FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM ON-CAMPUS EMPLOYMENT GUIDE

FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM ON-CAMPUS EMPLOYMENT GUIDE UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 1

FWS Program Overview The Federal Work-Study Program (FWS) is a federally subsidized campus-based program that provides institutions with funds for student employment. This allows student opportunities for employment that will not only utilize their skills but will also give them valuable work experience for future endeavors. The FWS Program was also created to stimulate and promote part-time employment for students who have financial need and who need earnings to pursue a college education. It allows students to meet educational expenses without incurring unnecessary debt and is intended to provide worthwhile job opportunities for qualified students. FWS students can work for UC Merced departments, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. FWS Employment Eligibility The UC Merced Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships is responsible for determining student FWS eligibility each year. Students who have work-study awards in their financial aid package are eligible for FWS employment. Their work-study award is the maximum they can earn for the aid year which includes the federal match and the departmental match applicable. Departments must hire students with work-study awards to hire them in an FWS position. FWS Jobs FWS Jobs may be on- campus or off-campus. Off-campus FWS jobs must be in the public interest. These jobs include federal, state, or local public or private non-profit organizations. All FWS jobs must be reasonably available to all eligible students and must provide to the maximum extent practicable, jobs that complement and reinforce each recipient s educational program or career goals. Employment Conditions and Limitations Pay should be appropriate and reasonable according to the type of work performed, the employee s proficiency, and any applicable federal, state, or local law. FWS Employer should pay students at least the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher. In UC Merced, the California minimum wage rate of $9.00/hr should apply. A student s financial need places a limit on the total FWS earnings permissible but it should not have any bearing on his or her wage rate. The base wage rate should be based only on the student s skills or job description, not on need or any other factor. UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 2

Other FWS Employment Conditions and Limitations: A student may only hold one (1) Federal Work-study position. They may work under another student employment position but not under the FWS program. However, the student cannot work more than a total of 18 hours a week in their FWS and campus employment position during a period of attendance. FWS employment must not displace University employees or impair existing service contracts. This includes replacing employees who are on strike, or using FWS student to replace an employee. Replacement is interpreted as displacement. FWS jobs must not involve constructing, operating, or maintaining any part of a building used for religious worship or sectarian instruction. Solicitation, acceptance, or permission of soliciting of any fee, commission, contribution, or gift as a condition for a student s FWS employment is strictly prohibited. However, a student may pay union dues to an employer if they are a condition of employment and if non-fws employees are also required to do so. All hours worked by the student must be paid. The employer or the school should not accept voluntary services from any paid employee as stated in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. A student may earn academic credit as well as compensation for FWS jobs. Such jobs include but are not limited to internships, assistantships, and service learning programs. However, a student may not be paid less than he or she would be if no academic credit were given; paid for time while receiving instruction in a classroom, laboratory, or other academic setting; and paid unless the employer would normally pay a non-fws employee for the same job. A student may not be paid FWS funds for working on their thesis. The University provides designated titles and title codes for students; Assistant I, 4922; Assistant II, 4921; Assistant III, 4920; Assistant IV, 4919; and Conference Representative, 4926. These titles are not considered staff titles. FWS Employment Period FWS Employment is available throughout the academic year. The FWS employment period is from the first day of the first pay cycle following the first day of instruction of the fall semester and ends on the last day of the spring semester. Permissible Work Hours Work-Study students can work a maximum of eighteen (18) hours per week, and up to forty (40) hours per week during winter and spring breaks. The student s total hours worked for a week includes hours worked from the student s other campus jobs. The campus employment policy allows a student to work UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 3

