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D.C. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
NOTICE OF EMERGENCY AND PROPOSED RULEMAKING
The Interim Director of the D.C. Department of Human Resources (DCHR), with the concurrence of the City Administrator, pursuant to Mayor’s Order 2008-92, dated June 26, 2008, and in accordance with the provisions of section 2401 of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code § 1-624.01) (2006 Repl.); and D.C. Act 19-3, the Balanced Budget Holiday Furlough Emergency Act of 2011, effective February 2, 2011, and any similar succeeding legislation (Act), hereby gives notice of the adoption of the following emergency rules. These rules amend sections 2438, 2439, 2441 through 2446, and the definition of the term “furlough,” in section 2499 of Chapter 24, “Reductions In Force,” of Subtitle B of Title 6 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), on an emergency basis, to implement the provisions of the Act. The Act provides for four (4) furlough days on four (4) consecutive legal public holidays beginning on Washington’s Birthday, on Monday, February 21, 2011; or on alternate days, as appropriate. Additionally, the Act provides that employees to be furloughed shall be given a furlough notice of at least fifteen (15) days; and exempts certain employees. In order to comply with the provisions of the Act it is necessary to amend sections 2438, 2439, 2441 through 2446, and the definition of the term “furlough” in section 2499 of Chapter 24, REDUCTIONS IN FORCE, of Subtitle B of Title 6, GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL, of the DCMR. Therefore, to ensure the welfare of the affected employees and the general public, action was taken on February 2, 2011, to adopt the following rules on an emergency basis effective February 2, 2011. These rules will remain in effect for up to one hundred twenty (120) days from February 2, 2011, unless earlier superseded by another rulemaking notice.
The Interim Director of the D.C. Department of Human Resources (DCHR), with the concurrence of the City Administrator, pursuant to Mayor’s Order 2008-92, dated June 26, 2008, and in accordance with the provisions of section 2401 of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code § 1-624.01) (2006 Repl.); and D.C. Act 19-3, the Balanced Budget Holiday Furlough Emergency Act of 2011, effective February 2, 2011, and any similar succeeding legislation (Act), hereby gives notice of the intent to adopt, in not less than thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register, the following proposed rules. The purpose of these rules is to amend sections 2438, 2439, 2441 through 2446, and the definition of the term “furlough,” in section 2499 of Chapter 24, REDUCTIONS IN FORCE, of Subtitle B of Title 6, GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL, of the DCMR, to implement the provisions of the Act. The Act provides for four (4) furlough days on four (4) consecutive legal public holidays beginning on Washington’s Birthday, on Monday, February 21, 2011; or on alternate days, as appropriate. Additionally, the Act provides that employees to be furloughed shall be given a furlough notice of at least fifteen (15) days; and exempts certain employees. Upon adoption, these rules will amend sections 2438, 2439, 2441 through 2446, and the definition of the term “furlough,” in section 2499 of Chapter 24, “REDUCTIONS IN FORCE,” of Subtitle B of Title 6, GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL, of the DCMR, published at 32 DCR 1182 (March 1, 1985) and amended at 37 DCR 7119 (November 9, 1990), 38 DCR 6158 (October 4, 1991), 40 DCR 2114 (March 26, 1993), 47 DCR 2425 (April 7, 2000), 50 DCR 10573 (December 12, 2003), and 55 DCR 012899 (December 26, 2008).
Chapter 24, “Reductions In Force,” of Subtitle B of Title 6 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations is amended as follows:
Section 2438, “Furlough – Coverage,” is amended by amending Subsections 2438.1, 2438.2, and 2438.3; and adding new Subsections 2438.4 through 2438.6 to read as follows:
2438 FURLOUGH – COVERAGE
2438.1 Notwithstanding the provisions of 6 DCMR B 1221.1 and any other provision of this chapter, and pursuant to Act 19-3, the Balanced Budget Holiday Furlough Emergency Act of 2011, and any similar succeeding legislation (Act), covered employees shall be furloughed for a total of four (4) consecutive legal public holidays beginning with Washington’s Birthday on Monday, February 21, 2011. These furloughs are required for budgetary reasons.
2438.2 For the purposes of sections 2438, 2439, 2444, and 2445 of this chapter, the term “covered employee” means employees covered by the Act.
2438.3 All covered employees shall be furloughed for the same number of hours; except in the case of covered part-time employees, who shall be furloughed for a prorated number of hours during the four (4) prescribed furlough days.
