Secretary of Defense announces furlough Published May 17, 2013 By 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- On May 14, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced planning for and implementation of furloughs in early July for civilian employees. As a result of various factors, including sequestration that went into effect on March 1, the Department of Defense faces a $30 billion shortfall in operation and maintenance account funds. The basic decision to implement furlough was made to accommodate this dramatic reduction in available resources and impacts organizations, agencies and services across the federal government. For Goodfellow, the upcoming furlough will affect 625 civil service members, however will not affect approximately 280 non-appropriated fund employees. The employees affected will be served their furlough proposal notices between May 28 and June 5, officially notifying them they must start taking unpaid leave in 30 days. Most of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilians will take up to 11 days of unpaid leave before Sept. 30, which is down from the 22 days that were originally estimated in February. The number of furlough hours will not exceed 88 hours, or up to 11 discontinuous work days. Generally this will mean one day per week of unpaid leave for employees from July 8 to September 30, 2013. In most cases, the unpaid leave equates to a 20 percent pay loss for each DoD civilian worker during the furlough period. Furlough status may be designated as an employee's full day of work or part of that work day. For example, an employee may take half of an 8-hour work day twice a week or take one full 8-hour day of unpaid leave per week. The hours an employee takes as unpaid leave will be coordinated with their supervisor to meet the needs of the mission.
