Tax on TAP: What Is “Job-Related”?

As we mentioned our email message from July, in order to ensure compliance with IRS policy, Harvard will begin withholding tax from your paycheck for any graduate-level tuition benefits (TAP/TRP) you receive from Harvard over $5250 per year for NON job-related classes. You may be able to avoid owing tax on your class up front, if you use Harvard's Graduate Credit TAP Form to make an argument that your course is job-related in the "Job-Relatedness Attestation" section of the form. The following page gives some examples and further explanation of how to apply the "job-relatedness" standard.…

Peter Berry

We're sad to share the news that our HUCTW office colleague and friend, Peter Berry, passed away from an aggressive cancer on March 9, 2020. Peter worked at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum for 16 years before joining the staff of HUCTW in 2010 as an Organizer, working with Union members and University leaders across the campus. He was a quiet leader who nurtured the self-advocacy of others and modeled a union organizer’s most important skill: listening. His wonderful wit, modesty, and attention to detail appeared in everything he did -- his union organizing, his ceramic artwork, and the house he built with the help of his loving parents and his life partner of 36 years, Andy.…

Tuition Assistance Deadline Extension: April 24

The deadline to apply for reimbursement of your TAP tax has been extended to Friday, April 24. If your course is not job-related or if you are not able to get your supervisor’s signature on your TAP form, you can apply for 80% reimbursement of any tax you owe on Harvard courses for this semester. As you may recall from an earlier email we sent, Harvard is now withholding tax for graduate-level tuition benefits that meet certain criteria. If you are taking a Harvard class during the spring semester, please read this entire message as it lists two different ways for you to avoid owing most or all tax on your TAP benefits this semester.…

March 31 Deadline for Reimbursement Programs

March 31, 2020 is an important deadline for three reimbursement programs open to HUCTW members: (1) Healthcare Copay Reimbursement, which helps HUCTW members with their annual medical copayment costs if they reach above certain amounts (2) Childcare & Healthcare FSA Reimbursements, which allows staff to set aside money from their paychecks pre-tax in order to pay for childcare expenses or healthcare expenses. (3) Fitness Reimbursement, where our healthcare insurers (HUGHP and Harvard Pilgrim) will reimburse members for up to $150 in membership fees for qualifying health clubs and gyms. …

HUCTW’s Top 10 Accomplishments of the Decade

We hope 2020 is off to a great start for you! As we enter a new decade, we thought it would be a good opportunity to look back at some of our Union’s achievements over the previous ten years, including gains in: our health insurance coverage, flexible schedules and working from home, pay raises, reducing the use of the unbenefited workers, funds to support members lives outside of work, protections for term positions, increasing the size of our union, enhancing our 0% interest loan programs, and helping members every day improve their working lives.…

Help for Staff with Immigration Concerns

The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) offers free legal representation and social service support to members of the Harvard community with immigration concerns. HIRC services are available to all the undocumented/DACAmented members of the community and those who are concerned about falling out of legal status. HIRC legal representation includes assistance with filing immigration applications, representing clients before USCIS in Immigration Court, and beyond.…

Working from Home When It Snows

Sometimes members will reach out to the HUCTW office because they’ve heard from a supervisor that HUCTW staff aren’t allowed to work from home when it snows, or as part of a flexible schedule. When a supervisor makes a statement like this, it is probably because they are unfamiliar with Harvard-HUCTW contract language on flexible schedules and inclement weather. This contract language makes it clear that flexible schedule requests from HUCTW members can’t be “unreasonably denied,” including requests to work from home on a one-off basis, or as part of an ongoing flexible schedule. …

HUCTW Election Results

HUCTW held an election on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 for union leadership and union representative roles. You can find the winners of the contested races on the following page. The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers conducts regular elections to fill its leadership positions. These elections are subject to standards and regulations of the HUCTW’s own constitution; of our parent Union AFSCME; and of the AFL-CIO. An annual HUCTW election is generally held on a Tuesday in early December.…

Home Emergency Loan

As temperatures drop this winter, we want to remind you that HUCTW offers a 0% interest Home Emergency Loan through the Harvard University Employee Credit Union for union members. If you experience broken/frozen pipes or damaged heating units, appliances, or other vital utilities, you may be eligible for this loan of up to $3000 at 0% interest. HUCTW & HUECU also offer 0% interest loans for those moving to new rented or purchased homes.…

Graduate Student Strike: How to Support HGSU-UAW Workers

The Harvard Graduate Student Union (HGSU-UAW), which represents approximately 5,000 graduate student workers on the Harvard campus, has been engaged in contract negotiations with Harvard administrators since October 2018. Unfortunately, Harvard and HGSU-UAW negotiators have not yet been able to reach agreement. As a result, on October 25, 2019, HGSU-UAW members voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Following that vote, graduate student negotiators indicated that if the parties fail to reach an agreement by Tuesday, December 3, 2019, HGSU graduate student workers across Harvard will go on strike.…

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