Many institutions are starting to offer contracts to their new faculty members. It’s an exciting time all around. For the hiring departments, it’s fun to think about the energy and talents the new colleagues will bring. For the incoming faculty members, it’s joyous to celebrate leaving the job market behind successfully.
For the new hires, there is often a shock, though, that comes in August: either no paycheck or a reduced paycheck. At many institutions, new faculty members report in mid-August, but the paychecks don’t fully kick in until the September pay date, often as much as six weeks after that report date. Recent Ph.D. graduates, used to being poor, often find this to be aggravating, but for those who are more seasoned and who are changing institutions, this can be particularly problematic. I have known of many faculty members who changed institutions and found that their last check at one institution was at the end of May while their first check at the new institution was at the end of September. That’s four months between checks, a fiscal eternity.
One fairly common solution is to give a half-month’s pay in August and delete that amount from the rest of the year’s monthly paychecks. Another one for those with a long summer gap is to pay out the year’s salary with front-loaded paychecks, essentially divvying up 12 months of pay over 14 paychecks, starting in July. Other institutions will give advances in pay for those who have a pressing need, allowing the money to be paid back over one or two years.
How does your institution handle that first paycheck? Do you have any suggestions for how to improve this pay gap?
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15 Responses to Starting Dates and Pay Gaps
robertkase51 - February 4, 2010 at 11:31 am
The easiest things I did at an instituion that basically had only nine pay checks each year, was to simply have a designated amount deducted from each check into the university credit union. It was then easy to keep regular pay checks coming year round. New faculty did the same by getting an advance and paying for it over the year. I think this is called budgeting. Take an annual salary and divy it up to your own needs. Credit unions are more than happy to assist in this aspect.
22086364 - February 4, 2010 at 11:32 am
I remember being at a new faculty retreat on August, when another new colleague asked the Provost if we were all required to attend May graduation. The Provost bristled and replied that graduation was scheduled within the dates of our work contract, and of COURSE, if faculty were under contract, they were expected to attend.I looked into the folder that held my contract and confirmed that I was attending this specific meeting two days before my contract start date. In effect, I was working for free, and without any benefits, to fulfill the requirements of my new workplace, but the institution could envision no flexibility for faculty members NOT to be available when under contract.It was an important moment that made clear a lot of things, and I soon left for greener, more business-like, pastures (where I reported to work on my contracted start date, and still waited a month for my first pay).
enadin - February 4, 2010 at 11:55 am
Another problem that was even bigger for me was that I had no health insurance for a full 6 weeks after my official start date. While ultimately you will be paid for all the time you work, how does a university defend its decision to delay all benefits for 6 weeks?
annon - February 4, 2010 at 1:07 pm
I experienced that. A 1/2 paycheck in May, moved, and my first paycheck September 30th. PLUS a $15,500 moving bill for moving 2900 miles(at the height of the gas crisis so there was a hefty fuel surcharge) where I couldn’t even file the reimbursement for the portion they were reimbursing until after my first paycheck. There was also having to pay for COBRA to keep uninterrupted health insurance since I would have no health insurance June, July, August or September. Oh yes and an unsold house. I was only 3 years out so not a huge savings account to get me thought this. And yes I had put aside money not only each month that year but each month since I started working.As a result I filed for food stamps, TANF and medicaid (the medicaid I eventually found out could be made retroactive to June 1, but by then I had already paid one COBRA family payment). I made the mistake of telling welfare I had a job starting in August with the first paycheck 9/30 so they cut off my TANF and food stamps (but not medicaid) benefits 9/1 since I was anticipating a paycheck. Umm my family is supposed to be eating anticipated food??? The rules stated I had 5 or 10 days or something to tell them about a paycheck so in retrospect I should have jumped through the job hunting hoops to be able to eat in September and told them about my paycheck after I got it. I maxed out my credit card trying to keep financially afloat and it took me all year to pay it off. House still isn’t sold by the way. I am renting here.Things were made worse by people wanting to go out to lunch with me because I was new (and it was each pay your own) which I could not afford yet could not afford to not go either.
aristotle - February 4, 2010 at 4:11 pm
What I’ve never understood is how academic institutions can require new (and even returning) faculty members to be on campus for one to two weeks at the end of August, attending orientation and other meetings, and sometimes even starting classes before September 1, and yet begin paying faculty as of September 1. Faculty are essentially working for free for one to two weeks. In the nonacademic world, usually workers are paid for training and orientation time…
22108469 - February 4, 2010 at 4:42 pm
All of these comments remind me of what I try to tell the young aspiring professor people: you have to love your subject more than money, family, security, and life itself.
