The COVE Career Center Staff Resources

Hiring staff and faculty should go to Handshake to post their on-campus jobs.  If you are unfamiliar with posting on Handshake, please contact our office for personal assistance. 

You will need to use your Westmont email username and the password "westmonthandshake" to first access the system. We recommend changing this to your email password so you access every system on campus including Handshake the same way. 

You are encouraged to hire a Work Study student as a cost effective means of providing support for your department as well as a job for our students. The College has committed to making every effort to provide work study students with opportunities to work on campus. Departments which hire work-study students are reimbursed 33% of the students’ wages at the end of each month,visible in your budget. 

When hiring senior student employees, be advised that the last day a graduating senior may work as a student will be the last day of the pay period that includes finals week. This rule applies to both the end of calendar year and the end of the academic year. 


Finally, it is important to note that anyone who is not a registered Westmont student or who recently graduated from the college, cannot be hired as a student employee. Supervisors intending to hire temp staff (graduated or those who do not have student status) should contact Nissi Vasa in HR for approval.

Federal Work-Study (FWS) provides employment and community service opportunities for students who are eligible for need-based financial aid. Awards are made based on the availability of funding and the student’s financial need, as determined by the FAFSA.

Though these funds are intended to assist with paying educational costs, Work-Study funds are not considered in the college payment plan, as they are paid directly to students via a paycheck that is issued every other week as a student works via timecards submitted to the Payroll office.  

On-campus supervisors are strongly encouraged to hire Work Study students. This is especially important at the beginning of the academic year when many of our incoming students look for work and as such they are given priority in job placement. As an added bonus, when you hire a work study student, your department is reimbursed 33% of the student's wages at the end of the month. Those reimbursements will be posted to your departmental budget. Work study awardees may work in any area on campus with the exception of those positions associated with the Campus Pastor's office or Chapel. 

For questions regarding financial aid and work study awards should be directed to the Financial Aid office.  Questions pertaining to student employment and work study should be directed to Julissa Delgado. 

Managing your postings

Please login to Handshake and post all your available jobs for students. This is the one and only source for students to seek out on-campus work. You are responsible for monitoring your postings. 

Supervisors should close their on-campus positions once they have been filled. 

Senior students and pay periods

The last day a graduating senior may work as a student is the last day of the pay period that includes finals week (applies to December and May finals).

Hire only registered students

Persons who are not enrolled as a student or who have graduated from College are not eligible for student employment. 

There are several steps that as a hiring supervisor you MUST complete as part of the student employment process or before your student may begin working: 

Summer Student Hires: 

Student employees must have a summer TEA approved by the COVE Career Center  before they begin working.   


Summer is the only time students may be paid for holidays, but only if they meet certain criteria.  Please click here for information regarding holiday pay for student employees.

SUMMER 2020  TEA dates: 5/3/19 to 8/22/20  

Students MAY NOT work beyond these dates without an academic year TEA in place. Fall TEA dates will be set in August. 

Students MAY NOT work beyond 85 days (in total) at 29 hours per week- under any circumstances per Westmont H.R.  Please be sure to create your summer TEA's within these guidelines.

Step #1

A Temporary Employment Agreement MUST be created for each student that works on campus- NO EXCEPTIONS. This acts as an offer of employment and documents a student's rate of pay, hours and job duties. TEA's are generated online at the following link: Temporary Employment Agreement 

Please use the student's projected first day of work as the beginning date of their TEA, not the date you create the TEA.  After you create a TEA, it will be automatically sent to your student for their review and approval if applicable. 

STUDENT WAGES:

It is your responsibility to determine and monitor your students wages. In light of the continual changes in the state minimum wage, a new student scale has been developed in conjunction with the Finance office to help you determine your students hourly wage.

Keeping wages in alignment with the category of work that is performed rather than the number of years worked on campus, will help to create a more uniform system of paying students fairly as well as being more equitable for other students who are performing the same work. 

Wage changes can not be made after the Temporary Employment Agreement has been created. TEA's created for students with a wage below the state minimum, will be adjusted by the Payroll office as needed. 

Students may not be paid less than the current state minimum $13.00 or more than $14.25 for any position on campus.

 The wage you assign to first time student employees must be between the bottom and top wages listed in the categories on this scale, and the total wages the employee will earn must be within your student wage budget.  Jobs are graded based upon difficulty, experience, and the level of training required to perform them.  Students in jobs that lead/supervise others a minimum of 50% of the time are paid one grade higher than the job supervised. 

You must provide the COVE Career Center with written approval from your departmental VP for any wage exceeding $14.25/hr.

Pay Grades

General - Includes all entry-level student jobs that do not require previous training or special skills other than basic computer skills.  May require on-the-job training.                       

