Federal Work Study & Student Employment Information for Students

• Complete a Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) for the corresponding academic year or term(s) before the March 2^nd priority due date.
• Comply with all requests for additional documentation and forms from the Financial Aid Office.
• Log into the AccessRIO student portal and accept the Work-Study award.  Students must accept or decline their Work-Study award within 14 days from the date they are notified of the award.  If the award is not accepted and due to limited funds, the award may be rescinded.
• Enroll in classes for the semester maintaining at least half-time status (at least 6 units) per term.
• Meet all Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements.
• Create a College Central Network account.

• Go to College Central Network
• Indicate “College Student” and “Rio Hondo College” in the drop down menus.
• Enter your Rio Hondo ID for User ID and create a password.
• Complete the Registration Update information and fill in all fields with an “*” asterisk.
• Select “Student Employment” under Job Interest.
• Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.

Step 1:  Go to College Central Network.

Step 2:  Select “Search-My School’s Jobs”.

Step 3:  Click on the title of the respective position.

Step 4:  Students may submit their resume and click “Apply Now”.

Step 5:  Supervisors who receive the resumes and inquiries will contact the student candidate to set up an interview.

Step 6:  Once a final candidate is selected, the supervisor will provide the Work-Study employment packet to the student to complete.

Step 7:  Student must complete all the documents in the Work-Study employment packet and bring the completed packet along with all the required identification documents to the financial aid office.

Final Step:  Financial Aid Office will email the student and supervisor that the student may report to respective department to begin employment.

YES. Federal Work-Study may be cancelled if:

• If the Federal Work Study Awards within 14 days from the awarding date the awards will automatically be declined and cancelled.  Students are given 14 days from the date of awarding to find employment.  If job placement is not made within 14 working days FWS awards may be cancelled.  Generally, a work study job should be located within two weeks.  It is recommended that students and supervisors establish a work schedule that enables the student to spread hours of employment evenly throughout the year while meeting and supporting the needs of the employer.
• Student who do not work on a continuing basis or discontinue employment over a one month period of time of non-employment may result in cancellation of FWS award for the entire year.  Students who cannot work during a particular semester or would like to work fewer hours should discuss it with their supervisor and contact the Office of Financial Aid.
• Students who do not maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).

YES.  Federal Work-Study award may be reduced if:

• There are not sufficient funds to cover projected earnings due to funding limitations; it is possible that FWS allocations may be reduced for all students.  In addition, an early end date may be established upon which all FWS students must cease working.  Should either of these occur, the student and their supervisor will be notified.

YES.  Federal Work-Study may be increased if:

• There are FWS funds available, and students still have unmet need.
• Students and supervisors must complete the Work-Study Increase Request form.

• There are a variety of jobs available through the FWS program.  Many college offices and departments hire students as clerical support, reading tutors, computer lab assistants, teaching assistants, etc.
• FWS positions must not involve construction, operating, or maintaining any part of a building used for religious worship or sectarian instruction.

• Students are only allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours per week for any position during the fall and spring semesters.
• Students may work up to 30 hours per week during terms of non-enrollment (winter and summer breaks).  Students and supervisors must complete a Work-Study Terms of Non-enrollment Form.

In general, most students are awarded up to $5,000 in Work-Study earnings for the year or $2,500 per semester.  Based on a pay rate of $17 ($17.27) per hour, the student may work up to 147 hours for the semester.  If the student employee works during any breaks before, during, or after the spring semester, this should be factored in so that the student does not exceed their Federal Work-Study allowance.  Any earnings from the winter break (between Fall and Spring semesters) is applied towards Fall and any earnings from the summer is applied towards the Spring.

Student workers have access to the balance of their hours after the Payroll hours are updated in Banner.  Please allow up to 1 month after each pay period for the hours to be updated.  The pay for each time period is entered into the student’s award by the Financial Aid office.  Supervisors should check directly with their student employees on the balance of their hours.  Students may access the information through their Rio Hondo student portal as follows:

Step 1:  Go to RioHondo website main page and click on AccessRio located at the top of the page.

Step 2:  Click on the Finances tab in the left column

Step 3:  Student should see the 2024-25 Financial Aid Requirements Box on the right side of the screen.  They may need to scroll down.  Below that, is the Student Work-Study Box which shows the amount awarded, balance and total hours remaining to work:

YES.  Students may hold two or more work study jobs simultaneously as long as the total hours do not exceed 20 hours a week.  However, students may not participate in more than one work program such as federal work-study and LAEP (Learning Aligned Employment Program).  Supervisor(s) and The Office of Financial Aid will coordinate employment earnings, but students should also monitor their earnings so that they do not overspend/exceed the Work-Study allotment.

• The supervisor will provide the student with all the required employment forms and documents.
• Before a student begins to work, they must go to the Office of Financial Aid to submit all employment documents.
• Students cannot begin working until all payroll documentation has been received and you have received confirmation from The Office of Financial Aid.

• Student employees who have not worked at Rio Hondo College for 3 or more years must complete a new hiring packet.  Please see “what are the steps after being hired and offered a position” for more details.  
• Student employees who have worked in a position within the last 3 years need to submit a Continuation of Employment and Change Form.  Student employees should get this form from their supervisor and submit it to the Financial Aid Office at least 1 month prior to restarting or extending their employment.
• Student employees are “universally terminated” at the end of each academic year (end of summer as summer is considered the “trailer” term).  To continue employment, students and their supervisor must submit a Continuation of Employment and Change Form and receive approval from the Financial Aid Office.  Students must also file a new FAFSA and requalify in order to continue employment under the Federal Work-Study and/or CalWorks program for any subsequent academic year.
• Student employment assignment may end at any time at the discretion of the supervisor and based on the needs of the department. 
• The supervisor/employer may dismiss and/or give a written warning to a student employee for several reasons including, but not limited to, unsatisfactory work, attendance, improper conduct (theft, physical/verbal abuse, misuse of equipment, falsification of records, and disclosure of confidential information). The supervisor/employer has the right to immediately dismiss a student employee according to that department’s internal policies and procedures.

• An electronic time sheet must be completed and uploaded to the Financial Aid shared timesheet folder.  Only supervisors may access and submit the timesheets.
• Supervisors must initiate the timesheet with their student employee and must upload the completed time sheet to the Work-Study employment timesheet folder.
• Supervisors must upload the timesheets by the 1st and the 16th of each month following each pay period and must do so no later than 12 p.m. unless the 1st and the 16th fall on a weekend or holiday/campus closure.
• When time sheets are submitted on time, students are generally paid on the 10^th and 25^th of the following month in which they worked.  Late time sheets may result in late FWS payments.

• Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
• Maintain enrollment 6.0 units or more per semester.
• Work the scheduled hours that are established by the supervisor.
• Report to work on time.
• Monitor the Work Study earnings and do not exceed the authorized amount.
• Complete and submit timesheets to your supervisors in time so that they can submit the timesheet by the deadline.
• Consider the employer’s needs as well as ones own when requesting time off.
• Refrain from conducting personal business on the job (surfing the web, watching social media on personal devices, etc.)
• Perform the work satisfactorily and to the best of ones ability.
• Take the job seriously.  The experience a student gains in a Work-Study position can be invaluable and can help a student build their resume.