Handbook: Manager of Student Employees

January 29, 2026 14:27

The purpose of this handbook is to outline the specific policies, procedures, rights, and responsibilities of supervisors in the Student Employment program.

If you have any questions regarding the Student Employment Program, contact our office at 617.824.8655 or via email at student_employment@emerson.edu.

New Student Supervisors

To become a manager of student employees, an individual will need to contact the Student Employment Office. The Student Employment Office will then provide an individual with the necessary security in Workday to recruit, hire, and approve timesheets. Student supervisors gain this security via a supervisory organization.

Student Supervisors must be considered Regular employees at the College. They cannot be temporary, casual, or contingent employees.

The supervisor is legally responsible for the part-time employee under their management. Supervisors are liable and responsible for the actions, wages, and working conditions of their student employees. In addition to following Federal and State Laws, supervisors must also be in compliance with College policies as outlined in this document, as well as the Student Employee Handbook.

Below are links that outline student employment supervisor liability and responsibility with regard to part-time employees who report to them:

If an individual is to inherit a student supervisory organization, the Student Employment Office must be contacted. If someone is leaving the College and this is not specified before they leave the institution, the supervisory organization will automatically be transferred in Workday to the student supervisor’s direct supervisor.

Once the Student Employment Office creates a supervisory organization for an individual in Workday or transfers a supervisory organization over to the new individual, the Student Employment Office will provide the necessary materials for navigating Workday, as well as Payroll’s Deadlines and Guidelines.

Recruitment

There are three seasons for recruitment: fall, spring, and summer.

The Student Employment Office asks that supervisors hold off on posting until the designated recruiting start date. This is because incoming and transfer students will not have access to Workday until that date. This procedure is in place to ensure equity and equal opportunity for students applying for roles.

If a supervisor needs to recruit prior to the designated date for a specific reason, please email the Student Employment Office. Please include a timeline of your recruitment as well as why you will need to hire prior to the designated date.

Please refer to the Student Employment Calendar for specific dates.

Job Postings

Each on-campus or Service Work Study position must be posted on the Student Employment jobs site (workday.emerson.edu). Authorized individuals will log into Workday to submit a job requisition. The job requisition will ask for the job title, job profile, job description, salary, hours, skills, and other desired skills.

Once a supervisor has entered this information and submitted the requisition, the Student Employment Team will approve, deny, or edit the postings as necessary. Once approved, the position will be sent to the Cost Center Approver. Once approved by the Cost Center, the Student Employment Team is able to post it.

Once the position is posted, students will be able to complete the application online. Only the supervisor who created the job will be able to access the individual applications. Supervisors have three to five days to review applications they receive.

Please refer to the following guides for step-by-step instructions:

Suggested Interview Discussion Points & Tips

We recommend that supervisors take the time to interview students before hiring them; an interview will help both the supervisor and the student decide whether the job and the student are a good match for each other. We suggest that you address the following points during the interview:

Student's availability
Student's prior experience and skills
Detailed job description and requirements
Hours and dates when expected to work and who to contact and when in case of illness or emergency
Pay rate
Type and length of training to be provided on the job
Period of employment
Departmental policies and protocols that may affect the student's interest in the job (e.g., dress code)
Office and College policies concerning the appropriate use of College property, such as telephones, computers, etc.
Timeline in which students can expect notification of a hiring decision

Students usually do not bring a resume to the interview unless the supervisor specifically requests it. Most students are eager to begin working, so it is advisable to notify the student of the hiring decision within two or three days after the interview. It is also important to keep in mind that not all candidates will have previous work experience and it is the expectation that supervisors hire and train new student employees.

Examples of Illegal Interview Questions

What is your age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and birthplace, marital or parental status?
Do you have a disability?
Have you ever been arrested?
How tall are you? How much do you weigh?
Have you ever been in a car accident or hospitalized?
Is English your first language?
Do you have any outstanding debt?
Do you drink socially? When was the last time you used illegal drugs?

For interviews, here are a few recommendations that may assist you with the process:

Send an introductory email to the student, as well as moving them forward in Workday. It will give you the opportunity to introduce yourself to the student, set expectations, and set up open communication between the two of you.
Provide the student with an option of choosing an in-person or remote interview.
Utilize a Google Calendar invite for the student. Include a space for the student to add any notes, such as if they have any questions or comments prior to the interview, if there are certain accommodations or information they may want you to know ahead of time.
If possible, provide the student with the main interview questions ahead of time.
Craft an interview rubric to rate a student’s performance. An interview rubric is a structured scoring guide that helps interviewers assess candidates consistently and objectively.
If you’re declining a candidate, it’s encouraged to provide the student with other opportunities or people they could connect with. This is a learning experience and an on-campus job; it’s helpful to provide them with any tips. And if you had a good experience with them, encourage them to keep in contact. Who knows, they may be a good fit for a future role in your department.

