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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 11, 2020 10:04 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative David H. Zimmerman and Rep. Cris Dush |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Furloughs During Disaster Declarations |
| We are preparing to introduce legislation to provide for situations where Commonwealth employees are prevented from performing their duties for an extended period of time. During the pandemic, thousands of Commonwealth employees who could not perform their duties were placed on paid leave for approximately three weeks. Eventually, the Wolf Administration allowed the employees to elect to use their accrued paid leave to continue receiving pay. Otherwise, employees were placed on unpaid leave and allowed to retain their health care benefits. While we believe the administration eventually found the right balance between protecting taxpayers and the fair treatment of employees, we believe that the administration could have acted more quickly. Our legislation would provide for unpaid leave (with benefits and the option to use accrued paid leave) after five days of an office closure that is related to a disaster emergency declared by the governor or other exigent circumstances. To be clear, this would only apply to Commonwealth employees who are unable to work. Those who can perform their duties (at the normal location, an alternative location, or through telework) would continue working and being paid their normal wages. Taxpayers should not be called on to fund an extended stay-cation for employees who are not working or using their own accrued paid leave, and our bill will ensure that unpaid leave is required for situations lasting more than five business days. Please join us by cosponsoring this bill. |
Introduced as HB2773