Furloughs

Intermittent Furlough Assignments

Furlough Smoothing Illustration

• Furlough assignments will be administrated by payroll smoothing. The smoothing process means base salary will be reduced across all designated pay periods to spread out the reduction. This means the percentage reduction will be calculated by the number of pay periods within the designated timeframe. Pay will not fluctuate when a furlough day is taken.
• Employees will have the option to select furlough dates upon supervisor and/or Department Chair approval. A furlough assignment may be taken in full or half day increments that do not exceed one day in any two-week period.
• Timesheet entry is required for the week the furlough day is taken, unless the employee is classified as faculty or instructional academic staff. Employees with this exemption, will enter an absence for tracking, but is not required to complete a timesheet.
• Employees with multiple appointments will be assigned furlough days based on each eligible position.

Intermittent Furlough Assignments for Part-Time Employees

If you are a part-time employee (< 1.0 FTE), the amount of your furlough time is based on your actual salary, which is prorated by the percentage of your appointment (% FTE or full-time equivalency). This is calculated using a two-step process.

Step 1: Determine your actual salary by taking your base salary (calculated at 1.0 FTE) and multiplying it times your % FTE. This will give you your actual salary.

Step 2: Apply your actual salary to the furlough tiers to determine how many days of furlough you are assigned. (Note: Furlough days are in 8-hour increments)

Exclusions from Intermittent Furlough

The following appointments are excluded from the intermittent furlough:

• Employees hired on or after April 1, 2023
• Power Plant and Police Services personnel
• University Staff Temporary Employees
• Graduate Assistants
• Student hourly employees
• Employees paid lump sum
• Employees working under the terms of a work visa (such as H-1B or E-3)
• Employees who are grant-fund 50% or more

General information about furloughs that applies regardless of when a furlough is observed

1. Employees are not permitted to work when on an assigned furlough. Faculty may work on scholarship or creative activity.
2. Employees may not substitute paid leave such as personal, vacation, or sick leave for a furlough assignment.
3. Division heads/deans shall work with supervisors and/or department chairs in their division to minimize negative operational impact when approving furlough assignment requests.
4. Human Resources will formally notify all impacted individuals via employee email with a minimum seven (7) calendar days' notice prior to the furlough start date.
5. Employees will be provided information/resources regarding furlough reporting processes via the HR Furlough website (available for review on 9/5/2023).
6. Furloughs must not be used as a disciplinary measure nor as a substitute for a performance improvement plan. Also, they may not be based on any classification protected by law. Any employee on an approved leave (FMLA, LOA) is required to be treated equally regardless of leave status and is subjected to intermittent furloughs.