FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS    

2010‐2011 Classified Furlough Days 

1. How many furlough days will classified employees take in the 2010-11 year?

• Different bargaining units have agreed to take certain number of furlough days for 2010-
2011.

Please refer to the Implementation Memo issued by the Chief of Staff and the Chief
Operating Officer dated August 23, 2010.

2. How and when will furlough days be taken?

• Employees will take furlough days as detailed in the Implementation Memo from the Chief of
Staff and Chief Operating Officer.

3. Will the District tell me which days my employees should take?

• The site administrator is responsible for ensuring that all required furlough days are taken
for the 2010/2011 school year. Some furlough days are scheduled to coincide with school
furlough days and others will be scheduled on different days to meet the operational needs
of various departments.

4. Can furlough be reported on off-track/unassigned days?

• Furlough may be entered on scheduled on-track days or school calendar time in which
classified employees assigned to non-A basis positions have forced vacation days, such as
winter or spring break.

5. Can furlough days be scheduled on holidays?

• No. Furlough can NOT be scheduled on legal holiday.

6. Can I hire a substitute to cover for an employee on a furlough day?

• No. Hiring substitutes will prevent the District from obtaining savings.

7. How do I report a furlough day?

• Enter the attendance code FH when reporting time.

8. How should I report an employee whose assigned daily working hours each day are not
equal to the number of hours the employee is working?

• For full time employees, report furlough hours based on the assignment hours per day.
• Part-time employees are not exempt from taking furloughs. Enter the Daily Assigned Hours
on the time record.

September, 2010      Page 1 
  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS    
2010‐2011 Classified Furlough Days 

9. What if an employee has multiple assignments, can FH be entered on only one? For
example, an employee has two 3-hour day assignments, should furlough be entered on
just one assignment for 6 hours?

• No, report each assignment individually; report FH for 3 hours on one assignment and FH
for 3 hours on the additional assignment.

10. What if an employee is required to work on a scheduled/mandatory furlough day?

• If employees work, they must be paid for that day of work. You must reschedule another
furlough day.

11. How should an employee on leave be reported?

• If the employee is on a paid leave (illness, worker’s compensation, extended jury duty, etc.),
report a furlough day on the first day of the month. If the employee is on an unpaid leave for
the entire month, furlough time should not be reported for the month.

12. What should be done when a furlough day is already scheduled and the employee calls
in ill or personal necessity or FMLA protected leave for that day?

• Furlough must still be reported for an entire day. 

13. Will the site be informed if all employees at the location have not taken the required
furlough days?

• Site supervisors are responsible for monitoring furlough days for their employees. Payroll
Services Branch has sent a job aid to all time keepers and time approvers. All time
reporters and time approvers have access to Transaction Code = ZCATS_DA, Display
Working Time. Ideally, time reporters should run this report at the end of each month as an
audit report. The variant used to identify FH time only is “/PullFurlough” and the report
layout is “/Furlough”.
14. Can an employee take a half-day furlough in combination with regular time?

• No. The employee must take the entire work day as furlough.

15. Will furlough time negatively impact vacation and illness benefits?

• No. Employees will continue to earn and accrue at the same factor and rate. Furlough will
be treated like paid absences when it comes to quota accrual

16. Will employees be paid for a holiday if they choose to take the furlough day immediately
preceding or following a holiday?

September, 2010      Page 2 
  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS    
2010‐2011 Classified Furlough Days 

• Yes, employees will be paid for the holiday if furlough days are scheduled before and/or
after a holiday. Furlough can be scheduled on both sides of the holiday and the holiday
hours will be paid.
17. Food Services have assigned furlough days to cafeteria workers. Does that mean that
the department has authority over the site administrator in making assignments?

• The area supervisor must approve furlough day schedules. The district will provide the
support required to schools in a normal business manner, where possible. A more flexible
scheduling of furlough days is permitted.
• Food Service Managers and Area Food Service Supervisors are responsible for ensuring
that all employees comply with all District and Division implementation policies.

18. Will employees be allowed to take consecutive furlough days?

• Please refer to the Implementation Memo from the Chief of Staff and Chief Operating
Officer.

19. Will there be adjustments made to the vacation cap because of the four furlough days?

• No, there are no adjustments to the cap allotment. If you have not used vacation hours
beyond your cap allocation, your excess vacation hours will be removed effective July 1,
2011.

20. I’m unable to take my vacation days that I’ve accrued because of the required furlough
days. What can I do?

The collective bargaining agreements and Personnel Commission rules have a process in place
if an employee has been prevented or prohibited from taking vacation previously approved.
Please see the appropriate collective bargaining agreement and/or the Personnel Commission
rules for additional information.

21. Does a substitute have to take furlough?

• Employees belonging to Units B and C and assigned as a “long-term” substitute for a month
at a time or more in one assignment must take the furlough days. Other subs that are not in
Units B and C are not represented and as such will not be required to take the furlough
days. Short term subs are not required to take the furlough days because they do not work
every day of the month.

22. I have several positions at my site that are funded by a booster club or a grant. Do they
need to take furlough days? It doesn’t impact the General Fund.

• Yes.

