Minimum Wage Increase Impacts Over 500 Student Employees
On December 31, 2017, the New York City minimum wage increased from $11 to $13 an hour, affecting at least 500 student employees in various positions at Yeshiva University.
“All employees whose current salary is below that amount will be raised to the new minimum,” explained YU's Chief Human Resources Officer Julie Auster in an email. According to Auster, YU typically employs between 500 and 750 students depending on the time of year and number of positions available.
The increased minimum wage follows the second step of a six-year plan to gradually increase minimum wage in New York City to $15. “Big employers” like Yeshiva University with a staff of 11 people or more must comply with the new wage changes before smaller employers in New York. Last year, the big employer minimum wage in NYC was increased from $9 to $11 an hour.
Although certain student positions at YU, such as those in the writing centers on both the Wilf and Beren campuses, have paid more than minimum wage in the past, it is unclear whether their pay will again be higher than the new minimum wage.
“Department heads will certainly look at the student jobs on a case by case basis to make sure the salary scales are appropriate, but we do not know if everyone whose salary is already above $13/hour will be increased,” remarked Auster.
At the lowest estimate, student employees at YU make up about 8.3% of the total undergraduate and graduate student population of YU for the Fall 2017 semester.
“As someone who works multiple hours a week at Yeshiva University, I am very excited about this pay increase,” said Tamar Shemesh, a student at Stern College for Women who works in the package center.
Following the law to increase the minimum wage signed in 2016 by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, most of New York can expect to have a minimum wage of $15 by 2021. Big employers, like Yeshiva University, can expect that by December 31, 2018.
