Student Employment Requirements
Enrollment levels for student employees are based on requirements from the Internal Revenue Service, the Memorandum of Agreement between the University of Kansas , the Kansas Board of Regents, and KAPE: and University policies,
as stated in the Student Employment Handbook located on the Human Resource web site.
Student employment includes undergraduate and graduate student hourly appointments, Graduate Teaching Assistants and Graduate Research Assistants. Students not meeting and maintaining the required enrollment levels are not eligible to remain on the student payroll. When it is determined that a student is no longer meeting enrollment level requirements, the employing department will be contacted by Payroll Services. The department must contact the student to have them enroll in the requisite number of hours immediately or the department must take action to appropriately appoint the student to either a classified temporary or unclassified temporary appointment or not continue employment.
Upon the second consecutive payperiod that a student employee continues to show as being ineligible for student employment, Payroll Services will terminate the student appointment. The employing department will be contacted with this information and must take immediate action to appropriately appoint them to a classified temporary or unclassified temporary position or not continue employment. Contact Human Resources for the process and forms for hiring an unclassified temporary employee.
Fringe Budgetary Note for Student Employees:
Social Security and Medicare, will be charged unless the student is on an eligible F1 or J1 Visa OR meets the applicable enrollment criteria.
To be exempt from the above taxes for the summer, must be either (a) enrolled in at least three credit hours, OR (b) enrolled in a qualifying thesis or dissertation research course (generally 899 or 999) and be classified at the graduate level and be a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)
To be exempt from taxes for the fall and spring, a student must be either (a) enrolled in at least 6 credit hours, OR (b) enrolled in a qualifying thesis or dissertation research course (generally 899 or 999) and be classified at the graduate level and be a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)
At no time will a student qualify for exemption if the student works more than 75% time (30 hours a week). Student employment for over 30 hours is allowed only when school is not in session.
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Guidelines for Processing FY appointments and related documents
A Payroll Form with applicable supporting documents will be required for:
a. Sponsored Project/KUCR (Research Foundation) funded employees
b. General Research funded employees
c. New employees
d. Employees resigning or retiring
e. Employees transferring from one employee class to another or from one position to another
f. Employees changing method of pay (salary/hourly)
g. Classified employees changing percent of time, grade, position number, or job code
h. Classified employees returning from leave
i. Approved classified reclassifications
j. Student employees whose existing appointment changes
k. Appointment FTE is different from budget loaded FTE
l. Department changes whose existing appointment changes
m. Employee changing from 12 month to Academic year (approx. 9 month)
Notify the Office of Staff Benefits (864-4946) of all percent time (standard hours) changes to regular employees.
Please note that some of the above changes require the advance approval of the Department of Human Resources. All non-faculty modifications to the Job code, Employee Class, and FLSA for all unclassified and classified staff must be approved by the Department of Human Resources in advance of the Payroll Form. Contact Sarah Campbell, 864-7418, or Scampbell@ku.edu.
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Supporting Documents
Appointments are incomplete unless the required supporting documentation accompanies the Payroll Form. We suggest supporting documents be fully completed when the offer is accepted instead of waiting until the employee begins working. Additionally, the Payroll office has supplied a list of supporting documents for Non Resident Aliens, NRA Employees.
The I-9 must be signed by the employee no later than the day the employee starts work. It must be signed by a department staff no later than three days after employment begins. Signature dates do not have to match, but departmental staff members must be aware that their signatures are an indication they have reviewed the original documents as required by the I-9. The I-9 signature of a departmental staff member is an attestation under penalty of perjury that the appropriate documents have been examined and appear to be genuine. Departmental staff members should not sign an I-9 if they have not reviewed the original documents as required by law, and new employees should not be allowed to work without the appropriate documentation of work eligibility.
Minimum documentation required to put an employee on the payroll include:
State of Kansas Employee Oath/Patent Policy (Must be notarized)
Form W-4 (tax withholding status)
Employee Eligibility Verification (I-9)
Copy of Social Security Card, (or a processed application from the Social Security Office)
Any other forms that are required for international students
The employee required documents can be found at the following URLs on the Human Resource Equal Opportunity website:
http://www.hreo.ku.edu/new_faculty_staff/packet
Other documents such as benefits documents for new employees can be sent directly to the appropriate office if they are not ready when the required new hire documents are ready to send. The Overtime/Compensatory Time Policy Agreement (non exempt only) and the Substance Abuse Policy Affirmation Form should be completed and sent to the payroll office, but are considered "Non pay essential." Do not hold up an appointment for a new hire simply because documents that are not pay essential have not been completed.
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Effective dates for Reappointments and status changes
Preferred effective dates for reappointment and status changes should be made to correspond with the beginning date of the pay period or the academic year. The most common exceptions to this general rule are separations and sponsored project reappointments. Please consult the Department of Human Resources for any clarifications related to classified appointment changes.
The system does not require an end date for an appointment; however, unit are solely responsible for processing subsequent funding prior to the ending of the Grant Period or taking the appropriate action to remove the employee from the Grant funding prior to the grant ending. Employees should not be working without valid funding in place.
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Transfers to other Departments within the University
When an employee changes departments, the new department should submit a Payroll Form documenting the new appointment.
For employees transferring to another position, all compensatory time and holiday compensatory time needs to be used or paid unless the new department agrees to allow the balances to be transferred.
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Separation from University Employment
A payroll Form is required for all employees separating or terminating employment with the University. This includes any employees who are transferring to another state position. Use the action code TER and the most descriptive reason code in the Transaction Comments. USE TER/SEP when the employee is transferring to another state agency or if they still have another active employee record. This code prevents the payout of vacation balances for these pre-approved instances.
Separations/terminations must be submitted on time to prevent adjustment in pay and benefits.
Separating employees should be told to update their W-2 address before leaving the University and to continue updating their addresses until their final W-2 is received. Departments should provide a copy of the University's Exit Questionnaire to staff who are leaving the University of Kansas. Please contact Human Resources at 864-4946 if your department needs a copy. Exit Questionnaire Form
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