Student Payroll

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Student Payroll

Student payroll is broken into three categories: Student Employment, Work-Study, and Stipend payments. Students who are hired must be registered at Boston University.

Student Employment

Student Employment is used to hire a student in your department using departmental funds (902 or 908 funds).

To hire a student, you are required to fill out a Student Employee Authorization form. This form is located on the Business Link and can be accessed through the Student Employmen Office.

The Student Employee Form is submitted electronically. For each student you hire, you will need to complete a “new hire” form regardless of whether the student has worked for you in the past.

The SEA (Student Employee Authorization) form is user friendly; after each section there is a submit key. By utilizing this feature, you will be aware of any errors that may occur prior to completing the entire form.

You will select the “new hire/rehire” function.

  • Enter the student ID number
    • Select the semester and enter the year.
    • Select the “New Hire” action.
    • Click submit.

You are now ready to complete SECTION ONE of the SEA Form

  • Select type of employment (this will be departmental).
  • Enter a Job Grade and a Job Code. (Information for job grades and codes can be found in the Student Employment Job Classifications Guide.)
    • Hourly jobs have a grade level of 1-5.
    • Monthly jobs have a grade level of 0.
    • A one-time payment is a grade level of 9. (Please note that international students cannot receive a one-time payment.)
    • The job code refers to the job the student is performing. There is a pull-down menu for a listing of Job Codes.
  • Enter a start and end date. (For hourly paid employees, the start date should be the actual date; the end date should be a Sunday date. For monthly paid employees, the date should be the first day of the month; the end date must be the last day of the month.)
  • Enter total number of hours per week. This field must be completed, even if you are entering a one-time payment.
  • Click submit.

If the student has never worked at BU, you will be prompted to enter the I-9 information. Every new employee must complete an I-9 form. The form and instructions are available in the forms section of the Student Employment Office website.

International students must go to the International Students and Scholars Office to complete their I-9. Domestic students complete their form with you, their hiring department. Once the student has completed the I-9 form and you have verified the information, you will need to complete the I-9 part of the SEA in Section One. You will enter the I-9 mail code, which is your mail code (this is where the I-9 will be kept) and you will be required to confirm you have the I-9 by marking an “X.”

Proceed to Section TWO:

  • You are now required to enter the unit, department, object code, mail code, and check destination code.
  • The mail code is your departmental mail code and must match the department being charged. The check destination code is the mail code that will receive the check and where the student wishes to pick it up.
  • Patent Mail Code should only be completed when a patent policy form is requested. Patent Policies are required for grade 55, 56, and 57 jobs.
  • You are also required to identify a supervisor for hourly paid employees. The supervisors are listed in a drop down menu.
  • Rate of pay: You will need to enter one of the following: hourly rate, monthly rate, or one-time payment.
  • Input a tax form. If you have a W-4 for the student, you will check off “yes.” If there is no tax form, check off “no.” You are required to select one of these choices before you can proceed.
  • Click submit if you indicated “yes” to input a tax form; you are now required to complete Section W-4. This information is taken directly from the employee’s W-4 information.
  • Click submit.

You should now see a message that reads **READY TO UPDATE RECORD. PRESS UPDATE BUTTON OR CLEAR TO CANCEL**

  • If the SEA looks correct and you are ready to update, click update.

You will now see a message that reads ** RECORD CAN BE APPROVED. PLEASE ENTER NEXT STUDENT**

  • You do not have access to approve an SEA form. The CAS Business Office approves the final form.

You now need to go back to the main menu of Student Employment. You want to select the “Review/Delete Prior to Approval” function.

  • Click on this function.
  • Enter your mail code and click submit.
  • You will now see the student you have just entered. Click on the student’s ID number.
  • This will bring you a one-page summary of what you have just entered. Please verify the information. If everything is correct, print out this page and either deliver it to the Business Office or fax it to the Business Office at 617-353-3432.
  • If the information is incorrect, you may delete the SEA from the system and reenter it.
  • If the SEA is for a Graduate Financial Aid award, please forward the SEA and the Financial Aid form to GRS.

Work-Study Program

Students who are eligible to work under the Work-Study Program must meet federal guidelines for the program. Please note that BU Financial Assistance may adjust or cancel a student’s Work-Study award at any time during the academic year to meet the guidelines. Students employed under the Work-Study Program have a Maximum Earning Level based on their award. Once the maximum earning level has been reached, the student is no longer eligible to work in a Work-Study position. However you may opt to hire the student paying him/her with departmental funds, provided you have a student budget available.

Work-Study students may work a maximum of 20 hours per week while classes are in session. The 20 hours are a total number of hours combining all jobs the student may hold. When classes are not in session (exam periods, intersession, spring break, and summer), there is no restriction on the hours worked per week. The Federal Work-Study Program begins the first week of classes and ends on Commencement Day. The summer program begins the day after Commencement and ends the Sunday before the first week of classes.

Students hired into a Work-Study position are hired into a specific job for your department. You can check the Work-Study jobs for your department by going to the Work-Study Job Functions in the Business Link, click on “Maintain Existing Work-Study Jobs”, enter your mail code, and click enter.

If no jobs are listed for your department, you will need to create a new Work-Study job. To create a new Work-Study job, supervisors must complete a Work-Study Job Listing Form. This form can be found on the Student Employment website.

