Student Position Postings | Employment Policies | Federal Work-Study Program (FWS)

Taxes on F-1/J-1 students

In general, F-1/J-1 students who have been in the United States less than five years are exempt from Social Security (FICA) taxes. The student’s earnings are subject to applicable federal, state, and local taxes. Students must file a tax return on or before April 15 each year. Students may be entitled to a refund of taxes withheld from their wages if the amount of tax owed is less than the amount withheld.

All F-1/J-1 students are subject and must abide by these federal laws dealing with the W-4 form:

1. They must claim single regardless of their actual marital status.
2. They cannot claim exemption from income tax withholding.
3. They must claim one allowance.
4. They must request an additional income tax withholding amount of $4.00 per week (La Sierra University is paid on a bi-weekly basis, so the F-1/J-1 student must put $8.00 on his/her W-4)

*EXCEPTION to #3:
Any F-1/J-1 student from Mexico, Canada, Korea, or Japan, may claim more than one allowance on their W-4.

Terminations

It is the policy of the HRD to terminate a student contract once the period of agreement is finished or if a termination card is turned in by the department head before the end of the contract.

Contracts will be terminated according to the period of agreement on the contract.

Termination cards are only required when a student is released before the ending of the Student Employment Contract, when a student decides to terminate his/her employment due to personal reasons, or when employment is terminated for cause.

The termination card should be completely filled-out when turned into the HRD. This includes the last day worked, the department number, the reason for termination, and whether or not the department head would re-hire this student. Signature is required from the department head and whenever possible from the student. Termination cards are available at the HRD.

It is important that the termination card be filled out completely since this is filed with the student’s employment history and records. It is imperative that the department head sign the card and state whether he/she would rehire the student.

When a student is terminated, he/she is taken off of the database system, Banner, and is no longer an Active employee. The student does not have access to banner at this time. The student is also taken off of the clock, Kronos. The student cannot use his/her badge strip at this time.