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Consultants, Independent Contractors, and Contracts

Are you planning to hire or work with a Freelancer, Contractor, Consultant, or single-entity company? Harvard has very strict guidelines around Independent Contractor hiring. An individual who is paid to provide services to Harvard must be hired as an employee unless the engagement satisfies the three-part independent contractor test. Please contact your Finance or HR representative early in the process. Here are some things to know:

Before hiring, engaging, or promising payment to an individual, you must complete the Independent Contractor Questionnaire, or in some instances, the engagement may be eligible for an exception, via the Independent Contractor Exceptions Attestation.

For the Independent Contractor Exception Process, the exception must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Worker is free from Harvard's control and direction in connection with the performance of the service
  • the service performed by the worker must be outside the usual course of Harvard's business
  • 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 
  • the total payments to the contractor will not exceed $3,000 
  • Period of work is less than 90 Calendar days

If the engagement is not eligible for the exception, complete the Independent Contractor Questionnaire and contact HR for their review and signoff before any hiring or promise of payment. The HR reviewer will make the determination as to whether the contractor may be classified as an independent contractor, or must be classified as an employee.

You must document that you completed the Questionnaire or, if eligible, the Exception Process before hiring or engaging with a Contractor or Consultant/Freelancer. Include the signed Exception Form or fully approved and signed Questionnaire with the payment requisition in B2P.

Contracts:

You must also formalize any engagement with a contract signed by both parties. Please forward the contract to Finance if you have questions, prior to signing. 

Strategic Procurement Contracts Team is a valuable resource to assist with Contract Reviews/Questions, Contract Review Training, Harvard Standard Contract Templates, and Contract Management Education and Tools. They offer a contract assistance request form for you to fill out and submit, so they can assist you. 

The contracts team strongly recommends contacting them as early as possible in the contracting process. There is no dollar threshold for engaging with the team. Risk is not necessarily correlated with dollar amount. 

Harvard Strategic Procurement Contracts Page

Click here for Contract Templates (exhaustive list)

Frequently used:

Long Form Model Services/Consulting Agreement (you are engaging a company or individual to provide consulting or other services)

Short Form Simple Service Agreement for Individuals (you are engaging in a simple engagement with individuals or sole-proprietorship companies with short terms of less than a year, modest fees, and uncomplicated services)

Statement of Work/SOW (guide for drafting statements of work with specific deliverables, payment schedules, and time frames)

Personal Data Protection: Contract Rider (Personally Identifiable Information rider, use for any agreement that has level 3 or 4 data. Contact OGC for agreements with level 5 data)

Data Privacy Addendum to Non-US Data Privacy Laws: Contract Rider (data processing under various non-U.S. privacy laws)

Harvard Digital Accessibility Requirements: Contract Rider (for contracts where the vendor is producing a web site or software application. Ensures that users with physical disabilities can fully use the product being provided by the vendor)