Monitoring and Approving Time Sheets/Hours

Supervisors should establish a procedure for recording and verifying hours worked for all FWS students. Supervisors are responsible for communicating with students as applicable regarding these procedures. Workday time approval processes must be verified within the supervisors’ department.

Information relating to biweekly payroll schedules (used for FWS) for each academic year can be found by visiting the Office of Budget and Finance website https://budgetandfinance.psu.edu/references. Supervisors are expected to adhere to the established payroll approval schedules. Late payroll approvals should be submitted within 30 days. Processing delayed beyond that point risks a department’s assumption of 100% of the FWS students’ wages.

Students are required to keep track of the hours worked as well as the balance of their funds and communicate that information with their supervisor. Students will receive email communication from the Office of Student Aid when they have utilized 50% of their funding and again as they near fund exhaustion. Earning above maximum amounts may negatively impact a student’s financial aid.

The sum of students’ work hours for all FWS positions in which they are employed cannot exceed 8 hours per day and 20 hours per week. Each student and supervisor is encouraged to consider and communicate a reasonable plan for maximizing the student's earning potential without compromising the student's personal or academic well-being.

It is recommended that all FWS students working more than 4 consecutive hours be offered a 15-minute, paid break and those students working more than 6 consecutive hours be offered a 30-minute, unpaid break.

Submitting falsified time sheets is considered fraud against the University and the federal government; legal action may be taken against the student. Federal regulation 34 CFR 668.16(g) requires the University to report to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General if a school has credible information that a student may have committed fraud or other criminal misconduct in connection with his or her application or eligibility for federal student aid. Therefore, instances of student misconduct involving falsification of timesheets must be reported to the Penn State Office of Student Aid to ensure the University’s compliance with this federal reporting requirement.