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Physical Address:
Mesa Vista Hall North – 1st floor
Phone: (505) 277-3511
Fax: (505) 277-6925
stuemp@unm.edu

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1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131

 

 

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Student Employment Handbook

student employment
  
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS



INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the University of New Mexico Student Employment Program. Your participation, both as student and employee, should be a rewarding and pleasant experience. As an employee, you will be called upon to perform a variety of tasks, some of which you will learn as you work. This Student Employee Guide is intended to help you become familiar with the employment policies and practices of the University, its colleges, and departments.

We hope the information in this booklet is helpful to you and that your experiences as a student employee at UNM meet your needs and expectations. We want you to enjoy your work and to derive lasting benefits from it. We believe that the more you learn about the University, your job, and its benefits, the greater your satisfaction will be.

The Student Employment Office exists to assist you financially by offering valuable work experiences that will enhance your life now and in the future.

Brian Malone, Director
Student Financial Aid

Marisa Castañeda, Financial Aid Manager
Student Employment

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

It is the policy of the University of New Mexico that no person shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination in any form under any program or activity of the University, its branches, or agencies, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, physical or mental handicap, ancestry or medical condition.

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

Reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment, or the way a job is normally performed that enables a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of that job. Some examples of reasonable accommodations include making facilities accessible to people with disabilities, acquiring or modifying equipment or devices or modifying job procedures. It is the student’s responsibility to inform his or her supervisor of the need for an accommodation. The Director of UNM’s Office of Equal Opportunity is UNM’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator. The ADA Coordinator can help employees and supervisors with requests for accommodations.

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RELEVANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Cashier’s Office………………..…………....……277-5363
Office of Equal Opportunity…………………..... 277-5251
Payroll…………………………..…..…..…...........277-2353
Student Employment Office….….…….……......277-3511
Student Financial Aid……….…..……….…........277-8900
Safety and Risk Services...................................277-0111
-To Report Safety Issues or Work Injury
Internal Audit .....................................................277-5016
-To Report fraud or misconduct
Anonymous UNM Hotline...................................1-888-899-6092

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES - All available positions must be posted on the UNMJobs website for a minimum of five (5) calendar days.

WORK STUDY

College Work Study is a need-based financial aid program subsidized by the State and Federal governments. Students need to apply for financial aid to determine eligibility for Work Study. If they qualify, their earnings are limited to the Work Study amount indicated on their award notification. The application priority date for financial aid, including Work Study, is March 1st each year.

Students may use their Fall/Spring award during the Fall/Spring semester as long as the student is enrolled for both semester for 6+ hours in a degree seeking program at UNM. If students want work study for the summer, they must complete and submit a Summer Financial Aid Request form available at http://finaid.unm.edu/forms/index.html 

Please note: Fall/Spring work study awards do not roll over to the summer session.

STUDENT EMPLOYMENT

Students need not qualify for financial aid to be employed in the Student Employment Program. Student employees must complete 6+ hours in the spring at UNM (in a degree seeking program) and be enrolled for 6+ hours for the fall at UNM (in a degree seeking program) are eligible to work during the summer regardless of summer enrollment. Students and departments will be charged FICA and Medicare for any period of non-enrollment during the summer.

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THE HIRING PROCESS

Once the student has been awarded Work Study through Financial Aid, the student may apply for any of the Work Study jobs listed on the UNMJobs website. When students have completed the interview and hiring process with the department of their choice, they then return to the Student Employment Office to fill out a W-4 employment form for tax purposes, a demographic form for general information purposes. All employees must also have their eligibility verified for employment through the completion of the I-9 form. Once the Hiring Proposal has been approved by the Student Employment Office, students may begin working. All necessary hiring forms are available through the Student Employment Office website.

****If you are on public assistance or subsidized housing, you must have a Federal work study award to maintain your eligibility for these programs. If you receive a State work study award, please notify Marisa Castaneda at mcastan@unm.edu or 277-6936 so your work study can be switched to Federal before you begin applying for jobs.

