Skip to main content

TimeKeeping

Student employment supervisors are responsible for

  • overseeing and providing regular and consistent guidance and feedback to their student employee(s),
  • responsible for signing all forms and approving timecards by stated deadlines, and
  • all timekeeping requirements and responsibilities, even if absent.

In addition to the information outlined here, please also familiarize yourself with Timekeeping Resources and Polices . 

Reporting and Approving Hours

To prevent timecard issues including misreported time worked, missing hours, or deliberate timecard falsification matters, supervisors should review their student employee’s timecard frequently or at least at the end of every pay period every other week. Timecard approvals are due in the University timekeeping system by listed University Payroll deadlines. Ideally, supervisors should submit their approval by 5 p.m. on the Friday before the end of the pay period, however, the University Payroll deadline is generally at 1 p.m. CST on the Monday following the end of the pay period. 

If your student employee is being paid FWS wages, it is a federal regulation that federal work-study students' timecards must be approved by their supervisor or designated timecard delegate, or department power user each pay period (34 CFR 675.19 (b)(2)(i)). 

Timecard Delegation

Supervisors may delegate a timecard approver in their absence. The delegate should be working in your department and be of equal or greater position to you. If you will be on a leave from the university on a timecard approval deadline, please make sure you designate a delegate in the timekeeping system prior to your leave.   

Timecard Amendment

If a student forgets to enter their hours in the timekeeping system, the supervisor should enter a timecard amendment in Workforce as soon as possible to record the student's hours worked so they may be paid on the next bi-weekly or adjustment pay date. DO NOT add hours worked in a previous pay per to the current pay period. This is considered timecard falsification.

If you are submitting a timecard amendment during the summer for hours an FWS student worked during the academic year, please contact Northwestern's Work-Study office.