With an initial round of substantial layoffs at City Hall over,
it’s an opportune time to take a look at the process.
The
”
bumping
”
procedure currently in place makes no sense and only compounds
the agony and the difficulty involved with the process.
Laid-off employees who
”
qualify
”
– and that’s in quotes because the definition is hard to nail
down – can potentially
”
bump
”
employees below them causing a chain-reaction in the layoff
procedure. It leads to questions like: If one employee did a
particular job 15 years ago is that person qualified even though
the technology and procedures in that job currently have little to
do with the skills required 15 years ago.
1. Determining how and why an employee is qualified is difficult
With an initial round of substantial layoffs at City Hall over, it’s an opportune time to take a look at the process.
The “bumping” procedure currently in place makes no sense and only compounds the agony and the difficulty involved with the process.
Laid-off employees who “qualify” – and that’s in quotes because the definition is hard to nail down – can potentially “bump” employees below them causing a chain-reaction in the layoff procedure. It leads to questions like: If one employee did a particular job 15 years ago is that person qualified even though the technology and procedures in that job currently have little to do with the skills required 15 years ago.
It’s a quagmire.
Hopefully, the City Council can see that reality at this point having just been through the process and, thus, will seize the moment to make sure that the current procedures are pushed to the forefront of talks with unions. A bi-lateral effort to rid the city of these arcane procedures right now would be wise.
2. The fewer employees at City Hall, the more ‘bumping’ trouble is likely
In fact, given that there are less employees at City Hall, the situation could become a lot worse should further layoffs become necessary. The fewer people employed, the more likelihood a “bumping” could come into place.
Layoffs are difficult enough. The city doesn’t need outmoded and unfair rules in place that make a rough economic situation worse.
“Bumping” has to go, and the sooner it’s off the books the better.