STUDENT EMPLOYMENT

For part-time jobs on campus not administered by the Work Study Program, students must go through the same hiring process they would for a Work Study job. Student may apply to any Student Employment jobs listed on the UNMJobs website . When students have completed the interview and hiring process with the department of their choice, they then return to the Student Employment Office to fill out a W-4 employment form for tax purposes, a demographic form for general information purposes. All employees must also have their eligibility verified for employment through the completion of the I-9 form. The Hiring Proposal must be approved by the Student Employment Office, before the student begins working. All necessary hiring forms are available through the Student Employment Office website.

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PROBATIONARY PERIOD

Students employed through the Student Employment or Work Study Program are hired on a probationary status during the first two months of each new assignment. During this period students have the chance to determine whether the job is acceptable for them. At any time, employees have the option of changing jobs if they find another opportunity that is more compatible with their schedule or their purpose for working. However, if the probationary period has passed, it is customary to provide a two week notice. During the probationary period supervisors will assess the student’s performance as well. The student may be released from employment during or at the conclusion of the probationary period, with or without cause. The decision to release a probationary employee is not subject to appeal.

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CLASSIFICATIONS AND PAY SCALES

Within the pay scale there are four grades -- “Grade I,” “Grade II,” “Grade III,” and “Grade IV”. Students are to be paid based on the required knowledge and skills necessary to successfully complete their job.

Grade I: Entry level position, routine duties which may involve a modest degree of responsibility and judgment. Some specific knowledge or skills.

Grade II: Intermediate level position, some responsibility and skills, perform varied and moderately complex duties involving a moderate to substantial degree of responsibility and judgment. May direct or coordinate activities of other student employees. Usually requires previous training or equivalent experience.

Grade III: Advanced level position, Perform varied and complex duties involving a high degree of responsibility and judgment. May supervise or regularly lead activities of other student employees. Usually requires considerable training or equivalent experience in a specialized or technical field.

Grade IV: Technical/Specialist level, extremely high skill level, independent work.

The pay scale is available on our website at http://stuemp.unm.edu/Forms%20and%20Information/pay-scale.html .

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TRANSFERS

Student employees may transfer from one department to another within the University in order to facilitate their interests, develop existing skills, or acquire new skills. Students are expected to follow all procedures for terminating from one department and being hired by another. Please contact the Student Employment office for procedures at 277-3511.

Students may transfer from any other UNM position to a student position, provided that they meet the eligibility criteria. Students may not work simultaneously on the student and staff payrolls.

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INTERDEPARTMENTAL TRANSFERS

Employees may be requested to transfer within the department to a position that will better utilize their skills or to improve the function of the department. It is recommended that students be given a one-week notice of this intent. If possible, the student should be informed of the possibility of a transfer at the time of hire.  Please contact Student Employment for procedures at 277-3511.

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TERMINATIONS

Student employees may be terminated under a variety of circumstances. There are three broad categories under which the student employee’s termination will fall: termination by the Student Employment Office, voluntary termination, or involuntary termination.

I. STUDENT EMPLOYMENT OFFICE TERMINATION

This is an administrative termination that may affect all College Work-Study and non-work-study student employees. The Student Employment Office terminates your employment for one of four reasons:

  • The Work Study employee has earned their total work study allocation for the academic year;
  • The Work Study employee is not maintaining satisfactory academic progress (see Academic Requirements); or
  • The Student Employee or Work Study employee has withdrawn from the University.
  • **** Work study students who withdraw (officially or unofficially) anytime during the semester become ineligible on the date of withdrawal. Departments will be charged 100% of the student earnings during any period of ineligibility. Please note that the Financial Aid office is notified of unofficial withdrawals in January/February for the Fall semester, June/July for the Spring semester, and August/September for the summer. *****
  • The Student Employee or Work-Study employee exceeds the 30 hour a week limit during the semester.
  • Note: All work study job assignments are terminated each year on the last day of the spring semester. All student employees (including work study employees) must meet all eligibility requirements to continue working after the last day of each spring semester. All work study employees must submit Job Extension ePAN to the Student Employment Office before the end of the spring semester.

