Effective June 24th 2024, all posting and hiring functions will be completed and processed through the JobX Student Job Board.
When hiring a student, check with your payroll coordinator for the proper procedures for your department. Only students who meet Student Employment Eligibility Criteria are eligible to be paid as student employees. Without a hire record, student employees will not be paid on time.
Are you new to Boston University or the JobX Student Job Board? Review the full JobX platform guide.
Creating/Posting Jobs
Student employment jobs must be created before students can be hired into the respective position.
Setting up a Job – Video – PDF guide
You may review the Job Classifications Guide to identify the Job type, Job category, Job title, and pay scale.
Hiring students
Reviewing Applications and Hiring – PDF guide
Students are able to work without a Social Security Number. More information on Hiring Students Without Social Security Numbers.
Please refer to Hiring International Students for additional information when hiring international students.
Are you hiring a graduated or withdrawn student as a staff or faculty member?
- Please follow the appropriate steps based on their current employment status:
- If the student was terminated from their former student employment position, please follow up with Human Resources for guidance on the next steps.
- If the student is actively employed within your department, you may initiate a “Position Change” through the Personnel Actions section on BUworks Central.
- If the student is actively employed outside of your department, you will need to coordinate with the current department to either initiate a position transfer through Personnel Actions on BUworks Central or have the department terminate the student from their role, allowing you to proceed with hiring them through the standard method outlined by Human Resources.
Hiring students with Work-Study Awards
Hiring Work-Study Eligible student is no different that hiring any other student. As your proceed with the hiring process, Work-Study information will be provide on the student’s profile indicating if they’ve receive an award.
Once Financial Assistance has awarded a student, the student’s JobX record will update to reflect the award amount and period. Staff are advised to review each student record confirming the award has been applied before assigning the Federal Work-Study Cost Object during the hiring process.
Once that information is confirmed, the hire requestor will designate the hire as a Work-Study Student Employee by assigning the Federal Work-Study Cost Object in the first two fields defining the Cost Distribution as shown in the example below.
Cost Object 1: 9500XXXXXX*
Cost Object 1 Percentage: 70
The hire requestor must supply the cost object for the remaining 30%.
* Federal Work-Study IO changes annually. Student Employment will supply the new Federal Work-Study IO each year. Staff will have access to the information on the JobX hiring page when asked to input the cost distribution.
Federal Work-Study Overview
Federal Work-Study is a federally-funded financial aid program administered by Boston University. It is designed to provide access to employment, helping students meet educational expenses. Participants also gain valuable work experience while helping the University and nonprofit organizations meet their staffing needs. The program is not intended to provide students with opportunities to study while at work.
Boston University departments that hire Work-Study students incur a charge of 30% of those students’ earnings. The Federal Work-Study Program funds the remaining 70%.
Work-Study Awards
Work-Study is awarded to eligible students as part of their financial aid packages. Work-Study awards are distributed for each program (academic year and summer) and are non transferable.
Students apply for academic year Work-Study by indicating their interest in working on the FAFSA form. BU Financial Assistance selects as many participants as funding allows, based on students’ financial need. Students apply for summer Work-Study by applying here, after ensuring that their financial aid documents for the upcoming academic year are submitted and confirmed.
All undergraduate Work-Study students are paid hourly, while graduate students may be paid either hourly or weekly-salaried, depending on the job. A student’s gross earnings are automatically subtracted from their Work-Study Award Amount, until either the Maximum Earnings Level is reached, or the program ends.
Adjustment or Cancellation
If a student’s eligibility changes at any time during the academic year or summer program, BU Financial Assistance may need to adjust or cancel their Work-Study award. Circumstances which may require this include, but are not limited to, withdrawal from the University, failure to maintain a satisfactory grade point average, or the addition of financial assistance from outside sources.
Remember: Students must reapply for Work-Study each year when they apply for federal financial assistance, by completing the FAFSA by the established deadline. More information is available for undergraduate students from Financial Assistance. Graduate students should consult the financial aid coordinator at their school or college.
I-9 Status
Supervisors and Payroll Coordinators will encounter a list of employment validations during the hiring process. At this stage, the system displays the current status of the student’s Form I-9 and other required employment forms.
Students who have completed their I-9 will display a “PASSED” validation icon at this stage, and the user may proceed with the hire request.
If the student still needs to complete the Form I-9, the user may proceed with the hire, but the hire approval will be contingent upon completing the I-9 and any other required employment forms.
Upon completion of the hire request, the user can notify the student of the pending hire. The notification will also request the student to complete any required forms, including the Form I-9, as soon as possible.
It’s important to note that a student cannot be hired until the I-9 has been completed. Furthermore, it’s crucial that if the student has started working that do not continue to working without the I-9 having been completed.
The hire can be approved once the I-9 is in “Completed” status on the JobX Student Job Board.
Follow our University Form I-9 Procedures for instructions on completing this form.
Student Time Entry and Approval
The typical Student Timesheet approval process should be as follows:
- Student submits timesheet by supervisor deadline; must be by Sunday 11:59PM.
- Supervisor reviews and approves student timesheet.
- Payroll Coordinator ensures all timesheets with hours have a supervisor sign off date; if not, approves to ensure student is paid on time.
In pay weeks of early payroll deadlines, this process should still be followed but using the early payroll deadline dates. Typical early payroll deadlines are due to federal, state, or university holidays that necessitate university and office closure.
For Non-Exempts, by Managers:
-
- Approving Time Sheets: PDF, Video
- Enter/Release Time on Behalf of Employee
For Non-Exempts, by Timekeepers:
Federal Tax Withholding Certificate - W-4
If the student has never worked at BU, it is optional for them to complete a W-4. If a W-4 is not completed, the student will be taxed at the highest rate: single with zero dependents.
Refer international students to Tax Information for International Students.
Do not give students tax advice or tell them how to complete the W-4 form. Most students claim 0 or 1 single. Students who claim exempt must re-file every calendar year. If students have questions about what to claim, suggest they talk to their parent or guardian. Further information for students regarding taxes is available here.
General Procedures and Policies
General Procedures and Information
- Check/Direct Deposit Reversals
- Salary Advances
- Student Worker Accident Procedure
- Student Employee Breaks and Unpaid Time
- Summer FICA Policy
General Policies
FERPA Policy
FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a federal law enacted in 1974 that guarantees the confidentiality of student records and general information.
Supervisors must familiarize themselves with FERPA and stress to their student employees the importance of confidentiality. Students who might, at any time, access student information must read and sign the FERPA Non-Disclosure Agreement, which identifies the basic provisions of the law. The agreement will be captured during the hiring process prior to employment. The Student Employment Office will retain signed FERPA agreements for future reference.
FERPA violations may result in disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, job termination.
Student Employment Confidentiality Policy
All students working on campus must understand and sign statements agreeing to the Student Employment Confidentiality Policy. This agreement is integrated into the hiring process and are stored digitally with the Student Employment Office.
The Student Employment Confidentiality Policy was created to stress to student employees the importance of confidentiality in the workplace. Information acquired at work should remain in the workplace.
Intellectual Property Policy
Students involved in University-supported research are required to sign an Intellectual Property Policy Agreement. The Vice President and Associate Provost for Research will be responsible for establishing and maintaining procedures and administrative support needed to implement the Intellectual Property Policy.
Students required to sign the agreement based on University guidelines will automatically receive an email request from ippolicy@bu.edu once they are hired. Principal investigators or student hiring managers who would like other students in their research or academic groups to sign the agreement, for any reason, will need to manually prompt students to sign by sharing the Intellectual Property Policy Agreement.