HAMPTON—Just prior to the holiday season, Dr. William R. Harvey, Hampton University’s President, expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the hard-working members of the Hampton University Community by announcing that all faculty and staff would receive an end-of-the year bonus of $200 and increased the campus minimum wage to $15.00 per hour, as of January 1, 2022.
“It brings me joy to extend greetings to you during the holiday season,” said Harvey in mid-December. “This year’s holiday season is even more meaningful because of the many changes that we have experienced over the last year due to the covid-19 pandemic. The holiday season is a time of sharing. In that spirit, I am giving every Hampton University employee an Appreciation Bonus of $200 as a Christmas gift and the University is increasing the minimum wage from $13 an hour to $15 an hour, effective January 1, 2022. It is my hope that the appreciation bonus and the wage increase will be beneficial to you and your family.”
Hampton University’s minimum wage is $7.75 above the national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and $5.50 above the commonwealth of Virginia’s minimum wage of $9.50 per hour. The announcement of the wage increase is not related to the Virginia Minimum Wage Act, which recently raised the minimum wage of workers in Virginia to $11 per hour effective January 1, 2022.
This is the latest example of Hampton University assisting its workforce in response to the covid-19 pandemic. In October 2021, Harvey announced the University would provide its faculty and students a wellness day for self-care.
At the onset of the pandemic, it was announced that annual faculty and staff raises would not occur. However, due to the charitable gifts that Hampton has received from others during these trying times, Harvey reversed that decision and gave all faculty and staff a two percent pay increase, effective January 1, 2021, as well as a $200 Christmas bonus and a $25 gift for the much anticipated and celebrated annual turkey give-a-way. Harvey announced in February the distribution of bonus checks to select members of the Hampton University workforce. Based on current employees’ annual salaries at that time ($50,000 or less), specific individuals received either a $125 or $250 bonus.
In March 2021, Harvey also announced an additional raise of up to five percent to all employees with an annual contract for the 2021–2022 academic year. Previously, the University increased its minimum wage on July 1, 2019, to $10.00 per hour and to $12.00 per hour on March 1, 2020.