Federal Work Study

At the beginning of each fall term the Financial Aid Office provides general Work Study information sessions. Students who were awarded Work Study as part of their financial aid package and who accepted participation in the program will receive information about the dates and times of these sessions during the summer. These information sessions are designed to acquaint students with how to take advantage of the Work Study program at Pitt. Students will receive the paperwork they need to become University employees and will be advised about how to access the Job Directory, how to find a job, how to complete the necessary payroll paperwork and how they will be paid.

Students are expected to arrange for their own job interviews and make the decision about where they will work. Students and their supervisors are responsible to ensure that the necessary payroll and other required paperwork is completed on an accurate and timely basis. Students and supervisors are responsible to accurately record and submit hours that the student works each month and submit time records based on the calendar determined by the University payroll department.

How to Post a Work Study Position

Positions remain on the site until the supervisor notifies the Federal Work Study Office that the position has been filled. If you need to notify us of a filled position, please call 412-624-7147 or email wrkstdy@oafa.pitt.edu. Remember to reference your position number.

Placement

NOTE: The Federal Work Study Office is not a personnel service. Please recognize that students make their own selections when applying for jobs. It is the responsibility of the employer to make sure the potential employee is not already working within the Pitt payroll system before offering a position.

Salary Information

Authorized Federal Work Study Awards

The student must sign the student acceptance form that is enclosed with their award letter and return it to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. If the student has accepted the Federal Work Study award, the student is notified during the summer about the Fall Registration Sessions. These sessions are usually held during the first week of classes. All students must attend a session in order to pick up their Federal Work Study packet.

If a student is awarded financial aid which in total exceeds his/her federally determined eligibility, a Federal Work Study award can be reduced or cancelled. In this case, the Federal Work Study Office will attempt to notify the supervisor; however, it is the student's responsibility to ensure that his/her supervisor knows of the change.

Since the financial aid process is ongoing, supervisors should have alternative sources to pay the student in the case the student's award is reduced or cancelled.

Summer Federal Work Study

The Summer Federal Work Study Program is usually a smaller program compared to the fall/spring program. The Federal Work Study Office will post job descriptions for supervisors; however, supervisors should be aware that the majority of the students who are awarded will be keeping the same position that they worked during the fall/spring terms. Supervisors may wish to post positions through the Student Employment Office as an alternative.

Deadlines

Federal Work Study Time Record Deadline Calendar

Paychecks are distributed on the last working day of the month from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm and the first working day of the new month from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm in Alumni Hall. After that, the paycheck will be mailed to the student's permanent address.

Time Record copy distribution

The YELLOW copy of the Time Record is to be sent to the Work Study Office (Office of Admissions and Financial Aid), 1st Floor, Alumni Hall.

The PINK copy of the Time Record is to be retained by the direct supervisor.

Supervisor Responsibilities

1. Explain the assignment to the student to avoid any misunderstandings of employer expectations.
2. See that the student has work to do upon reporting to the job site.
3. Make certain that a student has easy access to the place of employment and, in certain circumstances, is not alone in the building or place of employment.
4. Provide training, counseling, and supervision for the student. If a student is not performing up to the standard expected, the supervisor should make an effort to offer guidance that hopefully will lead to a more effective performance.
5. Report difficulties with student employees such as poor performance, habitual tardiness, unexplained absences, etc. to the Federal Work Study Coordinator.
6. Provide the student with two weeks' notice prior to dismissal and inform the Federal Work Study Coordinator in writing of the employer's intention to dismiss a student worker.
7. Provide guidance to the student concerning appropriate attire for the job and provide protective covering for the student's clothes if they could be damaged in the performance of the job tasks.

Forms and Documentation

Never employed by the University of Pittsburgh

1. Job Permit Card
2. Appointment Form
3. I-9 Form with appropriate photocopies of documentation
4. Copy of original signed Social Security Card

Continuing Student

1. Job Permit Card
2. Employee Record (Updated)

• The above forms and documentation MUST be forwarded to the Federal Work Study Office PRIOR to the student beginning to work.
• All required forms and documentation MUST be forwarded at the same time and should be stapled together.

1. All forms are completed fully and with accuracy.
2. All required student and supervisor signatures are provided.
3. Account number or billing code is indicated on Job Permit Card.

Job Permit Card

• The Job Permit Card is the contract between the student and the supervisor. It verifies the student's Federal Work Study award for the current academic year. This amount, however, can change; supervisors are notified if this occurs.
• The total award amount, and thus the maximum gross earnings allowed, will appear on the Job Permit Card.
• The Job Permit Card documents the student's job duties and satisfies the requirements for job compliance with federally established standards.

• For all on-campus employers, an account number must appear on the card to avoid processing delays.
• Off-campus employers must indicate their three-digit billing code.
• For all employers, missing signatures on the card could delay processing.

Appointment Form

• An Appointment form is required for any student who does not already have a record on the payroll system. Before creating an Appointment form, check with the student to make sure he/she has not been previously employed through the University Payroll System.
• On-campus supervisors order Appointment forms (Stock #0140) through the Pitt Stockroom by filling out a requisition form.
• Off-campus supervisors must contact the Federal Work Study Office in order to obtain Appointment forms.
• Please refer to the back of the Appointment form or scroll down for further instructions on completing the form.

