OSU PAY 203: Federal College Work Study Program Student Employees

Definitions

Federal College Work Study Program Student Employees

Students participating in the Federal College Work study Program and employed by OSU or a participating Off-campus Agency. 

Work Study Limit

Work study students are limited to working not more than 20 hours per week or more than 8 hours in a day during enrollment. Work Study students will be allowed to work a maximum of 8 hours per day or up to 40 hours per week during vacation periods. (Winter, Spring, and Summer vacations).

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Procedure

203: Federal College Work Study Program Student Employees

203-01 Payment Process

• Student must have a work study referral authorization from Financial Aid on file with the Payroll office before they can be paid.  This form specifies the rate of pay and total amount the student can earn under this authorization.
• After logging in on the Oregon State Central Administrative Resources (OSCAR) website, complete the "Online Tasks" for "Hiring Employee" for "Students".  
• Enter monthly timecard data in PYAHOUR.   Any earnings that exceed the authorization limit must be paid as system student wages.
• Submit a signed Federal Work Study Program Time Certificate to the Payroll office by the first day of time entry.
• Archive a copy of the time sheet as specified by Archive Law.  Department copy is the record copy.  See the Archives website for retention period. 

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203-02  Job and Labor Distribution Forms

203-02a  Job Form

• The Job Form is used to authorize pay for initial appointments, report changes of appointment %, and to report changes in contract length during the fiscal year.
• To obtain this form, log onto the Oregon State Central Administrative Resources (OSCAR) website, click on "Online Tasks" - "Hire Employee" - "Student" and complete the appropriate online task.
• Job forms should be routed to OHR.

203-02b Labor Distribution Form

• The Labor Distribution Form is used to report changes to prior, current, or future distributions.
• To obtain this form, log onto OSCAR, click on "Online Tasks" - "Payroll Changes" scroll to "Miscellaneous" - "Labor Distribution form" (excel format).
• Labor Distribution forms should be sent directly to the Payroll Office for changes of labor distributions.

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203-03 Pay Method is Always Hourly

• Hourly pay is used for all work study students.
• Pay is issued for the period from the 16th of the prior month through the 15th of the current month and identified as current month pay.
• Payroll data is entered in PYAHOUR during time entry each month.  Refer to the Payroll Calendar for specific dates.   
• Refer to Undergraduate Work Study Student Earn Codes for the correct Earn Codes and Account Codes to use.

 

203-04  Social Security Exemption for Student Employees

Student employees, enrolled in an Oregon University System (OUS) school at least half-time, are exempt from both Social Security and Medicare withholding tax, based on Federal regulations.  For federal tax purposes ONLY, half-time enrollment is defined as:

• Undergraduate Students ……6 credit hours per term
• Graduate Students …………..5 credit hours per term

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203-05  Accounting for Labor Charges

Labor is charged to specific indexes and account codes.  Use of activity codes is the choice of the department.

203-05a  Index

• Work study labor expense is charged 25% to the department index, and 75% to a work study index. (Note:  these percents are subject to change on an annual basis.
• Department index must be an open index owned by the employing department.
• Department index must remain open through the last day of the month payment is received by the employee.
• The work study index is based on the program code in the department index.  See the Choosing a Work Study Index webpage on the Business Affairs website.

203-05b  Account Code

Refer to Undergraduate Work Study Student Earn Codes for account code information.

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Additional Information

The following chart provides a summary of data by student employment type.

Student Employment
Category	Hourly Paid	Paid by Default Hours	Non-System	Work Study
Position	C50XXX	C50XXX	C55XXX	C50XXX
Suffix	00	55	00	00
Earn Code	RST	REG	RST	RWS
Account Code	10501	10501	10501	10503
Employee E-Class	XA	XA	XA	XA
Job E-Class	XA	XA	XA	XA
Pay Schedule	Mid-Month	Monthly	Mid-Month	Mid-month

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