Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith announced today that the city is temporarily postponing its planned implementation of an employee furlough plan in reaction to a Superior Court decision issued late last Friday. The case against the use of Furloughs was filed by various government employee unions around the state. The ruling jeopardizes a municipality’s ability to use staggered days to furlough public safety personnel. The Appellate Division ruled in the matter of the Emergency Temporary Layoff Rule that staggered furlough days, as opposed to mass furlough days, were subject to the jurisdiction and approval of the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC).
As a result of the ruling, it is still not clear if staggered days off can be utilized to furlough municipal employees. What is clear is that there is no logistical way to furlough police and fire personnel all on the same day at the same time. “Until the issue of the use of staggered furlough days is resolved, we are in a holding pattern,” said Smith. “It was always our position that any furlough plan must not jeopardize public safety and must involve all employees on a co-equal basis.”
The administration expects the issue to be addressed by PERC within the next 90 days.
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