Support a Bi-Weekly Pay Structure for MTSU Hourly Employees!

MTSU University Administration

MTSU’s monthly pay structure is antiquated and burdensome. By only paying employees once per month, MTSU is reaping minor benefits in their payroll department at the cost of hundreds of employees’ financial security. This system uses uneven monthly pay periods that create a feast or famine environment for employees, with paychecks varying by as many as 22.5 hours between the largest and smallest pay periods. Properly managing a household budget under these conditions is uniquely difficult. The length of these uneven pay periods also means that new employees sometimes must wait up to six weeks before they even receive a paycheck. Facing up to a month and a half with no income, new employees at MTSU sometimes find themselves making hard choices about even the basic necessities of life.

MTSU is aware of this hardship. Despite this awareness, the issue is allowed to persist. To the MTSU chapter of the United Campus Workers union, this negligent behavior is unacceptable. Please join us in calling on University Administration to immediately begin transitioning to a more equitable and fair pay schedule for ALL Hourly Employees.

*Please note: our petition will not be submitted until we reach our goal of at least 300 signatures.*

To: MTSU University Administration
From: [Your Name]

We, the undersigned, are calling on President McPhee and other members of University Administration to immediately begin the process of switching to a bi-weekly pay structure for all Hourly Employees at MTSU, with the goal to implement this structure no later than the first operational day of 2024, January 2nd.

In our current times of economic uncertainty, having timely access to one’s duly earned wage is more important than ever. Rising inflation, underfunded raise pools, and ever-increasing cost of living expenses mean that household budgets are stretched thin. Receiving only a monthly paycheck transforms otherwise small issues, such as an overlooked electric bill, into ones that have significant financial impacts and consequences. Monthly pay structures ensure that employees do not receive uniform paychecks, as every monthly pay period has a varying number of workdays within it. Monthly pay structures also make it possible for a new employee to begin working and not receive any sort of compensation for up to six weeks. MTSU currently utilizes exactly this sort of pay structure.

Hourly Employees at MTSU, whether they be full/part-time employees or student employees, all feel or have felt this burden.

A fairer schedule for pay than monthly is bi-weekly. Under a bi-weekly pay structure, employees are paid every two weeks, ensuring that nobody ever must wait more than a month to receive their wage. Transitioning to such a pay schedule would not only make MTSU a more attractive employer for prospective job seekers, but it would also drastically improve the quality of life for many of its current employees, increasing retention. Making this switch is not a revolutionary idea either, with several of MTSU’s peer institutions having already adopted bi-weekly pay structures. Some of these institutions include the University of Memphis and Austin Peay State University, as well as the entire University of Tennessee system. As such, we ask for the following:

1. Immediately begin transitioning from our current monthly pay structure to a bi-weekly pay structure

2. Commit to establishing firm goals and deadlines for the implementation of this new pay structure

3. Be forthcoming with information related to this transition and provide frequent updates to the campus community