Student Time Entry Process Change

Bottom line, up front: 

• We have heard concerns from managers about the requirement for student employees to check-in and out. In response to those concerns, we pivoted to include a transition period to mitigate some of those concerns. 
• The rationale for moving to a check-in and out process is to help ensure time-keeping accuracy, implement consistency with other non-exempt positions, maintain compliance with DOL recommendations, mitigate risk for the University, and improve Payroll business processes in the long-term. 
• Effective Oct. 1, student employees will still be required to check in and out, but students will also still be able to add missed check-ins and -outs and make adjustments to any errors made in their hours worked instead of requiring manager intervention until March 1, 2026. 

Context

Since 2018, all non-exempt staff and student employees have been required to submit their hours worked into Workday. At the time of implementation, the system couldn’t be configured to require student employees to use the check in / out functionality to capture hours worked in real-time. Workday now allows us to better require specific time keeping functionality based on the employee schedule type and in alignment with Department of Labor (DOL) recommendations.  

Rationale

The decision to require student employees to use the check-in and -out method was made due to the following four key rationale: 

1. Accuracy: Many student employees have irregular schedules, with varying start and end times on different days. Recording time with the check-in and -out method is considered a best practice for these types of schedules by the DOL, as it provides a more precise and detailed record of the hours worked. It also helps ensure that employees are paid accurately for every minute of work performed.
   
2. Consistency: The expectation for employees with irregular schedules to check-in and -out is consistent with the expectations given to non-exempt colleagues with irregular schedules in other departments such as Facilities, University Police, and Transportation. Colleagues who work consistently scheduled hours each week, such as Academic Coordinators, will continue to be allowed to submit their hours worked by day manually each week.
   
3. Compliance and Risk Mitigation: The DOL requires that the University maintain detailed and accurate records of all hours worked, specifically for non-exempt employees who are eligible for overtime and are provided medical coverage if they meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. A check-in and -out system is a best practice for meeting these requirements.
   
4. Business Process Improvement: Our own internal audit of the last academic year found that nearly 600 students had to make retroactive time card adjustments because they forgot to report their hours. Requiring adjustments outside of the pay period requires additional University resources to manage. This change is anticipated to significantly decrease these requests for adjustments in the future. 

Concerns & Impact

We have heard from colleagues that they have concerns about this change, specifically for student employees who are responsible for assisting with grading, research, and tutoring responsibilities. They felt this new requirement didn’t support the type of work their student employees were performing and were concerned about the potential for increased administrative burden on staff. 

The primary concern expressed is that a large number of student jobs are not shift-based. Students often have flexible tasks that they complete at various times throughout the day, in different locations, and for short durations. The new process would require them to check-in and -out multiple times for a single assignment.

It’s important to understand that as non-exempt workers, student employees cannot be paid a flat amount in exchange for their work. They must be compensated based on hours worked and this time keeping method is a best practice for ensuring those hours are submitted accurately.

This is an example of why implementing a check-in and -out system is necessary for this type of work – to help ensure very accurate accounting of the student’s time worked. Student employees are designated as non-exempt workers and must be paid in accordance with DOL regulations, which requires their time be tracked to the minute. Fortunately, with the recent implementation of Workday Student, these employees are becoming more and more comfortable accessing this system and can check-in and -out using their mobile device. 

A secondary concern is the increased administrative burden on staff. To ease this burden, we will be implementing a transition period beginning Oct. 1, 2025, through March 1, 2026. During this transition period, students will be expected to use the check-in and -out method, but will be able to add missed check-ins and -outs and edit their hours within a pay period if needed. The goal of this transition period is to help students create the habit of checking in and out each time they perform work without creating any additional burden on those who approve their time. 

During this period, Payroll will monitor how student time is recorded and will work closely with departments whose students may need additional support implementing this change. We anticipate that adjustments will reduce as student employees become accustomed to the new requirement. 

Resources

We understand that implementing a behavior change with our students can be challenging. Payroll and Human Resources is available to help you implement this change and answer any questions. We recommend that you consider doing the following with your student employees as we near the Oct. 1 implementation deadline: 

• Meet with your student employees as a group or one-on-one to explain that they will now be required to check-in and -out in real time. They should no longer enter hours worked after the fact. 
• Share these instructions with your student employees so they understand how to check-in and -out using the Workday system. 
• If you have a space that your student employees access often, post a reminder for them to check-in and -out each shift. 
• Encourage your student workers to set Google Calendar reminders or Google Keep reminders that will prompt them to check-in and -out at a certain time or when they arrive at a particular location. 
• Remind your student workers that effectively managing and tracking their time is a career skill that they will be able to take with them when they leave Wake Forest.