Labor Department Sends 4,700 Furlough Notices
By Kedar Pavgi
2:46 PM ET - GovExec.com
Labor Department officials on March 5 sent 4,700 employees furlough notices
to help manage across-the-board budget cuts from sequestration, according to Federal
Times.
Labor Department spokesman Steve Barr told Federal Times that
employees would be furloughed an average of six days by the end of the fiscal
year on Sept. 30, with the days spread out to about one per month. He
told Federal Times that the department was trying to prevent
furloughs from hitting field employees and creating downtime at gmission
criticalh programs. Barr also said officials were looking to find more
gefficiencies and economiesh to help possibly cancel some of the furloughs.
American Federation of Government Employees Local 12 President Alex Bastani
told Government Executive in an email that the proposed furlough days
ranged from 10 days at the Veteransf Employment and Training Services to two
days at the Office of the Solicitor. He said that the furloughs would have
a gdevastating impacth on the Labor Departmentfs mission, and noted that many
agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the
Mine Safety and Health Administration do not have enough inspectors to gensure
the safety of the American workerh during sequestration.
gOur members are particularly upset that the Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs is going forward with a million dollar renovation of their
offices and continuing to hire new employees despite the fact that the employees
in OFCCP are facing furloughs,h Bastani said.
The Labor Department did not respond to Government Executive's
requests for a comment.
Labor is
expected to cut $2.2 billion in spending in fiscal 2013, according to the
American Federation of Government Employees. Acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris
told employees in
February that the department would try to gsoften the impacth of
sequestration by cutting travel and training expenses, but would need to resort
to furloughs to find additional savings.
By Kedar Pavgi
2:46 PM ET
http://www.govexec.com/management/2013/03/labor-department-sends-4700-furlough-notices/61798/