“As a university, we should live our values – and part of that means making sure that no one who works at UVA should live in poverty,” university president Dr. Jim Ryan said in a message to the UVA community.
University of Virginia
The living wage adjustment will positively impact the paychecks of 1,400 full-time, benefits-eligible employees representing around 60 percent of workers who currently make less than $15 an hour. University administrators are still determining how to address the wages for the remaining 40 percent of its full-time staff employed by contractors who are making less than $15 an hour, according to a UVA release.
“Over the next few months, my team will be working on a plan to extend the same $15 commitment to contract employees,” Ryan said. “This is legally and logistically more complicated, but our goal is to make it happen.”
Currently, UVA’s lowest-paid employees make at least $12.75 per hour. With this wage adjustment, their annual gross pay will increase to over $4,500.
Charlottesville will be among other cities such as Seattle and San Francisco have raised their minimum wages to $15 an hour, in addition to companies such as Amazon and Target. The University of California and Duke University have also made the living wage adjustment.
