Due to the pandemic, “Type A” RA payments have changed and are being issued as an advanced lump sum directly deposited into the student’s student account. If the student has a balance owing in their student account, the RA payment is put towards that balance. Please have your student check their student balance, and contact Student Accounts if they have any questions.

For “Type B” RA payments – if the box titled “Payment to Include Employment Source Deductions” was checked off in the Graduate RA system, the payment would have been reduced by approximately 14% to accommodate these source deductions. Unlike “Type A” payments, “Type B” payments are put through the payroll system where the student gets paid as per the University’s payroll schedule. If your student hasn’t been paid at all, it may be because they haven’t accepted the job offer in Carleton Central.

The best practice is to have a written record of the employment agreement. This record can be as simple as an email to the student that outlines the compensation, duration, and scope of work, as well as a statement that the agreement can be terminated if the terms are not met. When hiring a registered graduate student, we advise that the duration of employment is the same length as the semester during which they will be working.

Set up the student as an independent contractor in eShop. Once the work is complete, the student will provide an invoice for payment. Payments to independent contractors can be issued to those located domestically or internationally.

You can make a backdated payment through the Graduate RA system as long as the student was registered as a graduate student during this backdated term. The payment will be issued as a lump sum because it is for work done in the past.

Please notify your Research Financial Services Officer when you submit a backdated payment request.

Please note that lump sum payments are subject to higher statutory deductions – if a lump sum is paid, it is automatically interpreted as a monthly payment and taxed accordingly.

Carleton has three different ways to pay “Research Assistants” depending on the employee-employer relationship as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency: The Graduate Job Requisition System, eShop, and Payroll Profile.  Answers to the following questions will define which of these three payment methods must be used:

• Is the “research assistant” related to you, under your academic supervision, business partner or close friend?
• Is the “research assistant” a Carleton undergraduate, graduate student or postdoctoral fellow or someone from another institution and or someone else entirely, such as a recent graduate, consultant, etc.?
• Will you be managing the “research assistant” as a manager would an employee; supervising them in your capacity as an academic supervisor, or are they experts in the “work” that is being performed and delivering a product/service, not unlike a translator who will deliver a finished product?
• How many hours will they be working per week and over how many years?

Need more help defining the relationship to determine eligibility for inclusion in a budget for submission? Contact your Faculty Research Facilitator.

Need more help determining the payment application to use? Contact the Research Post-Award Administrators.