a maximum of 18 hours per week to allow students to have adequate time for their studies during periods of attendance. Any earning that goes over that limit may be charged to the department. Period of Non-Attendance for FWS Students A student may be employed under FWS program during a period of non-attendance, such as the winter or spring break. The student must be planning to enroll for the next period of enrollment to be eligible. Students who have no plans of returning in the next period of enrollment due to graduation or any other reason should end their FWS employment on the last day of the semester which they are enrolled in. The student should stop earning federal work study funds at the end of the term when they graduate or completed their requirements for their degree. Payroll will be notified before the end of the graduation term to confirm that the FWS employment end date is set at the last day of the term. This is to make sure that any earnings after the graduating term is charged 100% to the department employer since student employment policy allows the student to work 90 days after graduation. Student Employee Benefits FWS funds cannot be used for any purpose other than the wages of the FWS student employees. It may not be used for fringe benefits such as sick leave, vacation pay, holiday pay, or other employer contributions such as Social Security, workers comp, retirement, or any other welfare or insurance program. A student employed under the FWS Program: Is covered by the University's Worker's Compensation policy; Is compensated only for hours worked; Is allowed brief interruptions in work schedules, such as rest or coffee breaks. How to Request for an FWS Position in your Department UCM is in pursuit of additional FWS funding from the Department of Education. However, allocations are dependent upon a variety of factors including the size and financial need of our student body. Due to the limited amount of FWS funds currently available for on-campus positions, any department interested in being assigned an FWS position may contact the Center for Career and Professional Advancement for more information. Only the departments/units who are assigned FWS positions are eligible to post and hire for an FWS position. Posting and Hiring for an FWS Position Step 1 Posting Your Position a. Go to hire.ucmerced.edu click on Faculty/Staff and then click on Post Post a Student Position and download the 2 required forms. b. Complete the Job Posting Request form. Mark the checkbox ( X ) for FWS in the Where would you like the job posted? field. Your unit s MSO must sign off electronically on this form prior to it being submitted to the Center for Career and Professional Advancement. UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 4

Step 2 Reviewing Applicants Step 3 Hiring the FWS Student c. Complete the Job Description form. d. Use the Student Assistant Classification Guide to determine the proper Student Assistant Classification and the Student Wage Schedule to determine the range of pay. e. Return the completed, signed, Job Posting Request form and the Job Description form to the Center for Career and Professional Advancement via email to penea@ucmerced.edu. Make sure to indicate that the job posting is for a Federal-Work Study position. f. Center for Career and Professional Advancement will post your FWS position and notify you via email when the position has been posted online. a. Review your applicants by visiting the PAWS System at http://jobs.ucmerced.edu/mgmt/area_mgmt.faces. Use your UC Merced user name and password to log in. b. Review the Student Employment Policies & Procedures for recommendations on how many applicants to interview and types of interview questions to ask each applicant.. c. Check the work-study eligibility of students you are planning to interview/hire for the FWS positions that are available in your department through the Eligibility for Work-Study Report in Cognos. This report will generate the available work-study award if the student is eligible. d. Contact the applicants you wish to interview by clicking their email addresses as listed on their applications. a. Inform the student with the job offer and print out the FWS Eligibility Form from Cognos containing the students FWS award. b. Sign the Job Description form from Center for Career and Professional Advancement and the FWS Eligibility Form with the student prior to the first day of work. c. Instruct the student to report to the Center for Career and Professional Advancement with the completed forms and all necessary identification (e.g. Driver s license, Visa/Passport, Social Security card, etc.) to complete the hiring packet. d. The FWS Eligibility Form and the hiring packet will be sent to Academic Personnel & Payroll Office (APPO) for processing in the payroll system. This process includes setting the student s FWS appointment in PPS. e. Upon completion of the hiring packet, the hiring manager will receive an e- mail indicating that the student can start working. Converting a Current Appointment into an FWS Position There are departments that extend student appointments through summer or hire students before the fall semester begins when FWS employment is not available. If a department has been assigned an FWS position for the year and wishes to convert a current student employee appointment into FWS they can do so. Here is the procedure to convert a current appointment into an FWS position. FWS a. Confirm that the student employee has accepted the work-study award in UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 5

