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UCSC Student Work-Study Information

What is Federal Work-Study?
How do I apply for Work-Study?
Who determines my work-study award eligibility?
Can Work-Study employees work off-campus?
What are my responsibilities as a Work-Study employee?
Reasons you may be discontinued from working

Work-Study Awards

Do I have to pay my work-study back to the university?
What happens if I do not earn all my work-study?
Can I use my total work-study award in one quarter?
Are work-study earnings taxable?
What do I do after I accepted the work-study award but I have decided after the
fact to decline it?

How Do I Get a Job?

How do I view and apply for student jobs?
The Hiring Process
When can I begin working?
Where do I sign up for Payroll?
Do I need to show my supervisor anything before I can begin work?
How do I return to a work-study job I had the previous year?
How do I divide a work-study award between multiple jobs?

Pay and Hours

Time sheet and payroll schedule
How do I report my Work-Study hours?
How to fill out your time sheet
What happens if my time sheet is late?
When do I get paid?
Where do I pick up my pay check?
What do I do about a Lost pay check?
How do I sign up for Direct Deposit?
Where can I get my earnings statements, W-2 or change my tax withholding?
How many hours am I allowed to work?
Estimated Work Hours Per Week Based On Pay Rate




What is Federal Work-Study?

The Federal College Work-Study Program has been designed to benefit you, on-campus employers and non-profit off-campus employers. There are a wide variety of jobs available on the UCSC campus as well as with off-campus organizations.You are encouraged to look for a position that relates to your academic interest or career goal.

Work-Study can only be used during the academic year, mid September through mid June, and during quarters in which you are enrolled in at least 6 units for undergraduate students and 5 units for graduate students. Any unused portion cannot be carried over to the following year.

Work-study allows employers to hire students at a reduced cost. A percentage of your wages are paid by Federal College Work-Study funds and the remaining balance is paid by your employer.

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How do I apply for work-study?

To be considered for work study, you must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or renewal FAFSA application to the Financial Aid Office by March 2nd each year. As funding permits, late applicants are processed on a first-come, first-served basis after all on time applications have been awarded.

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Who determines my work-study award?

The Financial Aid Office is responsible for determining the need and eligibility for each student who applies for financial aid while using federal guidelines and university policies.

Awards range from $400 to $2,300 depending on your need and other aid awarded. If you have been offered work-study as a part of your financial aid package, you may NOT begin working until you have accepted the offer through the student portal.

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Can Work-Study employees work off-campus?

Non-Profit: The organization may be public or private, must be non-profit and tax exempt as certified by the IRS. Eligibility for membership to the organization may not be limited in anyway.

Non-Political: The Work-Study job must be directly supervised and may not involve the employee in political activities which include working for a candidate for public office or an elected official, working on a political campaign, or lobbying on the federal, state, or local level.

Non-Religious: Maintenance of any facility used, or to be used, for sectarian instruction, or as a place of worship is prohibited;

For National/Community Welfare: A Work-Study employee may only perform work that is for national or community welfare, rather than for a particular interest or group.

Be sure the organization has submitted a work-study contract to the Work-Study Coordinator in the Career Center.

If an organization meets the above requirements, it may participate in the Work-Study program. The University and the organization must complete and sign a formal contract. This contract is initiated between the employer and the Career Center's, Work-Study Coordinator. Once the contract is approved and signed, jobs may be posted for Work-Study positions available within the organization.

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What are my responsibilities as a work-study employee?

• Call your supervisor before your shift begins if you are ill and cannot come to work.
• Make other arrangements with your supervisor in advance, if you cannot keep your schedule;
• Arrive to work on time;
• Record all hours that you have worked on your time sheet;
• Make sure your time sheet is submitted on time;
• Discuss job-related problems or questions with your supervisor

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Reasons you may be discontinued from working

• You are not registered, or are registered for less than six units for undergraduate students and 5 units for graduate students;
• Have withdrawn, or are on a leave of absence;
• Have been academically barred from enrolling in a subsequent quarter or
• Your gross earnings have exceeded your Work-Study award.

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Do I have to pay my work-study award back to the university?

No, you are working and earning these wages. You can spend these funds as needed to pay your living expenses or UCSC bills.

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What happens if I don't use all of my work-study?

