessary to implement the following procedures for handling delinquent paperwork:

• 1st Delinquent Notice will be sent when Billing Statements, Work-Study Timesheets, copies of students’ pay stubs, and Paycheck Receipt Forms are 2 weeks overdue.
• 2nd Delinquent Notice will be sent when employers fail to respond by the due date on the 1st Delinquent Notice.
• 3rd Delinquent Notice will be sent when the employer has failed to respond to the 2nd Delinquent Notice. This notice will inform the employer that participation in the Federal Work-Study Program has been terminated.

Employers who are consistently late in providing required paperwork (Billing Statement, Off-Campus Work-Study Timesheet, pay stub, Paycheck Receipt Form) may be terminated from participation in the Work-Study program at the discretion of the Work-Study Office, even if they have never received a 2nd or 3rd delinquent notice.

Once terminated, the employer must make a formal appeal to the Work-Study Office for reinstatement into the Work-Study Program.

If a student earns the total amount of the Work-Study award prior to the end of the award period, the agency may wish to continue its work relationship with the student. This is considered additional employment, not another Work-Study position, which means the employer will not be eligible for reimbursement of the student’s wages by the Work-Study Office. Income earned in the non-Work-Study position will be treated as base-year income and will be counted toward next year’s student contribution for financial aid.

«TIP» Before accepting additional employment, the student may want to discuss the implications of such employment with their financial aid counselor.