About 60 Kern County Roads Department employees have volunteered to a periodic furlough in order to prevent one layoff in the department. In the midst of budget cuts and layoffs, it's an act of selflessness and team work.
In light of Kern County's $29 million budget shortfall in the 2008-09 fiscal year, the Kern County Board of Supervisors directed the roads department to cut $500,000 from its budget.
Roads Commissioner Craig Pope said that amounted to cutbacks in materials, not filling vacant positions and laying off one person. But no one in the department wanted to see a co-worker lose their job.
"When you hear about someone getting laid off, it's kind of scary. You think about yourself, you think about yourself and your family," said Office Services Specialist Nicole Parker.
Days after the board announced mandatory budget cuts, roads management sent out an email asking for volunteers to furlough.
Of the 200 employees in the department, from the administration level to the maintenance crews on the streets, 60 people stepped up. That was enough to prevent one person from being laid off.
"Tough times really show the character of people," said Engineer manager Mark Evans.
"It's a very generous thing for people to take a voluntary cut in pay somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of their pay to save one of their employees," said Roads Commissioner Craig Pope.
From now until the end of the fiscal year, the employees who volunteered will have to take some time off without pay.
An internal e-mail obtained by 17 News, written by Administrative Assistant Leellen Arritt to the department, praises the roads employees: "Roadies, I want to thank and congratulate all who came forward to volunteer for furlough time. Your generosity is to be applauded and will help us stave off lay offs this fiscal year," Arritt wrote in her e-mail.
She said that so many of the employees are participating that the department will be able to make the salaries work if the employees furlough four hours per payroll period, instead of the eight hours that many had offered.
"We act as a team in what we do and how we do our job," said Evans. "We simply didn't want to lose a team member. It's that simple."
Pope said he's even doing it. "I'll be working some of those days. I'll be in maybe a half day or something, but I'll be furloughing the whole day"
Nicole Parker said it wasn't a difficult choice. "It's easier to give up four hours than to give up a whole paycheck for someone else," said Parker.
Management said the furlough request was a volunteer action and there will be no consequences for those who did not step up.
The position that was to be cut was not identified, but Pope said it would probably have come from engineering.
