In a campus-wide email on May 1, Portland State Interim President Stephen Percy announced over a hundred PSU employees will be put on a temporary unpaid leave of absence.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce PSU is making temporary workforce reduction,” Percy stated. “Today, we notified 106 employees of changes in their employment status.”
It’s unclear in the email which employees are affected, but the decision covers multiple departments and will affect auxiliary services. According to the email, “many of these employees are classified staff represented by [Service Employees International Union], but it also includes unclassified, unrepresented employees.”
The furloughs come as a result of a loss of revenue in excess of $13 million across “units that are traditionally self-supporting.” The email does not clarify what is meant by “units.”
“Despite extensive efforts to mitigate the effects, the short-term elimination of work and significant reductions in revenue necessitate extremely difficult personnel actions,” Percy stated.
In an attempt to mitigate the effects of PSU’s decision, furloughed employees have been given two weeks notice and will be enrolled in the PSU extended benefits program, allowing employees to “retain health care benefits, protect seniority where applicable, and preserve unused accrued sick leave and vacation time while on an unpaid leave of absence.”
Without a definitive answer as to when affected employees will return to their normal employment status, Percy stated: “It is our sincere hope that these reductions are short lived, and the employees are able to return to their regular work no later than September 27.”
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Vanguard would like to hear from any employees affected by PSU’s decision. Please email [email protected].
