Employees advised to minimize use of furloughs until budget is decided

Human Resources has received several inquiries about the status of furloughs for fiscal year 2010. The furlough program will begin as planned on July 1, however, until the state budget is finalized, the number of days remains uncertain. There is still some hope that the number of days could be reduced.

While some employees desire to start taking furloughs in July, Human Resources cautions employees to minimize the number of furlough days taken until the budget situation is more certain.

For those whose salaries are at $40,000 or above, it is recommended that those employees not take more than two furlough days (for a full-time FTE) until the final number of days is decided. For those whose salaries are below $40,000, it is recommended that those employees wait to take any furlough days until more is known.

Employees who choose to take furloughs should understand that if they take more furlough than is ultimately required, there is no mechanism to pay that money back to them. Human Resources advises employees to use other forms of leave, such as vacation and compensatory time (for non-exempt employees), until the number of furlough days can be finalized.

Human Resources is working to load the leave-tracking system with the maximum number of days that are possible so that the system will be ready for July 1. If the number of days is reduced, then HR will adjust the amount of furlough days in the system.

Employees will be able to see the furlough tracking in LOUIE self-service where sick and vacation balances are viewed in the paycheck of July 17. Please refer to the furlough web site for information.

President John Haeger continues budget negotiations with a priority to mitigate the economic impact on employees as much as possible.