City managers were instructed to not work five days via the forced furlough, unpaid leave.
In October 2020, MEA issued a statement objecting to the Administration’s plan to impose five furlough days for all non-unionized Mayoral agency employees.
In April 2021 MEA sent a letter to OLR stating, “Now that the City has received substantial financial relief from the Federal Government under the American Rescue Plan, we request that the City should reimburse any manager still on payroll before the Mayor leaves office on December 31, 2021, the full amount deducted.”
Managers may now elect to convert their furlough days/unpaid leave to paid leave via Annual Leave. This conversion provides the ability make this unpaid leave to paid leave retroactively so Managers can be reimbursed for the leave they were required to take.
City Hall did not consult with MEA prior to the implementation of this policy. MEA is deeply saddened that City Managers are once again forced to become the scapegoat. We implore the Administration to revise their policy, return the five days Annual Leave to, and/or Comp Time to those who have filed for it and reimburse any manager still on payroll before the Mayor leaves office on December 31, 2021, the full amount deducted.