Fiscal Note
A voluntary time away program realizes savings through reduced personnel costs (permanent wages along with WRS and FICA). Applying similar utilization trends to what Dane County has experienced in 2020, a voluntary time away program would save the City approximate $282k. This assumption is based on the number of General Municipal Employees and the average daily rate for 2021 budgeted salaries.
Title
Creating a Voluntary Time Away Program for City of Madison Employees for 2021.
Body
WHEREAS, the 2021 Executive Operating Budget called for a mandatory furlough of General Municipal Employees in order to achieve salary savings, and,
WHEREAS, representatives of city employee groups have expressed opposition to such a program and have called instead for implementation of a Voluntary Time Away (VTA) program, and,
WHEREAS, Dane County has successfully implemented such a program that has resulted in significant salary savings, and,
WHEREAS, a VTA program would allow municipal employees to apply for various state and federal unemployment benefits, including Workshare, but a mandatory furlough would deny our general municipal employees the ability to apply for these benefits; and,
WHEREAS, the Common Council acknowledges the hardship that a mandatory furlough program would have on many city employees,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council directs staff to implement a 2021 calendar-year VTA based on the program that Dane County has recently used, and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOlVED, that the period to request VTA will span a minimum of fifteen calendar days and will be completed prior to December 15, 2020; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Common Council directs staff to delay implementation of any mandatory furlough program until after March 31, 2021 pending review of the salary savings generated by the VTA program; and,
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Common Council directs staff to submit a report to the Common Council no later than January 19, 2021 describing the projected fiscal impact of the salary savings associated with the VTA Program on the 2021 Operating Budget.