PURPOSE: To establish consistent and defined policies for changes in the County's workforce (reference A).  A Decision Maker has the option to do one or more of the following: Reorganization, Reduction in Hours, Furlough, Layoff, or Job Changes.

SCOPE: This Policy and Procedure applies to all employees of Larimer County and employees of the Office of the District Attorney, Eighth Judicial District, with the exception of employees of the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

RESPONSIBILITY: The Human Resources Director administers this Policy.

REVISION SECTION (Significant Changes from Previous Policy):

• Section V.B
• Section IX

POLICY AND PROCEDURE:

I.   PROCEDURE:

A.   When a Decision Maker believes it is appropriate to make a permanent reduction in hours, conduct a furlough or layoff, or make job changes as part of a reorganization, they must submit a business plan to the Human Resources Director, or designee.  The Decision Maker should contact their assigned HR Generalist for the most updated business plan template and guidance for its completion.

B.   The Human Resources Department will work with the Decision Maker to ensure compliance with County policies and applicable laws as well as provide support to the Decision Maker and any affected employees.

C.   Employees who are separated as a result of this Policy are not entitled to recall rights.  Separated employees may apply for employment when positions are posted.

II.  REORGANIZATION:

A change in the organizational structure or position changes that impact more than one employee.

III.    REDUCTION IN HOURS:

A.    The Decision Maker will determine which employees will have their work hours permanently reduced.

B.     Employees may submit a request for their hours to be permanently reduced. These requests will be reviewed and considered by the Decision Maker.  If approved, the employee, Decision Maker, and the Human Resources Director may sign a written voluntary FTE reduction agreement, or the employee may submit in writing to the Decision Maker and Human Resources Director a statement that the reduction in hours is voluntary.

C.     The permanent reduction of an employee's work hours may result in a change to the affected employee's leave accruals or benefits eligibility.

IV.   FURLOUGH:

A.  Unpaid temporary leave for a set period of time.

1.  An involuntary furlough is when the Decision Maker determines which employees will be required to take unpaid leave and may determine which workday(s) the furlough(s) will occur.
2. A voluntary furlough is when employees may volunteer to be furloughed, and if so, may choose the furlough day(s) at the Decision Maker's approval.
3. Employees selected for furlough must sign a furlough notice.  The approved notice must be received by Human Resources no later than the day before the start of the pay period in which the furlough will happen.

B.  Impact on Benefits and Leave Accruals:

1.   Furloughed employees should contact the Benefits staff for questions regarding required premium payments.

2.   Employees on furlough will continue to accrue leave, but are not permitted to use paid leave balances while on furlough except as needed to cover benefits premiums.

a.  If the furloughed employee is Exempt, and they work any hours during that work week, they will be paid on an hourly basis during the furloughed work week(s).
b.  Furloughed employees will not be paid a wage or salary during the hours that they are on furlough, and will not be allowed to perform any work during those hours.

V.   LAYOFFS:

A.  The separation of an employee in a job that has been eliminated. When the layoff of one or more employees is necessary, the layoff will occur in the following order:

1. Temporary employees in the identified jobs;
2. Probationary Regular employees in the identified jobs;
3. Limited Term employees hired after April 18, 1990 in the identified jobs;
4. Post-Probationary Regular employees in the identified jobs;

5. If there is more than one employee in any of the above groups, the employee(s) selected for layoff will be made in the following order:
   a.  Employees with the least favorable performance records.  All performance evaluations, corrective actions, and disciplinary actions issued within five years prior to the proposed effective date of the layoff must be considered in making this determination.
   b.  If the evaluated performance of two or more employees is considered equal, the employee with the fewest number of years of current consecutive County service would be laid off before the employee(s) with greater seniority.  Periods of employment as a Temporary employee will not be counted for Probationary, Limited Term, and Regular employees.
   c.  If there are still two or more employees under consideration for layoff, the Decision Maker will see assistance from a Human Resources Director, or designee.

   d. If a Decision Maker wants to deviate from the above specified order for business reasons, they must receive approval from the Human Resources Director, or designee.

B.  Severance Pay:

1. Limited Term employees hired prior to April 18, 1990 and all post-probationary Regular employees being laid off will be offered the opportunity to enter into a legally-compliant separation agreement (reference C) with Larimer County which would include Severance Pay.

