Howard University has been making a concerted push for financial wellness on campus – not just for students but for faculty and staff.
To that end, the university has rolled out a series of policy changes and financial literacy resources specifically designed to help employees.
“We’ve done quite a bit of analysis of our workforce,” said Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University. He found that university employees weren’t saving as much as they could have, and he wanted to see staff members retiring in a “financially healthier and sustainable way.”
Two years ago, the university instituted a policy that unmarried employees making less than $35,000 a year wouldn’t need to pay a health insurance premium.
That laid the groundwork for another change in 2020. In January, all non-union Howard employees making less than $35,000 a year got an annual salary boost to $34,999, so they could bring home more and potentially avoid paying health insurance premiums as well.
The adjusted salaries bumped Howard University’s minimum wage up to $16.82 an hour, almost $3 more than Washington D.C.’s minimum wage, which is among the highest in the country at $14 an hour. In the process, 56 staff members got salary raises.
Larry Callahan, Howard University’s associate vice president of human resources, stressed the importance of providing a living wage to Howard University employees.
