FEDERAL WORK STUDY MANUAL FOR STUDENTS OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AID BLINN HALL FALL, 2014 It is the student’s responsibility to be familiar with all of the material in this manual. All questions pertaining to the Federal Work Study Program should be directed to the Financial Aid Office. Students who violate any of these policies face immediate cancellation of their Federal Work Study Award and loss of future work study eligibility. Federal Work Study is awarded to the student by the Financial Aid Office. It is based on financial need, which is determined from the information provided by the student applicant on the financial aid application. The student accepts work study by securing a job either on campus, or off campus with a community service organization. The Financial Aid Office posts all available positions from job descriptions supplied by each supervisor looking for help. Students can search for available jobs using notebooks located in the Financial Aid Office. If interested in a job, the student should call the contact person (supervisor) listed on the job description for an informal interview. After interviewing, the supervisor must complete a Federal Work Study Department Work Authorization Form. The student must return the Work Authorization Form to the Financial Aid Office. The Financial Aid Office will create a contract after the student submits all appropriate paperwork. The original contract will be sent to the Payroll Office and copies will be given to both the student and the supervisor. Once the supervisor receives the contract, the student may begin working. Students may not begin working and will not receive Federal Work Study pay for any hours worked prior to signing a contract. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL WORK STUDY STUDENTS 1. Students eligible for Federal Work Study must be awarded through the financial aid application process and must be making satisfactory academic progress as outlined in the College Catalogue and on the Financial Aid section of the MMA website. Students should check their financial aid award notice (via Webadvisor) to determine if they have been awarded Federal Work Study. 2. Students eligible for Federal Work Study must have proper identification as required by the Department of Homeland Security – US Citizenship and Immigration Services when applying to work on campus. Students may not begin working until all paperwork is completed with the Financial Aid Office. Valid documentation include a U.S. Passport OR a picture ID (driver’s license) AND an original social security card. 3. Varsity athletes are not allowed to secure work study positions in the Athletic Department or with anyone who coaches a varsity athletic team, or perform custodial/facilities duties in the gymnasium or on athletic grounds. RULES AND POLICIES FOR FEDERAL WORK STUDY STUDENTS 1. FAMILY RULE/JOB RULE No student employee may work in a department where they are directly supervised by an immediate family member. Varsity athletes are not allowed to secure work study positions in the Athletic Department or perform custodial/facilities duties in the gymnasium or on athletic grounds; nor work for someone who coaches an athletic team at MMA. Students may only work one (1) job on campus at any given time. If a student is not happy with a work study placement and would prefer a different placement, the student must cease working in the first position and notify the Financial Aid Office that they are changing assignments. A new work authorization form and contract must be completed with the new supervisor before starting a new position. 2. LAWS REGARDING FAIR LABOR PRACTICES Massachusetts Law requires that all supervisors give students a thirty (30) minute break after they have worked six (6) consecutive hours in a day. These breaks are not paid. If a timesheet is submitted for 6 consecutive hours or more without a break, the Payroll Office will deduct thirty (30) minutes from the total hours for that day. 3. STUDENT EMPLOYMENT LABOR PRACTICES Student employees are not paid for time not worked. Students do not receive paid vacation days, sick days, personal days, holidays or benefits. If a student is not working during the scheduled time, they must indicate breaks in shift on the timesheet. Students do not get paid breaks or paid lunches. All time off should be discussed in advance and approved by the supervisor. Students are expected to contact their direct supervisor to report tardiness or absences. If the supervisor does not have sufficient work for the student, the student should cease working for the day and only report time on the timesheet for hours actually spent performing assigned job duties. For purposes of State Unemployment Insurance work study employment is temporary, does not contain any provisions for fringe benefits or holiday pay, and is contingent upon available funds. Work Study students are an exempt class under the Employment and Training Law and do not qualify for unemployment insurance. 4. SALARY RANGE The rate of pay for a work study student ranges from $12 - $15 per hour. Standard on campus positions pay $12 per hour and off campus, community service positions pays $15. Students working for Chartwells will be paid $15 per hour. There are very few exceptions to this rule. 5. MAXIMUM HOURS The work study award amount is intended to be earned throughout the academic year. Please note that in order to employ a work study student through the entire academic year, students may not work more than 4 - 6 hours per week. The only exception to this rule would be students planning on participating in the Chinese exchange program in the spring. These students may work no more than 10 hours per week, to earn their annual work study award prior to the start of the spring semester. Since students are at MMA to receive their education, student employment is meant to provide spending money for the student, and not meant to supplement understaffing in a department. If a department is in need of more than 5 hours per week, the department should hire multiple students. 