Employer FAQs

The main difference boils down to funding. The Federal Work-Study Program (FWS) is a federally funded financial aid program that subsidizes the wages of students who are employed in part-time student temp positions at the university. The federal government pays 75% of students’ wages and the employer’s share is 25%. This wage sharing applies to any eligible student during the normal academic year (September – June) or so long as the student has not reached their earnings limit.

Students must meet federal and institutional FWS eligibility requirements. Not every student is eligible for FWS. From a student's perspective, compensation indicates they are earning a portion of their need-based financial aid with each paycheck. FWS compensation is only earned when students perform work and is not paid out at the end of the year. FWS is not a loan and does not have to be repaid. Income can be spent however the student desires. Note, that while a student’s financial need defines FWS earnings limits, a student’s hourly wage rate can only be based on the skills and responsibilities required for the job description.

Students paid FWS wages are subject to all federal, state, and local employment conditions regulated by the Human Resources office and should be treated no differently in employment practices and federal, state, or local employment regulations with few exceptions.

• Students are responsible for reporting their FWS eligibility status and earnings limit to their employer at the time of hire and throughout the year.  
• Students may reference their FWS eligibility status in CAESAR > Financial Aid > Work-Study by Academic Year. Eligibility is determined annually by the student's financial aid office. 
• Students may view a running total of their FWS wage earnings and the amount remaining in CAESAR > Financial Aid > Work-Study Earnings by Date. Amounts are updated after each pay date. 

If you or your active student employee would like to confirm FWS eligibility, wage earnings, or the amount remaining as listed in CAESAR, please contact our office. 

The Work-Study Program and the student’s financial aid office will make every effort to maintain or increase a student’s FWS eligibility as displayed in CAESAR by converting rejected/not accepted subsidized loans or adjusting for unmet federal need if possible. This is not possible for all students, however. 

Although rare, reductions to a student's work-study amount or eligibility do happen. Instances that trigger changes include:

• Financial aid review for loss of income approvals (i.e. generally results in additional need-based aid grant add-ons to the existing financial aid),
• Receipt of outside scholarship(s),
• Enrollment less than full-time as of the add/drop date,
• Study abroad or other off-campus study program participation including co-ops,
• Other financial aid adjustments.

Students will be notified by their financial aid office if an adjustment is made to their FWS information in CAESAR. Students should report this information to their supervisor. 

You do not need to do anything.

Once the student has exhausted their earnings limit, we will notify you and we will update their salary account funding to regular student earnings, account code 60120, on your department chartstring whereby you will pay 100% of the student’s hourly wage. The student may continue working with no issues. If, however, your department is unable to support this budget expense, you are welcome to terminate the employment record in the myHR system. If employment is contingent upon FWS eligibility and the student is eligible the following academic year, you may rehire the student at the appropriate time in the fall quarter.  

If the student has exceeded their earnings limit, federal regulations permit up to a $300 overpayment from the FWS account. Anything over the $300 threshold is the employer’s liability and our office will submit a journal to reimburse the FWS account for the overpayment difference. Students are not required to repay FWS overpayments except when the student is proven guilty of timecard fraud.

If the nature of the position includes some "downtime,” the student employee, at the supervisor's discretion, may be allowed to use work time to study or do schoolwork. 

Federal employment regulations state that a student cannot be paid unless the employer would normally pay a person to perform the same job duties and responsibilities.  Additional guidance is shared on the Student Employment and Human Resources websites. Additionally, paid positions should be posted to the Student Job Board to allow for equal opportunity for all interested and qualified candidates to apply.  

For students enrolled in an independent study and looking to turn the research component of their independent study into a paid position via their FWS eligibility, Federal regulations state that “…a student employed in an FWS job and receiving academic credit for that job may not be… paid unless the employer would normally pay a person for the same job.” Note, that federal program regulations prohibit students from working during scheduled class or lab times. Because of the blurred nature of independent study "class time" many departments prohibit this option altogether. 

Yes.

Working multiple jobs may lead to a student reaching their FWS earnings limit sooner. Additionally,  student employees should not exceed 20 hours worked cumulatively among all their temp student positions on campus. See Supervisor Payroll Policies and Procedures for additional information. 

