According to the Rapid City Journal, the South Dakota Board of Regents is proposing to delay paychecks for one day between June and July of next year, saving $11-million that will be spent on setting up Wi-Fi technology at the six universities the board oversees. The move, however, will affect employees who plan to retire in the next three years, the newspaper reported.
Instead of paying employees on June 30, 2009, the universities will delay checks until July 1, the beginning of the next fiscal year. Employees will not actually lose any pay, but paying for the checks out of the following fiscal year’s funds will allow the board to spend the money that would have gone to June 30 paychecks on upgrading technology and training faculty members. The board will also seek $3.8-million from the state each year to pay for tech support.
However, university employees who plan to retire soon will receive less retirement income because it will be calculated based on a year that includes fewer paychecks. In South Dakota, the retirement formula is based on an employee’s best 12 consecutive quarters of earnings over the past decade, the newspaper reported, and in most cases employees’ pay is highest at the end of their careers. The faculty senate president at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology told the newspaper the university should compensate the retirees, but the board said there was no legal way to do so. —David DeBolt
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