Baylor University
PA-9: Employee Compensation

As it pertains to staff and employees of contractors, beginning in 2006, Baylor and its contractors met to consider what is a living wage and how can each employer help improve wages. HR reviewed wages, made a plan to improve BU employee wages – especially those at the lowest levels. The first steps of a plan were implemented in 2006. Baylor encouraged its vendors to continue to be cognizant of how they may be able to make change. It was up to them to decide if and how they could make improvements, based on their business needs and based on what Baylor was able to absorb through pass through costs. Sustainability goes both ways. Employers must be able to sustain business operations while also considering how it can help meet employees basic needs. When the economy crashed in 2008-2009, there was a pause in subsequent steps from this initiative. We met with our vendors through 2010 reviewing the concept of living wage. However, through Baylor’s our normal compensation plan efforts to improve staff pay since 2007, progress continued and has impacted those most of those identified as needing improvement toward a “living wage”. The Baylor Staff Compensation Plan and review processes provide for annual infusions of new and additional funds into staff compensation to provide for, sustain and improve a competitive and fair program. New infusions are allocated to faculty as well. Based on Baylor’s generous benefits and intentionally low-cost medical insurance for lower paid staff (where the university subsidizes 92% of the cost for medical insurance for a “gold” plan), and that the university contributes 10.8% of one’s wages/salary to a retirement account without requiring an employee match, that employee only dental benefits are provided at no cost to the employee, that Life and Long Term Disability insurance are provided at no cost to the employee, that free tuition for employees and their dependents at a prominent school (Baylor) is provided, we believe Baylor’s total compensation and benefit plans and policies formally contribute to meeting basic needs. Baylor is a union-free environment because employees are in effect represented by a caring administration that is committed to the mission of the university which is inclusive of creating and sustaining a desirable working environment.

$28,260 annual or $13.59/hour represents the federal living wage guideline for a family of four. The allowable 20% offset of $28,269 is $5,652 annual in the form of employer paid benefits. This would reduce the underlying hourly pay to $10.87 per hour and when combined with benefits will equal the $28,260 amount for a family of four per the federal living wage guideline.
Illustration: Employee A at Baylor earns $10.87/hour or $22,615 annually. For Employee A, Baylor contributes $2,442 to Employee A’s retirement account and contributes $15,096 to Employee A’s cost for medical insurance for a family of four. Baylor’s contributions for dental insurance for Employee A is another $288. Therefore, the 20% allowance is vastly offset with Baylor contributions toward one’s basic needs. At this time, Baylor’s ongoing efforts to improve wages for its 2600 full-time benefit eligible employees has resulted in the number of full-time employees being less than 10 who are below $10.87 per hour. Within 1-3 years, this list should disappear as pay improves.

Baylor’s lowest entry pay on its pay structure is $9.35/hour. As indicated above, approximately 10 or less full-time employees make less than $10.87 per hour.

A= Adult, C= Child
Hourly Wages 1A 1A/1C 1A/2C 1A/3C 2A 2A/2C 2A/2C 2A/3C
Living Wages $8.74 $18.01 $21.94 $26.87 $13.52 $16.95 $18.31 $21.04
Poverty Wage $5.21 $7.00 $8.80 $10.60 $7.00 $8.80 $10.60 $12.40
Minimum Wage $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25

A= Adult, C= Child
Hourly Wages 1A 1A/1C 1A/2C 1A/3C 2A 2A/2C 2A/2C 2A/3C
Living Wages $8.74 $18.01 $21.94 $26.87 $13.52 $16.95 $18.31 $21.04
Poverty Wage $5.21 $7.00 $8.80 $10.60 $7.00 $8.80 $10.60 $12.40
Minimum Wage $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25 $7.25

The lowest paid adjunct or temporary faculty member would be one that teaches a 3 hour course and receives $3,000 for the semester. These situations are generally people who have other jobs or have a passion to teach and this is not their sole means for a living. For the actual hours (teaching, prep, student hours) they work for a 3 hour class in this example, pay would approximately $20/hour.

All student workers are generally part-time, mostly less than 20 hours per week. Baylor pays its undergraduate student workers at least minimum wage. Graduate student worker pay varies by discipline and award, but will minimally be in the $10 - $12 range, sometimes more.