Please contact our office at student_employment@emerson.edu if you are looking to brainstorm or discuss interview methods further.

Hiring a Student Employee & Work Authorization

Student supervisors will receive tasks to be initiated in Workday for the Offer and Onboarding. Once all has been completed on the supervisor’s end, this will initiate onboarding for the student employee. A student employee will then be tasked to complete all necessary forms and tasks in Workday. Tasks will vary depending on if the student is a new hire, a current student employee, or a former student employee of the College.

All new hires and students with expired I-9s will need to bring their original forms of ID for the required I-9 form to the Office of Student Financial Services.

International Students who have not worked in the United States before will need to apply for a Social Security Number. Once the student has received a job offer and has had their SSN appointment, they may complete online employment forms and present their ID to the Student Employment office for work authorization.

A student employee will be all set to start working when the supervisor and the student employee receive an authorization email from Workday indicating they are all set. A student supervisor may check a student employee’s onboarding status via the Student Employment Dashboard.

Under no circumstances should a supervisor schedule a student employee prior to work authorization. A student employee should also never start working without being paid. Please ensure that your new hires have the correct tools and resources for their onboarding and hiring.

Please refer to the following guides for step-by-step Workday instructions:

Concluding Recruitment

Job requisitions will automatically close out and decline remaining candidates if you fill all of the allotted spots. For example, if a requisition is recruiting for 1 position, and a supervisor hires 1 student, the requisition will close out automatically. The Office of Student Employment cannot reopen a requisition once it’s been filled or closed.

That being said, the requisition will stay open if a student supervisor does not fill all the allotted spots but has concluded recruitment (for example, a student supervisor has hired 1 student but has 3 available spots in total). Student supervisors must do the following when requesting to close out a requisition:

Move forward or decline any candidates left under review
Check to make sure that it says Completion next to your recently hired student employee’s name. This can be found under Candidates in the Requisition. If it does not say Completion next to a student's name, then a requisition cannot be closed out.
Close out the Job Requisition.

It is imperative that students applying for positions are replied to in a timely manner.

If supervisors have exceeded the amount of applicants and wish for a decrease in applicants, please email the Office of Student Employment. The Student Employment Office will take the requisition off of the job board. This will prevent students from seeing the listing. However, the requisition will still be open and available for Student Supervisors to use.

Please refer to Closing out Student Job Requisitions for step-by-step instructions.

Time Entry, Payroll Policies & Procedures

Student employment pay periods are one week long and run from Monday to Sunday. Students must report their hours by 12 pm EST on Monday. At 12 pm EST, the timesheet closes and the student can no longer access the time sheet. The deadline for supervisors to approve their student employee’s hours is noon EST on Tuesdays. As a best practice, supervisors should try to approve all timesheets by or before the student employees’ Monday deadline. Failure to approve hours by the Tuesday deadline will result in a delay of at least one week for student pay. Please note that under no circumstances can this be allowed to occur.

IMPORTANT: If a student does not submit hours by the deadline or they are not approved by the supervisor, the hours will not come into Payroll and payment will be delayed. Adjustments can be made to time sheets on Wednesdays after 3 pm EST.

Supervisors must remind their students to complete their timesheets. The Student Employment Office will not remind students to complete their time sheets. There are a couple of different ways that supervisors can remind students to complete their time sheets:

Ask your students to complete their time sheets after every shift. Students enter hours in Workday and hit save.
Set up an email distribution list to remind your students a couple of times each payroll period. Definitely send a reminder email on the Fridays before timesheets are due.
If you have a Slack channel, set up or send out a reminder every Monday morning prior to the deadline.

Timesheets must be approved in Workday. Supervisors have access to timesheets once students report and submit hours. Supervisors who do not approve timesheets on time violate student employment policy. Please refer to violations of student employment policy.

All supervisors must select a delegate if they will be out of the office.

If you send a student’s timesheet back for correction, it is advised to contact the student directly to ensure they are aware their timesheet needs to be corrected. Students should receive a notification in Workday, but direct contact via email or Slack to inform them of what happened is highly encouraged.

If you send a student their timesheet back past the Noon EST deadline, they will not be able to resubmit or edit their timesheet until Wednesday at 3:00 pm EST.

