Information for Student Employment Supervisors

Student employment supervisors are expected to uphold the policies, procedures and responsibilities set forth in the Supervisor’s Handbook.

Supervisors are encouraged to act as mentors to student employees, coaching them and providing opportunities and feedback to develop their skills, knowledge, work experience, and professionalism. The work-study program strives to ensure supervisors and students alike experience a positive work environment.

A supervisor is a faculty or staff member who hires and terminates student employees. A supervisor is responsible for delegating work and assignments, ensuring tasks are done on time. A supervisor is responsible for monitoring students’ monies, hours, and approves timesheets. 

 

The list below is compiled from frequently asked questions, common issues and problems that arise during the academic year, and other suggestions.

  1. If you hire a new student, be sure all of their appropriate paperwork has been completed and turned into HR (I-9 along with proper documentation, W-4, ED4 and SEAR form) before you allow him/her to begin working. a. All paperwork must be completed and turned in together. HR will not accept partially complete paperwork. b. You will be sent a copy of your student’s SEAR form via email once it has been approved and entered into the system. Please save this copy for your files. You may use the copy for any future changes.
  2. Do not inner campus or drop off SEAR forms for your students. Please have each student bring their own SEAR form to Human Resources. a. This is essential for HR to verify that all student documentation (registration, accepted award, I-9, W-4, etc...) is in order before processing.
  3. Keep track of your students’ balances by reviewing the work study reports that are sent out after each pay period. “It is the Supervisors responsibility to review the reports for any overages or discrepancies.” – Supervisor’s Handbook (p. 7).
    1. If you cannot open the link to view your dept.’s report, contact HR so we can send you the report in a different format.
    2. If one of your students has an overage or discrepancy, please notify HR ASAP if you would like the overage to be transferred to your exception funding account.
  4. Make it clear to students that they must stop working once all their funds have been earned. a. If a student would like to continue working, they may do so, but on a voluntary basis. However, please emphasize that he/she will not be paid and should not continue to enter time on my.whittier. Have the student sign the attached agreement form for your records to prevent potential issues.
  5. If a student has earned all their funds and you wish to keep them on using your department’s exception funding, please fill out a new SEAR form with HR, and terminate the old position.
  6. Do not wait until the end of the academic year to move students with overages to exception funding. The last day to do so will coincide with the last pay period for the academic year work study.
  7. HR highly recommends using sign-in sheets within your department to log your students’ hours (see attachment). This makes it easier to approve hours submitted by your student, as well as provides backup for any future problems.
    1. For example: in an instance where a student claims he/she worked X amount of hours for a past pay period(s), but never got paid, as a supervisor you have proof of your students’ time-in and time-out. This will verify the accuracy of a student’s claim. (If hours are correct, please provide HR/Payroll with copies so a manual timecard(s) can be issued.)
  8. Approve timesheets every pay period (biweekly) for students who worked by Monday at 5 pm. (If this is done, item 9 will be avoided.) If you will not be available to approve timesheets, please plan accordingly with your department or HR.
  9. Paper timesheets will not be given out for any timesheets submitted/approved late.
    1. If your student does not enter hours on time, you may submit time for him/her; however, you must contact HR to approve the timesheet.
    2.  Or you may elect to have your student shuffle in his/her hours into the next pay period, if doing so will not surpass the 18 hours per week limit.
    3. Payroll will not cut manual checks for timesheets that are approved late. FYI: Student Payroll sends out an email to the entire student body every pay period to remind student workers to enter and submit their hours. No exceptions will be made for late timesheets.
  10. Do not just click on “Approve All” for the following reasons:
    1. Please view each timesheet individually to verify all hours are correct and under the correct position (federal ST0100, Whittier ST0200, exception ST0300, grant ST0400, department ST0500) and department number. i. If you see a student under your dept. that does not work for you, contact HR ASAP.
    2. Students are not allowed to work more than 18 hours a week with all jobs combined.
    3. Students are not allowed to work more than 5 hours a day without taking a 30 minute break.
    4. No overtime hours should ever be worked, submitted or approved.
    5. If students shuffled in hours from a previous pay period, make sure they indicated so on the comments section of their timesheet.
  11. Terminate students that are no longer working for you (on their SEAR form) with HR, to ensure our records are current and up to date.
  12. If you are a new supervisor, please notify HR so that we can provide you with access to approve student timesheets online.
  13. If you are an off-campus supervisor, please email signed approved timesheets to blamas@whittier.edu.

If you have any questions regarding work study please contact: Berenice Lamas '20 HR Student Employment & Payroll Specialist blamas@whittier.edu Phone: 562.907.4200 ext. 5182 Fax: 562.907.4884