Glossary of Student Payroll Terms

A statement of earnings for a previous tax year sent to international students who had tax treaty earnings. University Payroll mails these forms out during the month of March.

One of the forms an international student needs to complete in order to declare a tax treaty. The IRS’s Exemption from Withholding on Compensation for Independent (and Certain Dependent) Personal Services of A Non-Resident Alien Individual form.

A payroll loan given to students who were not paid on-cycle through no fault of their own. Advances must be requested by a payroll coordinator in writing and must be approved by a Student Payroll staff member.

The minimum pay rate for an hourly paid job. The grade level of a job determines the base rate.

A five-character mail code identifying the department where a student’s check or direct deposit stub is delivered.

A check reversal is done when a student receives a payment in error. The reversal has the money credited back to the department and deducts the money from the student’s yearly earnings.

One of the forms an international student needs to complete in order to declare a tax treaty. The student lists personal information relating to the tax treaty on this form.

Non-Work-Study employment, where the department pays 100% of the student’s gross earnings.

The University legacy accounting codes (unit, department, object, and source) for on-campus departments.  Translations for SAP fund and cost centers can be found by using the Accounting Crosswalk via the BUWORKS central portal.

A two-character code which is passed to the main payroll system to designate the type of payment that has been made to a student.

The date an international student entered the United States. This is used to track international students’ eligibility for FICA exemption.

A payroll tax. There are two components to FICA: Social Security and Medicare.

A one-digit code which identifies the complexity of and responsibilities required in a job. The higher the grade level, the more complex the job, and the higher the base rate of pay. There are five grade levels (1-5) for hourly-paid jobs. Two special grade levels exist which do not have a base pay rate. They are grade level 0 (weekly-salaried paid jobs), and grade level 9 (one-time payment and sick time).

A job that is paid at an hourly rate, requiring weekly time entry.

Eligibility for Employment Verification Form, which certifies that an individual is eligible to work in the United States. It must be completed the first time a student works at the University. International students must complete this form at the International Students and Scholars Office.

The International Students and Scholars Office, located at 888 Commonwealth Avenue, 2nd floor.

Information Systems & Technology. IS&T develops and maintains the University’s mainframe computer system.

A guide to the job codes and job types used at the University for student employees. It also identifies the pay grade levels. View it online.

Two-digit code, which identifies the type of work that a student employee performs. Job codes are identified in the Job Classification Guide.

A standardized raise scale through which student employees receive pay increases based on time worked in a department.

Massachusetts State Withholdings Certificate, completed by an employee to identify the MA rate at which he or she wishes to have taxes withheld from paychecks.

A five-character legacy code identifying University departments. Mail codes are established through University Payroll. Can also be seen as a “billable entity” for each department.

Outside of the normal schedule/cycle.

A payment processed after the scheduled pay date has passed.

Change in pay rate which does not follow the usual longevity scale.

A one-time payment job, duration may not exceed one week.

1. An action taken to hire a student into a job he or she has previously worked.

2. A program run by the Work-Study Office that automatically rehires Work-Study students into their spring semester jobs for an upcoming Work-Study Program (academic year or summer). Runs weekly for one month prior to the start of the academic year or summer program.

A report sent to payroll coordinators via payroll packet identifying all students rehired within their department by the automatic rehire process.

A program run by Student Payroll two weeks prior to the beginning of each semester. It automatically establishes student jobs in the upcoming semester as long as proper criteria are met. To be rolled over, the job must have an end date in the upcoming semester and the student must meet the enrollment requirements for that semester.

A report sent to payroll coordinators identifying all students whose jobs were affected by the rollover for their department.

The Student Employee Authorization Form. This is the document which is used to hire and maintain student employees in their jobs by departments that do not have Business Link access.

A payment made to a student for which no work is required. Stipend payments are not processed by Student Payroll, but by University Payroll.

This packet includes all the forms a student needs to complete in order to declare a tax treaty. Students must obtain this packet in person from Student Payroll.

One of the forms an international student needs to complete in order to declare a tax treaty. It lists the provisions of the country’s tax treaty.

A statement of earnings and taxes withheld for a previous tax year. University Payroll mails these forms out at the end of January.

Employee’s Withholding Certificate, completed by an employee to identify the federal rate at which he or she wishes to have taxes withheld from paychecks.

The University’s on-line accounting system, used to identify valid distribution codes in keying used throughout the University.

A job that is paid at a weekly flat rate; does not require time entry.

The final day an international student has permission to work. This date is determined by ISSO and can only be extended by ISSO.

A federally funded financial aid program offered to eligible students through BU Financial Assistance. Most on-campus departments employing Work-Study students are charged 30% of a student’s gross earnings and the federal Work-Study fund is charged the remaining 70%.