University President Dan Mote, in an e-mail message to the university, announced a university-system-approved furlough plan. Under this schedule, employees will be required to take between two and 10 furlough days, based on salary, except for grant-funded employees (and those in several other classes), who will be exempt from the furloughs.

Below, Mote’s e-mail (see HR Director Dale Anderson’s e-mail farther down):

September 19, 2009

Dear University of Maryland Family:

As I wrote on August 29, the State has mandated a return of $10.2
million in salary funds obtained through furloughs to help balance the
FY10 State budget. Our furlough plan has now been approved by the
University System of Maryland.

We all agree that furloughs are tough and that they are especially
difficult for some members of our community. The guiding principle of
our furlough plan is equity and fairness for campus employees, while
satisfying operational mandates covering our educational mission. What
is equitable and fair is in the eye of the beholder. However,
consultations and inputs from across our community have helped us come
to what is arguably a fair, equitable and workable plan. We have
discussed the principles of this plan with the Senate Executive
Committee and we have consulted with our campus unions on its
implications for our employees. We thank AFSCME and the Fraternal Order
of Police for participating with us, and the Senate Executive Committee
for its partnership.

Dale Anderson, Director of University Human Resources, will be sending
you an email in short order addressing important details in the plan.
It will provide instructions on its implementation, including the taking
of furlough days, the mechanism of taking pay reductions and the
responsibilities of employees and supervisors. He has also posted a
“Responses to Frequently Asked Questions” about the furlough plan on the
“UM Budget Central” (www.budgetcentral.umd.edu) and UHR
(www.uhr.umd.edu) websites that I encourage you to review.

The number of furlough days assigned to an employee depends on annual
salary with higher earners assigned more days. The range of days
assigned across our community is from two to ten including four days
when the campus will close, namely December 23 and 24, 2009, and March
17 and 18, 2010. Under the plan Graduate Assistants paid through
financial aid, Contingent-I and student employees, employees paid to
teach by the course, employees on H-1B visa status, employees with 100%
contract and grant funded status on 9/15/09 and some other categories
noted in the plan will take zero (0) furlough days. All other
employees, independent of salary source and percent of employment, must
take a number of furlough days based on annual compensation. Employees
earning less than $29,999 annually are assigned two days. Those earning
between $30,000 and $49,999 will take three (3) furlough days; between
$50,000 and $69,999 will take four (4) days; between $70,000 and $89,999
will take five (5) days; between $90,000 and $114,999 will take six (6)
days; between $115,000 and $139,999 will take seven (7) days; between
$140,000 and $169,000 will take eight (8) days; between $170,000 and
$199,000 will take nine (9) days; and above $200,000 will take ten (10)
days. Employees taking fewer than four furlough days should review the
plan to determine options for compensation during the campus closure
days. Please review the plan for other important details.

Regrettably, the State’s financial emergency continues and we expect our
budget reductions to continue even after this furlough reversion plan.
Just this past week the Governor has announced that the FY10 budget
remains $300 million out of balance even after the cuts we have taken
since July 1. We will respond to whatever changing circumstances we face
as they confront us.

These are challenging times for our campus, the State of Maryland, and
indeed the entire nation. But a very important quality of our campus
that never ceases to inspire me has been the way it comes together as a
community as challenges of all kinds confront us. We have a can-do
spirit and unwavering commitment to come together and move ahead
together in spite of obstacles. This is another coming-together time
for us, one that will again define us. We will navigate our way through
these budget cuts, as well any others that may lie ahead. We will
endeavor to protect our people and continue undaunted to build a great
university. Working together now strengthens our bond as a community
and distinguishes us as a university.

I am enormously grateful for your commitment to the mission of the
University, and to our community, and for your support of our efforts to
steer the right course. That spirit has been the foundation of our
strength through many difficult times in the past and will continue to
be so going forward.

