Department of Human Resources
Student Employment
Student Opportunities Begin Here
The Student Employment Office is committed to promoting student employment opportunities that can provide valuable work/education experience. Student employment provides job skills and knowledge that can help students transition into their professional roles, post-graduation. Mutually, the college benefits and grows with the vast talents, insight, and enthusiasm students bring to these roles.
Oberlin College offers two types of student employment opportunities. The two types of student employment are Federal Work-Study and Regular Student Wage positions. If you have a Federal Work-Study award in your financial aid package, your earnings will be paid out of federal funds. If you do not have a financial aid award or Federal Work-Study in your financial aid package, your student employment earnings will be paid from college funds.
Where do I apply?
How do I record my worked time?/TimeClock Plus
Oberlin College uses TimeClock Plus to electronically record all worked hours. The time record-keeping tool is flexible and allows you to clock in and out via a downloadable app or via their WebClient link. Please find resources and tutorials here:
- Student TimeClock Plus
- Employee WebClock Log On
- Mobile App Setup (Video Tutorial)
- June 22nd, 2022 forward, use this Mobile App Setup Guide
- Clocking In and Out (App Video Tutorial) (Web Video Tutorial)
- Missed Punches Tutorial (App Video Tutorial) (Web Video Tutorial)
- Mobile App Setup (Video Tutorial)
- Employee WebClock Log On
Payment Options
- Direct Deposit - As a condition of employment, students must sign up for direct deposit payments. Sign in using your ObieID and Password and follow the steps for Direct Deposit Allocation.
- Payroll Deduction - Allocates earned funds to your tuition account
First-time hire at Oberlin College?
New student employees will be required to complete new hire paperwork. Once completed, the tax forms may be submitted electronically and the I-9 form submitted in person to our office with the supporting documents to complete your new hire set. Please note that new hire paperwork should not be submitted until you have been offered and have accepted a student employment position. Please use your Oberlin College address when completing new hire paperwork.
IMPORTANT: A student worker cannot work until all forms have been submitted and the student position has been finalized.
Submit Completed Tax Forms Here
Submit in person to our office:
- **Effective 10/30/23--New Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9 Form) must be used and submitted in person to our office along with supporting documents from page 2 of the I-9.
- Only complete Section 1 of this form. If you check Box 4 on the I-9, please be sure to write your work authorization expiration date on the line to the right. All new incoming student employees must submit their original, unexpired supporting I-9 documents in person at the Student Employment Office. A complete list of acceptable documents can be found on page two of the I-9 eligibility PDF. USCIS I-9 form instructions can be found here.
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International Student Workers
Student Employment is available for all students, but please be aware that you are required to apply for a social security number in order to work and receive taxable wages. You may reach out to the International Student and Scholar Services Office to receive assistance with applying for a social security number. International students do not need to wait until they receive their social security card before they begin work; the ssn can be left blank on new hire paperwork. However, all legally required new hire paperwork and I-9 supporting documents need to be submitted to before starting work. The social security card should be submitted to our office once received, either via the student new hire paperwork portal or in person.
Policies and Procedures
Employment
Academics should take top priority while classes are in session and employment should not interfere with the student course schedule. Additionally, employment on campus is NOT guaranteed for any student. In order to be eligible for student employment, a person must be currently enrolled and fully matriculated at Oberlin College.
Students who withdraw or are withdrawn from their courses will lose any campus employment, effective upon their withdrawal date.
Labor Practices
It is the student's responsibility to properly record all worked hours via the College provided time record-keeping system. If a student fails to properly or accurately record time, they should reach out to their supervisor as soon as possible for assistance. Continued failure to properly record time may be subject to disciplinary action. The falsification of work records is considered a terminable offense and, depending on the gravity of the matter, may be subject to further action.
Student employees generally are not permitted to work more than 20-30 hours per week during the academic year. This is in large part due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tracking and reporting hours requirements for the IRS. Additionally, as a student, academics should be prioritized and you are considered a student first.