Unused work-study allocations cannot be carried over from one academic year to the next. In addition, work-study may not be used during summer break. Students need to apply each year.

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Can I use my total work-study award in one quarter?

Your work-study award is for the entire academic year (3 quarters only -does not include Summer)

For example: If your total work-study award is $1500, the breakdown is as follows: Fall $500.00, Winter $500.00 and Spring $500.00. If you use all of your award too soon, your job must changed to non work-study or your employer may terminate your employment. If you withdraw before the end of the academic year, and you have earned more than one third of your award per quarter, you may be billed for other aid you received. For more information please contact the Financial Aid Office.

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Are Work-Study earnings taxable?

YES...work-study wages are considered earnings and are subject to all federal, state, and local taxes. You will receive a W-2 form from the UCSC Payroll Office before the tax filing deadline. Earnings must be reported on your federal and state tax returns as income.

If you have any questions regarding your W-2 Form please contact the UCSC Payroll Office.

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What do I do if I have accepted my Work-Study award but then decide to decline?

No action is required. The award remains in an accepted state and is only activated (disbursed) when the you have accepted a job and are receiving pay. For more information contact the Financial Aid Office.

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How do I view and apply for student jobs?

You can view and apply for job listings on-line at the Career Center Student Employee Request System. Currently registered students may apply for both non work-study and work-study (if eligible) jobs. You may create and save up to 5 applications for future use and have the option of making them viewable to hiring supervisors.

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The Hiring Process

How to Apply:

• Go to the Student Employee Request (ER) system
• Click on "Work-study jobs", or "Non work-study jobs"
• You must apply to the Work-Study version of a job to use your award.
• Click on the job title you are interested in.
• Click on the "apply" button at the bottom of the page
• Employers will then contact you directly if they would like to interview you for the position. Generally, you will be asked to come to the office for an interview. Be prepared to answer questions about your previous work experience and skills. For interview preparation assistance see Advising.

New Work-Study positions are posted throughout the school year but are not allowed to be posted earlier than the 2nd Sunday of September.

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When can I begin working?

Newly hired students may not begin working UNDER ANY CIRMUSTANCE until authorized by the Career Center. Hours that you work before your forms are submitted cannot be paid through the payroll system or with Federal College Work-Study funds. This is an important detail if you want to be paid in a timely manner.

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How do I sign up for payroll?

As a work-study employee you are paid by the University. You must come to the Career Center to sign up for payroll and fill out your employment forms.

You need to bring with you originals of your:

Social Security Card

Picture ID (Campus ID is okay)

OR

Passport

Please click here for a detailed identification list

Copies WILL NOT be accepted!

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Do I need to show my supervisor anything before I can begin work?

A Clearance-to-Commence Work (Blue) Card

This card will be issued to you by the Career Center after all of your employment/payroll forms have been completed. You will need to give this card to your supervisor/employer to verify the date you are officially hired.

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How do I return to a work-study job I had the previous year?

Supervisors must re-hire work-study students each year, either by using an existing application, or they may ask that you re-apply to the work-study job.

If you are returning to a job you held during the previous Spring quarter and will be returning to it in the fall, you generally will NOT need to come to the Career Center and may start work immediately (if your rehire date is before 10/31/XX). You will NOT receive a clearance to commence work card in this case.

However, if you plan on returning to a previous job and you are rehired after 10/31/XX you probably will have come into the Career Center to fill out new employment/payroll paperwork and you will receive a new blue card.

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How do I divide a work-study award between multiple jobs?

You may work at more than one Work-Study job if you do not have enough hours at your first job to utilize your full Work-Study award. When you acquire additional Work-Study jobs, you will need to split your work-study funds through the Student Employee Request (ER) System.

• Log into the ER system
• Go to “My Applications”
• Click "Click Here to view or edit Work-Study Award Allocations"
• Complete and submit the Work-Study allocation page
• The confirmation page will appear when your allocation is successfully submitted. You may change the allocations for multiple jobs at any time during the year.

Work-Study split example: If you sign up for two jobs and your award is $2,000, you must split your Work-Study award between the two jobs. If you give one job $500 and the other $1,500 for a total of $2,000, you cannot earn more than $500 in gross earnings at the job allocated $500. At the second job, you may not earn more than the $1,500, allocated (gross earnings).