position conversion: their student portal. Print out the FWS Eligibility Form from Cognos reports containing the student s FWS award. The student s eligibility date would usually be the first day of the current pay period when the form was submitted. b. Sign the FWS Eligibility Form with the student and send the forms to Center for Career and Professional Advancement: Attn: Phyllis Enea. c. Center for Career and Professional Advancement will review the form and send it to the Academic Personnel & Payroll Office (APPO) for processing in the payroll system. This process includes updating the student s FWS appointment in PPS and the financial aid office uploading the student s FWS award limit in PPS as well. d. FWS appointment conversion process takes about two weeks. Student will be able to earn FWS funds once the form is processed. FWS earnings may begin as early as the current period if the form is submitted early in the pay cycle. Otherwise, FWS earnings will start on the next pay period. Federal Work-Study Eligibility Form UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 6

The Federal Work-Study Eligibility Form is used to authorize a student s participation in the program. It also indicates the amount of the student s Work-Study award. FWS position supervisors and hiring managers can now view and print out student FWS eligibility forms from Cognos. Please contact the financial aid office to request for access. Note: The award amount listed on the Work-Study Referral Form is the student's ENTIRE annual Work-Study award. This represents the total earnings opportunity for the employment period (Department contribution + FWS funding contribution. UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 7

UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 8

Changes to Work-Study Eligibility Termination of Employment A termination of an FWS employment may be initiated by the department, the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office, or the student. The Department may release the student from any or all duties at anytime for any reason without providing any explanation and/or notice in advance to the student. Similarly, the student may terminate employment at anytime for any reason without providing any explanation and/or notice in advance to the Department. The Department may release the student from their position by completing a Student Change Form and submitting it to APPO. Reduction or Termination of Work Study Eligibility by the Financial Aid Office The financial aid office may terminate a student's employment or reduce their work-study award during the FWS employment for a variety of reasons including the following: Student request; Receipt of additional financial aid from another resource such as scholarship, grants, etc. that caused the student s financial need to decrease; The student is not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements; The student is not enrolled, has withdrawn, taken a leave of absence, dropped below half-time enrollment, or was dismissed from school; The student has graduated; Any other circumstance that may affect the student s work-study award. UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 9

Student was selected for verification The Financial Aid Office will immediately notify the student, department, and payroll with any reduction or termination of the student s work study eligibility. If a student continues working under any of the above mentioned conditions, the department is responsible for paying for 100% of hours worked, even if the condition is unknown to the department. It is the department s responsibility to communicate with the student on an on-going basis regarding his/her current enrollment status to ensure program eligibility. The department may continue to employ the student as a regular Non-FWS employee and pay 100% of the student s wages. Student Changing FWS Jobs The student is allowed to choose another position under the Federal Work-Study Program as long as he/she is still eligible and has sufficient remaining balance of award to cover working hours as expected. However, the student is NOT allowed to hold more than one (1) Federal Work-Study position. Therefore, the student has to terminate employment from the current FWS employer. Once the previous FWS employment is terminated, the student s new hiring manager will have to request the updated FWS Eligibility Form from the Financial Aid Office to make sure that FWS earnings from the previous position are subtracted from the new award limit. The form is then signed and submitted together with the rest of the hiring paperwork. The student can begin working in their new FWS position upon the notification of the Center for Career and Professional Advancement that the paperwork has been processed. FWS Position Federal and Non-Federal Share Pay Computation On Campus FWS jobs The federal share for on-campus FWS student earnings is 75%. Non-federal/ department share is 25% Example: If the work-study award for a student is $4,000 and the student is being paid $10/hour. $4000 divided by $10/hour = 400 hrs 1 hour worked = $10 = $7.50 federal share + $2.50 department share The federal share for the first 400 hours worked will be a total of $3,000. The department pays a total of $1,000 for the first 400 hours and also pays any additional wages for hours worked that exceeds 400 hours. Community Service Positions The federal share for on-campus non-profit community service position is 75%. Non-federal share is 25% UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 10

