TO: University of Idaho Faculty and Staff
FROM: Scott Green, President
DATE: May 11, 2020
SUBJECT: Proposed Mandatory Furlough Plan for FY21
As Idaho begins to reopen and we watch closely to see if we can successfully hold off COVID-19, we are also beginning to address the budget impacts of the pandemic on the University of Idaho. I appreciate the efforts already being made to carefully weigh any hiring, delay start dates and continue to watch for any cost savings through open positions.
This alone is not enough to meet the financial burden we are under. The state has already implemented a 2% holdback in FY21. This holdback will be addressed in further budget cuts to units. This is something I wish we didn’t have to do, but we have no choice. Those plans are in the early stages and details will be announced soon.
In addition, Gov. Brad Little has asked us to prepare for another 5% holdback as a result of COVID-19. We also anticipate the pandemic to further impact our reserve balance, despite the infusion of CARES Act funding for operations.
To meet the 5% holdback we are considering mandatory furloughs in FY21. Implementing such a strategy requires input from the Faculty Senate and Staff Council, per FSH 3450. We are already in touch with those leaders and will seek input from the larger bodies next week. Pending their input, we hope to implement a furlough system designed with two primary objectives:
- We are all part of the Vandal Family and if each of us takes a piece of this burden, we can save jobs and tackle the problem together.
- Employees on the higher end of the pay scale will take the biggest portion of the burden.
The proposed furloughs equate to a 1.15% to 5.8% total salary reduction, with an average of 2.8%. By each of us doing this one thing, we expect to save $3.3 million in our General Education budget. This will help us to meet the potential 5% holdback.
Furlough Details
Furlough will be prorated based on salary. Human Resources will assign furlough hours to each employee based on the following three criteria. Each employee’s total hours will be posted in VandalWeb after the plan is approved. Notification will be sent when this information is available.
Base Furlough: Every employee, regardless of title, status or funding source, must take 24 hours of furlough. This will be prorated for those who work part time.
Salaries over $40,352: Employees in this range will take the 24 hours of furlough as well as additional furlough hours based on a sliding scale that is equivalent to 0.25% to about 2.2% of your annual salary.
Salaries over $90,000: Employees making more than $90,000 will take 24 hours of furlough, additional hours based on the sliding scale and further furlough hours equal to 1% of your annual salary.
Furlough must be taken between June 28, 2020, and Jan. 23, 2021. This provides employees with nearly seven months to use their assigned furlough hours.
Human Resources will establish a furlough “bank” in VandalWeb. Any furlough hours approved and taken must be recorded on the time sheet. As furlough hours are recorded, the bank will decrease. Furlough taken prior to June 28, 2020, will be considered voluntary and be added to the voluntary furlough pool to address the FY20 state holdback.
As with the voluntary furlough many of you participated in this past year, there are specific guidelines:
- You can take furlough for as little as one hour at a time.
- You can choose timing that works best for you.
- All furloughs must be pre-approved by your supervisor.
- No work can be done while furloughed.
- Faculty cannot cancel classes for furlough.
- Exempt employees and faculty are limited to working no more than 40 hours, less the amount of furlough, for any week furlough is used.
- Exemptions: Employees with an H1B visa, teaching assistants, research assistants, temporary employees and student employees.
Again, we will consider the input of faculty and staff leadership prior to finalizing these details. I encourage you to reach out to your representatives to provide feedback.
I am proud of the effort put into addressing our internal financial deficit over the past year. Together we made hard decisions, resulting in $22 million in cuts. Now we must turn our focus to the external influences on our budget. We each need to do our part to put us back on the path to financial stability we have worked so hard to attain.
We are hopeful but uncertain about enrollment this fall. Each day our dedicated team from Strategic Enrollment Management, assisted by faculty, staff and alumni, is working hard to reach out to returning and potential students. But we won’t know until fall how those efforts will play out. A decrease in enrollment will have further impact on our budget.
We don’t know how or when this pandemic will end. We need to remain vigilant to protect the hard budgetary work we have already done. There will be better days ahead and we will come out of this Vandal Strong. Throughout, we will remain focused on our students, their experiences and their success. We have a commitment to them and to our state and together, as Vandals, we will fulfill it.
Keep Calm and Vandal On.
Scott Green
President
president@uidaho.edu
uidaho.edu/president
