Summer Youth Employment Program FAQs

• Pay rate: $13.50 per hour for 20–25 hours per week 

• Holidays: Youth are only paid for hours worked. Worksites are asked not to schedule participants on holidays. 

• Make-up hours: If a participant works less than 150 hours, they may be able to make up hours with their job coach and worksite supervisor before the program ends. Make-up hours are not guaranteed and are subject to the supervisor’s approval. 

• You will be paid on a bi-weekly pay schedule.

• Every other Friday is pay day.

• Yes. Every paycheck will have taxes deducted.

• No. It is not a requirement to have a bank account.  

• However, having one is STRONGLY ENCOURAGED because Y.O.U. does not issue paper checks. All participants are paid by Direct Deposit.  

  • A bank account is the best way to ensure that your money is safe, and it is also the smartest way to save your money.

• If you do not provide bank account information by Orientation, you will receive a pay card from Y.O.U. on your first pay date.

• Y.O.U. encourages all work experience participants to have an account with a financial institution that is in their own name.

• If you don’t have a bank account in your name, you can open an account and get paid through direct deposit instead of a Paycard.   

• At any time throughout the summer, you can open an account and provide Y.O.U. the account information:

  • A printout from the bank with your Name, the Bank’s Name, the Routing Number, Account Number, and Account Type

• You can give this information to your Job Coach or you can drop it off at the Y.O.U. SYEP Office and we will update your banking information in Paylocity.

Here are some recommended resources for banking access for youth participants (and their family members):

• Check out https://bankoncle.org/ as well as this helpful Bank on CLE Account Guide for valuable information about accounts that can work for you!

• All the accounts you’ll find here are certified by the Bank On National Account Standards — meaning they’re safe, affordable, and functional (no overdraft fees, no minimum balance fees, fraud protection, and more).

• If you already have a bank account, you will need to bring your direct deposit information to your assigned Orientation session. 

• Y.O.U. needs a Direct Deposit form from the bank OR a voided check that includes your Name, Bank Account Number and the Routing Number to set up direct deposit. 

  • Y.O.U. will not accept handwritten bank information.

• Y.O.U. will only accept Non-Custodial accounts for this program. 

  • If you submit bank information that includes a parent, Y.O.U. will safely, securely discard that direct deposit information and will issue a pay card on your first pay date.

• Direct deposit information will be accepted at the discretion of Y.O.U. To ensure the safety of participant payments Y.O.U. will not accept direct deposit for digital personal finance platforms, such as CashApp or Venmo, as accounts housed on these platforms may not be protected by FDIC insurance.

• No. Y.O.U. issues new pay cards every calendar year. 

• If you worked for Y.O.U. last year, you will get a new pay card on the first pay date.