Skilled - Skilled jobs include positions that require a higher level of responsibility and some previous training or experience.  Positions offer extensive on-the-job training or require certification. Students may be supervising other students in the General category.

Specialist - Specialist jobs require special skills or an advanced level of academic or other qualifications.  The position might involve a high degree of training, and/or extensive previous experience.   Job duties may include hiring, training, scheduling and supervising students in the Skilled category.

Printable Student Wage Scale

Step #2

Completing I-9 and W-4 paperwork is mandatory. 

It is unlawful to accept an I9 form without an offer of employment/acceptance (TEA). Students are responsible for completing their portion of the online form if needed, and providing you with ORIGINAL documents to complete your portion of the form (Section 2) 

It is your responsibility to verify that you have been provided original documents to complete the online I9 form. Scans, faxes, copies, or notarized documents the original documents are NOT acceptable. Lists of acceptable documents

A student MAY NOT begin working under ANY circumstances without an I9 in place and approval of their TEA. To do so is a violation of labor law and puts the college at risk for severe penalties. 

Step #3

Provide Workplace safety training to your student. Safety training is available through Public Safety by contact Tom Bauer.

Step #4

Assist your student employee with time card set-up. Each student is required to create a time card to log their hours worked through the OATS system. A time card tutorial is also available here. 

Please share the Student Pay Schedule with  your students so that they can track time card due dates- Time Card Schedule 19-20

Respond to employment related emails from the COVE Career Center as needed. These pertain directly to your students employment. There may be times when an action is needed during the employment process involving student approval, etc. TEA's that are not completed will be automatically voided after 14 days of creation. 

You will be notified as the TEA moves through the employment process via emails from Student Employment aka Docu-Sign. You must wait to receive an email notification from Student Employment that the student has been approved BEFORE they can begin working.  

Upon completing the student Temporary Employment Agreement, your may student may be directed to complete I-9 and W-4 paperwork if necessary. Students will have access through the TEA system to an online electronic version of the I-9 form.

This online form is in place to avoid errors and help to increase our federal work compliance. Students should complete the form online and then bring you their ORIGINAL work authorization documentation for verification. (see page 5 of the I-9 form) so that you may complete your portion of the online form. 

You may not AND should not accept photocopies, scans or facsimilies of documentation related to the I-9 under any circumstances. To do so is a violation of USCIS government regulations. As the supervisor, you are attesting on a federal form and under penalty of perjury that these valid, unexpired, tangible documents. 

Do not provide your student with a paper copy of the I-9 form for any reason. 

Additionally, you may not have a student complete an I-9 PRIOR to the creation of a TEA. 

Work Authorization Documents

Section 1: Employee Information 

As as supervisor, you are obligated to complete the follow steps when completing the I9 form with your student: 

As a resource to you, the list of acceptable documents has been made available here - I-9 Acceptable Documents

Review the Student portion of the form for accuracy AND completion and looking for the following items: 
a. Student name matches identification provided
b. Student dates the form on the actual date they signed it. 
c. Student signs and dates the form accurately, not using birthdate as current date. 
d. Any blanks on the form are filled out with N/A

You may NOT under any circumstances make any corrections, additions or adjustments to the student portion of the form. This is to be done by the student employee only.

Section 2: Employer Information 

When completing the Supervisor portion (Section 2) of the form please make note of the following:

Supervisors/hiring agents are required to " physically examine each original document the employee presents to determine if it reasonably appears to be genuine and to relate to the person presenting it.” You may not accept photocopies, scans or facsimilies of documentation related to the I-9 under any circumstances .

Supervisors must examine the documents WITH the employee present! " the examiner of the documents and the employee must both be physically present during the examination of the employee's documents." The person examining the documents MUST be the same person who signs Section 2.

Be sure that you or the hiring supervisor has provided document #'s, expiration dates, issuing authority,etc.

Be sure to provide a certification date (first day of work) 

When hiring an International or Foreign student please be aware of the following items:

• International students can work on campus, but they need to provide additional information in Section 1 related to their Visa.
• International students must provide their I-94 Admission Number in Section 1.  You must photocopy this I-94 along with the documents they provide to establish their identity  (usually a foreign passport) and must include the information in List A as an additional document.  
• International students also require an I-20, which is a form provided to the student by the Admissions Advisor to International Students.  If they require a new I-20, they can request one from the International Student Services Liaison in the Student Life Office. If you have an international student who wishes to work for you, send them to the  for this form so they can hand it to you together with their I-9, I-94, and other List documentation. 

Be sure to upload copies of the work authorization documents along with the completed I-9 form to your secure Egnyte folder within 3 days of signing the form. 

Your student is NOT authorized to begin working upon completing the I-9 paperwork, but rather when you receive an approval email from the COVE Career Center. In compliance with state and federal laws, student employees may not begin working before the TEA and I-9 are processed. 