It is the supervisor’s responsibility to pay close attention to the time students are submitting each week. The Student Employment Office will be running reports that indicate if a student has not been submitting time.

The Student Employment Office will contact a supervisor if one of their student employees appears on the report. Supervisors will need to inform the Student Employment Office if a student employee is no longer working the position or if the student employee has worked but not submitted time. Under no circumstances should a student employee be working without submitting time. If student supervisors are not attentive with student timesheets, the Student Employment Office will need to reevaluate their position as a supervisor.

Please also refer to the following guides for step-by-step instructions:

Merit Raises

If a supervisor would like to grant a student a pay raise based on merit, they will initiate a compensation change via Workday. Raises are not required but are encouraged if a student employee’s performance merits it. Raises are also dependent on department budgets. Increases in wages are not guaranteed and are at the discretion of the department.

Please refer to the step-by-step instructions for promotions as well as information about Pay Grades:

End Dates

End dates will need to be updated annually. Upon hire, supervisors should input the end date as the last day of the academic year. If the position is temporary or only the semester, then the end date should reflect this.

At the end of the academic year, if a student employee’s end date is upcoming and has not been updated, the Student Employment Office will be reaching out to the supervisor about this. The Student Employment Office will provide a date for the supervisor to get back to them confirming the student’s hire. If the student employee’s end date is not updated by the end of the academic year, the Student Employment Office will terminate the student employee from the position.

End dates do not automatically remove a student from their position in Workday. You must email our office with a termination request in order for the student to be removed from the position.

Please refer to the step-by-step instructions on how to update end dates:

End Dates - Student Employment Positions

Student Terminations

All student employee termination requests should be emailed to student_employment@emerson.edu. Student supervisors should provide a detailed description as to why the student must be removed from the role as well as their last day of work.

Student supervisors should not process terminations on their own in Workday. If a Student Supervisor attempts to submit a termination themselves in Workday, the Student Employment Office will send it back and request that the termination request be sent to us via email.

Student Supervisors should follow the Three Strikes Policy (outlined below) when a student employee needs to be escalated into a termination. All correspondence for termination with intent should be forwarded to the Office of Student Employment. If necessary, connect with the Office of Student Employment if needed to discuss the situation at hand. If deemed necessary or appropriate, the Office of Student Employment may step in.

A student employee should never be “let go.” If a department does not want a student employee to continue their employment the following semester, a student should be given ample notice so they may find a new position.

Students will need to be terminated at the end of every semester if they fall into any of the categories:

Graduating
Leaving the College
Leaving the position
Studying Abroad
Attending ELA

If a student will be studying abroad in the upcoming semester, but will be returning to the following, they may be rehired into the role by reapplying for the position in Workday. Only students attending ELA or the Netherlands may work a current position remotely. Students actively working remotely in either of those locations will be allowed to stay active in a role.

The Student Employment Office will reach out to Student Supervisors at the end of every semester inquiring Student Supervisors to inform The Student Employment Office of who will not be returning the following semester.

Hiring a Student Employee as a Temporary Worker

If a student is ineligible to participate in the Student Employment program, their student position with the College must end. However, if a supervisor wishes to keep a student on their staff, they may connect with the College’s HR department to set them up as a temporary worker.

Disciplinary Process/Dismissal

Student employees may be subject to termination of their student employment if they are unreliable or fail to perform their required responsibilities, including completing timesheets by the deadline.

Prior to completing an involuntary termination, please contact the Student Employment Office to ensure that the appropriate steps have occurred.

Students are generally entitled to the following disciplinary process prior to employment termination. This is also referred to as the Three Strikes Policy:

Supervisors should give a verbal warning to an underperforming student and review with the student any issues with the student employee’s work performance. The supervisor should give the student recommendations for improvement. If the warning is the result of failure to complete a timesheet by the deadline, the supervisor should inform the student of pending termination if the behavior does not correct itself.
If the student does not improve, their supervisor should give the student a written warning reiterating the issues they are having with the student’s work performance and the terms the student will need to uphold for their employment to continue.
If the student fails to adequately correct their behavior by the determined date, the student should be given a written notice of termination from the student’s supervisor. All the reasons for the termination should be listed. A copy of the letter should be sent to Student Employment and the letter shall be placed in the student’s file. Again, if the student’s behavior violated the College’s Code of Conduct for students, a copy of the termination letter shall also be sent to the attention of the Dean of Students and the matter may be referred to the Student Judicial System. Students who are terminated from their positions and who have violated College policy may not apply for future employment at the College in any capacity.

