In order to close the remaining gap, maximize employment, and avoid further budget reductions to operating units, the campus will adopt new measures, including the implementation of a year-long program of tiered, income-based furloughs for all non-represented staff, academics, and faculty, and reductions in time for represented staff. This was not an easy decision. We know and regret that it will entail personal sacrifice, yet we believe the burden can and will be fairly shared across a community that has come together in support of our mission and the greater good.
We plan to launch the program on February 1st. Consistent with our commitment to equity, employees earning less than $59,000 will be exempted, with progressive, graduated reductions up to a top rate of 3.83% for those earning more than $234,000. Information on the time and salary reduction tiers can be found below.
We want to acknowledge that there remain a number of issues to be discussed with deans and managers before we finalize the details. We are sharing this preliminary information now because of our commitment to transparency, as well as your need for timely information that supports effective, personal financial planning. Among the issues we must still resolve is how or if the program will include employees who are compensated via external grants and contracts. We are also exploring whether individuals with the ability to offset a reduction in salary with an external source of funding, such as a grant, will be permitted to do so in exchange for a contribution to the campus, as a way of ensuring we all share in an equitable effort to protect jobs and our educational programs. The Regents have taken action to protect employees' service credit toward retirement in any furlough or curtailment program the campus may implement.
We want to assure you that we will, via campus messages, keep the community updated as key, remaining details of the furlough program are determined.