Furlough Program

Section 303.120  Furlough Program a)         Definition 1)         "Employee" includes less than full-time, full-time, intermittent, per diem, temporary, emergency and provisional employees. 2)         "Furlough" is a timekeeping status in which an employee is placed for a temporary period of leave without duties or pay because of conditions that require an agency to curtail its operations; a furlough program may be either voluntary or involuntary at the discretion of the agency head.  Furlough is a tool to continue State services with minimal disruption and retain valuable employees at reduced cost.  The employee's employment status shall not change because of the furlough.  Furlough shall not change the employee's continuous or creditable service dates for the purpose of annual evaluations, retirement or longevity, the employee's health or life insurance coverage or the employee's accrual of vacation, sick or personal time.  Employees on furlough shall not be at work or on standby or on-call duty and shall not perform State work during furlough time.  Furlough shall not be used when permanent or temporary layoff or emergency shut-down is appropriate.  Furlough shall not be used as a substitute for permanent part-time employment.  Furlough shall not be a means or form of discipline.  Employees on paid military leave or other unpaid leave shall not be scheduled for furlough during the leave and shall be scheduled upon return to work if the furlough program remains in effect. 3)         "Furlough-Exempt Employee" means a uniform, narrow definition of "furlough-exempt" shall be applied throughout the furlough program by the agency head.  Furlough-exempt employees may include employees: A)        in 24/7 facilities, to ensure adequate service delivery and staff coverage, and who would have to be replaced at a higher cost than the costs saved through furlough; B)        who perform critical functions of the agency, or protect the safety and health of employees, clients or patients of the agency or the public; C)        who are paid 100% by federal funds; and D)        who are in revenue-generating positions that generate more money than the costs that would be saved by furlough. b)         Program Approval − An agency head, with prior approval from the Office of the Governor and the Director of Central Management Services, may institute a furlough program.  The agency shall provide advanced notification to affected employees as soon as practicable.  An agency head shall indicate whether the furlough is for the entire agency or a designated division or program, the initial effective date of the program, the number of days that employees shall be on furlough and the end date of the furlough program.  Agencies shall track which employees have taken furlough and the cost savings to the State. c)         Furlough Time − Furlough time shall be scheduled in a manner that is consistent with the operating needs of the agency.  Furlough may be taken in full or ½ day increments only and may be nonconsecutive.  Employees on schedules with shortened workweeks shall take furlough time on a prorated basis.  Sick time, accumulated holiday time, Earned Equivalent Time (EET), and compensatory time shall not be used to remain in pay status while on furlough.  Accrued vacation time and accrued personal time may be used by employees subject to a non-bargaining unit furlough program to remain in pay status while on furlough.  Taking a furlough day before or after a holiday shall not result in loss of pay for the holiday.  Furlough time shall not count toward overtime.  Conflicts regarding scheduling furlough time shall be resolved based first on the operational needs of the agency and second by continuous service date.  All furlough time shall be pre-approved.  Previously charged unpaid time (unexcused absence, unauthorized absence, excused absence or suspension time) shall not be used to meet an employee's furlough obligation.  Employees subject to a non-bargaining unit furlough program may elect to take a furlough day on a holiday; however, an agency shall not mandate that an employee take a furlough day on a holiday. d)         Time Sheets – Furloughs shall be indicated by a daily entry of FD (Furlough Day) on an employee's time sheet.  In the event an employee elects to utilize a vacation or personal day in the place of a non-bargaining unit furlough day, the employee's time sheet shall indicate an entry of FV (Furlough, Vacation) or FP (Furlough, Personal). e)         Furlough Time Value – The value of a furlough day is worth exactly the same amount of money regardless of the number of days in the pay period and is computed by dividing the annualized rate of pay by the total number of days in a work year as filed with the Department of Central Management Services.  Regularly recurring items, such as longevity pay, shift differential, bilingual pay, and other premium pay items that are paid each month, are included in determining the regular monthly rate.  Agencies shall not use temporary or interim assignment pay to determine the value for employees on temporary or interim assignment.  The value of the deducted day will be subtracted from the semi-monthly rate.  Employees taking furlough on a day when their scheduled number of work hours varies from the employing agency's normal work schedule on that day are only required to furlough the number of hours in that employing agency's normal schedule.  For example, an employee who is scheduled to work 10 hours on a furlough day in an agency with a normal work schedule of 7.5 hours will furlough 7.5 hours and either work the remaining 2.5 hours or utilize benefit time (vacation, personal, accumulated holiday, EET or compensatory time) for the remaining 2.5 hours that day.  The value of such furloughed hours is determined by computing the annualized hourly rate (i.e., annual salary divided by the hours in a regular annual work schedule, 1957.5, for example), multiplying the rate by the number of furlough hours taken and deducting that amount from the annual salary.