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Office of the University Controller Indiana University

Information for Agencies

This page contains information for off campus work study agencies. Use the Table of Contents button on the right-hand side of the page to jump to a topic. Contact the University Work Study Administrator using the contact information on the Work Study page after reviewing this page.

Required Employment Forms

The forms linked below are required for every work study agency appointment.

For the Bloomington campus, the IU Share system automatically sends these forms to the student to complete when the hire request is initiated. The hire cannot be completed until these forms are received.

All work study employees must also complete the Direct Deposit Authorization, Federal Tax, and State Tax forms. These may be accessed through the Employee Center in One.IU.

Additional information about the requirements listed above can be found in the Off Campus Work Study Employment Guidelines.

Additional Employment Forms

The forms linked below may also apply to work study agency appointments:

  • Hire a New Student – Use this form to hire a new student employee, or rehire a student employee. Note: If you are rehiring a student, they may begin work immediately. The required employment forms listed above will already be on file.
  • Change an Existing Student’s Appointment – Use this form to change pay rates or other job data for an existing student employee’s work study assignment.
  • Terminate a Student’s Appointment – Use this form to end a student employee’s work study assignment. The agency is responsible for terminating work study assignments.

For the Bloomington campus, these forms are found and submitted in IU Share.

 

Additional Information for Agencies

Background Check

All student employees hired into an off-campus work study position must have a successful background check completed in order to begin working. If a student employee does not have an ACTIVE off-campus work study job, a new background check is required. Generally, an active job in a part-time (hourly) position does not satisfy the background check requirement for off-campus work study, as work study background checks involve an extra screening for working with children.

Work Study Authorization

Each campus establishes its own procedures and documents for processing work study authorization. Your agency must follow the instructions provided by the campus making the work study award. On the Bloomington campus, agencies should complete the Authorization Form which is available here. Contact Bloomington FWS for details at iubosfa@iu.edu.

Limit of Earnings

Each student is assigned a dollar limitation of earnings as indicated on the student’s Work Study Authorization Form. The limit of earnings is the gross amount the student may earn, and it includes the agency’s percentage share and the federal percentage share.

Students are not allowed to earn more than their limit of earnings during the authorized period. When a student reaches his or her maximum limit of earnings, your agency must either transfer the student to your agency payroll or discontinue the student’s employment. You should make this expectation clear to the student at the time of hiring.

Your agency is responsible for monitoring that the student does not exceed this limit of earnings. Any excess amount exceeding the limit paid by the University will be billed 100% to your agency. After the close of each payroll, you may request a limit of earnings report of your students’ earnings and remaining balance. Please contact the Office of Financial Assistance, using their contact information on the Work Study contact page, for this report. You may wish to adjust the scheduled working hours per week in order to spread the student’s employment throughout the academic period.

If the student’s limit of earnings is exceeded, or if your agency submits late timesheets after the end of an academic year or summer session, then your agency is responsible and will be billed for 100% of the student’s wages. If additional hours are required or a student nears his or her limit, your agency always has the option of contacting Student Financial Assistance to determine whether or not an increase in limit can be approved. If the limit of earnings changes during the authorized period, your agency will receive a Change in Limit of Earnings form indicating the new limit.

Limit on Hours Worked

We recommend that your agency limit the hours of students who are working part-time and attending class full-time to an average of 20 hours per week while classes are in session. The 20 hour average is calculated over the period of enrollment for which the student has received an award. During vacation periods, holidays, and between semesters, students awarded work study may work up to, but not to exceed, 40 hours per week. The 40 hour weekly limit applies to the total of hours worked on all jobs for your agency and Indiana University. Students may not work when they are scheduled to be in class.

Hourly Pay Rates

The student’s hourly pay rate is determined by your agency, subject to Indiana University’s minimum wage of $10.15 per hour. Federal regulations require that a student be paid the same amount normally paid to any other person with the same abilities performing the same functions. Your agency may not pay a student a greater or lesser amount because the federal government is paying a greater percent of the wages. For any subsequent changes to a student’s pay rate, your agency must complete a Change an Existing Student's Appointment form and send it to your work study contact person.

Percentage Share of Wages

When your agency hires a work-study student, your agency will be invoiced up to 50% of the student’s limit of earnings depending on his or her percentage. Invoices for the academic year are generated in October and November. Invoices for the summer session are generated in July. Your agency should remit payment to Indiana University Accounts Receivable to the address on the invoice. Return the bottom half of the invoice with payment. Without this invoice number, payment may not be properly applied which could affect your ability to hire future work study students. Discrepancies between projected and actual earnings will be adjusted after the end of the contract period, and excess funds may remain as a credit or will be returned to your agency upon your written request to the Work Study Administrator.

America Reads Challenges and America Counts Program

Agencies participating in the federal reading tutoring programs, “America Reads Challenge,” and the “America Counts Program,” are exempt from the requirement to contribute to the student’s wages. The federal contribution is 100% for students employed as a tutor for reading or mathematics. America Reads applies to FWS students who tutor children in preschool through elementary school, as well as family literacy programs. This program includes literacy tutoring for children, literacy training for parents or caregivers of children in the program, equipping parents or caregivers with the skills needed to partner with their children in learning, and literacy activities between parents or caregivers and their children. America Counts applies to the students who serve as mathematics tutors to kindergarten through ninth grade school children. If you have questions determining if positions qualify for either the American Reads Challenge or the America Counts Program, you should contact your campus Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

Timekeeping

Your agency is required to use the university’s web-based time keeping system, Kuali Time. Employees record their hours during the pay period, and the timesheets are routed for approval at the end of the pay period. Your agency payroll supervisor MUST approve all timesheets by 5:00 pm on the following Tuesday. Any unapproved timesheets will be auto-approved and paid.

If a timesheet is auto-approved and later determined to be an overpayment, your agency is still responsible for paying the billed hours. Any time not reported or corrections for past pay periods must be entered on a yellow paper timesheet and sent to the campus work study contact. Late timesheets will be added and paid in the next off cycle payroll. Indiana University will pay all hours submitted by your agency. Continued auto-approved timesheets could result in your agency losing its eligibility to participate in the federal work study program. Please communicate with your campus payroll contact for more information.

Direct Deposit

Indiana University’s policy is to pay its employees via electronic funds transfer (also known as direct deposit) to the U.S. financial institution(s) designated by each employee. Payroll direct deposit is a convenient, secure, fast, and cost-effective method for delivering wage and salary payments. Direct deposit ensures employees will receive their pay even if they are away from work due to travel, illness, or leave.

If work study students do not sign up for direct deposit, they will be issued paper checks, which they will have to pick up from their campus payroll office after presenting a photo ID. If they do not pick up their checks within 21 days, the checks will be mailed to their home address on record, so please be sure work study students review and update their address information in our system.

Account Numbers

If your agency employs work study students, you will be assigned a unique account number for each Indiana University campus involved. Account numbers are assigned so that the campus can be identified by the middle three digits of the account. Please use your account number in all correspondence.

FICA/Medicare

If a work study student is not enrolled at least half time, the student will be charged FICA/Medicare taxes. Your agency will also be invoiced for its share of the student’s FICA/Medicare taxes (7.65% of payroll subject to FICA/Medicare taxes).