The results of the pending agreement will place 400 to 500 casuals onto the full-time payroll, but the University seems slow to deal with the wider moral questions surrounding the issue of casual employment. As a progressive institution that purports to value human dignity, collaboration, and experimentation, does Harvard have an extra responsibility to its employees?

A possible answer can be found in how much Harvard hews to the controversial practice of subcontracting--which allows them to pay market rates without being accused of cheating its own employees.

The University, according to an official who asked not to be identified, must also look at the market value for contract services.

"If we pay people more, then what does that do to the market?" the official says. "The University should pay for the market value of its employees."

On the whole, subcontracting provides numerous advantages to a university or a company looking for more efficient ways to do business.

For one, private companies tend to standardize training among

their employees, allowing a client institution to know the limitations of

its workers. Second, and most important, subcontracting tends to reduce labor costs so significantly that more workers can be employed than if the client directly hired its workers.