The employing department is responsible for determining which students are administratively terminated by monitoring the appropriate ePrint reports. In addition, the employing department is responsible for notifying students of an administrative termination.

Both the employing department and the student are responsible for monitoring the work study earnings associated with student’s work-study allocation. Furthermore, it is imperative that the department and the student stay in constant communication to ensure the student maintains his or her eligibility for employment . This includes enrollment hours, students must maintain half-time enrollment during the entire semester in order to qualify for employment.

II.VOLUNTARY TERMINATION

A student employee (including work study employee) may initiate a resignation from their position. Resignations should be submitted in writing, no less than two weeks prior to the indicated date of termination. Departments, in turn, may not terminate a student less than two weeks after the date of written notification.

However, students are considered to have resigned if they:

  • Walk off the job;
  • Are absent for three consecutive days scheduled for work without permission, except when an emergency situation precludes giving notice; OR
  • Fail to return to work within six working days following the end of a personal leave of absence.

Note: Two-week notification of termination by the employing department is not mandatory in any of the above instances.

III. DISMISSAL FROM EMPLOYMENT

Student employees may be involuntarily dismissed from their position if they:

  • Fail to perform in a satisfactory manner;
  • Commit a major offense such as for example, theft, gross misconduct or gross insubordination. Note: Students may be immediately dismissed with no prior notice for committing any of these actions.

If they are involuntarily terminated, student employees have the option of pursuing the issue as outlined in the student employment grievance procedure.

WARNING NOTICE

For student employees (including work study employees) who have completed the probationary period, supervisors are strongly encouraged to use progressive discipline. Progressive disciple actions are as followed: oral warning, written warning, and dismissal.

It is required that departments give a two week warning notice prior to involuntary termination. The written warning is suggested to give employees an opportunity to be aware of and correct specific job deficiencies. A copy of the warning notice should also be sent to the Student Employment Office for their file. Failure to correct the deficiencies outlined in the warning notice will result in termination of employment.

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TERMINATION GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

This policy applies to all students employed through the Student Employment Office under College Work Study or the Student Employment Program who have successfully completed their probationary period. Students employed as graduate, teaching, research, special and project assistants are subject to the employment policies procedures contained in the Faculty Handbook. Students whose employment is associated with an academic program must follow the student grievance procedure through the EVP of Academic Affairs

Student employees may utilize the termination grievance procedure only to dispute an involuntary dismissal. It may not be used if a student employee resigns (as set forth under Voluntary Termination) nor does it apply to any other work dispute or grievance.

  • The employee shall submit written notice initiating the termination grievance procedure within ten working days of the termination. The notice should be directed to the concerned department chairperson or director with a copy submitted to the Student Employment Office;
  • The concerned department chairperson or director shall hold an informal meeting with the employee and render a written decision. Step two shall occur within ten working days following the filing in writing of such a complaint with the department chairperson;
  • The employee may file an appeal to a termination grievance board within ten working days of notification of the decision reached in step two. The termination grievance board shall hold a formal hearing as soon as practical after the filing of the appeal.

The termination grievance board shall be composed as follows:

  • The president of ASUNM or his/her designee shall serve in the case of an appeal by an undergraduate student.
  • The president of GPSA or his/her designee shall serve in the case of an appeal by a graduate student.
  • The Dean of Students or his/her designee.
  • The two appointed members will select the third member from Enrollment Management.

