As the University navigates a strike by student workers in the Harvard Graduate Students Union – United Auto Workers (HGSU – UAW), please refer to these messages from OSP and Labor and Employee Relations and the Academic Unionization FAQs, which will be updated on an ongoing basis. The University and OSP will release additional guidance as needed.
Salaried student workers were informed about how to report their time in PeopleSoft should they decide to participate in the strike. Harvard University is required to comply with federal regulations for certifying effort expended on sponsored awards. If a student worker withholds work during the strike, they are not entitled to compensation for the time spent striking and they may not be paid from sponsored awards. The University may need to adjust any related charges on sponsored awards accordingly.
Note the University’s Effort Reporting Policy, and other related resources, located on the OSP website. Many factors, including the length of any strike and the amount of work missed, will determine what other adjustments, if any, the University must make to meet its obligations relating to sponsored programs activities.
OSP will reach out to schools to make adjustments to awards as needed if student workers on sponsored awards report their work as withheld during the strike. In the interim, if you become aware that the withholding of work may result in significant delays or impact one or more sponsored award(s), or if student workers who have withheld work are listed as Senior/Key Personnel on a sponsored award, please contact Sheila Doyle, HMS Office of Research Administration, HMS Research Finance.
