Paine College suspends benefits for all faculty and staff

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – One of the city’s most historic institutions has announced it is suspending benefits for employees.

Paine College sent a letter to faculty and staff on Friday May 10th, just three days before the 2024 commencement.

The letter says their health, life, and disability benefits have been suspended, because the plans were “temporarily suspended by our carriers”.

Uzetta Gresham is a longtime employee.

“I’ve poured 25 years of my life into Paine College, and so have a lot of us. We’ve been dedicated employees, we’ve worked through the furlough because we love the institution, we love our administration. But at this point, we just feel kind of let down and not really regarded,” Gresham said.

The letter came from LeRoy Summers Jr., who serves as VP for the Office of Administrative and Fiscal Affairs.

President Dr. Cheryl Evans-Jones’ name is not on the letter.

“I guess they’re telling us in layman’s terms don’t get sick, don’t become disabled, and definitely don’t die anytime soon,” Gresham said.

Other employees who did not want to be identified are also sharing their frustration.

“This is crazy, and I’m sitting here looking at it still. It wasn’t coming, I will tell you that. There was no forewarning of like, hey, some things could happen in the next month or so. Like, nobody said anything.”

We reached out to the administration at Paine College, and received a statement with the following information:

“Due to rising costs of maintaining health benefits for employees, the College decided to pursue a more cost-effective provider. Simultaneously, the College was unable to reach a viable agreement with its recent provider that resulted in cancellation of coverage . “

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused our employees,” said Dr. Cheryl Evans Jones, President. “We are currently negotiating with insurance carriers in search of a lower-cost provider. It is our intent to resolve this matter expeditiously and restore affordable health and medical benefits for our employees.”

On a positive note, vision and dental coverage remain active. In addition, the College’s relationship with Aflac is in good standing.

“We are committed to the well-being of our employees and keeping the lines of communication open as we navigate through this process,” stated President Jones. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our employees for their dedication and cooperation during this time.”

The College will continue to provide updates and changes as they occur.

With an unclear timeline, employees like Gresham say they hope the solution comes soon.

“We love the institution. But as a family, I think the love needs to be reciprocated. So I think that something definitely needs to happen.”

We will continue to follow this story and provide any new developments.

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