Procedures for the termination grievance hearing are as follows:

  • The hearing shall be private.
  • The student appealing his or her termination is responsible for presenting his or her case; advisors (including attorney advisors) are therefore not permitted to present arguments or evidence or otherwise participate directly in the hearing. The department may appoint a representative to present the department's case. The representative may have an advisor but, like the student, the advisor cannot participate directly in the hearing.
  • The Grievance Board members may question both parties in the hearing.
  • Both the student appealing his/her termination and the department representative have the right, within reasonable limits set by the presiding official, to question all witnesses who testify.
  • Both the student appealing his/her termination and the department representative have the right to submit any evidence they want the grievance board to consider at least five (5) business days before the hearing. Both parties also have the right to identify witnesses for the grievance board to invite. The grievance board may, at its discretion, request those or other witnesses to attend the hearing and provide testimony. The grievance board does not have the power to subpoena witnesses. Any evidence provided to the grievance board by either party will be made available for review by the other party at least three (3) business days before the hearing."
  • The Grievance Board may proceed independently to secure evidence for the hearing. The party charged shall have an opportunity to review any such evidence at least three (3) business days before the hearing.
  • The hearing will be tape-recorded and the Grievance Board will keep the tape(s). The tape is the property of the University. No typed record will be made.
  • The hearing proceeding is not subject to judicial rules of evidence.

The decision of the termination grievance board is final except that the President and the Board of Regents have the discretionary authority to review the decision. The President and the Board of Regents normally review such decisions only in extraordinary cases, such as where proper procedures have apparently not been followed, where the decision appears to be unsupported by the facts, or where the decision appears to violate University policy.

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GRADUATING STUDENTS

Students who are scheduled to graduate will be administratively terminated on the last class day (fall or spring) or their last class day of the summer semester. Students are responsible for updating their graduation dates with their advisors. Graduate students should check with their academic department. The deadlines for updating graduation dates for student employees and work study students are March 1st (spring), May 1st (summer) and October 1st (fall).

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ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

Work Study students are required to maintain satisfactory academic standing to continue to qualify for employment. You must maintain half-time enrolment during the entire semester in order to qualify for work study. Students who withdraw (officially or unofficially) anytime during the semester become ineligible on the date of withdrawal. Departments will be charged 100% of the student earnings during any period of ineligibility. Eligibility follows the process as listed in the UNM Catalog and the Student Financial Aid Guide. For more information, you can search StudentInfo.

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NON-DEGREE STUDENTS

Students classified as non-degree are not eligible for student employment unless the student is taking prerequisites for a graduate program or is enrolled in the teacher certification program. Approval must be given by the Student Employment Manager for each semester. Any student approved for employment in non-degree status must complete all courses indicated on the non-degree form in order to be approved for the following semester. If a student changes his/her schedule without the approval of the Student Employment Manager, the student will be administratively terminated (without notice) and is ineligible for future employment under non-degree status. Students, if approved, may qualify under non-degree waiver for a maximum one year (which includes two sixteen week semesters (fall, spring) and one summer session). Non-Degree students must attend classes during sessions worked.

Note: Non-degree students enrolled in graduate level courses or courses for graduate credit are not eligible for student employment. Non-degree students taking courses to raise their GPA for admission to a graduate program do not qualify for this exception..

Academic Advisors: Students MUST have a bachelor's degree in order to be eligible for a non-degree waiver. Courses taken by the student must be undergraduate prerequisites for a graduate program. If the student is eligible to take graduate courses without any prerequisites, then the student cannot qualify for student employment under this exception. Please contact the Student Employment Manager at 277-6936 or mcastan@unm.edu if you have any questions.

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HOW MANY HOURS CAN I WORK?

While classes are in-session (this includes Fall and Spring breaks): 

-Students may work a maximum of 8 hours per day.

-Domestic students are allowed to work a maximum of 30 hours per week.

-International students are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week.

While classes are NOT in-session (during Winter break and when not enrolled during the Summer):

-Students may work a maximum of 8 hours per day.

-Students may work a maximum of 40 hours per week with departmental approval.

A violation of any of the above policies may result in the termination of the assignment.

