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Michigan State University is working to pay back cut retirement benefits to faculty and staff

MSU sign
Reginald Hardwick
/
WKAR-MSU

Michigan State University is working on plans to return retirement benefits to its employees. The benefits were cut during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MSU cut faculty and staff’s retirement contribution match in half for 18 months to offset pandemic-related financial losses.

While the contribution match has since been returned, support staff have been dealing with a cut in retirement benefits since January of this year. The cut for support staff is supposed to last until June of 2023.

MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant says the university is working to end the retirement cut for support staff early and pay back money lost to faculty and staff.

“So for those who already had the 18 months of cuts, we're looking at how we could reallocate money to make up for some of that through maybe a lump payment," she explained.

Guerrant says the school is figuring out how to make the return of benefits equal for employee groups.

"So if we can afford to reimburse for 12 months, for faculty, then we would stop the support staff [cuts] after six months, and then, in essence, each of those employee groups would have had a cut for a six month period," she said.

Though no amount has been set yet, the university expects to return the benefits by the end of summer.

As WKAR's Bilingual Latinx Stories Reporter, Michelle reports in both English and Spanish on stories affecting Michigan's Latinx community.
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