Student Hires at HLS

First Steps for Faculty Assistants/Hiring Contacts/Faculty

• First Steps for Faculty Assistants/Faculty

  As soon as you know you want to hire a student – Complete the Request to hire Harvard Student Form.

  • To complete the form, you will be required to request personal information from the student you are hiring.  Please use our standard Student Hire Information Request Template to request this information from the student.  Once you receive the information, you may submit the Request to hire Harvard Student Form using the relevant information
  • If the student is outside of the US– Given payroll guidelines & international labor laws, HLS cannot hire the student. You may submit a request to hire this student upon their return to the US.
  • If your intention is to hire a teaching fellow (TF), the course must meet the requirement of having at least 20 enrolled students.  If your course has fewer than 20 students, please reach out to studenthires@law.harvard.edu to explore an exception. 
    
  • Faculty are encouraged to hire current HLS students.  We can review requests for hiring a recent graduate through our exception process.  Please note that the hiring process will look slightly different for a graduate than it would for a current HLS student.  These individuals are only eligible to be hired as temporary or less than half-time employees and are only eligible for very specific hours and employment periods.  Please email studenthires@law.harvard.edu for additional information. 
• First Steps for Student Workers

  • Once you are asked to work as Research Assistant, Teaching Fellow, etc., please connect with the Faculty Assistant or Faculty member intending to hire you. They will kick off the process and you will receive an email prompting you with instructions regarding next steps.
    
  • You will receive an email from ServiceNow regarding onboarding tasks to complete before you can begin working.
  • As you complete the necessary tasks in ServiceNow, please mark the tasks as complete so that we can move forward in the hiring process.
  • Begin to get your documents in order for completion of your I9. The list of accepted documents can be found here.  
  • Please note, if you are a foreign national student, your documentation must be valid through your entire term appointment. 
  • As a reminder, student workers cannot work more than 20 hours per week while classes are in session.  If you hold multiple appointments, please be sure to keep your total number of hours worked for all positions within this limit.
• Highlights from the Graduate Student Union Contract

  • Research Assistants perform research to support faculty or principle investigators conducting research with a program; they will be paid at the hourly rate of $20.50 per hour.
  • Teaching Fellows perform instructional services, teaching, advising, etc.; they will be paid at the hourly rate of $20.50 per hour.
  • Student workers cannot work more than 20 hours per week while classes are in session.