The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0288.001 2008-2010BRENDA J. FORD Council Member District 7 -Central Kona Phone: (808)326-5684 Fax: (808) 329- 4786 E-Mail: bford@co.hawaii.hi.us HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL County ofHawai `i Kailua Trade Center ~, 75-5706 Hanama Place, Suite 109 ~) ~ Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 _ ~'~ ' '~ ~ ~ "1" '{ - ~~ ( _c DATE: May 4, 2009 _- ~ n - _-~ ` ; ~ TO: J. Yoshimoto, Chairperson, ` _: c~ `~ and Members of the Hawaii County Council -~ `~ w FROM: '~5 Brenda J. Ford, Council Member SUBJECT: Proposed amendment to Resolution No. 128-09, to authorize one-day-per-month furloughs for non-union, non-bargained-for employees in the Legislative Branch. Attached please find proposed amendment to Resolution No. 128-09, to authorize one-day-per- month furloughs for non-union, non-bargained-for employees in the Legislative Branch in the interest of balancing the budget and providing leadership in management and removing the "OR MORE" from the resolution title. Resolution No. 128-09 is amended as indicated below. Ramsayer format is applied with respect to the contents of Resolution No. 128-09; material to be deleted is bracketed and stricken through. The title is amended to read as follows: "A RESOLUTION FOR THE COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII TO INITIATE A FURLOUGH FOR ALL NON-BARGAINED-FOR, NON-UNION EMPLOYEES FOR ONE DAY ~ 8R~4ART5 ]PER MONTH IN THE INTEREST OF BALANCING THE BUDGET AND PROVIDING LEADERSHIP IN MANAGEMENT." A draft copy of Resolution No. 128-09, Draft 2 is attached with proposed amendment incorporated. BF/dkr att ~e7T'.f`I. t`IO. ~ V V ~ I Ref. Ta•Qre.e;.fiod-~~ Ref, Gate _ MAY 0 5 2009 Serving the Interests of the People of Our /sland Hawaii County /s An Equal Opaortunity Provider And Employer A RESOLUTION FOR THE COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII TO INITIATE A FURLOUGH FOR ALL NON-BARGAINED-FOR, NON-UNION EMPLOYEES FOR ONE DAY PER MONTH IN THE INTEREST OF BALANCING THE BUDGET AND PROVIDING LEADERSHIP IN MANAGEMENT. WHEREAS, in an attempt to balance the State's budget, the Governor and the Legislature of the State of Hawaii are considering the suspension or reduction of the Transient Accommodation Tax ("TAT") collected and distributed to the various counties of the State. Suspension or reduction of the TAT to the County of Hawaii will negatively impact our already severely depressed county budget; and WHEREAS, the County of Hawaii is already experiencing a reduction in revenues due to an international, national, state, and county recession; and WHEREAS, a furlough is defined as the placement of an employee in a temporary non- duty, non-pay status because of lack of funds. An intermittent furlough is a furlough action in which the non-duty, non-pay status occurs discontinuously over a period of time (e.g. one-work- day-per-month for a six month period) rather than consecutive work days. WHEREAS, generally, furloughs should not be extended beyond asix-month period and are not along-term solution to budget problems. If the County does not expect a funding reduction to be restored in the next budget cycle, and the County does not have the ability to reorganize work, a layoff may be the more appropriate option; and WHEREAS, the goal of implementing a furlough is to provide the Legislative Branch of the County of Hawaii with a tool that provides for continuation of critical work within the Legislative Branch, the retention of valuable human resources, the continuation of employee benefits that would be lost in a layoff, and the preclusion of expenses for unemployment benefits and accrued, compensated absences (e.g. vacation, flex time, sick leave, etc.); and WHEREAS, the right of the County Council of the County of Hawaii to order furloughs for the Legislative Branch is included under the general authority of the County Council, and at the County Council's discretion, a regular or an intermittent furlough may be declared; and WHEREAS, non-union ornon-bargained-for employees and management employees in the Legislative Branch should not be excluded from any furlough requirement. The Legislative Branch of the County has: Non-union, One-day-per-month Annual non-bargained-for employees Savings Savings (x12) 43 $8,017 $96,204 A one-day-per-month furlough would provide a total annual savings of $96,204; and WHEREAS, certain rules should be applied to furloughed employees, such as: 1. Allow any employee(s) to request voluntary furlough prior to implementing an involuntary furlough provided their appointing authority approves the taking of a furlough; 2. Designate an effective and termination dates for the furlough; 3. Provide a 5-work-days' notice before the furlough begins; 4. Time not worked during a furlough shall not be counted as work time for purposes of computing overtime; 5. A furlough shall not constitute a break in continuous service; therefore, an employee's service date will not be adjusted; 6. The County shall continue to make the same premium contribution toward health, medical, dental, vision, and surgical benefits as is currently provided, and basic life insurance coverage during a period of furlough as though it was a period of paid work time for employees so as to not affect health or basic life insurance for these employees; 7. A furlough does not impact leave accrual rates (e.g. vacation); 8. A furlough shall not be used as a substitute for permanent part-time employment; 9. If an employee is on unpaid family and medical leave, there shall be no need to apply a furlough action; 10. Employees on furlough shall not be scheduled for stand-by or on-call duty; 11. Employees shall not be scheduled for furlough during periods of paid military leave; such employees may be scheduled for furlough upon return to work; 12. If an employee is already in an unpaid leave status at the time they are designated for furlough, they shall not have to take an alternative furlough date unless the furlough action for the work unit is extended beyond their return date; 13. An employee shall not use or substitute paid or accrued leave (vacation or flex time, etc.) for a period of furlough until the furlough is cancelled; 14. Furlough dates maybe established before or after a designated paid holiday without the loss of holiday pay; and 15. Employees desiring part-time employment on a permanent basis are not eligible for furlough; 16. If a temporary or permanent layoff is necessary following a furlough, the period of the furlough shall be counted as part of the layoff for purposes of reinstatement; 17. An employee who is furloughed does not have the right to displace another employee WHEREAS, if time and circumstances allow, the Legislative Branch by the action of the County Council may wish to consider implementing voluntary furloughs prior to implementing an involuntary furlough. Employees from other non-affected work areas may volunteer and be selected for furlough if the furlough will result in a savings that offsets the funding shortfall; and WHEREAS, furloughs for any specific section of the Legislative Branch may be cancelled by the County Council in the event of a disaster or emergency requiring the return of employees to full duties; and WHEREAS, it is anticipated that the furlough used will be an intermittent furlough lasting for a full budget cycle. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the County Council shall initiate an intermittent furlough ofone-day-per- month in the Legislative Branch for non-union, non-bargained-for employees beginning with the budget cycle of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that efforts to reduce budget in "salaries and wages" does not imply that these employees are less important to the function of the Legislative Branch, to their peers, managers, the County Council, or to the public; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that savings from the furloughs shall be placed in the general fund to offset reductions in revenues and funding shortfalls; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Mayor, the Managing Director, the Finance Director, the Director of Human Resources, and the County Clerk of the County of Hawaii. Dated at , Hawaii, this day of , 2009. INTRODUCED BY: COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNTY OF HAWAII