6. DEPLETION OF WORK STUDY FUNDS By averaging 5 hours per week, the student’s work study award should last from September to June. If, on a very rare occasion a student has earned all of their work study award before the end of the academic year, their work study position ends and the student is removed from payroll. In the rare occasion that all work study funds are depleted early, the Financial Aid Office reserves the right to require all students to cease working, even if an individual student has not yet earned all of their award. 7. PAY SCHEDULE The pay periods for work study students run on a two-week cycle. This cycle is determined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Paychecks are direct deposited into student bank accounts. 8. WORK SCHEDULE Students should set up a predetermined schedule with their supervisor at the start of each semester. The student must provide the supervisor with a copy of his/her class schedule (printed from Web Advisor) to determine free time. UNDER ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANCES should a student work during any scheduled time that shows on their class schedule, EVEN IF A CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELLED OR DISMISSED EARLY on a given day, and EVEN IF THE STUDENT HAS LABS OR MAINTENANCE HOURS every other week and isn’t really ‘in class’ on a given day. If the student’s class schedule shows a scheduled class or maintenance hours, regardless of whether or not the student has that time free; the student CAN NOT work. Audits of a student’s timesheets against their class schedule are performed throughout the year and if a student reports working during a scheduled class time, the student could face immediate termination of their work study position. 9. RECORDING HOURS WORKED All students must complete timesheets to record time worked. The time worked should be recorded on a daily basis. The time recorded must reflect actual hours worked on a specific day. When recording hours, the hours should reflect the appropriate designation of AM or PM. If the scheduled work shift will be more than six (6) hours in length, a thirty (30) minute break must be reflected in the hours worked (see # 3). → The student must attach a copy of his/her class schedule (printed from Web Advisor) to each time sheet that is submitted. This is to ensure that the student did not work during any scheduled class time. Timesheets will be compared with the class schedule before any timesheet is processed. Timesheets are due into the Payroll Department on Fridays by 10am. Hours submitted on a timesheet must have already been worked. Timesheets should never include anticipated hours to be worked later in the week. The supervisor and the department head must all sign the timesheet and record the total number of hours worked in the appropriate box. Hours worked after 10Am on Friday, or over the weekend, should be submitted on a separate timesheet and turned in to the Payroll Office no later than 10am on Monday. If the student starts working and the employing department has not yet received any timesheets for the student, the student should use the time log provided by the Financial Aid Office to keep track of hours worked. The student may be asked to provide a copy of this log at any time during the year. STUDENTS SHOULD NEVER BE ASKED TO SIGN MULTIPLE TIMESHEETS AT ONCE. ALL TIMESHEETS ARE TO BE SIGNED AT THE END OF YOUR WORK SHIFT FOR EACH WEEK. STUDENTS WHO ARE ASKED TO SIGN MULTIPLE TIMESHEETS AT ONCE MUST REPORT THIS TO THE FINANCIAL AID OFFICE. ANY SUPERVISOR WHO REQUIRES STUDENTS TO SIGN MULTIPLE TIMESHEETS WILL BE IMMEDIATELY REMOVED AS A WORK STUDY SUPERVISOR. 10. POLICY ON SUPERVISION AND DISCIPLINE Supervising is a matter of style, however the following is the official discipline policy for Massachusetts Maritime Academy student employees. Please remember that with all employee related matters, written notification is required to maintain an accurate student employee personnel file. Copies of any disciplinary notices should be sent to the Financial Aid Office to be put in the student’s work study file. REASONS FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS o Excessive tardiness o Excessive absenteeism o Any absence without legitimate excuse or notification o Carelessness which results in injury to property, person or public relations o Discourtesy and/or failure to work harmoniously with other employees o Performing non-work related tasks while on duty o Using college property or materials for non-work related purposes o Sharing confidential information with persons not authorized to receive the information o Personal use of phones, computers (including student e-mail), or office supplies o Other inappropriate work behavior o Fraudulent timesheets (immediate termination and suspension of all future work study awards and report to the Honor Board) o Working during scheduled class/maintenance time as documented on Web Advisor 11. CONFIDENTIALITY During employment in various departments of the Academy, a work study student may come in contact with highly sensitive documents/information of a personal, confidential and sensitive nature concerning other students, staff, etc. By accepting a Federal Work Study position the student agrees that such information is to stay in the department in which they are working, not to be repeated, discussed or copied for any other students to have access to. Violation of this policy results in IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT ALONG WITH FURTHER PUNITIVE ACTION. September, 2014