PBSci Personnel/Payroll
5th Floor Physical Sciences Building
Mail Stop: PB Sci. Pers/Pay Res. Acctg.
Fax: 831-459-5599

Student Employee FICA/Retirement Status

(This information applies to both Student Assistants and students in Academic positions such as Reader, Tutor, GSR, TA.)

Student employees are normally not required to make FICA or Retirement contributions when they are employed during the academic year. Exception to this exempt status occurs when an individual is enrolled in the UCSC Retirement System as an academic or career staff employee and, without a break in service, becomes a student employee. In this case, s/he will remain in the UC Retirement system and make contributions to FICA and Retirement via payroll deduction.

If a student is not taking enough units (undergraduate minimum is 6 units; graduate student minimum is 5 units) to be considered a "full-time" student, s/he will have payroll deductions for Safe Harbor (UC's Defined Contribution Plan (DCP) which is an alternative to Social Security) and for contributions to Medicare. This situation most often arises during the summer when students may take fewer or no units.

Important Note: Contributions to UC Retirement and Safe Harbor may be "rolled over" or, with a tax penalty, refunded to the student employee upon formal separation from the University; call 1-800-888-8267 when applying for roll-over or refunds. See Career Center manual for more information on Student FICA. See Student Separation for more information on the separation process.