Yours sincerely,

C. D. Mote, Jr.
President

More details:

September 19, 2009

TO: Faculty, Staff and Students

FROM: Dale O. Anderson, Director of University Human Resources

RE: Furlough Plan for College Park Campus

President Mote communicated with the campus earlier today about the
furlough plan. The Board of Regents met on Friday, September 18, 2009,
and passed a resolution that granted the authority to each institution’s
President to develop a furlough plan for his or her respective campus to
achieve immediate salary savings in FY 2010. After consultation with
the Senate Executive Committee and the employee organizations
representing the bargaining unit staff, our furlough plan was submitted
to the University System of Maryland. Chancellor Kirwan approved the
furlough plan that follows for the College Park campus, and it will be
implemented effective September 27, 2009.

My department has developed informational resources that will be
available on our website at www.uhr.umd.edu and the budget central
website at www.budgetcentral.umd.edu.

I very much appreciate the good will demonstrated by our employee
organizations in responding to these extraordinarily difficult
circumstances.

——————————————-

FY2010 Furlough Plan
University of Maryland, College Park
September 19, 2009

Pursuant to the “Resolution of the Board of Regents of the University
System of Maryland Authorizing Furloughs and Temporary Salary Reductions
of Employees” (9/18/2009), the following is the FY2010 Furlough Plan
(“FP”) for the University of Maryland, College Park.

The FP will begin on September 27, 2009, and end on May 22, 2010. The
FP is comprised of two parts:

(1) a “Campus Closure/Furlough” component (Part 1), and
(2) an “Additional Furlough” (Part 2) component.

Eligible employees will have furloughs paid for through a temporary
salary reduction in accordance with the eligibility criteria and salary
table contained in this plan. In principle, the FP target days are
assigned by a sliding scale whereby higher earners have more furlough
days than lower earners.

Employees are not permitted to report to work on the furlough days
identified in this plan, except in the event of an emergency or as
required in their capacity as an Essential employee.

Benefits and leave earnings will not be affected by this furlough plan.

APPLICABILITY

This plan covers full- and part-time employees at the University of
Maryland, College Park, except as noted below.

ELIGIBILITY

Faculty and Staff employees on fully State-funded appointments, or
partially State-funded appointments in combination with any other
funding source in the following categories are included:

- Faculty Tenured (category status code-01)
- Faculty Non-Tenured On-Track (category status code-02)
- Faculty Non-Tenured, Term Contract (category status code-03)
- Faculty Non-Tenured, Continuing (category status code-15)
- Faculty Contractual (category status code-25)
- Nonexempt Staff Regular (category status code-20)
- Nonexempt Staff, Contingent 2 (category status code-22)
- Exempt Staff Regular (category status code-33)
- Exempt Staff, Contingent 2 (category status code-35)
- New hires in eligible categories who are appointed prior to February
1, 2010, effective from the pay period of appointment.

EXCLUSIONS

The following categories are excluded from the plan:

- Employees with appointments that are 100% Contract and Grant-funded on
September 15, 2009. Should funding change to include state funding
after 9/15/2009, employees will be assessed the amount they would
otherwise have been responsible for from the pay period of change.
- Student hourly employees
- Graduate Assistants
- H1-B Visa holders
- Nonexempt, Contingent 1 Staff (category status code-31)
- Exempt, Contingent 1 (category status code-34)
- Faculty Hourly (category status code-36)
- Faculty Non-Regular, Non-Tenured (category status code-37-with the
exception of Overloads, which will be included in furlough calculations)
- Faculty and staff appointed on or after February 1, 2010

SALARY TABLE/FURLOUGH DAY REDUCTION TARGET

For employees eligible under the FY2010 Furlough Plan, the FP obligation
(target) will be based on the employee’s total full-time equivalent
salary, plus salary additions for administrative increments, acting
increments, teaching and non-teaching overloads, and all other salary
additions to pay (except health and retirement subsidies) on September
15, 2009.

To determine the number of furlough days for part-time employees, the
full-time equivalent salary is used. The salaries of part-time
employees will also include salary additions, as above. The daily salary
reductions are at the part-time rate.

Summer session and winter term teaching increments will be excluded from
the FP target determination.

