STUDENT EMPLOYEES    

The following updates were announced by the System Benefits Administration for A&M Care health plan members and/or those on the student insurance and graduate student employee plans:

• The deadline for completing the 2-Step Wellness Incentive Program in MyEvive has been extended from June 30, 2020 to August 31, 2020.  For more information on the Wellness Incentive Plan, see the System Benefits Administration
• Effective March 16, A&M Care health plan members, as well as those on the student insurance and graduate student employee plan, can receive telemedicine services from their network physicians for medically necessary, covered medical and behavioral health services for a $0 copay through April 30.  The claim must indicate services were provided via telemedicine/telehealth to qualify.
• As of March 16, all co-payments, co-insurance, and deductibles for COVID-19 testing consistent with the guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been waived by all A&M System health plans, until further notice.
• Due to the closing of day cares and employers directing employees to work from home, employees are eligible to reduce their dependent day care flexible spending account contributions through a Life Event Benefit Change. They will be able to change their deductions again when they return to work, as it will still be considered a Life Event.

If you have any questions please email benefits@tamu.edu.

Student employees including graduate assistants are not in leave-eligible positions; therefore, they do not qualify for any type of paid leave in accordance with System regulations.

Student employees, (including graduate assistants) who are not self-monitoring or self-isolating and are otherwise able to return to work, may choose not to return for whatever reason but they will not be paid. Managers should be flexible with student employees and not penalize them if they prefer to avoid campus.

Student workers should contact their supervisor regarding their ability to work. Students feeling ill should not come to work and should self-monitor and seek medical care if needed. Students not ill and not wishing to work in person will not be required to do so and will continue to be paid only if remote work is a possibility per above and approved by their supervisor. If students are unable to work in person or remotely, the student will not be paid.  Departments are encouraged to provide as much flexibility regarding duties as feasible.

University guidance regarding student employment is available here from the Student Employment Office in Scholarships & Financial Aid.  Please direct questions to workstudy@tamu.edu or leave a voicemail at 979.845.0686.

Only students who are considered essential may continue to work on campus. You should consult with your department head to determine if your student worker is essential to your operations.

Supervision must be provided as well as appropriate social distancing requirements and other safety
measures as noted by campus officials due to COVID-19.

Yes. We encourage departments to be creative in identifying mechanisms to allow student workers to work remotely with the provision that appropriate duties can be assigned and that the department has mechanisms in place to monitor that work. Students on work study may also work remotely. Although strongly encouraged, you are not required to provide remote work opportunities.

No. As always, regulations and university Standard Administrative Procedure 33.99.08.M0.01 do not allow students to be scheduled for work during scheduled class times. This includes online courses.

Non-Work Study Students
(those that are not part of the federal or state work study programs through their award packages offered by the Scholarships & Financial Aid Office):

Students without work study awards or who have exhausted their work study award for 2019-2020 may not be paid for hours not worked. Any student experiencing a financial emergency due to a loss of student employment wages should contact Scholarships & Financial Aid by phone at 979.845.3236, email financialaid@tamu.edu, or via live chat on the financialaid.tamu.edu website.

Work Study Students
(those who have available work study awarded as part of their financial aid award packages through Scholarships & Financial Aid):

Per guidance from the Department of Education and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, students paid from federal or state work study who have a remaining balance in their work study award may continue to be paid for hours they were expected to be able to work. The following stipulations apply:

• Employer is closed for on-site work and remote work opportunity is not available to the student
• Student has relocated outside of the local area due to COVID-19 and remote work opportunity is not available to the student
• A student cannot be paid if they have chosen not to work

Work study students who are working on campus as essential personnel or working remotely should continue to submit timesheets for actual hours worked following normal procedures and by published deadlines.

Work study students who are unable to work on campus and are not being provided remote work opportunities should be paid as follows.

• The student or employer should submit a biweekly timesheet for the hours the student was scheduled to work. The following comment should be added to indicate the student is being paid for unworked hours.
• Due to the COVID-19 disruption the student received FWS funds for their regularly
  scheduled work period of “insert pay period dates”
• Timesheets must be submitted by the usual published payroll deadlines.
• At this time, the ability to pay work study students for unearned hours is effective beginning March 16, 2020 and extends only through pay period #18, ending May 2, 2020.
• The student must be paid based on their current pay rate. Changes in pay for student employees who are not actively working during this time will not be permitted.
• It is imperative that you do not pay students more than they would have earned if they would have been able to continue working.
• On campus employers are still required to pay the institutional share of work study wages.
• The student can be paid for unearned hours from work study until their work study award has been exhausted. Once work study is exhausted, TAMU departments cannot continue to pay the student from department funds.
• It is the responsibility of the employer to keep track of students’ remaining work study awards and to ensure no time is approved that would not be covered by the work study award.