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Time sheet and Payroll Schedule

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How do I report my hours worked?

Most on-campus student employees will start using the CruzPay on-line time reporting system for hours starting 4/24/08.

The few On-Campus who still use paper time sheets must turn them in to your supervisor, who must deliver it to the HR Service team for their Unit.

All Off-campus work-study students use this paper time sheet, Excel or PDF

Your off-campus supervisor needs to fax your time sheet to the Financial Aid Office, all of the information is listed at the bottom of the off-campus time sheet.

How to fill out your time sheet

Pay periods start on the 24th of the month and end on the 23rd of the following month. For example, October 24th through November 23rd constitutes the November pay period. No holiday, vacation, sick days, or lunch breaks may be paid by Work-Study funds and should not be entered on the time sheet.

Enter the hours that you work each day, taking care to be accurate. You will need a separate time sheet for each department in which you work. A time sheet does have spaces for recording time worked for job 1 and job 2. This is intended to be used when a student has two different jobs in the same department.

Time reported should be calculated to the nearest quarter hour. For example, if you work forty minutes, forty-five minutes should be entered on the time sheet (recorded as .75); if you work twenty minutes, the time should be 15 minutes (recorded as .25). Any changes to the Work-Study time sheet must be initialed. There may be other deadlines established by your department, so be sure to ask what they are.

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What happens if my time sheet is late?

If your time sheet is received after the time sheet deadline established by your employer, it will result in a one-month delay in your paycheck.

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When do I get paid?

If your time sheet is submitted by the deadline, you will receive a pay check on the 8th of the following month.

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Where do I pick up my pay check?

Your check will be sent to the campus location that you designated when you completed your employment/payroll paperwork at the Career Center. Paychecks may be directly deposited to your bank, sent to an on-campus address such as your college office, or to the department where you work.

Paychecks sent to your college must be picked up at the office and will not be delivered to your mailbox.

If you want to change the destination of your check, or if it is being sent to an incorrect address, you should contact the Career Center or the Accounting Payroll Office for further information.

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What do I do about a lost pay check?

Pay Checks not picked up within 15 days are returned to the payroll department. Contact the payroll office:
http://financial.ucsc.edu/Pages/Payroll_Contacts.aspx

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How do I sign up for Direct Deposit (Sure Pay)?

To have your pay deposited directly to your bank account, you may stop by the Career Center and ask for the form, or download this form from payroll.

Complete the form and attach a voided check or deposit slip. Drop the form off at the Career Center or send to the Accounting Office, Attn: Payroll. It takes 4-6 weeks for the process to be completed.

Having direct deposit is great for when pay day is on a weekend, or during school breaks and we highly recommend it. It is very difficult to track down lost pay checks or checks that were not picked up in a timely matter.

When you have direct deposit, your earnings statements may be checked on-line at AYSO.

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At Your Service On-Line (AYSO)

AYSO is a employee self-service web application for all UC employees. Once you sign up, you will be presented with your Personal Welcome Page. This is where you may add your contact information, view your monthly earnings statements, update your tax withholding (W-4) and even access/print your W-2 for tax purposes at the end of the year.

Log on to http://atyourservice.ucop.edu about one week after completing payroll sign-up at the Career Center but within one month of employment using your social security number and password. Your temporary password is your birth date in the format mmddyyyy.

Detailed Instructions for accessing your W-2 and Earnings Statements on AYSO

Contact UC Customer Service if you have any login questions or to have your password re-set: (800) 888-8267 M-F, 8:30-4:30.

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As a student, how many hours am I allowed to work?

As a student you may work up to 19 hours or less per week during each quarter when classes are scheduled, and up to 40 hours per week during quarter breaks. Employers must understand that academics take priority over your job.

In addition, it is your responsibility to ensure that your hours are distributed equally throughout the quarters that you will be enrolled. In most cases, you are enrolled for three quarters. You and your employer should make an effort to ensure that your hours are divided evenly over the three quarters so that your Work-Study earnings are received at the rate of 1/3 each quarter. Please see the chart below for clarification.

Estimated Work Hours Per Week Based On Pay Rate

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For further information regarding the Federal Work Study Program, please contact the Work-Study Coordinator at (831)459-4024 or phnorton@ucsc.edu.

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