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Every other Friday, all around campus, hundreds of students on the Federal Work Study program get paid. Everyone looks at their total net pay. Most students know how much money they should be paid, some do not. Everyone sees how much they make, but not how long they worked to earn that pay. You see, the hours worked and wages earned for those hours are not listed.

By Gus Bode
March 26, 1996

I work two jobs on campus with an available three or more different pay schedules between the jobs. On any given week I work at least two different pay rates. Upon receiving my check I look at the net pay. It is there, but a summary of when I earned a certain pay rate isn’t. There are no hours listed at all. How do I know that the pay check is correct? By looking at the paycheck stub I cannot be sure. I believe the University is fair and honest as any employer should be. The fact is that SIUC is an extremely large bureaucratic institution and can be subject to error. The chances of the University making an error in pay are most likely negligible, but do exist.

When receiving a raise, do you know when it shows on the paycheck? Did your boss record the extra three hours you worked this week? Did your regular hours get cut and you weren’t told? Did you receive what you worked for? by looking at the paycheck stubs nobody can answer these questions.

It is time the University put our hours-paid on the paychecks as well as the hourly wage. Even if just a reaffirmation of what we know it would be reassuring to see all the facts. College students – perennially lacking money – would be comforted by seeing the whole story on their paychecks. Since we are paying the University for an education openly and honestly, they can help us pay them openly and honestly in return.