2438.4 Covered union employees whose collective bargaining agreements include language precluding furloughs on public legal holidays shall be furloughed on alternate days within the pay period of the legal public holiday designated as furlough days in the Act.
2438.5 A covered employee who is required to work on any of the four (4) legal public holidays scheduled for furloughs shall be furloughed on an alternate day within the pay period of the legal public holiday in which he or she is required to work.
2438.6 Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter, the following shall apply to the furloughing of District government employees who have been continuously employed by the District government since January 1, 1980:
(a) By law, individuals who have been continuously employed by the District government since January 1, 1980 are guaranteed rights and benefits “at least equal to” those they possessed on January 1, 1980. Paid holidays are a concrete entitlement for such employees. Accordingly, a covered employee who is a “pre-January 1, 1980” employee shall not be furloughed on Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, or Independence Day, which are the three (3) federal public legal holidays that were observed as of January 1, 1980.
(b) Covered employees as described in this subsection shall be furloughed on an alternate day within the pay period of these three (3) legal public holidays. However, they can be furloughed on D.C. Emancipation Day, because that holiday was not observed as a federal public legal holiday as of January 1, 1980.
(c) A covered employee as described in this subsection who would have otherwise been scheduled to work on any of the four (4) legal public holidays designated as furlough days shall be furloughed on an alternate day within each pay period of the legal public holiday in which he or she is required to work.
Section 2439, “Furlough – Exemptions,” is amended by amending Subsection 2439.1 to read as follows:
2439 FURLOUGH – EXEMPTIONS
2439.1 Pursuant to the Act, the following employees are exempt from the furlough provisions:
(a) Uniformed members of the Metropolitan Police Department;
(b) Emergency medical services personnel of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department; and
(c) Employees occupying positions subject to a court order that specifically excludes such positions from furloughs.
Section 2441, “Approval or Directive to Conduct a Furlough,” is repealed.
Section 2442, “Request to Conduct a Furlough,” is repealed.
Section 2443, “Scheduling a Furlough,” is amended by amending Subsection 2443.1 to read as follows:
2443.1 Except in the case of any part-time covered employee, who shall have his or her furlough hours prorated, each covered employee is to be scheduled for the same number of furlough hours.
The heading of Section 2444, “Notice to Employees of a Furlough” is changed to “Furlough Notice.”
Section 2444 is amended by amending Subsections 2444.1 through 2444.3; and a new Subsection 2444.4 is added to read as follows:
2444 FURLOUGH NOTICE
2444.1 Pursuant to the Act, each employee to be furloughed shall be entitled to a written notice of at least fifteen (15) full calendar days before the employee’s first (1st) furlough day.
2444.2 If, for any reason, an agency fails to provide a covered employee whose first (1st) furlough day would otherwise be Monday, February 21, 2011 with a full fifteen (15) calendar day furlough notice, the agency shall select a workday within pay period number 5 (February 13, 2011 through February 26, 2011) as the employee’s first (1st) furlough day; ensuring that, whatever the furlough day selected, the employee is provided with a full fifteen-day (15-day) furlough notice.
2444.3 In counting the fifteen-day (15-day) minimum notice period, the day the employee receives the notice shall be omitted.
2444.4 A covered employee shall be entitled to a new written notice of at least fifteen (15) full days if a decision is made to increase the number of scheduled furlough hours.
Section 2445, “Content of Furlough Notice,” is amended as follows:
2445 CONTENT OF FURLOUGH NOTICE
2445.1 At a minimum, each furlough notice issued shall state the following information:
(a) The competitive area in which the furlough is to be conducted;
(b) The dates and times on which the employee is to be furloughed; and
(c) The place where the employee may review the D.C. personnel regulations governing furloughs.
Section 2446, “Appeal of a Furlough,” is repealed.
The definition of the term “Furlough” in Section 2499 is amended to read as follows:
Furlough – the temporary involuntary placement of certain District government employees in a non-duty, non-pay status in accordance with the provisions of the Act, for the reason set forth in subsection 2438.1 of this chapter.
Comments on these proposed regulations should be submitted, in writing to Ms. Judy D. Banks, Interim Director, D.C. Department of Human Resources, 441 4th Street, N.W., Suite 300S, Washington, D.C. 20001 within thirty (30) days of the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register. Additional copies of these proposed regulations are available from the above address.
