COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - All employees at Clemson University who make at least $50,000 a year will be required to take at least one day off this year without pay as the school deals with lost revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic, university officials said Monday.
The more an employee makes, the more furlough days they will have to take. The unpaid days off move closer to five for employees making at least $100,000 a year.
And the university’s highest paid employees with salaries of at least $400,000 - including Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney and university President Jim Clements - have agreed to take a 10% pay cut.
The unpaid days off will start Sept. 1 and affect more than 3,000 Clemson University employees, about half of the school’s payroll.
Clemson estimates it will lose up to $180 million between losing fans at football games, losing fees and tuition from the spring and fall semesters and having to buy protective equipment and renovate classrooms for social distancing and COVID-19 safety.
“That’s a sobering number” in the college’s $1.4 billion budget, said Tony Wagner, Clemson’s executive vice president for finance and operations.
The numbers could get worse if the pandemic ramps back up and disruptions continue into the spring, Wagner said.
The University of South Carolina is requiring 10 furlough days for employees who make more than $118,000 and 20 unpaid days off for employees making more than $200,000 annually. It’s highest paid sports coaches also took a 10% cut.
Winthrop University is considering furloughs for some of its professors and workers at its Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday.
The spread of COVID-19 continues to slow in South Carolina, which has reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases in just two of the past 14 days. The state had at least 1,000 new virus cases each day in July and into early August, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
___
Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.