Instructions for Completing Appointment Form and/or Employee Record

• Please complete the Appointment form as follows or verify that the Employee Record contains the following information (items underlined below will be the same for all Federal Work Study students):
  
  Line 1: Last Name, First Name, MI / Gender/ SSN / Date First Hired / Latest Start Date/ Birth Date
  
  Line 2: Marital Status / DT / E / Citizenship / I-9 (Y/N) / I-9 Exp. / Visa Type / Visa Number
  
  Line 3: Ed Level (High School)/ / / Veteran Status / On Mil. Serv. /
  
  Line 4: Permanent Address: Street / City / State / Zip Code
  
  Line 5: Home Telephone / Directory Print (Y/N) / University Telephone
  
  Line 6: Job (Type Family, Classification) - (Student Federal Work Study) (On/Off Campus) (Example: America Reads)/
  
  Line 7: Organization (Department) - General University Budget Only / Location / Pay Year Type (12/12)/ Campus (Pittsburgh)
  
  Line 8: Assignment Effective Date / Assignment Category (Part-Time Temporary)/ Payroll / % of Effort (50%) / CDC Code (476) / Staff Work Months
  
  Line 9: Assignment Status (Active)
  
  Line 10: Not Applicable
  
  Line 11: Salary Effective Date / Salary Hourly Rate //Reason (New Hire)



• NOTE: Please be sure to include an APPROPRIATE SIGNATURE in the lower left-hand corner.
• The Department (goldenrod) and the Dean or Director's (pink) copies of these 4-part forms are retained by the supervisor for his/her files.
• Upon completion of the Appointment form or Employee Record, forward the form(s), along with all other relevant forms, to:
  
  Federal Work Study Office
  Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Avenue
  
• Questions about completion of the Appointment form or Employee Record should be directed to the Federal Work Study Office at 624-7147 or the Payroll Office at 624-8070.

Employee Record

• An Employee Record (ER) will be available within the system for any student who worked for the University during the previous year. The Federal Work Study Office will have on file the ER of any student employed through Federal Work Study.
• All changes on the Employee Record should be directed to the Federal Work Study Office at 624-7147 or the Payroll Office at
  624-8070.
• Please refer to the above information for instructions on completing the Employee Record.

I-9 Form

• The I-9 form is a result of the Immigration Reform Act of 1986. This law seeks to preserve jobs for those who are legally entitled to them, American citizens and aliens who are authorized to work in our country, as stated in the Handbook for employers published by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
• The supervisor in the employing department is responsible for collecting and photocopying the appropriate documents and for completing the I-9 form for any student hired.
• If the documentation has been previously collected for the student, and an I-9 form is on file, I-9 will be indicated on the Employee Record, line 3, and another one does not have to be completed.
• Any Appointment form or Employee Record without an I-9 indicator, submitted to the Federal Work Study Office, will not be forwarded to the Payroll Office. (The Payroll Office will not accept an Appointment Form without the I-9 attached.) This may delay processing the student's paperwork and the student's first paycheck.
• Remember the I-9 will not be considered complete if photocopies of the documents used for verification are not attached. Please keep in mind that this policy is federal law.

Social Security Card

• In addition to satisfying the I-9 regulation, new employees to the Pitt Payroll System must also comply with a University of Pittsburgh Payroll Office regulation. Students must present their original signed social security card to the supervisor. The supervisor must photocopy and attach it to the student's paperwork being sent to the Federal Work Study Office. There are no exceptions.
• Students who do not have an original social security card may apply for a duplicate card at any local Social Security Administration Office. The Payroll Office will accept the form given to the student from the Social Security Administration Office as initial documentation. However, once the student receives the actual social security card, he/she must present it to the Payroll Office so that his/her file can be completed.

Time Sheets

1. The Time Sheets are the forms used to submit the student's hours for payment.
2. On-Campus Time Records (Stock #0112) are requisitioned by the supervisor from the Pitt Stockroom.
3. Off-Campus Time Records are available at the Federal Work Study Office.
4. Please note the following instructions for completing the Time Sheets.
   • Time Sheets are to be submitted to the Payroll Office and the yellow copy is to be submitted to the Federal Work Study Office. A time record deadline calendar will be available on the web at the beginning of each term. The calendar will list the dates by which hours are to be submitted for each month. Failure to submit these forms on time will delay payment to the student.
   • Time Sheets are self-explanatory. They are to be filled out completely, using leading zeros in those spaces unoccupied by integers. The column on the right side of the time sheet must be completed. Any time sheet submitted with missing information will be returned to the supervisor for completion, which may delay payment to the student.
   • The following Decimal Time Conversion Table will help the supervisor in completing the Total Hours Worked field on the Time Sheets.
     
     

     00-07 minutes	.0 hour
     08-24 minutes	.3 hour
     25-35 minutes	.5 hour
     36-50 minutes	.8 hour
     51-59 minutes	1.0 hour

     
     
   • To ensure accurate, unaltered data on Time Sheets, all Time Sheets must be completed in ink with subsequent changes initialed by the supervisor. Supervisors should cross out all dates on the Time Sheets on which the students did not work.
   • Each supervisor is responsible for maintaining accurate time records. Therefore, each supervisor should use an alternate method of time keeping along with the retention of the pink copy of the Time Record.
   • Time sheets are to be submitted, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the appropriate deadlines, to:
     
     Payroll Office
     Craig Hall
     
     The white copy of the time sheet is to be submitted to the Payroll Office and the yellow copy is to be submitted to the Federal Work Study Office.