To comply with a University System Board of Regents directive, the university has designated six days during the 2009-2010 academic year as furlough days. They are: Oct. 30, Nov. 25, Dec. 24, Jan. 4, March 8 and April 30. On those days, employees who are subject to the furlough policy will not come to work and will not be paid. Some employees who maintain essential operations will report on those days and work with their department heads to develop alternate furlough plans.
“These days were chosen for minimal impact on instruction and, frankly, because it is easier to manage this way instead of thousands of individual furlough plans,” said President Michael F. Adams when he announced the plan at a campus budget forum Aug. 20 (see story, above). “This is all new. We’ve never done this before at UGA, so we’ll learn as we go along. No plan is perfect, and this is a very complex organization. But we have tried to develop a plan for implementing the furloughs mandated by the regents that is workable and does not impact instruction.”
All benefits-eligible employees, regardless of the source of their salary funds, are subject to the furlough. Student workers, graduate assistants, non-benefits-eligible employees, employees with H-1B visas and those employees whose annual salaries fall below $23,660 are not subject to furlough, according to regents’ policy.
Additionally, employees whose annual salaries drop below $23,660 after taking one or more furlough days are not subject to additional furloughs. This “feathering” effect means that some people will take no furlough days, while others may take anywhere from one to five.
The policy also states that furloughed employees are not to report to work on furlough days or to do any work on behalf of UGA.
The furlough days will not negatively impact the TRS, ERS or ORP retirement plans. Both the employee and employer contribution amount will remain the same as pre-furlough paychecks.
“Doing this means that the furlough days will not have an impact on retirement benefits in the long run,” said Tim Burgess, senior vice president for finance and administration. “A faculty or staff member’s retirement benefit will reflect the same salary level as it would have if there had been no furloughs.”
The furlough plan was created to meet two mandates, one from the governor and one from the regents. The governor ordered three furlough days for all state employees by Dec. 31, 2009; the regents directed University System institutions to take a total of six furlough days by June 30, 2010, and to prepare plans to cut 4, 6 and 8 percent from their budgets.
Information sessions about furloughs for faculty and staff will be held Aug. 26, 1:30-3:30 p.m., Mahler Auditorium, Georgia Center; Aug. 31, 2:30-4:30 p.m., Tate Student Center Theater; and Sept. 2, 9-11 a.m., Chapel. The sessions will be led by staff from finance and administration and academic affairs.
More detailed information about the furlough implementation plan can be found online at www.uga.edu/furlough.
“I also want to acknowledge the charitable impulse that emerged almost immediately once the furloughs were announced,” Adams said. “Many of you asked about donating leave to assist co-workers with particular needs; some of you offered to take additional furlough days to lessen the impact on someone else.
“I am deeply moved by these compassionate gestures, as I have been many times when this community has faced difficulty,” he added. “And while the furlough policy does not allow leave-sharing or the shifting of furlough days among employees, please remember that we are privileged to be part of a caring and generous community.”
