Dive Brief:
- Inside Higher Ed reports on the plans of some colleges and universities to advance salary increases, following the block of a proposed federal rule to increase the eligibility standards for overtime earnings. indicated they plan to go ahead with salary changes that were already planned in response to the rule.
- The plans for budget adjustments come after some schools suggest that the court injunction was delivered too late to reverse course on overtime eligibility increases for staff making just over $23,660 annually to those making up to $47,476.
- Estimates say that employees lost more than $470 million in potential revenue as a result of the court's reversal.
Dive Insight:
Schools are making the right call on advancing plans to increase earnings for staff, in spite of the court's decision. First, because there is no timetable on when and if the federal rule could be eventually determined to be legal, it's best to prepare for what could be inevitable. Second, giving employees more money when not required to do so is a victory for employee morale and media relations.
Finally, with uncertainty around budget appropriations and tuition revenues over the next year, schools will be better positioned to eliminate positions outright in the name of fewer people doing more work over longer periods of time.