Mayo Clinic announces temporary furloughs

Mayo Clinic staff are doing extraordinary work, leading in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud of, and committed to, our staff and our communities as they come together to fight this global health crisis. Mayo Clinic is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of these circumstances, including a financial impact that requires significant adjustments to our operations. The decision to proactively postpone elective patient care was the right one, but it eliminated most of our revenue at the same time we are making critical investments to develop and expand testing, conduct research to help stop the pandemic, and realign our facilities and care teams to  treat COVID-19 patients.

Mayo Clinic is taking necessary steps to reduce expenses, but additional measures are needed to ensure that we can emerge from this situation in a stable position. While we were able to protect full pay and benefits for our staff through April 28, temporary furloughs of some staff and salary reductions will be required after that time. We will work with our teams over the coming weeks to ensure that our staff are supported, that the duration of this disruption is as limited as possible, and that we are ready to ramp up quickly and resume full operations when it is safe to do so.

The number of staff to be furloughed will not be known until late April or early May. At this time, every site and department is working through their plans. Of nearly 70,000 people working at Mayo Clinic across the nation, less than one-third will have pay cuts.

How much of a pay cut will staff take?

The Mayo Clinic CEO and CAO will take a salary reduction of 20%. Neither will receive a 2020 salary adjustment. The direct reports of the CEO and CAO will take a 15% pay cut. Consultants and senior administrators will take a 10% pay cut, and salaried allied health staff will take a 7% pay cut. The rate of pay for hourly staff will not change.

 Which staff will take a pay cut?

All but our hourly staff, and those employees whose costs are fully paid by an external party to Mayo Clinic, will take pay cuts. Most Mayo Clinic nurses are nonexempt and are compensated by the hour for their work. Hourly staff will not take pay cuts. Other examples of hourly staff would include desk attendants, environmental services, and technicians who might work in areas like lab or radiology.

Media contact: Ginger Plumbo, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, newsbureau@mayo.edu