Amherst College
PA-13: Pay Equity and Living Wage

13.1 Internal pay equity assessment

An institution earns 1 point for A) having conducted one or more internal pay equity assessments during the previous three years that B) are inclusive of academic and non-academic staff, C) explicitly address pay equity by gender identity, and D) explicitly address pay equity by racial, ethnic, and/or Indigenous identity, and E) for publishing the results of its internal pay equity assessments. Partial points are available and earned as outlined in the Technical Manual.

Measurement

Report on assessments completed within the previous three years and the results of the most recent assessment to have been finalized. External (e.g., market-based) pay equity assessments do not qualify. 

13.2 Percentage of employees that receive a living wage

An institution earns 3 points when A) it is a third party accredited living wage employer or B) 100 percent of its employees receive remuneration (i.e., base wage or salary plus qualifying in-kind benefits, cash bonuses, and allowances) equivalent to at least a living wage. Incremental points are available for criterion B based on the institution’s performance within a range from 75 to 100 percent and earned as outlined in the Technical Manual.

Measurement

For criterion A, report on currently valid accreditations. To qualify as a living wage employer accreditation, program criteria must be reasonably consistent with the Anker Methodology and/or the living wage criteria included in STARS. An updated list of qualifying programs is available in the STARS Help Center.

For criterion B, report the most recent data available from within the previous three years and snapshots of a living wage and employee remuneration taken during the same performance period (e.g., fiscal or calendar year). This may be accomplished, for example, by exporting compensation data from the institution’s human resources system and accessing an online living wage figure within the same month or academic term.

Include all individuals who are in a direct employment relationship with the institution according to national law or its application, i.e., both regular/permanent employees and short-term/casual employees. Because of the diverse ways that student employment may be structured, however, undergraduate student employees and graduate students who are classified as non-academic employees may be excluded. Graduate students paid for teaching or research responsibilities should be included to the extent that they are classified as direct academic employees in the institution’s human resources system.

Consistent with the Global Living Wage Coalition, a living wage is a family concept. An institution’s living wage must be based on a family of four (assuming two adults in paid employment) or the nearest alternative available in its national context. A family of four is used to help harmonize different living wage standards and to support international comparability. It is not assumed to be the most common or representative family size.

To determine the living wage, use the most relevant national standard or methodology listed in the STARS Help Center. A US institution, for example, must report the local living wage for “2 Adults (both working), 2 Children” published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator. 

An institution with satellite campuses should use the main campus location to determine the living wage amount, if available, or else a relevant state/provincial, regional, or national living wage. 

The pay for employees who are hired on a grant, stipend, or contract basis must be converted into hourly figures, for example based on the average or expected number of hours worked per course, credit hour, or term. Hourly compensation for employees working on a grant, stipend, or contract basis must include all hours that are necessary to perform the employee’s duties, such as class preparation and grading time. For example, an employee must be credited a minimum of 2.25 hours of service per week for each hour of teaching or classroom time in that week. 

Otherwise, an institution may convert salary data to hourly figures based on the standard work week and year used for waged workers.

Remuneration may include wages, salaries, and extra-wage components that address the basic needs of employees and their families. To qualify, an extra-wage component must address a basic need that is accounted for in the living wage methodology that is used. In the US, for example, this includes expected and regular cash bonuses, employer contributions to health insurance, retirement plans, and other savings vehicles, and allowances for childcare, commuting, and meals. It excludes work expenses, life insurance, paid leave, disability benefits, student loan and tuition assistance, and allowances for services such as gym membership and legal assistance.

13.3 Percentage of significant contractors that pay a collectively determined or living wage

An institution earns 1 point when it is able to verify that each of its significant contractors meets at least one of the following criteria:

1. The contractor is a third party accredited living wage employer or otherwise ensures that all of its on-site employees receive remuneration equivalent to at least a living wage.
2. The contractor’s lowest-paid, on-site employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement (i.e., a union contract).
3. The contractor is a worker cooperative.

Partial points are available based on the extent which criterion B is met and earned as outlined in the Technical Manual.

Measurement

For criterion A, report on currently valid accreditations.

For criterion B, report on the institution’s most recently established agreements with significant contractors and the living wage reported in indicator 13.2. If no qualifying information is available for a contractor, report conservatively by assuming that its employees are earning the legal minimum wage.

An institution that is accredited as a living wage employer under a standard that is inclusive of its significant contractors (e.g., Living Wage for US) may report on that basis rather than apply the STARS criteria.

This credit is applicable to all institutions, however indicator 13.3 is only applicable to institutions that have one or more significant contractors.