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Article: Creative cost-cutting can ease sting
- Article from:
- Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
- Article date:
- July 15, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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I knew something was up when I got no e-mail response from this
always-follows-up-even-when-knee-deep-in-work person. That and the
cryptic message about her whereabouts on her voicemail got me
wondering: Was she let go? No, it turns out, she had joined the
ranks of the furloughed.
The term furlough, which my brain used to immediately associate
with someone on temporary leave of duty in the armed forces, is the
cost-cutting work arrangement du jour.
It's essentially another word for layoff, says employment
attorney Michael Hanlon with Blank Rome in Philadelphia. This
(usually) temporary time off without pay typically initiated by the
employer, is "voluntary in the sense that an employer would ...