Layoff (Staff Employees)

I. REFERENCES

• PPM 3-10, Termination of Employment
• State Board of Regents Policy R843, Guidelines for Reduction in Force

II. DEFINITIONS

A. Layoff

Reduction in force or reduction in FTE (full-time equivalency) due to lack of funds, departmental reorganization, elimination or reduction of funding from outside agencies, lack of work or other compelling reasons. Layoff is not a disciplinary action.
 

B. Position Elimination

Removal of employment opportunity due to a reorganization generated by budget or strategic considerations.
 

C. Performance

The execution or accomplishment of work; the manner in which or the efficiency with which someone fulfills job responsibilities.
 

D. Seniority (Senior)

Refers to the number of years as a salaried employee at Weber State University in the most recent period of service. Prior periods of employment interrupted by termination of employment will not be considered. Seniority is not restricted to time served within the unit or department.
 

E. Organizational Unit

A major subdivision, normally a department. Where two or more departments are being merged into one, organizational unit refers to the combination of departments that will be merged.
 

F. Staff Employees

Non-exempt and exempt employees who are salaried and without faculty appointment.
 

G. Probationary Employees

Employees who are still in the probationary period.
 

H. Temporary Employees

Employees who are hired for a limited term.
 

III. POLICY

A. With the approval of the supervising vice president and following review of the suggested layoff by the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources and the Executive Director of Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action, supervisors are authorized to reduce the work force for any of the reasons in II, A above.

B. The order in which employees will be placed on layoff status will be determined according to the following criteria:

1. Staff employees who volunteer for layoff should be terminated before other staff employees.

2. Temporary or probationary staff employees should be considered for termination before salaried staff employees.

3. The identification of staff employees to be terminated due to a reduction in force in any operating unit will be based first on position elimination. After the positions to be eliminated are identified, then when there is more than one incumbent in such a position (same job title, classification, and grade), the basis upon which staff employees will be terminated is based on performance and/or seniority. The Vice President/Provost for each division shall determine whether performance or seniority is primary (used first).

a. Termination based on performance must include either (1) a written performance evaluation within the preceding 12 months which documents performance significantly lower than the other employees in the position identified for elimination, or (2) a written disciplinary action within the preceding 12 months.

b. Termination based on seniority uses the total length of service in a benefit-eligible position with the University and is not restricted to time served within the unit or department.

C. Human Resources shall review the reallocation of duties and responsibilities of the remaining position(s) to ascertain whether a job audit is appropriate.

D. Employees remaining after the reduction in force must have the necessary skills and capabilities to accomplish the duties of the remaining positions. If the tasks to be performed in a remaining position are such that the remaining employee may be perceived to have difficulty in performing them in a satisfactory manner, the supervising vice president shall consider approving the following:

a. Allow the employee to complete short-term training to acquire necessary skills.

b. Allow the employee a probationary period of 90 days to assume all duties and responsibilities and attempt to perform at a satisfactory level. At the end of the probationary period, if it can be demonstrated by the supervisor(s) to the supervising vice president that the performance is sub-standard, the employee may be placed in layoff status and another employee recalled to the position in reverse order of the layoff.

c. Retraining as described in III, D above will be considered only if the period of layoff will extend for a reasonable time beyond the retraining period.

E. Employees placed in layoff status will be given two weeks' notice of such action. If the required advance notice is not given, or is given for a shorter period than two weeks, severance pay will be given in lieu of notice at the regular pay rate.

F. Transfer to a vacant position elsewhere on campus should be favorably considered by the supervising vice president.

G. Recall from layoff status will occur in reverse order of layoff. Recall is required only if a position for which the employee is qualified occurs within six months and if the position occurs within the organizational unit from which the employee was released. Application and subsequent selection for a position in another department on campus is not considered recall, but securing another job at Weber State University within six months of layoff will allow the employee to retain prior service credit. Recall does not apply to temporary or probationary employees.

H. Employees in layoff status do not receive payment or benefits (i.e., medical, dental, vacation, sick leave, etc.) from the University.

I. In cases where funding may not be available beyond the layoff date to pay for accumulated vacation, supervisors are authorized to require employees who are to be placed in layoff status or for whom there is a high likelihood of layoff to take accrued vacation before the layoff occurs.