The FP target will be achieved by a combination of campus closure days,
and additional furlough days for the higher salary levels. Eligible
employees will have their total FP target reflected as a temporary
salary reduction taken in equal amounts in each of the pay periods from
pay period 08 through pay period 24.

Total Furlough Target (Days) — Employee’s Total FTE Salary (Full-Time
Equivalency with Salary Additions as of September 15, 2009)

2 days – $29,999 and under
3 days – $30,000 to $49,999
4 days – $50,000 to $69,999
5 days – $70,000 to $89,999
6 days – $90,000 to $114,999
7 days – $115,000 to $139,999
8 days – $140,000 to $169,999
9 days – $170,000 to $199,999
10 days – $200,000 and above

APPEALS

Appeals to the amount of the furlough obligation may be made to the
Director of University Human Resources. Appeals may be on the basis of:

- a reduction in base pay that occurred during the FY2010 FP
- expiration of an addition to pay that was included in the computation
- reduction in FTE
- or other similar circumstance

FP PART 1 — CAMPUS CLOSURE/TEMPORARY SALARY REDUCTION

The campus will be closed for four days during FY2010 as part of the FP,
in addition to the regular holiday and administrative leave days
published with the campus academic calendar. The campus closure days are:

December 23 and 24, 2009, and
March 17 and 18, 2010

With the campus closure days, eligible employees will have their
salaries temporarily reduced by up to four days, consistent with the
employee’s FP target detailed in the salary table. This temporary
salary reduction will be taken in equal installments from the employee’s
paycheck in each of the 17 pay periods between September 27, 2009 (pay
period 08), and the end of the plan on May 22, 2010 (pay period 24).
The first paycheck affected by this reduction will be October 16, 2009.

Campus closure days will be recorded as “Admin Leave-Furlough Plan”
(paid leave) days on the PHR timesheet or Faculty Leave Record, based on
the eligible employee’s FP target detailed in the salary table.
Tracking of Faculty Contractual employees (category status 25) must be
maintained within their departments.

Employees who are excluded from the FP, as well as those required to
take fewer than the four days covered by the campus closure, must take
accrued annual leave, personal leave, or nonexempt comp time to get paid
for those days during the balance of the campus closure period. For
example:

- An employee who has a two-day FP target will use the first two of the
campus closure days to achieve the required target, and then they must
use annual leave, personal leave, or nonexempt comp time to be paid for
the remaining two days of the campus closure.

- A faculty or staff employee whose appointment is 100% grant-funded
must use four days of annual leave, personal leave, or nonexempt comp
time to be paid for the period of the campus closure.

Note: Staff employees receive three personal leave days on January 1 of
each year. Therefore, those employees who have fewer furlough days than
campus closure days can take Personal Leave days to be paid for those
closure days after January 1, 2010. In addition, under existing policy,
staff employees may be advanced annual leave under certain circumstances
when recommended by their supervisor.

PART 2 — ADDITIONAL SALARY REDUCTION DAYS

Some faculty and staff employees covered by the FP are required to take
more than the four salary reduction days covered by the campus
closures. These employees will have their salaries temporarily reduced
over 17 pay periods by additional day(s) to meet their FP target.

Additional salary reduction days that are required as part of the
employee’s FP target will be also taken in equal installments from the
employee’s paycheck in each of the 17 pay periods between September 27,
2009, (pay period 08), and the end of the plan on May 22, 2010 (pay
period 24).

These additional salary reduction days off are to be scheduled by the
employee, with supervisory approval. As with the campus closure days,
Additional Salary Reduction Days will also be recorded as “Admin
Leave-Furlough Plan” days on the PHR timesheet or Faculty Leave Record.
Tracking of Faculty Contractual employees must be maintained within
their departments.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Additional information is available on the “UM Budget Central” website
at www.budgetcentral.umd.edu. This website has a variety of
informational resources that have been developed, including a Responses
to Frequently Asked Questions link that provides greater detail on the
FY2010 Furlough Plan. This information will also be available on the
University Human Resources website at www.uhr.umd.edu.

For telephone assistance, you may contact the PHR Service Center at
301.405.7575.

Tags: furlough

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at 4:54 pm and is filed under administration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.