Payroll

All new employees of Boston University must complete a Form I-9 within their first three days of employment. Human Resources will forward instructions to you once you have accepted a job offer. For all information on completing the Form I-9 including a list of acceptable identification documents you may navigate to the BU Form I-9 site.

As a new hire, you must arrange to have your compensation transferred directly to your bank account. As a current employee, you may change banks and need to update your direct deposit information. Directions for adding or changing your direct deposit information can be found on the BU HR website.

A W-2 tax form reports important information to you about the income you’ve earned from BU, the amount of taxes withheld from your paycheck, benefits provided and other information for the year. You use this form to file your federal and state taxes. Active employees can access their W-2 forms by navigating to your SAP central portal > Employee Self-Service > W-2 Display.

This is an IRS form that you complete which allows BU to appropriately calculate your federal tax withholding from each paycheck. To create, edit or display the number of allowances you will be declaring on your compensation, please navigate to your SAP central portal > Employee Self-Service > W-4 Tax Withholding.

If you are a non-exempt weekly paid employee, you must enter your weekly hours and these must be approved by your supervisor by 12:00 noon each Tuesday for the work week ending the previous Sunday. You will be notified by MET Finance on any deviations to this deadline due to holiday or university breaks. For complete instructions on entering and submitting your time, please visit the University Payroll FAQ. A quick reference time entry guide is also available.

Note that per MET policy, hiring any staff employee requires the approval of MET Dean Tanya Zlateva and MET Director of Human Resources, Julie Prendergast.

Please contact Julie for assistance initiating the hiring process at: jprend@bu.edu, 617-358-3166.

There are complex legal risks and other financial concerns associated with hiring employees who will be working from outside the United States. Note that the Dean’s pre-approval is required.

If you are considering such a hire, please first review the guidelines from BU HR on this topic, and if you still wish to pursue this hire, please contact MET HR and MET Finance for assistance.

Note that BU Human Resources is the only office that may extend job offers to candidates seeking regular staff positions. Dean and MET HR approval is required.

Department Managers should contact MET Director of Human Resources, Julie Prendergast who will guide and oversee the job posting and hiring process: jprend@bu.edu, 617-358-3166.

To address departmental needs for temporary labor staffing, the University has partnered with a recruiting and employment management firm, Kelly Services, to provide managers with a competitively priced and easy to manage labor program, “TerrierTemps” that is administratively integrated with SAP.

Department managers must first forward an approval request to Dean Zlateva and copy the MET Director of HR Julie Prendergast.

With proper MET approval, using the BUworks TerrierTemps portal, you will be able to submit labor requisitions, review résumés, select candidates, and approve timesheets all in one place.

Comprehensive instructions are provided at the BU Sourcing & Procurement website, where you will be guided on:

• Getting Started
• Creating Job Posting Request
• Reviewing and Selecting Candidates
• Approving Time Sheets and Expenses
• Creating Work Order Revisions
• Terrier Temps Guidelines and FAQ
• Co-Employment Obligations and Information

Note that BU does not need to assist the hire with completion of an I-9 because they are not a BU employee.

Questions may be directed to the Terrier Temps Program Management Office at: butemps@bu.edu, 617-358-1042.

For additional information, please refer to the Terrier Temps New Temporary Worker Guide for Hiring Managers.

With the approval of the Dean and MET HR, department managers may hire a temporary employee without relying on a temporary employee agency. Instructions can be found on the University Human Resources website.

Note that temporary non-agency hires are paid only for time worked, and their length of employment must be less than 9 months.

Temporary positions may be either paid monthly (exempt) or weekly (non-exempt) per the dictates of the Fair Labor Standards Act which the MET HR Director can advise you on.

The MET Director of HR in collaboration with the you as department manager, central BU HR, and MET Finance will assist you on creating a position description on SAP, determining an appropriate salary, hiring the individual, and ensuring that they are onboarded and set up on the payroll system successfully.

The University will provide your new permanent and temporary non-agency hires with full instructions on completing the I-9, and they must comply within three days after starting work. As Supervisors it is always helpful to check with your new employee to ensure they are aware of and have complied with this important requirement.

As a manager/supervisor, you must approve your permanent and temporary non-agency employees submitted hours each week by 12:00 noon each Tuesday for the work week ending the previous Sunday. Note that early deadlines may be imposed due to holidays/university breaks and MET Finance will distribute notifications to you when applicable.

Please refer to the BU Payroll website for complete instructions on approving, entering and releasing time on behalf of your hourly paid employees, as well as reviewing time off requests.

Here are two quick reference Time Entry guides for managers for your convenience:

• Manager Timesheet Approval – Quick Reference Guide
• Entering/Releasing hours on behalf of employee – Quick Reference Guide

Distinguished guest speakers may be invited to enrich a class by providing a lecture, workshop, or seminar. Both Boston University employees and non-employees are eligible to receive a small honorarium payment for this service contingent upon securing proper MET approvals and furnishing the required taxpayer documentation.

For proper guidance on proposing the appointment of a guest speakers and providing them with an honoraria payment, please refer to the Guest Speakers (Honoraria) page.

For departmental chairs, supervisors and administrators involved in staff/faculty payroll actions, note the University deadlines that MET Finance must adhere to for processing payroll actions on the University payroll system.

Lunch & Learn PowerPoint presentation – Learn more from the MET Lead Payroll Administrator about the following payroll-related topics:

• Entering and releasing work hours
• Requesting vacation and sick time
• Approving weekly timesheet
• Setting up Direct deposit
• Changing home address
• Completing/Updating W-4

Lunch & Learn Workshop Video

U.S. Citizens are eligible for student employment provided they are enrolled in a degree program. For the summer, they must be either enrolled in summer classes or designated on the BU Registrar’s system as eligible to register for the upcoming Fall semester.

