ROTA Sen. Teresita A. Santos has asked the Civil Service Commission to amend the reduction inforce or RIF policy by extending the furlough duration.
Teresita Santos
Furloughed employees should be allowed return to duty within two years instead of one, she said in a letter to Civil Service Commission Chairman Jake Maratita on Wednesday.
She said extending the furlough duration, “gives the Commonwealth time to maintain its workers, revive its economic conditions by implementing economic alternatives, and time for the federal government’s assistance to get to the Commonwealth.”
NMI Administrative Code § 10-20.2-267a currently reads, “The Personnel Officer may use furloughs for more than thirty days if there is reasonable assurance that the employees furloughed will be returned to duty within the next twelve months. If there is reasonable doubt regarding the return to duty of furloughed employees, then the appointing authorities concerned must separate the employees found to be in excess of management’s needs and proceed according to reduction-in-force procedures.”
In her letter, Santos said: “While I understand the position taken by the present CNMI administration, the Commonwealth must step back and really consider other alternatives because the current reduced work hours and the unrecalled furloughed employees alone resulted in great financial hardships to many families.”
She said the RIF would certainly further devastate the economic conditions of more families in the Commonwealth.
Earlier this month, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said the government budget for fiscal year 2021 is not adequate to recall 180 furloughed employees.
He said $5,688,239.44 is needed in order to recall these employees, but the projected revenue in the first quarter of FY 2021 shows a shortfall of 3%.
According to Santos, “The Commonwealth must be mindful that the federal government is new and aggressively focusing and pushing legislation to assist people who were laid off, furloughed, or working under reduced hours.”
She noted that recently, U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan has reported on federal legislation that would provide the CNMI with significant funding assistance.
She said the U.S. Congress and President Joseph Biden have acknowledged that the pandemic “negatively impacted not only the states but also the U.S. territories, including the CNMI,” and this gives hope that help is coming to the islands, she added.
Santos said the Commonwealth government must ensure that families are not further affected by the imposition of further reduction in work hours, more furloughs, and the RIF.
“The CNMI workers need your expedited action to [address] the foregoing concern,” she told the Civil Service Commission chairman.
