Payroll Information for Students

Student employment is available to all undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled as a matriculated student at SUNY Plattsburgh.

For employment during winter break, a student must be enrolled for the spring semester. For summer break employment, the student must be either enrolled  for the fall semester or enrolled in the session(s) they are working. 

A U.S. Social Security number is required for employment. Visit the Social Security Administration website for more information.

• F-1 Students

For temporary service positions, contact the Career Development Center and/or use the Handshake program.

For work-study positions and eligibility, contact student financial services.

You are required to receive a minimum wage of $15/hr. The maximum hourly rate that can be paid to student employees without additional approval will be $16/hr. The maximum hourly rate that can be paid to student employees with Human Resource Services approval is $17/hr.

• Work weeks run Thursday through Wednesday.
• Students can work a maximum of 20 hours per week between all jobs when classes are in session.  During the winter and summer breaks, students can work a maximum of 29 hours per week between all jobs.  For specific dates, please view the current student payroll schedule.
• If you choose to have multiple jobs/duties on campus, you must plan accordingly with your supervisor(s) to ensure you do not exceed the maximum allowed hours and are not violating any NYS Labor Laws. 
• Students scheduled to work 6 or more hours in a row are required to take an unpaid 30-minute break per New York state labor laws.
• Students are entitled to paid 15-minute breaks based on your work schedule that would be determined and established by your supervisor.
• Students must have one consecutive 24-hour period of rest after working seven consecutive days, per NYS labor laws.

Student employees are in the non-competitive class of civil service and are not assigned a bargaining unit. No fringe benefits are accorded to individuals in these positions. Work status is temporary and no long-term commitments are possible. Student employees are paid at an hourly rate only for hours actually worked.

Student employees are eligible to enroll in the New York State Employees’ Retirement System. Enrollment requires a 3% – 6% salary contribution, based on your salary rate, to the retirement system. The equivalent of ten years of full-time service is needed to become eligible for pension benefits.

You may enroll by completing the ERS Membership Registration Form and submitting it to the payroll office or you may decline enrollment by signing a declination of election form.

Students are covered by the college’s workers’ compensation policy. If injured while on the job, please contact human resource services. Students are not paid for time lost due to injury.

Student employees are typically exempt from Social Security and Medicare withholdings as long as you are enrolled in classes at the university of employment. During the summer, FICA and Medicare are withheld from student checks unless they are enrolled in two summer classes at this university. Students with F-1 visas are exempt at all times.

All newly hired students must complete the following forms, which will be sent electronically to the students’ SUNY Plattsburgh email:

• Student Appointment Form — Work-study authorization or temp-service form
• Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification
• W-4 Form
• IT2104 or IT2104E
• Disability waiver
• Public officers law
• Retirement election/declination

These forms must be fully completed before work begins. Supervisors are not to allow a student to begin work until payroll services has confirmed the forms are complete. 

Both supervisor and student will receive a payroll cleared email stating when the student can start work.

Appointments to the payroll system are processed on the biweekly cycle with a strict deadline schedule imposed by the Office of the State Comptroller. Any forms not received by the appropriate deadline will be reported in the next payroll cycle, which could result in a delay in payment.

Student Appointment Form

Student Appointment Forms are available on the Student tab of the MyPlattsburgh portal under the student employment section. The forms contain the basic appointment information (appointment dates, pay rate, account number to be charged, as well as information relating to the student employee). The form must be completed in full. If the form needs to be returned for completion this could result in delay in the payment to the student.

Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification

This form is required by federal law to show eligibility to work in the United States. To complete the I-9 Form, students must present the original identification documents (photocopies are not acceptable). One document from List A, or a combination of one document from List B and one from List C is required. This form must be completed at the payroll office. Please refer to this list of acceptable documents. Once payroll services has verified paperwork is complete, you will receive an email to contact the office to make an appointment to provide your identification documents. 

W-4 Form

Student wages are subject to federal withholdings. Federal taxes are set to single if no W-4 is submitted. The forms should be read carefully since the tax status claimed by the student is determined by Internal Revenue Service regulations. Active employees can update their W-4 at any time through the NYS payroll online system.

IT2104 / IT2104E Forms

Student wages are subject to state withholdings. NYS tax is set to single-0 if no IT2104 is submitted. City tax is mandatory for residence in the five counties designed to be within the City of New York, as well as Yonkers, based on allowances indicated on line 2 of IT2104. Therefore, tax form IT2104 must be submitted to claim city allowances. 

• Bronx County (Bronx)
• Kings County (Brooklyn)
• New York County (Manhattan)
• Queens County (Queens)
• Richmond County (Staten Island)

Time records are now completed electronically by logging in at https://www.suny.edu/hrportal.

Student employees are paid at an hourly rate only for actual hours worked and reported on a biweekly Student Online Time Record. Hours must be entered daily and indicated in one-quarter increments (i.e., 2:15–4:45 p.m., not 2:17–4:43 p.m.). Students must complete and submit their submission and approval to the payroll services for processing their own time record. Students and supervisors should review each time sheet for accuracy and completeness before forwarding to payroll for processing.

It is the responsibility of the student and supervisor to insure the information provided is accurate.

Student and supervisors should make sure time records are submitted to the payroll office by the deadlines. Time records received after established deadline will be processed with the next available payroll cycle. The Office of the State Comptroller sets the strict deadlines. They are not campus deadlines that can be changed. Deadlines can be found on the student payroll schedule. 

If a time sheet is not submitted by the appropriate deadline, do not hold the time sheet until the next payroll deadline. Please process as soon as possible. Although it cannot be processed until the next payroll cycle, it will help the payroll office to answer any question as to why a check was not issued for that student on a particular pay date.

Paychecks are issued on a biweekly cycle. Please refer to the appropriate payroll schedule for payment dates.   

Direct deposit is mandatory for all student employees.

DOWNLOAD THE DIRECT DEPOSIT FORM

The employees name must appear on the account. If there is more than one name on the account both people must sign the form. A voided check or written verification form from the Financial Institution containing the account and routing numbers, and name(s) on the account must accompany this form in order to set up direct deposit. 

W-2 forms report the student's earnings for the calendar year, and are necessary for filing federal and state returns. W-2 forms are printed by the Office of the State Comptroller and mailed to the address on file with payroll services. Duplicate forms can be printed if the original is lost or destroyed. Contact payroll services by phone at 518-564-3113 or email at [email protected]