Sent on Behalf of Vice Chancellor Reid: Announcement of Dining Services Temporary Furlough

To the Campus Community,

The University of Montana Western notified 15 employees today in Dining Services that they will be on temporary furlough until fall. The last day of work for these employees will be May 22, with an anticipated date of August 17 for them to be back at work for the fall semester. Our auxiliary programs, including Dining Services, depend on generating their own income to operate. Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, residential students were refunded a pro-rated portion of their semester room and board (in excess of $350,000). In addition, this furlough was necessitated by the cancellation of the summer geology camps, suspension of the Montana Youth Challenge, and the other numerous events that have had to be cancelled or delayed, causing revenue to stop coming in that would normally fund these salaries.

UMW is working to identify alternate work for impacted employees. Some areas, such as facilities and grounds, will be entering their busiest season. As work becomes available, UMW will try to place impacted employees in those areas where possible.

Furloughed employees will continue to receive their health insurance benefits. UMW will continue to pay the employer-paid contribution for up to six months. Furloughed employees will also retain any accrued leave balances (sick or annual) and they will be available when they return to work. The plan is to help all of our impacted employees apply for all of the state and federal benefits they are eligible to receive and bring back as many of them as possible in the fall.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].