About 11,000 state employees who rejected a pay freeze this year will be taking a pay cut after all.
In an e-mail sent Friday to state employees, Gov. Dave Heineman announced two-day furloughs for union employees. The furloughs affect more than half of all state employees.
The union that represents many of those employees had previously rejected a voluntary pay freeze. Non-contract employees had their salaries frozen as of July 1.
Employees who accepted the pay freeze — saving the state about $5.9 million — won’t be furloughed.
Furlough days will have to be taken before the end of the year.
The move was done “in the spirit of fairness and equity,” Heineman wrote.
“As a result of the downturn in revenue and in order to avert as many layoffs as possible, it is prudent for the State to take additional action now,” Heineman wrote in the memo.
There is still no need for a special legislative session, Heineman said.
The savings won’t offset the raises that contract-covered employees received by opting out of the pay freeze.
On July 1, members of the largest state employee union received a 2.5 percent pay increase. To offset that amount would require six furlough days.
Still, the furloughs are a prudent move and a good first step, said State Sen. Lavon Heidemann of Elk Creek, chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
“It’s starting to equal out between the union and non-union people. This will equal it out some,” he said. “We’re going to have to do things like this unless everybody wants to be part of the solution.”
Furloughs are expected to save about $3.5 million.
The state received $76 million less in state taxes than anticipated for the fiscal year that just ended. State lawmakers also could face an estimated $679 million deficit for the next two-year budget period.
“This is something that the governor could do. ... However, he certainly is targeting NAPE/APSCME members,” said Julie Dake Abel, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, the largest state employee union.
The furloughs also affect law enforcement personnel.
Dake Abel said the savings from the furloughs ignore the hours that many union members have to work. She said many jobs in the Departments of Health and Human Services and Corrections require full-time staffing.
“To furlough people there means they will probably have to pay people overtime, so it may cost them more,” she said.
From here, each state agency will work with the Department of Administration to create a plan that best reflects its staffing needs. The state understands that some agencies won’t be able to implement the furloughs, said Jen Rae Hein, Heineman’s spokeswoman.
“There are going to be areas where you may or may not be able to do furloughs,” she said. “We’re aware of those possibilities, and we’ll work to avoid those areas.”
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