Illustration by Heidi Wong ’20
A few weeks ago, all students employed by Hamilton College received a letter in their mailboxes detailing the effects of the recent change in New York’s minimum wage on their own paycheck. While many students were unsure of the notice’s significance, Hamilton College’s Director of Human Resources, Steve Stemkoski, lent some helpful answers.
As detailed in the letter, New York minimum wage rose to $10.40 an hour from the previous $9.70 in an annual effort to reach $15.00 per hour by the year 2020. When interviewed, Stemkoski stated that New York State mandates that all employees receive notice when the minimum wage is changed to ensure that salaries and pay rates are accepted by the employee and employer. The notice received in the mail was meant to act as a “receipt,” recording an acknowledgement of the change in pay rate, according to Stemkoski.
As a result of the change in state minimum wage laws, Hamilton College has proportionally raised the wages of all student employees. The process for doing so at the College is carried out in the following ways.
The Human Resources page for student wage guidelines details that on-campus jobs for students are split into three pay grades based on experience and the level of skill required for the given job. Student employees receive $10.40 (state minimum wage) –$10.81 for “positions that require students to be dependable and attentive,” $10.82–$11.23 for “positions that require the ability to communicate specific academic or technical knowledge, and $11.24–$11.65 for “positions that require advanced academic or technical knowledge.” Stemkoski notes that every December, when the state minimum wage rises, Hamilton College bumps the minimum wage paid to students to match the state standards while maintaining the $1.25 spread between the lowest and highest paid student employees.
Human Resources at the College gives individual employers on campus discretion when deciding how much to pay their student workers, making the three-tiered pay system a guideline for their use. As Stemkoski explains, the pay categories also provide the Human Resources department with useful data to ensure “equity and some sense into what we are doing.”
As the minimum wage continues to grow each year, Stemkoski believes that senior staff are going to face growing pressure when deciding student wages, and that it is going to be more and more expensive to employ people while department budgets will most likely remain the same.
