4.6. Termination Documentation and Lengths of Notice

Harvard Medical School

Section 4 Table of Contents

For those faculty based at HMS/HSDM affiliated institutions, maintenance of an appointment in the Faculty of Medicine is dependent on, among other criteria, holding a simultaneous appointment at the affiliated institution, ordinarily associated with salaried employment. If the appointment at the affiliated institution is terminated, the Harvard appointment will also end. It is expected that faculty who hold annual or term appointments and trainees will be given written notice of the termination of their appointment at the affiliated institution and the associated loss of the Harvard appointment if the termination is to occur prior to the conclusion of the designated term. The expected period of notice would be:

  • Trainees (clinical and research fellows): three (3) months
  • Annual appointees (e.g., Associates, Teaching Associates, Research Associates, Lecturers, Instructors, Corresponding Members of the Faculty): three (3) months
  • Term appointees (e.g., Principal Associates, Assistant, Associate Professors, Part-time Professors, Professor of Clinical X, Professors in Residence, and Professors of the Practice): six (6) months

Faculty and trainees who are informed of a probationary period as part of an offer of employment or appointment are not covered by this policy until the end of the probationary period. Faculty whose employment is terminated for cause, including documented unsatisfactory performance and misconduct, are not required to receive any period of written notice as specified in this policy. Non-renewals at the standard renewal date do not require written notice. Salary, severance and other forms of compensation at the time an appointment ends are determined as part of the employer-employee contract at the affiliated institution and are not governed by this policy.

Affiliated institutions must inform the Office for Faculty Affairs (OFA) of all appointment terminations, via eTAD submission including the type of termination (VOL or Involuntary) along with a brief explanation. Once a faculty member has indicated a commitment to leave HMS/HSDM, any promotion process that has started will be discontinued.

Last updated June 2024