Safety and Security cars
Meghan Hall/The Bona Venture
BY: DAVID SCIBILIA, NEWS EDITOR
$15.18.
That’s the amount The Living Wage Calculator, a tool created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, determines an individual in Cattaraugus County needs to make per hour to meet their basic needs.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation that requires employers in New York State — including St. Bonaventure University — to post salary ranges on all advertised jobs. When advertising their facilities attendant and security professional level one positions, the university listed paying $14.50 an hour. A representative for Aramark, the company responsible for paying food service workers on campus, declined to comment on the specific dollar amount of wages.
Kyle Leslie, the head of human resources information systems, confirmed that $14.50 is the “starting rate of pay” for facilities attendants and security professionals at Bonaventure.
The Living Wage Calculator determines what a livable wage is in each county in America as well as the District of Columbia.
“It is a market-based approach that draws upon geographically specific expenditure data related to a family’s likely minimum food, childcare, health insurance, housing, transportation, and other basic necessities,” Amy Glasmeier, the creator of the tool, said on her website. “The living wage draws on these cost elements and the rough effects of income and payroll taxes to determine the minimum employment earnings necessary to meet a family’s basic needs while also maintaining self-sufficiency.”
This tool estimates that a single individual with no dependents in Cattaraugus County needs to make approximately $31,585 before taxes to be able to meet all of these needs.
“I don’t know for sure if that number is 100% correct,” James Mahar, an associate professor of finance said. “But it seems to be in the right ballpark.”
Those who work the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift will make approximately $30,160 a year — $1425 below the estimated living wage. Those who work an eight-hour shift will make approximately $28,275 a year — $3,310 below the living wage.
“[There are] 38 full-time facilities attendants, one part-time facilities attendant, 11 full-time security professionals [and] 13 part-time security professionals,” Leslie said.
In addition to this, all employees who work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — the duration Bonaventure’s offices are open — are permitted a one-hour unpaid lunch break, while employees who work a standard eight hour day receive a 30-minute unpaid lunch break.
“I would hope it wouldn’t be too much of a financial burden [for the university] to pay these positions the living wage,” Mahar said. “ As a Franciscan University, we should make it our goal to pay everyone a living wage.”
Both salaries and hourly wages were determined, in part by Segal — a consulting firm that worked with Bonaventure on creating these numbers.
“Over the last three years, SBU has been working with a consultant, Segal, to perform a full compensation study for the university,” Leslie said. “The market value of all faculty and staff positions were determined based on 35 comparable colleges.”
Segal consulting did not respond to an interview request.
The university functions off of a fixed budget — a budget that does not change based on activity throughout the year. Part of this budget is employee wages.
“Budgets are set,” Leslie said.
Mahar also explained the difficulties of operating on a fixed budget.
“In a fixed budget, when you allocate money to one group, it leaves less for the rest of the university,” Mahar said. “It can be a really tough situation.”
Although there are benefits for both part-time and full-time positions, Mahar still believes the best thing to do would be to raise the wages.
“There’s no question that the benefits certainly help [to close the differential between the paid wage and the living wage],” Mahar said. “But money is needed for food, rent and countless other things.”
Aramark, which is responsible for wages paid to workers in the Hickey Dining Hall, Freshens, the Rathskeller and the RC Café, did not provide a specific dollar amount paid to employees.
“All associates are paid competitive rates based on position, performance and length of service,” Nicole Clark, the Aramark food service director, said. “We continually monitor the market and review our wages on a regular basis.”
Tom Missel, the chief communications officer at Bonaventure, discussed the benefits the university provides to workers in a statement.
“We realize that inflationary pressures these days have made it a challenge for most workers, especially those at the minimum wage. But the situation in New York state is so much more favorable than virtually every state with one of the highest minimum wage rates in the country,” Missel said. “Plus, the university’s 10% retirement contribution and opportunity for tuition remission or tuition exchange are benefits that virtually no other business can offer these days and aren’t part of the calculations used by tools like these.”
Scibild22@bonaventure.edu
