To Washington University faculty and staff,
When we wrote to you earlier this month, we shared our optimism that we would soon be able to take some positive steps to restore employee benefits due to better than expected year-end financial results for the university and continuing progress in the first quarter of the new fiscal year. While we continue to monitor our financial situation closely, at this time we believe we are in a strong enough position to move forward as follows:
- As proposed by the administration and approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, we will reinstate the university’s contribution to the employee retirement savings plan, effective November 1. Bi-weekly employee contributions will be shown on the November 20 paycheck, and monthly employee contributions will be reflected on the November 30 paycheck.
- The hiring freeze on the Danforth Campus and Central Fiscal Unit will be lifted, effective November 1. (The hiring freeze on the Medical Campus was lifted in September.) Individual schools and units will make hiring decisions based on their budgets.
As you will likely recall, when we made the difficult decision to suspend the employee retirement contribution and implement a hiring freeze we did not know how long these changes would be in place. It was always our hope that they would be short-lived, and we are pleased and relieved to be able to roll back these measures sooner than expected.
Please keep an eye out for additional communications from Human Resources with more details about the reinstatement of the retirement savings plan contribution and information for managers about the lifting of the Danforth Campus and Central Fiscal Unit hiring freeze.
We remain exceptionally grateful to all of you for your support and sacrifices during this very challenging time for the university. We know it has not been easy and that this has been a stressful time for many of you. We hope these positive steps will be helpful to you. Thank you for all that you continue to do for the university.
Sincerely,
Andrew D. Martin
Chancellor
Amy B. Kweskin
Vice Chancellor for Finance and Chief Financial Officer