Clemson University furloughs thousands

PICKENS COUNTY — Clemson University, one of Pickens County’s largest employers, announced on Monday it was furloughing thousands of employees, blaming the ongoing financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Due to the ongoing financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Clemson University has made the difficult decision to begin a mandatory furlough program in coordination with the South Carolina Department of Human Resources,” school officials said. “This action is in addition to the University’s ongoing hiring freeze and other cost reduction measures that have been taken in recent months to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic.”

The furlough period begins Sept. 1 and continues through the end of the calendar year.

The number of furlough days an employee must take is determined by the salary of each employee, and approximately half of Clemson’s full-time workforce statewide will be impacted.

A total of 3,022 employees will be furloughed for a total of 10,873 days.

Contracted employees who are not mandatory participants in the furlough program will take a pay reduction equivalent to their comparable salary bracket in the mandatory furlough program. Additionally, President Clements and all athletics employees making more than $400,000 annually have voluntarily taken at least a 10 percent reduction in compensation

Officials said employees must take their required number of days off without pay between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 and that state law prohibits employees from working while on furlough. Days must be taken in full-day increments, they said.

Nine-month employees with partial-day furlough responsibility must take full-day increments with the exception of the partial-day balance. (i.e., Those with 2.3 days must take two full days and .3 of a day.)

Employees will continue to receive health care, retirement and other benefits while on furlough and will be credited for their state employee service time but employees may not use annual leave, compensatory time, their optional holiday, or sick leave to offset the impact of the furlough.

University officials said affected employees will receive individual communications via email from the University’s Office of Human Resources detailing specifics of their furlough.