September, 2010      Page 3 
  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS    
2010‐2011 Classified Furlough Days 

23. How do I know which bargaining unit employees are assigned?

• The Personnel Area is a 4-character code assigned to an employee assignment. It has four
attributes as seen below. The Personnel Area can be found on the Employee Roster
Report, CAT2, or PA20- Display HR Master Data

The 1st position represents the service: 1= Classified, 2= Certificated, 3=

Unclassified, 9=Non-Employee.

The 2nd position represents the Bargaining Unit;

e.g. 1BXX (Unit B), 1CXX (Unit C), 1DXX (Unit D).

The 3rd and 4th positions (if not an XX) represent the detail within a bargaining unit;
e.g. 2UTE = Teachers Early Ed, 2UTA = Teachers Adult

24.

If you are not a time keeper, you can check the Personnel Commission website on the
salary schedule. The bargaining unit is associated with the salary schedule for the job
classification.

25. Will furlough days impact my retirement?

• Classified PERS members will receive a full year of service credit only if they complete 1720
hours of service.

26. What about a situation when an employee is in a leave to higher position?

• The employee must take furlough based on his/her underlying regular assignment.

27. If I file for unemployment for the furlough day, will I receive unemployment benefits?
 
• The District cannot stop the employee from filing. However, a one day furlough still means
that you are working 80% of your scheduled work week. As such, you probably won’t
qualify for benefits.

28. What form do employees complete to submit the furlough day?

• Employees should complete Certification and/or Request of Absence for Non-Illness form.
Check item J and write “Furlough”.

29. Can I work overtime in the week in which I have a furlough day?

• No, overtime should not be allowed in the week in which a furlough day is taken.
Supervisors should ensure that the employee is not needed for overtime work.

September, 2010      Page 4 
  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS    
2010‐2011 Classified Furlough Days 

30. Who assigns furlough days for my Substitute Building and Grounds Worker?  

• If an employee is assigned as a “long-term” substitute for a month or more at a time, they

must take the appropriate number of furlough days.
• The site administrator shall determine which days within the month each employee will take
furlough.
• Short-term subs are not required to take furlough days.

31. Can I get a sub custodian from the M&O Area sub pool when my Buildings and Grounds
Worker is furloughed?

• No. Locations cannot get a sub for days when a B&G Worker is on furlough.

32. Should employees that follow a special schedule (ex. 4/40 or 9/80) revert to 8 hour days
during the week in which a furlough day is taken?

• Yes, employees should revert back to 8 hour days that follow a 4/40 or 9/80 schedule to
ensure that the unpaid time reported as FH will be the normal assignment hours.

33. What are the guidelines for Health Care Assistants taking their furlough days?

• The scheduling of furlough days for health care assistants should be coordinated by the
school administrator in consultation with the school nurse and supervisor of assistants (as
applicable) to maintain student safety. Schools with multiple health care assistants should
stagger furloughs days to reduce the impact on the school.

34. Will the vacation CAP policy still be in place for the 2010-2011 school year?

• Yes.

35. Are the numbers of furlough days the same for everyone regardless of their basis?

• No. The only differences in the number of days taken will be due to the different bargaining
unit agreements.

36. Can I take my furlough days one day per month?

• Answer will be dependent upon the Implementation Memo.

37. Is the week of Thanksgiving a shutdown week?

• All single-track and multi-track schools will be shut during the week of Thanksgiving.
However, early childhood centers will be open and some staff will be needed for support.

38. Can I input a furlough day on my time reporting card this month and take the furlough
day later?

September, 2010      Page 5 
  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS    
2010‐2011 Classified Furlough Days 

• No.

39. My unit negotiated additional Z days for me, will it happen automatically?

• You should work with your supervisor to determine when scheduling of the Z days will be
appropriate for the department/division.

40. What are Z days?

• Z days or Z basis is time worked outside of your basis that would otherwise be unassigned.

41. I’m taking 3 furlough days in the month of November, can my time be annualized?

• Unfortunately, we are unable to do this.

42. I’m a Unit B/C employee and would like to take a vacation day instead of the 3 furlough
day in November; how does that work?

• The Unit B and C agreement allow for employees who have sufficient, accrued vacation to
take November 22, 2010 as a vacation day instead of a furlough day. If an employee makes
this election, they must take the alternative furlough day in the month of March 2011.

43. Are there any classes exempt from the above mentioned vacation in lieu of furlough
plan?

• Because of the critical services they provide to students, employees in the classes listed
below will not be able to take an alternative furlough day with respect to November 22, 2010
and will need to be furloughed for all three days.

4459 Special Needs Attendant

4461 Special Needs Attendant, male
4463 Special Needs Attendant, female
4535 Sign Language Interpreter 1
4562 Special Education Trainee, male
4566 Special Education Assistant, male
4569 Instructional Aide for the Deaf, signing
4573 Special Education Trainee, hearing impaired, restricted
4578 Special Education Assistant, hearing impaired
4700 Health Care Assistant
4701 Health Care Assistant, male
4706 Instructional Aide, Braille
4937 Instructional Aide for the Deaf, signing, male
4946 Deaf and Hard of Hearing Instructional Aide (deaf employee) reasonable
accommodation aide
4954 Sign Language Interpreter 2
4959 Oral transliterator
4969 Instructional Aide for the Deaf, oral

September, 2010      Page 6