Engaging Individuals

An HGSE employee may be hired under one of the following three categories:

1. Regular Harvard Staff
2. Student
3. Temporary Employee / Less-than-Half-Time Hire (LHT)

Temporary roles that are filled with pre-identified individuals and then payrolled externally, or by individuals recruited by external staffing agencies, are hired via Harvard’s vendor-neutral managed service provider DZConneX. They manage a network of external suppliers (staffing agencies) that provide contingent talent to Harvard. When budgeting DZConneX employees, a 19% markup must be applied.

For more information:
Contingent Workforce | Human Resources

Individuals who work independently in a trade, business or profession and offer their services to the public are often considered independent contractors (ICs). ICs may be sole proprietors working alone or they may operate through various business structures like partnerships or limited liability corporations. Other common terms used to describe ICs include consultants, 1099 workers, contractors, and vendors. According to Harvard's policies, any individual who is compensated for services provided to the university must generally be classified as an employee. However, an individual may be treated as an independent contractor if their working relationship meets all parts of what is known as the "Independent Contractor test."

1. The worker must be free from Harvard’s control and direction in connection with the performance of the service, both under a contract for the performance of the service and in fact.
2. The service performed by the worker must be outside the usual course of Harvard’s business.
3. The worker must be customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business of the same type as the service being performed for Harvard.

Independent Contractor Questionnaire (ICQ): The ICQ must be completed by the local department or unit seeking to engage a worker to perform services. It must be submitted to and approved by Human Resources before the IC is engaged to perform services for Harvard.

Payment Process: Payments must be processed through the B2P system. It cannot be paid out of pocket or by using University Corporate or P-Card.

Object Code: Please use object code 7980.

Policy Link : https://policies.fad.harvard.edu/pages/independent-contractors

Please contact Human Resources for any questions related to Independent Contractors.

An honorarium payment may be issued to a non-employee of Harvard under very specific conditions: 

• Typically, an honorarium payment is compensation for a one-time speaking engagement, presentation, or performance.
• It should be a nominal amount and should be made to individual guest speakers or lecturers as a "thank you" gesture of goodwill and appreciation.
• The payment should be made without legal obligation on the payer’s part to a person for their services in a volunteer capacity, or for services for which fees are not traditionally required.
• An honorarium is not typically paid to a person employed by the University.
• An honorarium may not be paid from funds derived from federal contracts or grants, unless the terms of the particular contract or grant expressly authorize such payment.

Payment Process: Honorarium payments to non-University personnel are processed through Buy2Pay with an In Lieu of Invoice Form.

Object Codes: 8690,8690, 8692, 8694

• 8690: Lecture / Performance Held Inside Massachusetts (No tax Exemption)
• 8691: Lecture / Performance Held Outside of Massachusetts
• 8692: Lecture / Performance Held Inside Massachusetts (tax exemption)
• 8694: Individual -Non-Performance Related Honoraria

Please contact Jane Eaton in the Finance Department for any questions related to honorarium payments.

Human subjects are defined as: living individual(s) about whom an investigator conducting research obtains: 
1) data through intervention or interaction with the individual or 
2) identifiable private information.

Human subject payments must be budgeted and approved by sponsors, and there must be an IRB determination in place. The IRS treats human subject payments, whether cash, check, bank card, gift card/certificate or in-kind items (books, DVDs, etc.) as taxable income to the recipient. This means the recipient is supposed to report the payment when he or she files a personal tax return at the end of the year. As the payor, Harvard must follow IRS regulations. The tax treatment of human subject payments depends on the amount paid, the recipient’s tax status, and whether the study takes place inside or outside the U.S.

Payment Process: Process through B2P for gift cards, gifts, or payments via check. Although rare, payments may also be made with petty cash. Gift cards less than $100 can be purchased on corporate cards and will be processed through Concur. Payments over $100 must be processed through B2P.Purchasing Gift card on P-Card is prohibited.

Human Subject Policy Link: https://policies.fad.harvard.edu/pages/human-subject-payments