This form may be completed and submitted electronically. Once the form is sent to the Work-Study Office, it will approve the job and supervisors will be notified either by phone or e-mail of the job number. Please note that more than one student may be hired into a job as long as the students have the same job description, supervisor, and distribution and base rate of pay.

To have your Work-Study job posted in the Work-Study Job Directory, please see the Student Employment website at for more information.

Once you have your Work-Study job number and student for the job, you need to complete a Student Employee Authorization (SEA) Form found on the Business Link in the Student Employment Section.

Please follow the instructions above for completing an SEA form for a Student Employee.

Payments and Time Sheet Entry for Student Employees and Work-Study Students

Once an SEA has been approved in the CAS Business Office, the student has officially been set up on the student payroll system.

If a student is receiving a one-time payment or is paid monthly, there is nothing left for you to do. One-time payments will be processed in the payroll cycle often for the next week; a monthly paid student will receive a check on the last Friday of each month that he or she is set up in the job. Please keep in mind that if the monthly deadline has already passed prior to setting up the student on the system, the student’s check will run off cycle and will be produced in the next check run.

Hourly paid students are required to fill out a timesheet each week for the hours they have worked. Students fill out their timesheets online via the Student Link.

Click on “Student Link,” click on the “Work” tab, and at the bottom, you will see “Employee Time Entry.” Once selecting this, the student will see the Employee Time Entry-Job Summary.

The current week will be listed. Students are encouraged to enter their hours each day. At the end of the week, the supervisor will need to go in and “sign” students’ timesheets. Once a time sheet is signed, the Business Office will go into the online system and approve the timesheets. Once a timesheet has been approved, only the Business Office will be able to make changes. Please be advised that all of the standard deadlines will still be in effect, unless otherwise noted by the Business Office.

International Students

International students are allowed to work at Boston University if they meet certain criteria. Located on the Student Employment Website is a pamphlet that explains all the rules and criteria for International Students. Here you will find all the necessary steps international students must take in order to fulfill the criteria.

The International Students & Scholars Office (ISSO) must grant permission to students to work. An ISSO staff member will meet with the student and evaluate his or her immigration status to determine if the student is eligible to work. Work permission is generally granted to full-time students with either an F-1 or a J-1 immigration status. If granted work permission, a student with an F-1 or a J-1 visa may only work a total of 20 hours per week while classes are in session, but is welcome to work unlimited hours during summer, winter, and spring breaks.

Also, in order to work, a student must apply and obtain a Social Security number. To do this, a department can download and complete a Certification of On-Campus Employment for the Social Security number application from the ISSO website. Once completed, a student should return to the ISSO with their immigration documents and the certification letter completed by the hiring supervisor. The ISSO will then endorse the student’s certification. Applications for a Social Security number can be downloaded from the Social Security Administration’s website. Once this has been completed, the application, along with the student’s endorsed Certification of On-Campus Employment Letter and immigration documents, must be presented in person to the Social Security Administration Office. Additional information on obtaining a Social Security number can be found on the ISSO website.

For a complete list of regulations and FAQ’s, please refer to the pamphlet for international students on the Student Employment website.

Stipends

Stipends are awarded to students who are receiving a payment that does not require service to the University. This is generally aid for living and travel expenses. For domestic students, no tax is withheld by the University; however, it is the student’s responsibility to report it. International students will have a taxation rate of 14 percent unless they are claiming exempt under a tax treaty. To claim exempt, students must have a Social Security number and must complete an 8233 Form and a treaty statement with Student Payroll.

Graduate students receiving stipend awards will need to complete a Financial Aid Form with GRS Financial Aid. Undergraduate students will need to complete an Honorarium/Stipend Payment Request Form and send it to the Business Office. This form is available through the Payroll Office.

Student Functions in the Link

Student payroll functions are becoming increasingly more automated. However, at this time, departments only have access the following functions:

Under Hiring Process Functions:

  • New Hire/Rehire
  • Review/Delete Prior to Approval

General Functions:

  • Student Employees by Mail Code
  • Student Employee information
  • Student Job and Earnings History

Student Payroll Functions:

  • Student Weekly Time Entry (SE50, SE51)

Time Entry (STEP)

  • Supervisor Approval of Student Time Entry

Student Job Service Functions:

  • Post SE Job
  • Remove/Repost SE Job

Work-Study Job Functions:

  • Create a New Work-Study Job
  • Maintain Existing Work-Study Jobs (formerly View/Post)
  • Supervisor Evaluation of Student(s)

For all other functions including check destination changes, distribution changes, and approval functions, you will need to complete a paper SEA form, which can be downloaded from the Student Employment website and submitted to the Business Office.

Forms

When hiring a student, the following forms need to be completed:

Student Employee Authorization Form (SEA): This form is used to hire, rehire, or change information regarding a student and the job he or she holds. This form is filled in electronically and can found on the Business Link.

All of the following forms can be found at: http://www.bu.edu/seo/payroll/forms.html

  • I-9 Form: This form should be kept in the hiring department.
  • W-4 Form: This information can be entered on the SEA form or can be sent to the Student Employment Office.
  • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Non-Disclosure Agreement: The FERPA form is required of all students and should be kept in the hiring department.
  • Student Patent Policy Form: This form is required of all students involved in University-supported research and should be kept in the hiring department