References to "Dartmouth employees" usually conjure up images of those who work directly for education: faculty, office staff and others involved in the day-to-day workings of the College. Less visible employees, however, include the staff of the Hanover Inn. Dartmouth's ownership of the Inn places all staff members under the general umbrella of the College's employee payment policy. Until very recently, the policy dictated, in a handbook given to all Dartmouth employees, that those who work between the hours of 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. are entitled to a certain amount of extra pay, called a shift differential.
Over six months ago, however, it came to Hanover Inn workers' attention that they were not being paid the proper shift differential Similar to "David against Goliath" (in the words of one employee), a group of Inn workers took the College to court over the issue -- and instead of paying back the extra few dollars a day that the employees demanded, Dartmouth chose to legally defend itself.
In court, Dartmouth cited the fact that a shift differential was not customary in the hospitality industry and that the Hanover Inn historically did not pay a shift differential. Nevertheless, to the Inn employees' delight and relief, the state ruled in the workers' favor; Dartmouth was ordered to compensate, paying some employees up to over $2,500 in back pay. Following the employees' victory, however, Dartmouth announced in March that it had revised the shift differential policy: waitresses, dishwashers, and housekeepers at the Hanover Inn are no longer eligible for the extra pay. Jim Kenyon, a reporter who investigated this issue for the Valley News, rightly asks, "How could Dartmouth College, an institution so big, act so small?"
According to Barbara Johnson, Dartmouth's current Acting Associate Vice President for Human Resources, "application of a shift differential in this type of environment was not appropriate and was not the intention when the policy was drafted, so we amended the policy to correct the error." So what was the original intention of the payment policy? Johnson cites the fact that the majority of Dartmouth employees work on campus, where the hours are limited to daytime working hours, which is not the case in the Hanover Inn, which is operational on a 24/7 schedule. "It is not a campus or office environment where a limited number of people have to work at night, while most people work during the day," says Johnson; "so there was no 'different shift' to which to apply the policy."
While this may be true, the cases brought up in court indicated that the life circumstances of night employees are extremely difficult. Karen Klein, an employee interviewed by Kenyon, works at the Inn from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m., at which point she takes her two grandnieces to school. She regarded the extra shift differential as important in terms of her ability to pay for gas each day.
An even broader question, however, is why a night shift at the Hanover Inn is any different than a night shift as an on-campus employee. Yes, more people on campus work during the day than during the night. Johnson stated that "when the shift differential policy was developed for other College employees, the Inn should have been explicitly excluded from it," and that not doing so was "an oversight." But if it is particularly difficult for on-campus employees to work during the night while the rest of Hanover sleeps, why should it be easier for Hanover Inn workers?
The only real difference between on-campus night employees and Hanover Inn night employees is that there are simply more Hanover Inn employees working on the second and graveyard shifts than Dartmouth employees in on-campus jobs. This seems to indicate that Dartmouth's change in payment policy is indeed merely a way for the College to save money, not for it to clear up "oversights" in the original formulation of the shift differential. With the $4 shift differential entitled to workers of the second shift, and the $6.40 due to those in the graveyard shift, Dartmouth's new policy allow them to save at least $1,400 per year for every second shift employee, and over 50 percent more for each graveyard shift employee.
Even if the hospitality industry in general, and other hotels and restaurants in the Upper Valley, do not usually provide for a shift differential, as Johnson argues, Dartmouth must remember that its employees are not just those in the hospitality industry -- all Dartmouth employees should be treated as equals, particularly those who commit their evenings and nights in service of the College. While it is true that a job at the Hanover Inn supplies many benefits -- interest-free loans, retirement options, and more -- it does not seem fair that these employees are singled out as undeserving of shift differentials simply because they cost the College too much money.
The legal battles that Hanover Inn employees underwent in order to get their rightful wages should have proved to Dartmouth how important the shift differential is to the employees themselves. The College should also remember what an extraordinary and crucial asset the Hanover Inn's top-notch service is to Dartmouth's reputation and financial holdings. This school has a longstanding tradition of fairness and right-mindedness, which should not be violated. In recognition, the College has a duty to compensate these dedicated employees with the shift differential they deserve.