Federal work-study award recipients who earn their maximum award amounts in the corresponding academic year will convert from federal work-study payment status to student wage to meet the federal guidelines.
FICA Exemptions
Per the IRS website, during the academic year when classes are in session, all student jobs are FICA exempt. FICA exemptions are also possible during the academic year when classes are in break (e.g., Winter Holiday break and Fall/Spring break), provided the student employee was eligible to work the last day of classes/exams preceding the break and will be eligible to take classes for the academic period following the break. Summer employment is NOT FICA exempt. Summer earnings will have Social Security and Medicare deducted from the gross pay.
Summer Employment Guidelines
- A student must have been enrolled in the prior term and must be enrolled in the upcoming Fall semester
- If a student has not previously been an employee at Oberlin College, they must complete all new hire documentation and MUST have access to TimeClock Plus before they are able to begin working
- During the summer months our office recommends students work up to 35 but no more than 40 hours per week; students may not work over 40 hours in any given week and may not work over 80 hours in any given pay period for all combined hours/jobs
- Students who are employed over the summer are subject to FICA taxes as there is no active enrollment for summer months at Oberlin College
- Students are paid only for hours worked and are not eligible for holiday pay
- Work must be performed in the state of Ohio
- F-1 International Student Considerations:
- I-20 must be current and not expired
- Must be enrolled, not graduated, in the upcoming Fall semester
- Continue to be exempt from FICA withholdings
- Must be on campus
Additional Resources and Documents
- 2024-2025 Academic Payroll Calendar
- 2023-2024 Academic Payroll Calendar
- 2022-2023 Academic Payroll Calendar
- Online Direct Deposit Instructional
- Virtual Pre-Orientation Webinar Recording
- Effective 10/30/23--New I-9 form must be used and submitted in person to our office along with supporting documents from page 2 of the I-9.
- New Hire Information Presentation
- Effective 10/30/23--New I-9 form must be used and submitted in person to our office along with supporting documents from page 2 of the I-9.
If you are an employer looking to hire students, you can find information on our HR Portal (SSO login required).
IMPORTANT UPDATES
Oberlin College Minimum Student Hourly Wage--Effective 08/12/2024, OC's student minimum wage is $12 per hour.
Virtual Pre-Orientation Session - Student Employment - Did you miss the virtual session for Student Employment on August 14th? Have no fear! A recorded session is here. Please find the recorded session and the slide presentations below:
- Virtual Pre-Orientation Webinar Recording
- Presentation Slides
Reminder to student worker hiring departments/supervisors - Student jobs do not roll over from one academic year to summer or to the next academic year. If your student worker will be returning, you will need to rehire them. Please see "How do I rehire my student?" in the Information for Employers section above.
Student job start and end dates -Supervisors of student workers, please note the following:
- 2024-2025 Full academic year and Fall-only 2024 jobs will begin on 08/12/2024*
- Fall-only 2024 jobs will end on 01/26/2025
- Winter-Term-Only jobs will begin on 12/30/2024* and end on 01/26/2024
- Spring-only 2025 jobs will begin on 01/27/2025*
- 2024-2025 Full academic year and Spring-only 2025 jobs will end on 06/01/2025
- 2025 Summer jobs will begin on 06/02/2025*
*Actual start date is dependent upon hire request and new hire documentation submissions.
Exceptions Include: Withdrawn Students, Termination Requests, Graduated Students, and FWS-specific employment with exhausted funds.
OCMR Elimination and Checks - Effective Spring 2023 OCMR mailbox are no longer being used. Please see the communication sent to all students on 2/3/2023 here for additional information and guidance.
Common FAQ's - Have questions about Student Employment? Here are the answers to some frequent FAQ's.
Contact
Room 205
Service Building
173 W. Lorain St.
Oberlin, OH 44074
Student.Employment@oberlin.edu
[p] 440-775-8144 [f] 440-775-8683