Regular, non-temporary faculty and staff on the Ann Arbor campus will receive a $1,500 payment later this month in special recognition for their “efforts in these extraordinary times.”

President Mark Schlissel announced the one-time payment in an email to the Ann Arbor campus Dec. 7, crediting employees for being “the backbone of this institution” through nearly two years of work amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“You have worked tirelessly both in person and remotely to assure the ongoing success of our university and its students,” Schlissel wrote. “And you’ve done so amid the stress and hardship that comes with living and working through a global pandemic. I sincerely thank you for being a part of the University of Michigan family. I am very proud to work alongside you.”

Employees who are regular, non-temporary faculty and staff on the Ann Arbor campus are eligible to receive the payment, including bargained-for and non-bargained-for employees. Others who are eligible include research fellows and advanced post-graduate trainees, supplemental clinical instructors, graduate student instructors, graduate student staff assistants, graduate student research assistants and Rackham doctoral fellows.

The chancellors at UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint are providing a similar recognition payment to employees on their campuses, and Michigan Medicine employees received $1,500 earlier this year.

The year-end supplements come after recent periods of financial uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Non-bargained-for employees received no salary increases in the 2020-21 fiscal year, and a yearlong hiring freeze left many positions vacant and more work for fewer employees.

The one-time payments to slightly more than 25,000 individuals will cost $37.6 million across all three campuses and be paid from university reserves. Employees paid monthly and bi-weekly will receive the payment Dec. 13. Rackham doctoral fellows will receive the payment in late December.

Employees ineligible to receive the payment include temporary employees, faculty with dry appointments, visiting faculty, supplemental primary faculty, emeritus faculty and employees who are in a state of persistent non-compliance with the university’s COVID-19 vaccine policy.

Michigan Medicine employees, who received an earlier payment, and employees who were hired after Oct. 1 also are not included in this one-time payment. Additional information is available on the U-M Human Resources website.

“On behalf of our Board of Regents and our executive officers, I wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season,” Schlissel wrote. “With sincere thanks and Go Blue!”