City workers check people into an emergency shelter for people arriving from the southern U.S. border set up at a Denver rec center. Dec. 13, 2022.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Facing a major budget deficit, Mayor Mike Johnston will order about 9,000 city workers to take unpaid days off through the end of the year.
The city hopes to save about $10 million, with workers taking between two and seven furlough days this year. It’s one part of an emergency plan that is meant to get the city through the current spending year — along with a hiring freeze, cutbacks and spending from emergency accounts.
A few types of workers will not be furloughed: 911 staff and uniformed police, fire and sheriff employees. But librarians, parks staff, housing outreach workers, permitting staff, employees of the mayor’s office and the mayor himself all will have to schedule furlough days over the next seven months.
The Mayor’s Office says the city is trying to live within its means and make smart fiscal decisions in a time of economic uncertainty.
The more money a city worker makes, the more unpaid days they have to take off.
The lowest paid employees will have the fewest unpaid days. It’s an effort to minimize the impact on workers who already have a tough time paying bills.
If they’re making:
- Less than $61,000: Two furlough days
- Between $61,000 and $71,999: Three days
- Between $72,000 and $89,999: Four days
- Between $90,000 and $115,000: Five days
- $116,000 and above: Six days
- Mayoral appointees making $150,000 or more: Seven days
Each tier of workers has around 2,000 employees, with the exception of those making $150,000 or more, which includes about 40 city employees.
All affected employees will take furlough days on the Friday before Labor Day and the Friday after Thanksgiving.
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Workers who have to take more than two days will schedule additional dates with their bosses.
Staff at Denver Golf and Denver International Airport are included in the furloughs, even though those agencies operate from independent budgets and the savings won’t help the general fund. City leaders have said they want to treat employees equally across departments.
What are the city’s furlough rules?
The city is required to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The days are based on an eight-hour workday. The furloughs cannot be added to paid time off in excess of 40 hours in a row.
The furlough hours must generally be taken in eight-hour increments; however, there are some exceptions that require approval from supervisors.
How else is the city saving money?
Johnston also has ordered a hiring freeze that is expected to save between $5 and $10 million, and the city plans other cutbacks and spending from emergency accounts to make it through the year.
The other approximately $30 million will be saved by preventing agencies from exceeding their budgets and drawing on contingency funds. Agency leaders are also being asked to cut their budgets. And while they’re allowed to hire for positions that were already open, that’s on an as-needed basis.
