Temporary Hire Employment Process

Temporary employees hold limited appointments with a predetermined end date. These appointments do not provide Harvard benefits, and are used only when there is a temporary need for support. It is essential that all temporary workers be hired through the Human Resources Office.

If you have already identified your employee (regular temp, student temp, less-than-halftime temp), please follow the Temporary Hire Employment Process steps below.

If you need to recruit for a temporary worker, please follow the Contingent Worker Employment Process steps.

Temporary Hire Employment Process
  • Less-than-Halftime (LHT): May work up to 14 total hours/week for as long as needed. Please note that a LHT may not hold more than one paid appointment at a time University-wide unless they are two LHT appointments for which the total combined hours do not exceed 14 hours per week. 
  • Harvard Student: May work up to 40 total hours/week (in summer) and 20 total hours/week (during academic year) for as long as they are enrolled as a student at least half-time.

  • Regular Temp: May work up to 40 total hours/week for up to 90 days. 

Process for Hiring a Temporary Employee:

  1. Complete Temporary Appointment Form: Hiring supervisor and candidate will complete and sign a Temporary Appointment Form. Supervisor will then send the form to the appropriate budget approver in Finance Operations or Research Administration die budget approval (please reference "Budget Approver by Fund" below). Once form is complete, please send to Human Resources: Rowen Gray, HR Coordinator at rgray@seas.harvard.edu.
  2. Employee Work Authorization Verification: After Human Resources receives the Temporary Appointment Form, the candidate will be contacted to complete an I-9 Appointment, unless they have an active I-9 on file from a previous paid position at Harvard University within the past 12 months. I-9 Appointments must be completed in-person (exemptions may apply) and bring original, unexpired documentation that demonstrates both identity and eligibility to work in the United States (see list of acceptable documentation). 

  3. Hire Temporary Employee: After work authorization has been verified, Human Resources will hire employee in PeopleSoft and send official onboarding email to employee and supervisor. The onboarding email indicates that the employee has been successfully hired. 

 Budget Approver By Fund

  • Fund 000001 or 483467: HR will send the form to SEAS Financial Planning & Analysis for budget approval. 
  • Funds 100000-299999: Send form to the the faculty's Research Portfolio Manager for budget approval (please reference SEAS Faculty Support List). 

  • Funds 300000-399999, 483xxx, or Other: HR will send the form to Accounting for budget approval. 

 


Next Steps After Hire:

  • Onboarding Email: Once a temporary employee has been hired, Human Resources will send the employee and their supervisor their onboarding email which includes information on how to register for their HarvardKey and SEAS email address (if applicable); submitting their weekly timesheet; and how to access PeopleSoft to set up direct deposit, view paycheck, and tax withholding*.

    • *Important Note: Neither supervisors or Human Resources may provide assistance to employees in filling out tax forms. Employees may seek guidance at  www.irs.gov, by searching online for withholding calculators, and/or by speaking with an accountant. Tax forms should be submitted via PeopleSoft.

  • Time Entry: Temporary employees submit their time each week through a manual timesheet, which is signed by the employee and supervisor, and then submitted to SEAS Payroll (payrollhelp@seas.harvard.edu) on Thursdays by 12:00 pm. Timesheet is for the current week worked, including Friday. If an employee submits their timesheet and the reported hours on Friday change, please email SEAS Payroll by Monday to update timesheet. 

  • Payroll: Temporary employees are paid for their work on Fridays (the week after timesheets are submitted). It is strongly recommended that they sign up for Direct Deposit via PeopleSoft Self Service. 

Contingent Worker Employment Process

Harvard uses DZConneX, a managed service provider, to manage all hiring and payrolling of contingent labor -- specifically, temps from staffing agencies and Harvard-identified temps who are externally-payrolled (typically because they live and work out-of-state). 

The Human Resources Office is the central point of contact for recruiting and hiring contingent workers through DZConneX. Please note: there is an added fee for utilizing this managed service provider. If you need to hire a contingent worker, please contact Rowen Gray, 4-7828, (rgray@seas.harvard.edu). 


Information to Provide to HR

  • Hiring manager/time sheet approver (same person)
  • Number of positions
  • Start and end dates (or length of appointment)
  • Report to location (be specific)
  • Job description
  • Does this position require a HUID?
  • Does this position require a Harvard ID Card?
  • Does the contingent worker require space, equipment, etc.?
    • If so, what items the contingent worker will need?
  • Will the worker be working as a Responsible Adult in a Harvard program servicing minors?
  • Are sponsored funds being used?
  • Costing string
  • Pre-identified candidate’s name (optional)
  • Hours per day/week
  • Maximum hourly rate (optional)
  • Supplier Respond by Date


Fieldglass

  • Once HR has the necessary information, the job request will be submitted to Fieldglass, the vendor management system.
  • The request will be routed to the appropriate budget approver for approval.
  • Once approved, staffing agencies will begin to submit candidates to Fieldglass. The hiring manager will receive an automatic email each time a candidate is submitted.
  • Using the Fieldglass portal, the hiring manager can review resumes, schedule interviews, and hire workers.


Time Sheets and Payment

  • Once hired, contingent workers will submit their time sheets each week in Fieldglass.
  • Supervisors/time sheet approvers will receive an email notification that hours have been submitted and are ready for approval.


Resources

Tutorials for Fieldglass

Active Suppliers in the Harvard/DZConneX Managed Services Program

Contingent Workforce Overview