Minimum wage raised to $8.62 per hour

By Dan Heuchert

The University’s lowest-paid employees will soon get a raise.

Effective Dec. 22, the minimum hiring rate for classified salaried or wage employees in the University’s Academic Division will increase from $8.37 per hour to $8.62 per hour, said Thomas E. Gausvik, the University’s chief human resource officer.

The Medical Center also will boost its minimum hiring rate from $8.37 to $8.62 per hour, effective Jan. 2, said Graham O. Grove, the Health System’s acting compensation director.

Approximately 90 current employees in the Academic Division and 100 in the Medical Center, who are paid less than the new minimum, will be bumped up to at least $8.62, Gausvik and Grove said. That hourly rate equates to a $17,930 annual salary for a full-time employee.

The boost mirrors the 3 percent increase that all classified employees will receive Nov. 25 as long as they are rated “contributor” or “extraordinary contributor” in their recently completed annual performance reviews. Employees hired before July 25 are eligible for the performance-based increase.

“We’re just setting our rate based upon local market conditions,” Gausvik said.

The increase will not directly affect those who work for private companies who have contracts with the University, he said. However, contractors often adjust their salaries based upon University increases, Gausvik said, adding that in some cases their starting rates may be lower than the University’s, but they offer more rapid increases between 12 and 24 months of service to discourage turnover.

The University’s increase does not require state approval because it falls under the University’s power to adjust some salaries to meet market rates, Gausvik said.

The proposed charter legislation would give the University the opportunity to offer across-the-board increases to all employees without state approval, he noted.

“We would have more flexibility with the charter legislation,” Gausvik said. “Now, we can tweak around the edges, but there are things we can’t do.”