The University of California will pay student employees to compensate for widespread issues with a new payroll system.
The system, University of California Payroll, Academic Personnel, Timekeeping and Human Resources, was implemented at UCLA in September. Since then, hundreds of students have reported paycheck inaccuracies and missed paychecks.
The UC announced Tuesday it would compensate affected student employees with $150 each in addition to their normal wages if they experienced issues for one month. If an employee’s issues persisted for more than one month, each employee will receive additional compensation up to $450, according to a joint press release from the UC and the UC Student-Workers Union Local 2865.
The UC and United Auto Workers Local 2865, which represents student workers, including teaching assistants and graduate student instructors, have been working to address the issues with UCPath over the past few months. They agreed on the $150 payout to alleviate financial hardships that the pay inaccuracies have imposed on students, according to the press release.
UC and UAW Local 2865 representatives did not immediately respond to request for comment.
In a separate press release, UAW Local 2865 representatives said they were proud they were able to get the settlement because they did not have many other ways to seek reparations, according to the press release.
The UC is exempt from most state wage theft laws, which prevents affected employees from pursuing legal action against the UC, according to the press release.
UCPath has also been implemented at UC Merced, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. It will be implemented at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC School of Agriculture and Natural Resources on Friday.