In an interview on Saturday, Fitial said the austerity measure mandates this cut.
“I don’t cut. It is the austerity. We have austerity and that means everybody works 64 [hours per pay period],” he added.
The Department of Finance notified OPA a couple of weeks ago that it would be included on the list of government agencies affected by the austerity measure as provided in the fiscal year 2012 budget or Public Law 17-55.
For OPA, P.L. 17-55 appropriated $2.1 million, of which $1.4 million is for personnel.
An OPA staffer, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the paycheck they received last week reflected the work-hour cut.
The staffer said they did not expect it would be that soon, because the Finance memo indicated the reduction would be for the next pay period.
The staffer also said they are supposed to be an autonomous agency so they wonder what authority the governor has to cut their working hours.
But Fitial said “my directive is very clear. It does not matter who. Any employee in executive departments, unless classified as essential, is supposed to work 64 hours.”
He added, “We have standard rules. I don’t make rules especially for somebody. If you are not essential, in other words you don’t have to work on a Saturday and Sunday, then, you work 64 hours. Only police and nurses and doctors who have to work on Saturday and Sunday, they are exempted.”
The governor said this the first time that he issued a directive concerning OPA’s working hours.
If OPA officials and employees are saying they are autonomous, Fitial added, “let them go out, collect their own resources and administer their own finances.”
