Reveley: No Furlough Day for W&M Employees

By WYDaily Staff Friday, April 02, 2010

The state has required all employees to take one unpaid furlough day before the end of June, but in the budget recently approved by the General Assembly there’s a bit of a loophole. State colleges and universities are permitted in the new budget to pay the state by means other than furlough.

Today, College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley announced the College would do just that, and that there’d be no furlough for College employees this year. In a message to staff, Reveley said it was important to avoid inflicting a day’s unpaid leave on everyone.

"In light of the long salary freeze that we have all borne and your steadfast efforts during difficult times, it is very important to avoid inflicting a day’s unpaid leave on everyone," wrote Reveley in a message to staff. "Thus, we have found a non-furlough way for the university to pay the state the money it requires. There will be no furlough at William & Mary this fiscal year."

William and Mary spokesman Brian Whitson said with the fiscal year winding down then College was getting a better picture of its end-of-year cash situation.

"We are confident we can find enough funds to cover this cost through a combination of contingency dollars we always build into our budget and some savings in budgeted expenditures," Whitson said in an email.

The College employs about 2100, making it the third largest employer in Williamsburg, behind Busch Entertainment and Colonial Williamsburg.

Reveley had praise for employees and expressed relief that a solution to the furlough had been found.

"I realize that saving a day’s pay for everyone is a small step on the road toward meaningful raises, but it does keep us from moving backwards, as would have happened with a furlough," he wrote. "Avoidance of a furlough also comes with my great gratitude to each of you for your wonderful work for William & Mary."