Please Do Not leave any I-9 paperwork in the COVE Career Center. Paper/hard copies are NOT accepted at anytime. 

Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that each student employee set up an OATS Time card. A pdf tutorial on the creating a time card can be found at the following link- TimeCard Tutorial 

The online OATS Time card system can be found at the following link- OATS Time Cards Students will need to use their Westmont email and password to accesst the system.

Once a time card has been established for student employees, supervisors are responsible for making sure students fill time cards out weekly and take the necessary steps to processing the time card for submission. Please make every effort to have employees turn time cards in by the due date for that pay period. Please refer to or print a copy of the current Pay Schedule for your student.

A student should NOT submit a time card prior to completion of the work authorization process. Failure to do so can result in a delay in paying student wages.

Please direct your student to the Student Time Card Schedule 2019-2020 so that they can track time card due dates. 

Breaks and Meal Periods 

Supervisors should make certain that student employees take their authorized rest periods and meal breaks. Please refer to the chart below. 

Meal Breaks

As required by state law, staff who work at least five (5) hours per day must take an unpaid lunch period of at least 30 minutes and are eligible for two 10-minute paid breaks.

Please make note of the following changes to the current student employee meal and breaks policy. Rather than verifying meals and breaks each day on time sheets (if applicable, based on the number of hours worked), effective December 1st,  student employees will instead be assumed to have voluntarily skipped their breaks and meal periods unless they have submitted a signed Meal and Rest Period penalty authorization with their time sheet.

If needed this form is available here or also on the Payroll Office webpage, or available in hard copy from the Payroll office.

All student employees are not only permitted but encouraged to take appropriate breaks during the work day.

Rest Periods

Under no circumstances as prohibited by law and College policy are supervisors to allow students to skip meal periods and breaks in order to leave early. It is critical that student employees and supervisors comply with state wage and hour regulations. Each supervisor assigns work schedules, lunch and break times in the way that best suits departmental needs. 

Students who get paid an hourly wage are eligible for overtime pay if they work in excess of 8 hours per day and/or 40 consecutive hours during the week. Overtime pay is one and a half times the regular hourly rate and must be approved in advance of working.

Students workers are NOT eligible for paid holidays during the school year. In order to be eligible for summer holiday pay, a student employee must meet ALL the following criteria:

• Be scheduled to and actually work a minimum of 32 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks over the period of May- August. 
• Be normally scheduled to work on the day which is designated as a holiday and have recorded holiday hours on that time card.

It is a supervisor's responsibility for training your student employee in working safely in the job they have been assigned. Student employees should take part in the safety training conducted by Public Safety Staff. Call Tom Bauer at ext.6043 for details. 

If a student suffers an injury while on the job, the student should immediately contact their supervisor. In turn, supervisor's are to then contact Human Resources to obtain medical help for the student. In the case of a medical emergency, call 911 and notify Human Resources after ensuring the student employee receives care to complete the work injury report and Worker's Compensation claim. 

Do not direct students to seek medical help from the on campus Health Center. 

On July 1, 2015, employees in California that work for 30 or more days within a year from the beginning of employment are entitled to paid sick leave after working 90 days.  Part-time student employees will earn at least one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 3 days or 24 hours/yr. Accrual begins on the first day of employment or July 1, 2015, whichever is later.

The College is offering Paid Sick Leave benefits which satisfy or exceed the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of Labor Code §246.  Employees will view their accrued sick leave benefits on Web Advisor, when signed in under the Employee section and after clicking on the link for Leave Plan Summary.

Student employees may utilize sick leave for their own illness or that of a family member, for diagnosis and treatment of an existing condition or for preventative care.  Sick time may also be used if the employee is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.  As much as possible, student employees should provide advance notice of the need to use sick leave.  Be sure you are able to advise the employee how to note sick leave: Students will record sick hours manually on printed time cards recording the date and total number of sick hours taken, ie: 8/31/15 2 sick hours. The updated Student Payroll system will be in place late Fall with an online sick leave request feature. 

Please note that under California law, employees may not be terminated or retaliated against for using or requesting the use of accrued paid sick leave and have the right to file a complaint against an employer who retaliates or discriminates against an employee for 1) requesting/using accrued sick days; 2) attempting to use accrued paid sick days; 3) filing a complaint or alleging a violation of Article 1.5 section 245 et seq. of the California Labor Code; 4) cooperating in an investigation or prosecution of an alleged violation of this Article or opposing any policy or practice or act that is prohibited by Article 1.5 section 245 et seq. of the California Labor Code.   You may not require the student employee to request the paid sick leave in writing, nor require that they provide you with a doctor’s note. 

Please contact Human Resources if you have questions about this new benefit for student employees.