The following changes to maximum allowable work hours for student employees will be made effective on 7/1/2023.
To determine the total hours for a student employee per week, combine the total work hours scheduled for each on-campus job held by the student employee. Please note some student employees hold more than one job at the University.
| Fall, Winter, and Spring Term | Maximum Allowable Work Hours |
|---|---|
|
Undergraduate and post baccalaureate student Enrolled in 6 credit hours or more |
Maximum of 24 hours per week |
|
Undergraduate international student Enrolled in 12 credit hours or more |
Maximum of 20 hours per week |
|
Graduate Student Enrolled in 5 credit hours or more |
Maximum of 24 hours per week |
|
Graduate international student Enrolled in 9 credit hours or more |
Maximum of 20 hours per week |
| Graduate student with a Graduate Assistantship | Combined maximum of 24 hours per week. (GA + hourly) |
| Graduate international Student with a Graduate Assistantship | Combined maximum of 20 hours per week. (GA + hourly) |
| High school student | Maximum of 24 hours per week |
| Summer Session Classes (Per Session) | Maximum Allowable Work Hours |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate and post baccalaureate student |
Enrolled in 6 credit hours or more: Maximum of 24 hours per week. Enrolled in 5 credits or less: Maximum of 40 hours per week. * |
| Undergraduate international student |
Enrolled in 12 credit hours or more: Maximum of 20 hours per week. Enrolled in 11 credit hours or less with reduced course load approval: Maximum of 40 hours per week. |
| Graduate student |
Enrolled in 5 credit hours or more: Maximum of 24 hours per week. * Enrolled in 4 credit hours or less: Maximum of 40 hours per week. * |
| Graduate international student |
Enrolled in 9 credit hours or more: Maximum of 20 hours per week. Enrolled in 8 credit hours or less with reduced course load approval: Maximum of 40 hours per week. |
| Graduate student with a Graduate Assistantship | Combined maximum of 24 hours per week (GA + hourly) |
| Graduate International Student with a Graduate Assistantship | Combined maximum of 20 hours per week (GA + hourly) |
| High school student | Maximum of 40 hours per week |
*If taking less than 6 credits during a term, you may be subjected to additional taxes, fees, and withholdings. May be considered a student's term off.
FAQs
International students are allowed to work a total of 20 hours per week (including all jobs) on-campus during an academic term. This is an immigration requirement, so it is not flexible or able to be modified. International students can work up to 40 hours per week in-between terms and during their annual vacation terms. International students with any questions can contact the Office of International Services at [email protected]
State and Federal laws guide the decisions employers make regarding the benefits they offer employees. Some of these laws tie benefits obligations to the number of hours worked. OSU evaluates the number of hours that all employees work on an annual basis to determine our compliance obligations related to benefits. If a student consistently exceeds the set limit on hours there may be benefit cost implications for OSU departments/units. It is the responsibility of supervisors and students to monitor work hours each week to maintain compliance with the new maximum allowable hours.
Students are not benefits eligible in their hourly student employment positions. However, they would become benefits eligible under Affordable Care Act rules if they work an average of 130 hours a month during an ACA look back period which is a 12-month period that spans October 1 to September 30 of each year. At the end of October each year, OSU will look back at the previous 12 months and analyze the hours of the entire workforce. Anyone who works an average of 130 hours during that time period has to be considered for benefits eligibility under the ACA.
After one year (July 1, 2024), university leadership will plan to evaluate and re-assess the pilot program and then make a determination on if the change to maximum allowable work hours becomes permanent.
It is the responsibility of both the students and supervisors to monitor hours and make sure that they stay within the 24 or 20 hour limit, especially when a student has multiple jobs. A warning email from EmpCenter will be sent out to students and supervisors once a student has reached 20 hours in a work week. This will act as a notification that a student is nearing (or at) the maximum allowable work hours in a week.
EmpCenter automatically sends out the emails and populates the Exception Message on the student’s timesheet when a student worker reaches 20 combined hours worked per week. Students who are on a term off and approved to work up to 40 hours per week will simply need to acknowledge the exception in EmpCenter on any shifts that exceed 20 hours in a week. Additional information on accepting the new EmpCenter Exceptions can be found here: https://mytime.oregonstate.edu/student-hours-exception
There will not be any change to the amount of work study funds a student employee receives, therefore departments will need to budget accordingly and understand that with an increase in maximum allowable work hours, work study funds may be exhausted quicker. After work study funds are exhausted, the department will then be responsible for 100% of the employee’s wages. If work study student’s get hired by multiple departments, their work study funds are applied to both jobs evenly until their federal work study funding is exhausted.
Graduate Assistantships are still capped at 0.49FTE, however students may supplement their Grad Assistant position with an additional hourly position(s) so long as the combined hours do not exceed 24 per week. (Example: A 0.49 GA can work an additional 4 hours per week in a separate hourly student employment position). The additional hourly work, however, cannot not be highly related or the same as what they are performing in their GTA/GRA positions.