Western Carolina University

• Definition
• Policy
• Eligibility
• Hiring Process
• Hours of Work
• Summer Employment
• Compensation
• Late Timesheets
• Position Type Determination
• Termination of Employment
• Audit Requirements
• Administering Offices

 

DEFINITION: Non Work-Study employees are undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in courses at Western Carolina University (see Eligibility for more information), who have been hired by a campus department granting them Non Work-Study employment, and who are compensated with non-federal Non Work-Study funds.  Any work achieved by Non Work-Study students primarily benefits the university.  

POLICY:   All Non Work-Study positions must be advertised on the Career Services website for a minimum of three working days to allow any interested students to apply.  Each Non Work-Study employee who is employed and paid from Non Work-Study funds must be processed through the Career Services office before physically starting work.  Any student who performs services that on the whole constitute an employee-employer relationship and are for the primary benefit of the university must be paid in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act.  Students who perform these services for a department should not be considered volunteers, nor should they be paid through scholarship, stipend or as an independent contractor.  Working without approval or “off the clock” is prohibited.   In all hiring procedures of non-federal work-study students, the Career Services Office will act in compliance with Equal Employment, Americans With Disabilities Act and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Direct deposit of all wages into a bank or financial institution is a condition of employment. 

ELIGIBILITY:  A Non Work-Study student employee must be enrolled for classes for a current or upcoming term according to minimum registered credit hours (See table below). Students will immediately become ineligible to work as Non Work-Study employees if they drop below the required number of credit hours.  In addition, students must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA to work on campus.  Employing departments may choose to increase the required GPA as necessary. Any exception to the eligibility criteria must be approved by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies.           
 

Academic Term	Undergraduate Minimum Registered Hours	Graduate Minimum Registered Hours
Fall	6	5
Spring	6	5
Summer	3, or 0 if enrolled in fall term at above hours	3, or 0 if enrolled in fall term at above hours

HIRING PROCESS:  Students who have not been previously employed by the University must complete Federal W-4, NC-4, Direct Deposit and I-9 forms in Career Services, 205 Killian Annex.  A student employment hiring form for Non Work-Study must be completed for every Non Work-Study student for each school year or summer employment period.  

HOURS OF WORK:   

Academic Term	Maximum Hours Allowed Per Week (includes all hours worked by Work Study and Non Work-Study and Graduate Assistantship Students at the same time	Exceptions
Fall	20 (or 30 with approval)	Students other than international students on F-1 or J-1 Visas may work up to 30 hours per week with special permission.  The supervisor must provide justification including the student’s academic standing and ability to perform additional hours without impacting the student’s academic standing.  The justification may also include special abilities to do the job and /or the student’s need to work additional hours for pay reasons.  The request is submitted to the Dean and/or appropriate Vice Chancellor for approval and an approved copy is then sent to the Career Services office prior to the student working the additional hours.  The Dean of the Graduate School must approve additional hours for any graduate student employee.  During semester breaks and times classes are not in session, students may work up to 40 hours per week with no special approval required.
Spring	20 (or 30 with approval)	Same as above
Summer	20 (or 30 with approval if taking summer courses) 40 (if not taking summer courses)	SPECIAL NOTE:  Students may never exceed 30 hours when classes are in session and the student employee is enrolled in classes.  Supervisors should take special care to ensure that students who have multiple jobs do not exceed the maximum limit of work hours.  If the 40 hour limit is exceeded, the last department that hired the student will be responsible for obtaining approval and identifying funds to pay the student overtime in accordance with University Policy #60. May work up to 40 hours during semester breaks and holidays if he/she is not taking summer classes but is registered for classes in the upcoming semester.

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT:  If a student is enrolled for the upcoming fall semester at the above minimum number of hours, he/she can work throughout the summer even if they are not enrolled for any summer classes. If a student works during the summer but is not enrolled in summer classes, he/she would then be subject to FICA taxes.   Students enrolled for a minimum of three hours of summer session classes but not enrolled in fall classes can work up through the time they are enrolled for the summer period. For example, if a student is enrolled for a three-hour class that begins June 1 and ends July 1, then work is permitted up through July 1. After July 1, the student would no longer be eligible to work unless he/she again becomes an enrolled student.       
A student may not work through Non Work-Study funding upon graduation from Western Carolina University. The student's last day of work may not be after the date of commencement.   A student who is not registered for summer session but is pre-registered for classes in the fall is eligible to work full-time (40 hours) during the summer term. **Please note, if a student drops below the minimum number of required registered hours or graduates before termination forms have been filed, he/she will be subject to FICA tax for the hours completed after the student became ineligible to work.

COMPENSATION:  Each student employee must be paid at least the federal minimum wage rate.  Justification for paying students more than $1 above minimum wage must be written on the hourly hiring form for Non Work-Study employment. A student’s pay is established via a hiring form and processed through Career Services for the dates listed on the hiring form or until the student has been terminated from the position (See Termination of Employment for more information). If a supervisor wishes to change a wage rate, he/she must complete the Hourly Change Form and submit it to the Career Services office for review and approval. 

LATE TIMESHEETS:  Timesheets are due every other week as noted by the bi-weekly payroll schedule.  Students who fail to submit 3 timesheets in one semester will be terminated from their position.  Supervisors who miss 3 approval deadlines in one academic year will lose their approver status.  Read more.

POSITION TYPE DETERMINATION:  All job descriptions are subject to review by the Offices of Human Resources, Payroll, and Career Services. Determinations regarding whether the work to be performed by the student is subject to FLSA regulations will be made on the specific job description and duties rather than job title. Students who perform services that are closely tied to the institution’s educational program and are designed to enhance the overall educational experience may be considered for an Educational Stipend (See Educational Stipend Policies and Procedures (link)). Students who perform work that has limited educational value and does not directly relate to the institution’s educational/instructional program should be regarded as employees and are governed by Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act regulations.

TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT:  A student employee who is no longer actively working should be separated from the payroll by submitting an hourly change form. When a student employee separates from employment, the supervisor is responsible for submitting this paperwork.  Paperwork must be submitted to Carrie Hachadurian, Student Employment Specialist located in Career Services, via campus mail (205 Killian Annex) fax (828-227-7344) or email (cphachadurian@email.wcu.edu) by the dates specified on the bi-weekly payroll schedules. Students may not be re-hired for the same position after being terminated in the same semester.
 
AUDIT REQUIREMENTS:  Departmental records are subject to audit by the University's Internal Auditor and by external auditors.   The hours submitted on the student's timesheet must reflect the actual hours worked on the dates indicated.  Timesheets that misrepresent actual time worked expose the University to serious penalties under state and federal law.  Such misrepresentation, either by the student or supervisor is strictly prohibited. 

ADMINISTERING OFFICES:  Questions regarding this policy should be referred to the Career Services Office (828-227-3888).  If a question pertains specifically to a payroll issue or FLSA policy interpretation, the Office of Human Resources and Payroll should be contacted (828-227-7218).