From: Jeffrey Lewin <jclewin**At_Symbol_Here**MTU.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] What's in the bottle?
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2021 08:16:51 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: CAEwQnqgMr2xNGqued-7ZiGQ6m5_sarf7Sb5GwJBN6fUdHLzFeA**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To <23661D89-1671-4816-9F00-7EEE2392C24D**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu>


We've investigated withholding paychecks and that is not allowed.

We can withhold diplomas if graduate students don't complete their workspace clean out form. It's not perfect. It is policed at the department/college level, and there are provisions for transferring surplus chemicals to another person, but it does go a long way towards catching legacy chemicals and unlabeled samples.

Jeff



On Sat, May 29, 2021 at 7:36 AM Stuart, Ralph <Ralph.Stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu> wrote:
> >In industry it is common for companies to hold your last paycheck until certain items have been returned. Items like keys, badges, cell phones and laptops are common.
> >I'm assuming universities have something similar. Does it include "returning" your lab and office in clean condition?
>
At another campus, I thought we had that opportunity when a chemistry faculty member was denied tenure, so we had an academic year to prepare for his departure. Halfway through the school year, we checked in with the department on the lab decommissioning plans and were told that the department wanted to allow his grad students to complete their work before cleaning out the lab. At the end of the school year, the students were given a "couple more months" to complete their lab work. At the beginning of the next school year, the students were gone, but not their chemical legacies..

So it can be difficult to identify when a good time for " the return of labs and offices" is in a complex multistakeholder situation.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu

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--
Jeff Lewin
Director of Chemical Laboratory Operations
Research Integrity Office
Laboratory Operations
205 Lakeshore Center
Michigan Technological University

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