Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 83.87
Liaison Yolanda Cieters
Submission Date March 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

Seattle University
PA-12: Employee Compensation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.21 / 3.00 Yolanda Cieters
Associate Director
CEJS
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Living wage for employees

The local living wage (based on a family of four and expressed as an hourly wage):
28.58 US/Canadian $

Percentage of employees that receive a living wage (benefits excluded):
85.50

Part 2. Living wage for employees of contractors

Does the institution have significant contractors with employees that work on-site as part of regular and ongoing campus operations?:
Yes

A list or brief description of significant on-site contractors:
SU has three significant contractors with regular part-time and full-time employees working on-site at SU:
a. Food Service Provider
b. Cleaning/Janitorial services company
c. Retail services
For a and b: We do not have wage data but know the percentage of employees that are covered by collective bargaining agreements.
For c: We have wage data

Construction workers and student employees have been excluded from the count for PART 2 of this credit.

Percentage of employees of on-site contractors known to receive a living wage or be covered by collective bargaining agreements (i.e., union contracts):
88

Part 3. Minimum total compensation for employees

Total compensation provided to the institution’s lowest paid regular, part-time or full-time employee or pay grade meets or exceeds what percentage of the living wage?:
150 percent

A brief description of the minimum total compensation provided to the institution’s lowest paid employee or pay grade:
If the lowest paid benefit eligible employee at SU took advantage of the maximum amount of benefits we offer, their hourly rate for compensation and benefits is $43.41/hour or 152% of $28.58.

The lowest paid employee is eligible for all the benefits that the highest ranking employee would be eligible for. Lowest paid workers health care costs are subsidized at higher rate and can be enrolled at $12.00/pay period for our lowest cost plan. They also receive vision and dental for themselves, basic life insurance and AD&D coverage and Long term disability insurance at no cost. They will also receive a retirement contribution equal to 5% of their pay with an additional 5% matching contribution. They are eligible for tuition remission for both themselves and their dependents and this benefit is not included in the hourly calculation provided.

Optional Fields 

Has the institution made a formal commitment to pay a living wage?:
No

A copy or brief description of the institution’s written policy stating its commitment to a living wage:
---

Website URL where information about employee compensation is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
NOTE ABOUT PART 1: PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYEES THAT RECEIVE A LIVING WAGE (BENEFITS EXCLUDED):

This data was collected in November 2023. The living wage for "Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue" for “2 [working] Adults, 2 Children” using the MIT living Wage Calculator was $28.58. See: https://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/42660

HR at Seattle University confirmed that:
For MIT’s LWC of $28.58/hr, at 1950 hours per year, 1.00 FTE needs to make $55,731. For part-time workers and temporary staff, we did the calculations on the hourly rate rather than converting to an annual salary, particularly since part-time workers tend to have fluctuating hours. If a part-time worker's hourly wage is at or above $28.58, they would be counted in the Part 1 figures.

Note also that Seattle City minimum wage is $18.69. This will increase effective 1/1/24 to $19.97. All faculty and staff meet the Seattle City Minimum wage rate.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.