Mundelein reduces mandatory furloughs for workers
Mundelein officials are reducing the amount of unpaid time off municipal employees were ordered to take earlier this year as the financial crisis prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic grew.
After a discussion during their meeting Monday night, five of the six village trustees informally agreed to reduce the mandatory furlough time from 24 hours to eight hours for nonunionized employees and public works employees.
The time must be taken by the end of December.
They also agreed to reduce the mandatory furlough time from 24 hours to 16 hours for unionized police department and fire department employees.
Unionized employees are getting a smaller reduction in unpaid hours because non-rescindable changes were made to their contracts in exchange for the original 24-hour order.
For example, police officers who pass physical fitness tests will get more paid time off per year, and they no longer will face disciplinary action if they fail the test. Likewise, firefighters will get more paid time off for being safe on the job.
The reduction in furlough hours will cost the village $132,000 in wages, officials estimated.
Employees will be reimbursed if they've already taken off the unpaid time that is being returned to them, Village Administrator Eric Guenther said.
Robin Meier was the only trustee who opposed the deal. She preferred an option in which all municipal employees would have eight hours restored. That proposal would have cost the village an estimated $85,000 in restored wages.
Mundelein officials ordered employees to take unpaid time off earlier this year when it became clear the village was "going to take a hit financially" because of the pandemic, Mayor Steve Lentz said. Sales taxes, license fees and other sources of revenue are lower than budgeted in towns, counties and states across the country because of stay-at-home orders and other restrictions.
The cutback applied to Mundelein's entire workforce, officials said.
"I'm just very grateful to all our employees for really stepping up," Lentz said.
Officials were able to ease the furlough order after the U.S. Treasury Department expanded the list of eligible uses of federal coronavirus funding to include the reimbursement of municipal services.
Trustee Ray Semple spoke in favor of reducing the furlough order.
"I think it's a great idea to give back to the employees," he said. "I know we're not through this whole COVID thing yet."
Meier disliked the way the plan appears to treat workers unequally.
But Trustee Kara Lambert noted the concessions the unions made go deeper than the surface appearance of the proposed change.