FWS positions meeting the Family Literacy Activity, Reading Tutors to Children, or Math Tutors to Children Requirement Positions For FWS jobs that fall under the family literacy activity requirement, such as reading and math tutors to children, the Federal share is 100%. Tracking a Student s FWS Award Balance The FWS Balance Tracker which is available in Cognos can be used to track a student s FWS award balance and also check a student s work-study eligibility. This report is updated monthly. This tool can be used to determine which students have earned or are close to earning their FWS award limit so departments can plan to replace them. This report is available to FWS position supervisors and hiring managers. Please contact the financial aid office to request for access and user guide information. Payroll Adjustments Departments agree to process payroll adjustments as requested by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Refusal or failure to process/approve transfers may result in a student s work-study eligibility being canceled or reduced. Furthermore, other students employed in the department may also have their awards canceled or reduced as the department would not be adhering to program guidelines. The Department may be notified regarding specific transactions requiring completion of a payroll adjustment. The OFAS will provide the student name, ID, pay period end date, processing cycle date, the amount of the original charges, the amount of the required adjustment, and the date by which the adjustment must be completed to the payroll department. Payroll will coordinate with the financial aid office to initiate an adjustment (using the RX/LX functions through the EDLR payroll screen) if any of the following occurs: The Work-Study award amount was not updated in time for the following pay period to pay hours as desired (i.e. an award amount was increased or decreased but for whatever reason the updating of the limit did not occur in time). Over-Use of Work-Study Award The Department is responsible for monitoring the student s earnings against his/her work-study award amount. The Work study Report is available to track FWS award balance. This is also an automated process in the campus payroll system. The system will set the FWS award limit and will split the charges to the department and the FWS fund accordingly based on the type of FWS employment. Any earnings/charges past the FWS award limit will be automatically charged 100% to the department s account. Replacing a Student Employee in an FWS position Every FWS position assigned to a department is funded for the fall and spring semester of the current aid year. If the student employee working in an FWS position has earned all of his/her FWS award or has terminated employment, the department is expected to refill the position. The department has to hire or convert a work-study eligible student to fill the open FWS position. It is recommended that UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 11

departments keep track of their FWS student award balances and plan accordingly to ensure continuous FWS funding utilization. Unearned Work-Study Awards Work-Study awards may only be used during the aid year employment period (Academic Year runs from the beginning of the fall semester up to the last day of the spring semester, which can be extended through the end of June upon approval) for which the funds are awarded. Unearned aid year work-study funds are forfeited after the last working day of the given FWS aid year employment period. FWS Regulations and Campus Employment Policies Federal Work-study rules supersedes any existing campus policy for students working under the FWS program in situations where there is a conflict between the two. The campus is required through the Participation Agreement to abide by Federal regulations to receive and administer federal aid to students in the institution. Employer of Record The University of California, Merced is the Organization of record. All payments due as an employer s contribution under state and local Workers Compensation laws, under federal or state Social Security laws, or under other applicable laws, as required, will be made by the University, unless otherwise required by law. UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 12

Contact Information for UC Merced Federal Work-Study Program UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 13

FWS job posting and hiring: Center for Career and Professional Advancement Address and Telephone Numbers Address: Student Services Building Suite 230 5200 N. Lake Road Merced, CA 95343 Telephone: (209) 228-7272 Fax: (209) 228-7648 E-Mail: penea@ucmerced.edu FWS eligibility and FWS regulations: Financial Aid and Scholarships Office Address and Telephone Numbers Address: Kolligian Library Rm 127 5200 N. Lake Road Merced, CA 95343 General Assistance and Student Eligibility: (209) 228-4243 Fax: (209) 228-7861 FWS Program Questions E-Mail: atumonong@ucmerced.edu FWS payroll questions/issues: Academic Personnel & Payroll Office (APPO) Telephone: (209) 228-4156 Fax: (209) 228-4092 E-Mail: appo@ucmerced.edu Administrative Operations Office Phone: (209) 228-2922 Fax: (209) 228-4660 E-Mail: operations@ucmerced.edu UC Merced Federal Work-Study On-Campus Employment Guide (updated 7/23/14) Page 14