Student Media Payroll Policy

Purpose

Student Media’s student staff are entitled to just compensation for their work, but the media outlets also need to work within the framework of their allotted payroll budget each fiscal year (July 1-June 30). To ensure no media outlet exceeds their payroll the following policy was proposed.

Definitions

Each fiscal year budget has three budget numbers:

• “Budgeted student payroll” is the cost of paying every person every dollar budgeted
• “Percent of payroll generally spent” is the budgeted student payroll adjusted to what that organization has historically spent, typically between 70% and 100%
• “15% overage” is 15% more than budgeted student payroll

Policy

• 1. The senior leader of a group that exceeds the percentage generally spent before the end of the fiscal year will be required to meet with the director, associate director and their adviser to ascertain the reason for the overage.
• 2. If that group then reaches their budgeted student payroll before the end of the fiscal year, they will be required to develop a plan to address the situation and present that plan to the full Student Media Board of Directors.
• 3. If that group then exceeds its budgeted student payroll by 15% before the end of the fiscal year, the group will no longer be allowed to pay its members, and they will thenceforth all be working for the organization as volunteers.