International students must be registered or certified by their home school/college as full-time unless they are in their final semester of enrollment at BU. During the summer they must be either registered for summer courses or enrolled for the upcoming fall semester. International student must also have authorization from the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO). Please refer to the SEO website to further details.

During the academic year while classes are in session, students may only work up to 20 hours per week. They may work more than one job, but in total their hours must not exceed 20.

Student employees may work more than 20 hours per week during vacation periods: winter intersession, spring break, and summer recess, but should never exceed 40 hours.

Students may not work during their scheduled classes and supervisors should ensure this rule is adhered to.

Note that BU students are limited to working 500 hours per semester and 1,500 hours per fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).

Hourly paid students would typically involve a job with variable hours and significant level of supervision. Supervisors must review and approve hours that are submitted each week. Full instructions are available here.

Weekly paid students are paid a fixed amount each week and usually are graduate students working as teaching assistants or research assistantships.

One-time payments are an option for non-work study students. The assignment should not exceed one week in duration and the hourly rate must be consistent with minimum wage standards. Note that international students may only work one-time payment jobs during approved university break periods.

Hiring managers/supervisors may refer to the Job Classification Guide from the Student Employment Office to determine the appropriate job grade and hourly rate for your student job based on the complexity and responsibilities of the position.

The MET Office of the Dean oversees the application and approval process for hiring students to serve as faculty assistants. Please refer to the links below for basic information on faculty and student eligibility, hiring policies, job descriptions, typical hours etc. as well as the link for faculty to electronically submit request forms for each category of assistant.

Upon approval by the Dean, the Dean’s Office distributes appointment letters to the students and transmits payroll processing instructions to MET Finance.

• Research and Graduate Assistants
• Teaching Assistants (note that hires are not required to be current students)

For any questions relating to MET faculty assistant hiring policies or processes, please contact:

• Corinne Griffiths, MET Assistant Dean for Faculty Actions, cgriff@bu.edu , 617-358-2197, or
• Lyn Ariyakulkan, MET Manager of Faculty Actions, lyna@bu.edu, 617-353-0935

BU participates in a federally funded financial aid program that pays up to 70% of a student’s hourly wage expense directly to the student to help them meet their educational expense obligations. Generally, these jobs fund about 8-12 hours per week beginning at the Massachusetts minimum wage. So, it is a bonus for the students, as well as hiring departments who can realize reduced salary expense compared to offering regular full departmentally funded student jobs.

Please guide interested students to the SEO website for information and instructions on applying for Federal Work-Study.

If a department is seeking to hire a student for work, the Student Employment Office offers a Job Posting guide with detailed instructions on how to advertise the position.

All BU students enrolled in a degree program and meet eligibility requirements have access to the “Student Job Service” where they can view job listings and apply.

BU students with Federal Work-Study awards have access to the “Work-Study Job Directory” three times a year (fall, spring, and summer). Please refer to the SEO website for instructions on posting and hiring students into Work-Study Jobs.

All students hired into Boston University jobs must complete an electronic Form I-9 to confirm their eligibility to legally work on-campus. Supervisors may not allow a student to work beyond three days if the student has not completed an I-9.

The MET Finance Payroll Administrator oversees this process for the hiring department to ensure that all new student employees (never having worked or been paid by Boston University) complete this process successfully.

The hiring managers/supervisor will be asked to provide the student’s hiring details. The MET Payroll Administrator will then check the student payroll system to determine if the student is a new employee, and if so the I-9 must be completed.

The Payroll Administrator will email the student (copying the hiring supervisor) who will be directed to their Student Link Work tab, Form I-9 Compliance Portal, to complete the Form I-9 Compliance – Section 1.

For domestic students: After Section 1 is completed, the MET Finance Payroll Administrator will schedule an appointment with the student to visit the office to present their identification documents. The Payroll Administrator will then complete the Form I-9 Compliance – Section 2 via the compliance portal.

For international students: After Section 1 is completed, the student is directed to follow instructions provided by the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) to complete Section 2 of the Form I-9. The student should advise the Payroll Administrator when this task has been finished.

For full details and links related to this process, please refer to the Form I-9 Procedure on the SEO website.

Weekly salaried students are paid a set amount of compensation each week and no time entry is required (usually graduate students working as teaching or research assistants). However, hourly paid students are paid based on the number of weekly hours worked and must enter and submit their weekly timesheet on the Student Time Entry Process “STEP” system on the Student Link by 11:59 pm each Sunday*.

Help for students on entering hours via the Employee Time Entry function on the Work tab of the Student Link

Supervisors of hourly paid student employees must approval submitted time by 10:00 am each Tuesday*. Supervisors have the option of changing submitted time prior to approving (with an explanation) or entering time on the student’s behalf. Here are complete instructions for supervisors charged with managing student hourly pay.

Supervisor Approval instructions for hourly paid students on the Business and Faculty links

• Business Link
• Faculty Link

*Deadlines for submitting and approving pay may vary due to holidays, spring break and intersession. Please refer to the payroll deadlines provided by the Student Employment Office, but note that supervisors will be notified via email of these special deadlines.

Your student employee’s initial payment will be a physical check. However, they may elect to have future payments wired directly to their bank account. The Student Employment Office provides a video that supervisors can forward their student employee to show them how to set up their direct deposit via the Student Link and the BUWorks portal, Employee Self Service.

Managers/Supervisors of student employees must be mindful of important student payroll-related dates and deadlines to ensure student payments are processed in a timely and accurate manner. The Student Employment Office provides a payroll calendar and guidance on a host of topics in this regard.