Payroll Basics

Here is a brief guide to the administrative ins-and-outs of student employment at Harvard. Please look closely at the I-9 section; (which is a requirement for being paid), the policy on direct deposit, and the new method of viewing your paycheck information online.

Student employees are enrolled Harvard students with a valid Harvard ID number and card, who are paid weekly on Fridays based on hours reported on a paper or online form. This information does not apply to teaching fellows.

As a student employee, you:

May work at a given job for as long as you are a student at Harvard
May work more than one job at a time
Are not eligible for paid sick, vacation, or personal time
May not work more than 20 hours/week while classes are in session.
Must submit a Work-Study referral card at time of hire if you are taking a Work-Study job.
Must have an I-9 and W-4 on file in the Payroll Office in Holyoke Center, 3rd floor.

I-9 Requirements : If you worked at Harvard within the past 12 months, then you have an I-9 on file. If you did not, you can download an I-9 here: http://able.harvard.edu/forms/i-9.pdf and bring the required identifying documents (usually a passport or a driver's license and Social Security card) to registration, where the form will be completed (at the SEO/Payroll Table). The completed form must then be sent to the Payroll Office. Time worked cannot be entered into the payroll system until Payroll has the I-9 form.

Requirements for International Students :If you are neither a U.S. citizen nor a permanent resident, you must also do the following the first time you are hired:

Complete a FNIF (Foreign National Information Form) online here: http://able.harvard.edu/forms/fnif.pdf.
Complete a W-4. Instructions for nonresidents are available at http://able.harvard.edu/forms/How_to_Complete_W-4_for_NRA.pdf.

Reporting hours

All student employees are paid by the hour and must report the hours that they work. Different departments manage time reporting in different ways, so talk to your supervisor about how you should enter your hours for the job(s) you have. Here are the basic rules for reporting your hours:

Your supervisor will tell you whether to fill out a paper timesheet or use the online time-reporting system.
Whatever method of time reporting is used, your hours must be reported and approved by a supervisor, or you will not be paid.
Report your hours on a weekly basis for regular paychecks. Submitting multiple time cards complicates the process and can result in incorrect pay.
The work week is Sunday through Saturday. Student employees are paid on Friday for the prior week's work.
Departments have their own deadlines for time entry. However, these deadlines will be no later than noon on the Saturday of that week.
If there is a holiday on Monday, time needs to be entered earlier than usual, generally on Thursday.

Here's how you enter your own time in the online Time & Labor system in PeopleSoft, Harvard's payroll system:

The site is www.harvie.harvard.edu. After you sign into harvie, you then click the link to PeopleSoft (upper right corner) and sign into PeopleSoft again.
If you have more than one job, make sure you know the "empl rcd nbr" (employee record number) for which you are entering hours. If you are not sure, ask your supervisor.
If you are not eligible for Work-Study, your time type is REG
If you are eligible for Work-Study and you are working on-campus, your time type is WST
If you are eligible for Work-Study and you are working off-campus, your time reporting code depends on your position. Contact Lauren Valente (5-2585) for more payroll information.

Checks and Taxes

State and Federal taxes may be withheld from your pay, depending upon how much you earn and your tax filing status (e.g., marital status, number of exemptions claimed). Most undergraduates do not claim exemptions, since their parents claim them as dependents.

Full-time students working on-campus do not contribute to FICA (Social Security) during the school year. The FICA rate for off-campus term-time wages and summer wages is 8% for academic year 2005-06.

Direct deposit

The best way to be paid is through direct deposit to your bank account. The Harvard Credit Union offers free checking and savings accounts to Harvard undergraduate and graduate students. Direct deposit can be set up online by going to www.harvie.harvard.edu , signing into PeopleSoft, and using Employee Self-Service. Detailed instructions for setting up your direct deposit online can be found on ABLE under Employee Self-Service ( http://able.harvard.edu/hr-ess/).

All employees with direct deposit will use Employee Self-Service to view their paycheck information online. Beginning in August of 2004, paper check stubs will no longer be printed. (see confirming your paycheck below.)

Comfirming Your Pay Check

You can view your paycheck online before payday, usually by noon on Wednesday, so that you'll know if there are any potential problems. Here's how:

Launch Internet Explorer and go to www.harvie.harvard.edu and log in using your HUID and PIN.
Click the PeopleSoft Link to sign into PeopleSoft

Username: Your Harvard ID number
Password: Your Harvard PIN

Navigate the following path: Self Service > Employee > View > View Paycheck (selecting View > Personal Information will tell you where your paycheck is slated to be delivered)

If there is a problem with your pay, you should first talk to your supervisor or local payroll coordinator.

Leaving a job

When you leave a job at Harvard, make sure your supervisor knows you are leaving so that they can remove that job from your record. This is especially important if you have more than one job.

If you leave Harvard, make sure the University has a correct forwarding address on file for you.

More info

For more information on student employment or the Federal Work-Study Program, see the Student Employment website at http://www.seo.harvard.edu/.