To begin working your student job you must go through Bates Work Authorization (BWA), the employee onboarding process. Your work authorization is valid until your graduation, so you only do it once. You may not start working, begin training or attend meetings until you are work authorized.

You can send verification of your BWA to your supervisor through Garnet Gateway. The hiring form submitted by your supervisor will ask whether or not you are work authorized. If you are work authorized, send this notification to your supervisor as soon as you are offered the position.  If you are not work authorized, your supervisor will note that on the hiring form and SEO will contact you to begin the BWA process.

The BWA process consists of three steps:

1. Completing the Adobe Sign forms (Federal Form W-4, Form W-4ME (Maine W-4) and the Federal Form I-9) that SEO will send to your Bates email.

2. Setting up your Direct Deposit on Garnet Gateway. Direct Deposit is a condition of employment at Bates College. You will need to know your bank account number (NOT your debit card number) and bank routing number, as well as if the account is a savings or checking account.

3. In-person verification of documents for Federal Form I-9. This is a federally mandated requirement by the Department of Homeland Security. Completion of this form verifies your eligibility to work in the United States. See this list of acceptable documents for Form I-9 verification. The documents you bring to this appointment must be original; they cannot be photocopies, pictures or scans and cannot be expired. 

Please complete the electronic forms and set up your direct deposit immediately upon receiving the email from SEO.

Once your Adobe Sign documents have been received by SEO, we will contact you with instructions on setting up your in-person document verification.

After your in-person appointment, your Work Authorization will be activated on Garnet Gateway, and you can send verification of your BWA to your supervisor. You are all set to begin working!