Please check with Human Resources to inquire if the student's employment record is still active (i.e. not terminated). If the record is no longer active, check with askHR@northwestern.edu to inquire about what is necessary to re-hire the student. 

If the student's employment record is still active, review the student's funding details in the myHR Temp Funding panel. If the student worked over the summer and earned regular student temp wages on account code 60120, 

1. Assign a Stop Funding date to that row.
2. Click the "+" button to add a row.
3. Re-enter the chartstring information on the new line. Assign salary account 60122 (FWS Wages) after the chartstring information. Funding is 100% (don't worry, the wage subsidy will be applied automatically as part of normal payroll processing). Assign a new Start and Stop funding date.  

While Federal Work-Study (FWS) regulations do not explicitly prohibit remote work, some conditions must be followed including that there is proper or sufficient supervision of the student’s work and certification that the student has worked on the dates and times listed on their timecard. Additionally, please check with Human Resources or your department or school leadership to ensure students follow all applicable institutional and department protocols for remote telework and to make sure all federal, state, and local employment conditions are followed.

Students studying abroad may not earn FWS wages while studying in a foreign country. 

Students studying in other off-campus domestic academic programs must be enrolled at least half-time while away from campus and must remain eligible for FWS in the quarter(s) they will be off-site. 

Virtually every department on campus employs FWS students. However, federal regulations prohibit a student from being paid FWS wages if their job entails constructing, operating, or maintaining any part of a building used for religious worship or sectarian instruction. 

For students employed off campus and/or in community service-defined positions, their work must be in the public interest (34 CFR 675.22(a) and 34 CFR 675.22(b)). Work is not in the public interest if

1. It primarily benefits the members of a limited membership organization such as a credit union, a fraternal or religious order, or a cooperative;
2. It is for an elected official who is not responsible for the regular administration of Federal, State, or local government;
3. It is work as a political aide for any elected official;
4. A student's political support or party affiliation is taken into account in hiring him or her;
5. It involves any partisan or nonpartisan political activity or is associated with a faction in an election for public or party office; or
6. It involves lobbying on the Federal, State, or local level.

Students paid with FWS wages must have their timecard certified by their supervisor (i.e., an official of the institution or off-campus agency) to verify or certify the correct hours worked before the student is to be paid (34 CFR 675.19(b)(2)(i)).

Additionally, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to maintain accurate daily time and attendance records for non-exempt employees. For this reason, the myHR Managing Temporary Employees Guide states, “Time must be reviewed and approved by a designated Time Card Approver every two weeks.” The askHR Service Center also sends a bi-weekly email to all timecard approvers reminding them to review and approve biweekly employees' timesheets. More information about the University’s time entry policy can be found at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/essentials/hr-systems/timekeeping/index.html.

Northwestern Human Resources prohibits temporary employees from working more than 1,000 hours in a rolling 12-month period. Exceeding this limit may qualify the student for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) assurances. FWS wages do not pay fringe benefits covered under ERISA.   

For this reason, students should not work more than 20 hours per week during the academic year, excluding academic breaks. Students who hold more than one job, should not work more than 20 hours total among all positions per week. Most students work between 6-10 hours per week on average. 

Students may work and be paid FWS wages during winter and spring breaks on the condition that the student must be planning to enroll at least half-time for the next immediate quarter following the academic break. Earnings count toward a student's total FWS earnings limit and therefore may result in the student reaching their work-study earning limit sooner than expected. If a student will be working remotely during winter or spring breaks, they must receive proper supervision of their work and certification that they have worked and earned their hours, follow all applicable institutional protocols for teleworking, and follow federal, state, and local employment conditions. 

The FWS wage subsidy is not available during the summer months regardless of enrollment status. If the student will work in your area during the summer months, please update their funding to regular student wages in June after the final pay period in the academic year. 

Ensure that all required hiring forms have been completed and submitted by the required parties including both the student and the employer. 

Ask the student to check their mail at the address they provided on their Personal Data Form or the one that is currently listed in myHR on their employment record. 

Additional questions should be directed to askHR@northwestern.edu for help resolving the issue.