Students are allowed 3 disciplinary violations per academic year.

Notwithstanding the above process, a student’s employment may be terminated immediately in cases of both willful and inadvertent violation of college rules, departmental policy, or law violations. Such infractions that may justify immediate termination may include, but are not limited to, showing up to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs, stealing, insubordination, breach of confidentiality, breach of contract, violating the terms of a departmental agreement, falsifying a time sheet, or engaging in sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination.

***Under exceptional circumstances, a supervisor can request the immediate dismissal of an employee at the discretion of the Student Employment Manager ***

If the student’s dismissal is the result of disciplinary action that includes but is not limited to theft, sexual harassment, unlawful discrimination, or violent or threatening behavior, it is at the discretion of the Student Employment Manager to bar the student from all on-campus employment.

College Policies

Emerson College students must abide by all College policies, including but not limited to FERPA, the Code of Community Standards.

Violations of Emerson Policies may lead to College disciplinary action and/or criminal prosecution. Individuals are encouraged to report information concerning instances in which the above guidelines have been or are being violated.

Supervisors' Responsibilities

When you submit an offer letter for a student, you are acknowledging that you have read and agree to comply with the conditions listed in this handbook. By submitting an offer letter for a student, you and the student acknowledge their obligation to comply with Student Employment Program regulations and guidelines. Among your obligations are the following:

Students are not allowed to run personal errands or assist you outside of the College in a non-College-related capacity.
Students can only be paid through Workday. No outside payments for services rendered will be allowed.
Students cannot be offered employment or hired outside of Workday.
All student employment positions must be listed in Workday.
You must be an active staff/faculty member in order to supervise student employees. Individuals who are retired, on leave, or are no longer employed by the College are ineligible to participate in the student employment program.
You will not permit students to work until you have received a Work Authorization email from the Student Employment staff.
You must review the Payroll Schedule and all deadlines with your student.
You will approve your Student Employment timesheet by 12 pm EST on the day that they are due, according to the posted payroll schedule.
The supervisor may not allow students to volunteer their time for a position that would otherwise be paid. This includes any hours that exceed 20 hours per week during the normal academic year while classes are in session. However, if classes are not in session, a student may work up to 40 hours per week. Students are not permitted to work over 40 hours per week. This rule is regulated by Student Employment and the Payroll Office and is strictly enforced.
You are required to attend the annual Student Employment Manager Updates & Training.
You must notify Student Employment of any changes to the current supervisor; any new contact information must be disclosed in a timely fashion.
You are responsible for reading and complying with Student Employment email announcements throughout the year.
You understand that hourly rates depend upon job responsibilities and the number of
years a student has worked in that position. Students working in the same position with similar levels of experience must be paid the same amount, whether they are undergraduate students or graduate students.
You will outline basic work expectations and responsibilities to each of your student employees.
You will notify Student Employment of any change in the status of any of your student employees.
You will provide all students with two weeks' notification before termination of employment except in cases previously mentioned.
You will be responsible for departmental payments initiated by changes in a student’s Federal Work Study award.
You will change job descriptions to include the timely completion of the online time sheet as a job requirement.
You will provide warnings for students who do not complete their timesheets by the deadline.
You will recheck your timesheet approval queue prior to noon EST on timesheet due dates to verify that all your student employees have been approved, even if you think you have approved everyone.
You will verify that all of your current student employees have access to their timesheet in Workday.
You will not permit a student to volunteer for a position that would otherwise be paid.

Violations of Student Employment Policies By Supervisors

The Student Employment Manager will take the following actions with regard to supervisors who fail to comply with the policies outlined in the Student Employment Handbook.

A supervisor’s first offense will result in the supervisor receiving a warning letter from the Student Employment Manager. A copy of this letter will also be sent to their supervisor.
If a supervisor commits a second violation, the Student Employment Manager will send a warning letter to the supervisor in question, their supervisor, their Vice President or Chair of the Department and the Director of Financial Aid.
A third violation will cause a supervisor’s hiring privileges to be suspended for the remainder of the academic year. The Director of Financial Aid will determine if the supervisor’s hiring privileges will be permanently suspended.

Please note that student employment supervisors are employees at will at Emerson College who may be disciplined or terminated for any reason, including failing to abide by the College’s Student Employment Policies.

Appealing a Supervisor Violation

Supervisors may appeal a student employment violation by contacting the Director of Financial Aid in writing with an explanation and documentation if warranted. Appeals will be addressed within one week of receipt.