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> PhD students by law cannot work more than 20 hours a week.

While most teaching (and research) assistanships might indeed be technically 20h/week, I can assure you most/all PhD students work >20h/week total.

You still need to do your research on the side. If you RA and your PhD research align, nice. If it doesn't, tough luck.

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I don't intend to assert that PhDs don't do a lot more work that 20 hours. I know first hand they do. The work they typically are compensated for (TA/RA/FA) are typically capped at 20 hours a week. This also aligns with the legal limits for international students on F1 visas.

I suspect that even the people who wrote that rule knew it wouldn't actually mean anything practically. It's just a convenient excuse to exploit someone in a vulnerable situation.

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