Pulling Together

Published on October 21, 2020

Dear City Colleagues,

In late summer, I announced a plan to address the severe fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on city government. One component of that plan was targeted furloughs for some city employees as a way to achieve significant spending reductions without resorting to layoffs.

Today, I’m announcing a revised furlough plan developed with assistance from leaders of our employee labor organizations and approved by the unions over the past two weeks. The City will implement four citywide furlough days – two before the end of this year and two in the first half of next year.  The furloughs will affect about 1,450 union and non-union employees, with the exception of sworn police and firefighters.

On furlough days, city administrative offices will be closed but all emergency services and essential operations will continue to be delivered. Sanitation employees will work on the furlough days to ensure trash and recycling pickups remain on schedule. These workers agreed to forgo holiday pay on four holidays instead.

The first furlough day will be next Friday, Oct. 30. The other dates are Nov. 20, May 7, and June 25. Those dates avoid the winter for public safety reasons and the end of the year holidays. Human resources will have more information early next week on how the furloughs will be handled in paychecks.

Please coordinate with your department head or supervisor to address any impact on constituents. With two of the dates delayed until next spring and summer, we can still cancel those days if we receive substantial federal assistance or if our financial circumstances otherwise allow it.

The original plan affected fewer employees but the lengths of furloughs varied widely. After consideration with labor, we concluded spreading the furloughs out more evenly would be better for everyone. And by implementing on the same dates, we can, hopefully, reduce the negative impact on residents.

Getting through the fiscal challenges presented to the City by COVID-19 will take all of us pulling together. I want to thank the employees affected by furloughs for making this sacrifice. I don’t take lightly what you are being asked to do. Thank you.

Ben Walsh
Mayor