Guam - DPW Director and former Senator Joanne Brown outlines plans for layoffs within her agency. Governor's office releases plans titling it "Reduction in Force Advisory No.1"

Department of Public Works Director Joanne Brown submitted the first layoff plan for a government of Guam agency to the Department of Administration.  Acting Governor Ray Tenorio provides the attached advisory that outlines information provided in the Director of Public Works' plan.The Reduction in Force Advisory No. 1 is attached.  Text from this same document is pasted below for your convenience.

Reduction in Force Advisory No. 1

This is to notify Guamanians that an agency of the government of Guam submitted a layoff plan. This plan was submitted in an effort to reduce the expenditures of the government and, thus, fix the structural imbalance of the General Fund.

 

October 11, 2011

 

 

The Director of Public Works this afternoon submitted her department's layoff plan. This is the first such plan throughout the government of Guam. It sets into motion unprecedented actions.

 

In the plan, she identified the following positions for layoff, all within the Capital Improvement Projects Division:

  1. Chief Planner (one position)
  2. Planner II (one position
  3. Engineer Supervisor (one position)
  4. Engineer II (two positions)

 

Because of the submission of this plan, all hiring for positions within the same position class(es) as the above named positions are halted in the line agencies.

 

The Director of Public Works has assessed the current manpower levels of the DPW. In her letter (submission of layoff plan) to Department of Administration Human Resources Administrator Shane Ngata, she certified the following conditions exist at DPW:

  1. There is a lack of funds to sustain the department at its current levels
  2. DPW is strained in its ability to provide core services, such as the building and maintaining of roads, bussing students to and from school, fixing and maintaining government vehicles and buildings, permitting and inspecting facilities, and administering the department itself.
  3. By the end of Fiscal Year 2011, DPW ran out of funding, including funds needed for bus fuel.
  4. There has been a reduction in the project responsibilities of the Capital Improvement Projects Division. The resulting workload does not justify the current staffing levels in comparison to the demands of the other DPW divisions.

 

It must be noted that the reduction in force of these positions does not mean the people holding these positions will be released. A lengthy process will follow to determine who will be laid off. Employees have bumping or displacement rights, along with other rights pursuant to DOA Personnel Rules & Regulations.

 

The Director of Public Works does not choose who will be laid off. This will be decided by a process that involves a retention register at the Department of Administration Human Resources Division. Here is a brief description of the process from this point:

Ø  Employees of DPW who are in these positions may have the chance to furlough their salaries in whole or in part. This does not protect the employee from the position being laid off. Such furlough also must be approved by the director. In her layoff plan, the director determines the need to reduce the force because of the structural imbalance of the General Fund, a lack of work and a lack of funding.

Ø  Employees of DPW who are in these positions may have the chance to transfer to a vacant position in DPW or in another line agency in which he/she qualifies, or to demote to a lower position and pay grade.

Ø  Any part time, short term, seasonal, provisional, temporary, limited term or probationary DPW employees who fall under the same position classes as those identified for layoff will be released first. There are none of these in the position classes slated for layoff at DPW.

Ø  DOA HR will then run a retention register. Every DPW employee who is in the same position class as the Chief Planner, Planner II, Engineer Supervisor and Engineer II will be included in this retention register. DOA HR, in this retention register, will consider these employees' seniority and performance evaluations. Points are awarded based on criteria set forth in Government of Guam Personnel Rules & Regulations.

Ø  The person within the position class with the lowest score of points will be bumped. That bumped employee can then avail of the options to transfer to an available vacant position, or voluntary furlough. If those options are unavailable, that person is laid off.

 

This is the first time the retention register will ever be run in GovGuam's history. The course of this layoff plan will set the precedent for future layoff plans, which are expected from other agencies soon.

 

Help for those laid off

A special Displacement & Re-engineering Program is available to assist workers who may be displaced by a government layoff.  This program is being led by Agency for Human Resources Development director Frank C. Roberto.

 

In summary the program will:

  1. Work with agency directors and the Department of Administration to identify laid off workers and bring them into the program voluntarily.

 

  1. Offer a host of services to assist laid off workers enter the private sector workforce:
    1. Skills assessment
    2. Career counseling
    3. Resume development
    4. Job search skills training
    5. Job placement training
    6. Budget and financial management counseling
    7. Stress management and mental health services
    8. Temporary financial assistance
    9. Information relating to child care, transportation and other needs

 

  1. Encourage laid off workers to start a small business. Director of Labor Leah Beth Naholowaa will be partnering with the Small Business Development Center, Guam Economic Development Authority and the Veterans Affairs Office on ways to assist displaced workers to start a small business.

 

  1. Subsidize college tuition costs for one year. Laid off workers who elect to go to school, part time or full time, may enroll at Guam Community College, University of Guam or an allied health training and certification service. The Workforce Investment Act funding will subsidize this cost.

 

This reduction in force signifies the tough decisions the government is making, which should have been incrementally made over the past 20 years. It is with deep regret the government must make these decisions to reduce personnel. This island, and the taxpayers owed their tax refunds, has not been able to sustain the size of the government for 20 years now. I will not suffer the children of Guam, and their children, to a future bankrupted by the inability of leaders to make the right decisions. My heart and my prayers are with those who may be dislocated by this process. I encourage you to enroll in this Displacement & Re-engineering Program in the hope that your future prospects are even greater than the opportunity you took to serve the public.