Student Work Hours & Schedule

GW’s student work hours and scheduling guidelines outline expectations for scheduling student employees, balancing work commitments with academic responsibilities, and complying with university requirements. Topics include recommended work hours, Federal Work-Study limits, international student work restrictions, and break policies.

Work Hour Limitations 

While there is no maximum number of hours a domestic student may work, it is recommended that student employees work no more than 20 hours, on average, per week so that they can focus on their academic studies and so that more students can take advantage of the limited available student work opportunities. International students authorized to work under a visa must follow the regulations regarding hours worked set forth by their visa. Students may only work outside of their scheduled class time. Remember, student employees are students first.

Students who also hold a GA, GRA, or GTA position should consult with the Office of Graduate Assistantships & Fellowships on the number of additional student employee hours they may work.

Setting Your Student’s Work Schedule

The student’s schedule is jointly determined by you and the student. A typical schedule for a first-year student is about eight (8) hours per week. Students are not permitted to work during scheduled class hours. Supervisors should be flexible with working hours during exam preparation periods, institutional holidays, extended breaks (winter break, spring break), and unexpected school closures. Students’ availability may change from semester to semester as their class schedule changes, so be sure to ask your student employee about scheduling changes before a new semester starts.
 

FWS Students’ Working Limits

FWS student employees are not authorized to earn more than their allotted FWS offer amount during a given school year. Therefore, it is important for students and employers to work together to monitor the student employee's hours. Use this pre-programmed Excel sheet to calculate how much of their offer a student has earned to date, and how many work hours they have remaining.

International Students’ Working Limits

International students studying at GW on F-1 visas are limited to working 20 hours per week. International students should confirm their work limits with GW’s International Services Office (ISO).

Breaks  & Meal Periods

Please refer to the guidance provided by Human Resource regarding meal periods and break on their website under Work Rules. Below is an overview from the HR website

Breaks

• While the Fair Labor Standards Act does not mandate the provision of breaks, it does address breaks in terms of time worked and time paid for nonexempt employees. Breaks that are 20 minutes or less are considered time worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and therefore time that must be paid.
• The use of structured breaks within a department is at the discretion of the department head based on operational requirements.

Meal Periods

• Meal periods are not time worked and therefore are not paid. For nonexempt employees (including student employees), a meal period must meet the Fair Labor Standards Act criteria of a bona fide meal period to be considered time not worked and therefore time not paid. A bona fide meal period is defined as an authorized period of time, during the workday, when an employee is completely free from duties.
• Managers are responsible for ensuring that nonexempt employees are provided a bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or more. If a nonexempt employee is not provided a meal period in which they are completely free from duties, then the time must be considered time worked. For example, if a student is scheduled for a 30-minute meal period but is asked by their manager to answer the phones while he or she eats lunch at their desk, the secretary is not completely free from work duties. The result is that the employee has not been provided a bona fide meal under the criteria of the Fair Labor Standards Act and therefore must be paid for the time worked.
• If a nonexempt employee decides on their own to eat and continue to work during their scheduled bona fide meal period, even though the manager did not authorize a waiver of the scheduled bona fide meal period, the university is legally obligated to pay the nonexempt employee for the time worked.
• If a nonexempt employee works during only part of their meal period, the employee need be paid only for the time worked. However, if the partial bona fide meal period is less than 30 minutes, under the Fair Labor Standards Act this must be considered time worked and therefore time paid.

Paid Travel Time 

Hourly student employees classified as non-exempt must be paid for time spent traveling when that travel qualifies as hours worked under applicable District of Columbia and federal wage laws.

When Travel Time Must Be Paid

Compensable travel time generally includes:

• Travel between work locations: Time spent traveling from one university worksite to another during the workday.
• Work-related travel: Time spent traveling to perform an assignment or other duties on behalf of the university.
• Travel during the workday: Required travel that occurs during an employee's normal working hours generally counts as hours worked.

When Travel Time Generally Is Not Paid

• Regular commuting: Travel between an employee's home and their regular work location at the beginning or end of the workday generally is not compensable.
• Personal travel: Time spent traveling for personal reasons, unrelated to assigned job duties, generally is not compensable.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that non-exempt student employees accurately record all compensable travel time on their timecards. Travel time must be included in total hours worked when calculating overtime eligibility.

If a student employee is required to travel for a work-related assignment, the supervisor should clarify the travel expectations and ensure the employee records the time spent traveling that qualifies as hours worked.

Pay for Canceled Shifts

Under District of Columbia law, hourly student employees who report to work as instructed but are sent home or receive fewer than four hours of work may be entitled to a minimum of four hours of pay under 7 DCMR § 907.1.

If a student employee works fewer than four hours during a scheduled shift, the department must pay the employee for the hours worked at the applicable rate, plus any additional amount required to meet the four-hour minimum under District law. If the student employee is regularly scheduled to work fewer than four hours per day, the minimum-pay requirement generally applies to the hours regularly scheduled.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Supervisors should make every reasonable effort to ensure that student employees have work available when they report for a scheduled shift. If a student employee is sent home early or receives fewer than four hours of work, the supervisor should add the missing time to the student's timecard using the AVL code and the reason the shift was canceled .