11182967 - February 4, 2010 at 4:52 pm
In the halcyon days of 1968, I started my first full-time teaching position at the University of Michigan-Flint and actually received a paycheck before the semester began. Faculty were paid on a monthly bas1s over 12 months beginning with the end of July, and what I referred to as my “signing bonus” paid for an unexpected short vacation to celebrate passing my prelims. But that was then. In West Virginia today faculty at most state-related institutions are considered state employees. There are two pay periods per month. No state employee can be paid for work not yet performed. Further, there is a two-week lag in pay for all beginning employees. Thus a faculty member whose beginning contract date occurs during the second pay period of August (ie, anytime after August 15) cannot be paid until the end of the pay period after the pay period during which he or she first works (ie, not until September 15). I suspect that a similar situation prevails in other states and accounts for much of the phenomenon described in the article. Hourly employees–typically less well paid than faculty–encounter the same situation. The one consolation is that everyone has a couple of weeks severance pay when employment ends. And since annual faculty salaries are paid over 12 months the pay lag is a one-time event. JohnTee
sleiste - February 4, 2010 at 5:19 pm
In my first real job (which was in the non-academic world), we were paid before the end of the pay period. I started on a Monday and was paid that Thursday. In fact, I was paid on Thursday for working Friday. I got my first check at the new job before my last check at the old job! Sometimes this odd arrangement made reporting time difficult. If you were sick in the second week of the pay period, you’d report it for the following pay period, as your check was already in progress. However, it did make transitioning very easy. The organization was tiny at that time, and I assume they’ve changed practices as they have grown (or, I feel bad for the person administering payroll).
existentialfool - February 4, 2010 at 6:39 pm
This is typical for our adjuncts EVERY YEAR. Start teaching in August and first paycheck is at end of September. Paid office hours? Yes, but the hours you hold in September aren’t paid until the following JANUARY. Sorry I can’t muster up more sympathy.
11211250 - February 5, 2010 at 7:07 am
If you want to punch a clock, be my guest. I chose 35 years ago to go back to academe and haven’t regretted it. Yeah, sometimes my work means I work a lot “outside” of my contract, but it is really worth it because I get to do what I love. And one thing I really like to do is meet and greet all the new, young faculty who are just coming on board. It’s one of the most exciting times of the year. All that vitality and enthusiasm hitting campus is a shot in the arm. I’m there outside of contract, but honestly it never even occurs to me that this is some kind of problem. I’m an academic 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And while there are plenty of frustrations and challenges all the time, I’d rather suffer through all that and have the independence of academia over punching the clock in a company, which I did for 5 years before I figured out there was a lot more to life than money and a 9-5 job.
schaber - February 5, 2010 at 11:00 am
This brings to mind a quote I loved from the old “Super Chicken” cartoons: “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.” There are so many perks to these “jobs” that it is somewhat shocking to me that anyone would have the nerve to complain about a delayed paycheck — especially in this economy. Having a contract that could lead to lifetime employment and summers off? Please.
ksingh - February 5, 2010 at 11:04 am
I also wanted to comment on the adjunct side of it. When I was a “full-time” adjunct, I cobbled together a living from 3 different schools. We normally get 3 paychecks a semester, and you have to be really good at budgeting. The worst thing was when one of my schools posted paydates for the following sememster, and then later sent out an “oops” letter telling us those days were incorrect. I had budgeted everything to a date in February so carefully, and then learned my next paycheck would actually be 2 weeks later. I was devestated. I had to borrow money from a relative. What a mess! But even as standard practice, you do 6 weeks of work and then get your first paycheck.
cseqnsse - February 5, 2010 at 12:09 pm
At the advice of a mentor, I’ve requested a summer month of salary to prep for classes, get materials, get hooked up with the technology, etc. I’ve done this successfully at two institutions. One had to put me on as a visiting faculty member, but I got paid and got access to my new library, bookstore, and computing equipment. I wasn’t able to pick up benefits, but it gave me income and got me up and running. This might not work in today’s economy, but everything’s negotiable. Institutions are much more likely to do a one-time payment, particularly after they’ve balked at your attempts at salary increases.
amandasc - February 5, 2010 at 4:37 pm
when you start working at a new school before your contract begins are you able to get the necessary credentials for access to email, databases, etc? at my institution you can’t get that until you are on payroll, and sometimes i have to work w/ instructors who have already started teaching and can’t get their credential yet.
phdinlimbo - February 24, 2010 at 5:07 pm
There is the “credential” issue within this as well. I packed up and moved to another state for a new job at a large university. I was holding lectures and *had* to give a syllabus out by the end of the first week of classes (i.e., contractual issues for students). I hadn’t even been to HR to fill out the paperwork by the end of that week (they were too busy). I have no email or telephone for my office, so my syllabus was not at all informative as to how to reach me. HR paperwork week two. Email week 4. Phone around week 8.