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Employer's Handbook
Payroll- How Should Students Record Their Time Worked?
- Reporting Hours to Payroll: On-Campus Employees
- Reporting Hours to Payroll: Off-Campus Employees
- Paychecks
- Taxes
- What Should a Student Do If There is a Change of Address?
- How Can a Mistake Be Corrected on the Payroll?
- Pay Advances
HOW SHOULD STUDENTS RECORD THEIR TIME WORKED?
The University is changing to the Kronos Time Entry System. Using a NETID and password, an employee can login and enter hours in the Kronos system. Students are responsible for recording their hours and submitting them to their supervisor in a timely manner. The supervisor is responsible for approving the hours and submitting them to the Payroll Office. The Work-Study Office is responsible for approving Kronos hours worked by off-campus work-study employees. The Work-Study Office requires off-campus student employees to print out copies of their Kronos time sheets and obtain signed approval from their off-campus supervisors at their job sites. These signed Kronos time sheets must be submitted to the Work-Study Office.
If a student is new to your department, he or she must complete a new Personal Data Form. You, the employer must complete the bottom portion of this form, including the new rehire date, job code, department code, chartstring, account code, and wage rate. This form must be filed in the Payroll Office in order for the new data to appear on the student's Kronos time sheet. A new Record ID number will be assigned to that new job.
Pay periods are two weeks long (Sunday through Saturday), with one time sheet filled out per pay period, regardless of the number of days worked. If a student forgot to enter hours for an entire pay period, then only a supervisor can enter hours for that period. A schedule of Pay Periods is posted by the Federal Work-Study Office.
Kronos time sheets must be completed by the Data Cut-Off Date. Hours are entered by the student in the Kronos time sheet, usually under the Work Hrs column, and must be saved by clicking the Save button, otherwise changes are not retained.
Employers who have a large number of students or whose students work at night may use a time clock or swipe card system. The card system is linked to the Kronos system. Students who have one swipe card-based work-study job plus a second work-study job may have to enter the hours for their second job in a different column than the Work Hrs column.
REPORTING HOURS TO PAYROLL: OFF-CAMPUS EMPLOYERS
Students working for off-campus employers must enter their hours on the Kronos system, e-mail their off-campus supervisors at their job sites for approval and signatures. Supervisors should then e-mail their approval to the Federal Work-Study Office no later than 5pm on the Friday designated cut-off date. If students work over that weekend, they should do their best to know their hours in advance so that they can be entered on Kronos by the due date. Late time sheets cannot be processed until the next pay period.
REPORTING HOURS TO PAYROLL: ON-CAMPUS EMPLOYERS
At the end of every pay period, on-campus employers should review their work-study employees' Kronos hours from the Slice Approvals section of the Kronos Web site. They can then approve the hours electronically. Off-campus work-study students are required to submit to the Work-Study Office signed verifcation that they actually went off-campus and did their work. They must print a copy of their Kronos time sheet, in the Landscape format, and have their off-campus supervisor review and sign the time sheet copy. This copy is then returned to the Work-Study Office. It is the student's responsibility to ensure the Work-Study Office receives signed verification; otherwise the student's paycheck may be witheld until signed verification is received in the Work-Study Office.
Departments are responsible for having all new work-study hires complete their Personal Data Forms, W4 forms, and Employment Eligibility Forms (I-9), in the department before the students' names can be added to the roster of employees in each department's Kronos database. These forms should be forwarded to the Payroll Office immediately after completion so the employee information can be processed. Otherwise, employees will not be able to use the Kronos system.
State law requires that employees be paid no later than 13 days after the pay period in which the work has been performed.
Prompt payment is especially important at the end of the academic year as employers will be responsible for 100% payment of any hours processed after the last work-study pay date.
For information regarding inactivating, changing funding, and extending end date and funding for a Work-Study Position, please refer to the temporary employee procedures as defined by the University's Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Web site.
Students are paid bi-weekly on Friday. There is a two week delay between the end of a pay period and the receipt of the check for that pay period. If a student does not receive the check when expected, verify that the hours were processed by the Kronos support person for your department, and that the hours were recorded in your Kronos Slice Approvals. If the problem still cannot be identified, on-campus employers should call Payroll (847-491-7362) and off-campus employers should contact the Federal Work-Study Office (847-491-7574).
Work-study earnings are taxable by both the state and federal governments.
The Payroll Department mails W-2 forms to students at the end of January. The student should contact Payroll directly (847-491-7362) if no W-2 is received by February 15th.
WHAT SHOULD A STUDENT DO IF THERE IS A CHANGE OF ADDRESS?
See Change of Address.
HOW CAN A MISTAKE BE CORRECTED ON THE PAYROLL?
An adjustment run is processed every Wednesday after a pay day in order to correct errors and omissions from the previous pay period.
In order to correct a payment made in error to an incorrect chartstring, employers should contact their Kronos support person.
Northwestern University does not issue pay advances. No hours should be reported for a student before the work is performed.