Posts Tagged ‘civilian workforce’

Many of the Pentagon’s 800,000 civilian workers will be forced to take 11 days of unpaid leave by Sept. 30, three fewer days than employees had been expecting, after officials determined that the ability to reprogram funds into DOD’s operations and maintenance accounts earlier this year provided sufficient flexibility to reduce the number of furlough days. Employees will take one furlough day per week beginning July 8, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday during a town hall meeting at the Mark Center in Alexandria, Va. …

Civilian workers at the Navy’s shipyards should be exempt from furloughs because their jobs are critical to the service’s mission, Sean Stackley, assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition, said Wednesday. Forcing shipyard workers to take unpaid days off would disrupt the maintenance and modernization schedule for ships, Stackley told the Senate Armed Services’ Seapower Subcommittee. “I think everyone understands that shipyards are a special case in terms of direct impact on readiness,” he said. “The math states there is going to be more than a one-for-one impact if you furlough …

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will make a decision shortly on the extent to which civilian workers will be forced to take unpaid days off, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told reporters Wednesday. “We’re in the middle of a $37 billion to $40 billion cut over a six-month period, and we need to look closely at that, but I expect him to make a decision soon …

To date, the Pentagon has said all of its civilian employees will share the burden of taking unpaid days off on an equal basis, but at least one of the services has identified alternate budget cuts it could carry out that would obviate the need for civilian furloughs. As a result, defense officials face pressure to reconsider their plans, reports the Washington Post. DOD’s latest plan calls for up to 800,000 civilians to take 14 furlough days, although the department is figuring out if could reduce that number and still absorb the $41 billion sequester cut imposed this year …

Officials still are evaluating whether to furlough more than 700,000 civilian employees as a way to trim defense spending over the last half of the year, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale said on Thursday. “Secretary Hagel has asked that we take another close look at furloughs, and we are in the process of doing that …

Officials are looking for ways to reduce the civilian workforce by 1,000 positions at 60 installations across the Air Force without laying off employees as they try to meet funding targets in the fiscal 2012 budget request. “Bases are already working through this,” spokeswoman Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley said, trying to match civilians in surplus positions with open jobs. “Our goal is not to do involuntary separation; our goal is to find other jobs” for civilians affected by the reductions …

Defense officials are considering cutting the number of unpaid furlough days civilian employees will be forced to take to as few as seven, after cutting the number of unpaid days to 14 last month. No decision has been made yet, and it is possible the Pentagon could drop the furloughs entirely …

Holding a BRAC round isn’t the only strategy the Defense Department is pursuing to find savings from underused facilities. By the end of the year, officials expect to complete a plan that will recommend ways “to reduce underutilization” at military hospitals and clinics, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told lawmakers Thursday during a hearing on the Pentagon’s fiscal 2014 budget request …

Along with requesting a new base closure round, the Pentagon is proposing further cuts in its civilian workforce as part of new money-saving initiatives included in its fiscal 2014 budget request. The two actions are intertwined, as DOD Comptroller Robert Hale explained to reporters Wednesday. The proposed restructuring of the civilian workforce could result in a 5 to 6 percent reduction from fiscal 2013 to 2018 …

About 94 percent of the Navy’s more than 200,000 civilian employees will be forced to take unpaid days off before Sept. 30, according to guidance sent to senior officials. Employees most likely will be placed on furlough for 14 days, after the Pentagon determined last month that the fiscal 2013 spending bill provided sufficient operations funds to avoid requiring workers to take 22 unpaid days off. Furloughs are expected to begin in June. Despite alleviating some of the impact of the automatic spending cuts, “decisions need to be made on what we can keep, what can be rebalanced and which ship and aircraft maintenance can be deferred,” the guidance said, reported the Washington Post.