The current financial crisis has forced Americans to revise their family budget, and, as the saying goes, every penny counts. Indeed. A few benefits in the new UVA human resource (HR) plan are meant to alleviate financial burdens for those who have the lowest salaries. There are, however, some UVA employees who fear these benefits will create fractures among the staff.
“The University is pleased to be able to offer our University Staff a new benefit—a $300 annual supplemental benefit credit for those who earn salaries of $40,000 per year or less,” reads an e-mail statement from the University’s HR.
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Jan Cornell, president of the Staff Union at UVA, says the new benefits single out workers based on their pay. “This creates a huge class system at UVA. I call it the ‘welfare’ class. And it’s not fair that only folks going to the new system get it.” |
“This creates a huge class system at UVA. I call it the ‘welfare’ class. And it’s not fair that only folks going to the new system get it,” says Jan Cornell, president of the Staff Union at UVA, in an e-mail. “Why can’t they just give all workers free parking or free insurance up to $300? Singling out certain employees by wage is just wrong.”
But UVA HR says the new benefits are intended to give employees the best possible options.
“The credit will help employees by lessening the impact of payroll deductions for things like health insurance and parking on their take-home pay,” reads the statement.
The $300 account can be used on a variety of things, such as parking or as a pre-tax benefit to offset benefit deductions. This benefit may also be applied to an Intramural-Recreational Sports membership.
The benefit will apply to all employees who were hired after July 2006, as part of the new HR package, or to those employees who have been working at the University for some time and choose to switch to the new system. The other novelty in the University Staff plan is a health insurance employer contribution for part-time employees, “something we haven’t done before,” says Susan Carkeek, vice president and chief human resources officer. Part-time employees who participate in this program are entitled to receive a 50 percent subsidy toward the cost of the employer portion of the health insurance premium.
The new employment plan, which goes into effect January 1, is an outcome of the 2005 Management Agreement and Restructured Higher Education Finance Administrative Operations Act that gave UVA increased autonomy from the state.
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