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TIME REPORTING

All departments are required to keep a detailed time sheet on each student employee for audit purposes. Students will need to check their posted hours and sign the time sheet for payment of the hours worked. The work week begins on Saturday and ends Friday. .

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PAYCHECKS

WORK STUDY AND STUDENT EMPLOYMENT

It is strongly recommended that students have their paychecks deposited directly into their checking or savings accounts by the Payroll Department. Authorization forms are available at both the Student Employment and Payroll Offices. Students may set up direct deposit electronically by:

Logging into my.unm.edu

Select the Student Employee Tab.

Select Direct Deposit.

*You will need your bank's routing number and your account number. If you receive an error while entering the routing number, please contact the Payroll office at 277-2353 for assistance. We recommend that you set up your direct deposit at least one week prior to any pay date to start your direct deposit.

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PAY PERIODS

All pay periods are two full weeks in duration. There are twenty-six pay periods in a calendar year and employees are normally paid every other Friday. The schedule for pay dates is available on the Student Employment and Payroll websites.

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REST PERIODS/MEAL BREAKS

Students must take at least a 30 minute meal break for every six hours of continuous work. Student employees are due a fifteen-minute rest period within every four hours of scheduled continuous work. Employees and their supervisor should agree, in advance, on the timing of rest periods.

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HOLIDAY PAY

If students are required to work on a holiday, they will receive straight time pay for the hours worked unless they exceed forty hours in one week. Some departments on campus may require holiday work.

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TAXES

All wages paid to student employees, including Work Study, are subject to income taxes. Students must complete the Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate (W-4) before being placed on the payroll. Payroll processing will be delayed until this form has been completed and submitted to the Payroll Office. If employees claim “exempt,” yearly renewal in January is required.

You can change your tax status on LoboWeb
Log into my UNM
Go to your Student Employee Tab
Go to LoboWeb
Click Tax Forms
Click Federal Tax Exemptions or Allowances (W4)
Click Update
Enter your filing status and number of allowances

You can change your tax status on LoboWeb
Log into my UNM
Go to your Employee Life Tab
Go to LoboWeb
Click Tax Forms
Click Federal Tax Exemptions or Allowances (W4)
Click Update
Enter your filing status and number of allowances

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W-2 FORMS

A statement of wages earned is issued by the University of New Mexico at the end of the calendar year and is sent to students by the Payroll Office in January. Students should check LoboWeb to make sure that their current permanent mailing address is on file. Instructions for viewing and changing your address through LoboWeb can be found above .

Log into my UNM
Go to your Student Employee Tab
Go to LoboWeb
Click Tax Forms
Click W-2 Wage and Tax Statement
Select Tax Year
Click Display

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FICA

During Fall and Spring sessions, student employees are exempt from paying FICA taxes if enrolled in 6 hours or more. Students who drop below 6 hrs will be terminated (and their hiring departments will be charged FICA for the payroll that the student became underenrolled. FICA charges are not subsidized by Work Study. The department will be charged 100% of FICA taxes during the Summer session students (and employers) are required to pay FICA taxes for periods of non-enrollment or if their enrollment falls below half-time.

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I-9 FORM

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires all new employees to provide proof of identity and employment verification. Further information may be obtained from the Student Employment Office. If there is any break of service (1 day or more) the student must complete or update their I-9 in person at the Student Employment Office. Students are not eligible to begin working until I-9 documentation is completed at the student employment office. I-9 documentation completed by departments is not valid.

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F-1 and J-1 VISAS

Students having F-1 or J-1 visas are eligible to work on the Student Employment Payroll only if proper documentation indicating the student is eligible to work in the United States is presented at the Student Employment Office when completing hiring paperwork.

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CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING

All student employees (including work study) are required to complete the Online Customer Service Training before new or continuation hiring paperwork can be processed.

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SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING

The Sexual Harassment Training is currently optional for students, however, it is highly recommended.

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If you cannot find the answer to your questions here please don't hesitate to contact us at 277-3511.