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President Daniel H. Weiss sent the following message to administrators and staff via email today:
As we have discussed in administrative and staff forums over the past year and in memos that I distributed to the College community, the College has been developing two new voluntary programs that are designed to permit College staff an opportunity to make important personal decisions in the coming year.
The Office of Human Resources has information available for your review, outlining the following two programs for eligible non-faculty, administration and staff: 1) a voluntary retirement opportunity; and 2) a voluntary furlough program. The voluntary retirement opportunity will provide certain one-time payments to be made by the College to the participating employees and, along with the voluntary furlough program, will serve to reduce on-going, non-faculty staff costs. One of the College’s goals is to reduce staffing costs while continuing to provide the highest level of service to students, faculty, other staff members, alumni, friends, and visitors to the College. Due to the unusual and difficult economic environment, the College has authorized the necessary accruals and extraordinary payments related to these programs.
The information below summarizes the two programs, but please visit Lisa Rex in the College’s Office of Human Resources to review additional information if you have an interest in learning more about these new opportunities.
I. Voluntary Retirement Opportunity
The College has approved a voluntary retirement opportunity (the “25 Plus 25” program). The 25 Plus 25 program will officially commence on January 25, 2010. This new program will provide additional compensation to eligible employees who elect to depart the College through the end of this fiscal year (which ends June 30, 2010). Eligible employees are those full-time, non-faculty, administration and staff who, as of the effective date of their departure: 1) are age sixty-two (62) or more, and 2) have continually worked for the College on a full-time basis for fifteen (15) years or more.
Under the voluntary retirement opportunity, eligible employees who elect to retire from the College during the current fiscal year (2009-10) will receive a lump sum payment equal to the total sum of the following components: 1) 25% of the individual’s annual base pay (as of the date of departure), plus 2) an additional $25,000. Further, the College wants to encourage all participants in the program to come back and visit the campus frequently and is offering twenty-five (25) “special event tickets” to program participants. These special event tickets are expected to include items such as free lunches in one of the College’s main dining facilities, on-campus theater and arts events, football games, and other similar sporting activities, among others.
In order to provide flexibility to the departing employee, each employee may select the retirement date at any time during fiscal year 2009-10 (which ends on June 30, 2010) that best suits their own needs and plans. We do ask, however, that each employee work closely with their supervisor and their divisional Vice President to make sure that the College can adopt staffing plans and transition periods as efficiently as possible. It is possible that the College may ask for a modest adjustment to the departure date requested by the employee.
All employees interested in this offer should contact the Office of Human Resources to obtain and carefully review the applicable legal documentation, which includes a sample separation agreement. If, after reviewing the documentation, the employee is interested in participating in this program, the employee must notify the Office of Human Resources in writing no later than March 5, 2010, of the employee’s selected retirement date (the retirement date must be on or before June 30, 2010). On the date of retirement, the retiring employee will then be provided with the legal documentation for final review and acceptance by the employee. Please be aware that the Voluntary Retirement Opportunity is subject to the terms and conditions of the Lafayette College Voluntary Retirement Plan and the Plan document will prevail if there is any conflict between this memorandum and any other communications or documents and the terms of the Plan document.
The eligibility requirements for other benefits such as post-retiree medical benefits for which the retiring employee may qualify are unchanged by this program and are governed by the provisions of such plans. This voluntary retirement program does not alter the eligibility requirements for the College’s retiree medical plan. Information concerning the retiree medical plan is available from the Office of Human Resources.
Please speak with Lisa Rex in the Office of Human Resources and your divisional Vice President promptly to indicate your interest. Only eligible individuals who notify the Office of Human Resources in writing no later than March 5, 2010, of their intention to enter into the 25 Plus 25 program, and depart the College on or before June 30, 2010, will be able to receive the program’s benefits.
II. Voluntary Furlough Program
The College has also created a program that provides all non-faculty, administration and staff members the opportunity to have greater flexibility in their work schedules and take additional time off.
The College is offering additional time off in the following increments: 1) one-week increments up to a maximum of four (4) additional weeks per fiscal year; or 2) one-day per week for each week of the fiscal year. As a continuing full-time employee, employee benefits will continue to be provided as long as the employee retains full-time status (no less than 0.75 FTE). The employee’s base compensation will be reduced for the applicable amount of the time off requested by the employee on a straight line (pro-rata) basis. For example purposes only, one additional week off would impact the employee by approximately 2% of their base pay. Naturally, certain benefits are correlated to base pay levels, so please review the supplemental information available in the Office of Human Resources.
As you know, it is crucial for the College to continue to provide the high level of service that we offer today to our many constituencies. As such, each Vice President must approve your request for this incremental time off so that he or she can assure that overall divisional performance can be fully maintained. For this reason, the College cannot provide assurance that your individual request will be fully accommodated. We trust you will understand this potential limitation in the program. The Vice President may also require an adjustment to the employee’s request, perhaps even in the early stages of a new work schedule and job arrangement, if certain critical functions are suffering unexpectedly. Periodic reviews thereafter are also anticipated.
If you are interested in the voluntary furlough program, please speak with your divisional Vice President as soon as possible. In order to allow the divisions a reasonable opportunity to plan for the upcoming fiscal year, you will need to submit in writing to your divisional Vice President no later than March 5, 2010, your request for any voluntary furlough or additional time off.
We look forward to answering any questions you may have.