2. The amount of Severance Pay is determined by the length of County service as outlined below.

   Consecutive Service Time	Severance Pay Amount
   6 months to 2 years and 364 days	4 times the employee’s weekly standard hours worked at the employee’s current hourly rate plus an amount equal to one month of COBRA costs for the employee’s currently elected medical and dental insurance coverage.
   3 years or more	8 times the employee’s weekly standard hours worked at the employee’s current hourly rate plus an amount equal to two months of COBRA costs for the employee’s currently elected medical and dental insurance coverage.

   
   a.  Periods of employment as a Temporary employee cannot be counted in determining years of service.

VI.   EMPLOYEE NOTIFICATION:

An employee who will be affected by a reduction in hours, furlough, or layoff will receive written notice of the action.  The notification will include a statement of what has made the action necessary.  The written notice will be accompanied by a copy of this policy.  All communication, including content and timing, will be determined by the Decision Maker in consultation with the Human Resources Director, or designee. Unless there is a sufficient business reason approved by the Human Resources Director for not giving an employee a notice period, an employee will receive a minimum of five business days’ advance written notice.  At the Decision Maker’s discretion, the employee may continue to work or may be placed on leave with pay.  A representative from the Human Resources Department may be present at the time the affected employee receives the notice.

VII.  RE-EMPLOYMENT AFTER LAYOFF:

If an individual is rehired within one year from the effective date of layoff, the following conditions will apply:

1.  They will accrue leave at the same rate as the employee accrued leave on the effective date of the layoff; 
2.  Their fully completed prior years of service will be counted for vesting purposes as provided for in the Retirement Plan Document; and
3.  They will restart at the same contribution level in the County Retirement Plan prior to the layoff.

VIII. JOB CHANGES:

A.   Creation of a New Job Description:

1.   New job descriptions are drafted by Human Resources. For a new job description, a department or office must contact their Human Resources Generalist.

3.  All new jobs must be approved by the Human Resources Director, or designee.

B.   Reclassification:

1.   Employees are reclassified when there are significant changes in the employee’s job responsibilities.

2.   Reclassifications may be initiated through a submission of a Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) (Enclosure 1) or a written request that is submitted to a Human Resources Generalist.

a.   The request may begin with either the employee or the supervisor, and is then submitted for review by the supervisor and Decision Maker.

b.   Reclassification decisions will be made by the Human Resources Generalist.  An appeal of the final decision may be submitted in writing to the Human Resources Director, and must include justification.  Reclassification appeals will be reviewed by the Human Resources Director and their decision will be final.

c.   The earliest effective date of an approved reclassification is the date the request was received in the Human Resources Department. The Human Resources Director, or designee, may approve a different date.

3.   Employees whose positions are under review for reclassification are not eligible for Out-of-Title Pay, unless approved by the Human Resources Director, or designee.

C.  Flexibly Staffed Positions:

1.  A position is considered to be flexibly staffed when it is noted in the job description for the higher-level position (reference D).

2.  When an employee has met the criteria for advancement as noted in the job description and is satisfactorily performing the duties of the position, the employee will be automatically advanced to the next level position.

3.  PDQs are not required for flexibly staffed positions.

IX.  APPEAL OPTIONS:

A.   If an employee disagrees with a decision where they have lost pay, or their existing job through an involuntary furlough, reorganization, reduction in hours, or layoff, the employee may appeal the decision using the Grievance procedure in the Corrective and Adverse Actions Policy, Section IX.

B.   If the decision does not result in loss of pay or an employee’s existing job, the employee may appeal the decision using the Problem-Solving Process in the Corrective and Adverse Actions policy, Section VII.

____________________________
John Kefalas
Chair, Board of County Commissioners
(Approved by BCC - Consent Agenda - 11/12/2024)
(Signature on original filed in Records Management)

Distribution:
All County Department and Elected Officials
Records Management SOP Manual (original)

CK/jw

DATE:   November 12, 2024

EFFECTIVE PERIOD:   Until Superseded

REVIEW SCHEDULE:   Every three years in July, or as needed

CANCELATION:   Workforce Restructuring: Reorganization, Reduction in Hours, Furlough, Layoff, and Job Changes; July 25, 2023

ENCLOSURE(S): 

1. Position Description Questionnaire - LCHR-25

REFERENCE(S):

A.  Governing Policy Manual: Policy 3.2 - Treatment of Staff
B.  Human Resources Policy and Procedure 331.8 Corrective and Adverse Actions; Grievance Procedure; and Problem Solving Process
C.  Human Resources Policy and Procedure 331.4, Section XVI, Separation from County Employment
D.  Flexibly Staffed Positions