Layoffs and furloughs in West Chester

WEST CHESTER » The coronavirus pandemic hit many borough employees hard in the pocketbook.

Thirty-two borough employees were laid off, eight were furloughed and hours were reduced for one employee, as of Thursday and Friday. The borough employs about 150 workers, including police.

There were no layoffs in the West Chester Borough Police Department.

Furloughed employees will “stay on the books” and likely retain their health care benefits, according to Borough Manager Mike Perrone. Those laid-off who want to continue with the same health care benefits may take advantage of the COBRA program or obtain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The borough currently pays $14,000 for individuals and $25,000 per year for families for health insurance plans.

On March 15, Borough Hall was closed to the public until further notice.

Many employees were asked to work remotely. Others, such as parking department employees were not so lucky, and most can’t work from home.

“They are not writing tickets and not enforcing street cleaning ordinances from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., with no opportunity to work

from home,” Perrone said about parking department employees.

The manager and an administrative assistant are still working in the Building Department to enforce trash and other regulations.

“The Building Department is not inspecting construction sites,” Perrone said.

“There’s nothing for them to do.

“Every business and institution is affected by the pandemic. It’s unfortunate, but the borough can’t pay people for not doing work.”

Perrone said the borough has never before experienced mass layoffs.

“This is a different time,” he said. “It’s very unfortunate.”

No timeline for rehiring is set.

“We won’t be able to bring everyone back at once,” Perrone said. “Nobody has a time frame for anything until this virus gets under control.

“We will hopefully be able to bring everybody back.”

Prior to the action, Perrone discussed the layoffs with department heads and borough council. He said that department heads will make the call on which employees to rehire.

The layoffs included 15 public works employees, 10 parking department employees, three administrative/reception workers, three building and housing staffers and one finance employee.

Among the furloughs

were three finance department employees, two wastewater department workers and one employee in each of the building and housing, parks and recreation, and parking departments. One parking department employee had hours reduced.

Borough Councilman Michael Galey, W3, and Perrone talked prior to when the decision was made.

“The borough is experiencing the financial crunch as every business around the country is experiencing and we’re taking actions similar to all of those other entities to get through this crisis and land on our feet,” Galey said.

Councilman Bernie Flynn, W6, is a fiscal watchdog and chair of the Finance Committee.

“It’s extremely necessary for people to get paid for a full day’s work if they work a full day, but unfortunately the governor has cut down all aspects of work,” Flynn said.

The councilman also noted that sewers can’t be cleaned, buildings can’t be inspected and streets can’t all be cleaned.

“It’s heartbreaking — we’re in uncharted waters — no one has ever had to do this before,” Flynn said. “They are family. It’s so sad.”

Councilman Don Braceland, W5, said that since the future is unknown, the decision to furlough and lay off employees was probably a good one.

“I’m in favor of what is in the best interest of the borough,” Braceland said. “They are great people.

“One of my favorite things to do is to go to Borough

Hall and say hello. This is not a pleasant situation.”

Mayor Dianne Herrin recently declared a state of emergency in the borough and released the following statement, Monday: “As mayor, I have no authority over administrative employees of the borough. This is the role of the Borough Manager and Borough Council. But because I am receiving many inquiries about this, I want to make my personal position clear.

“There are key differences between a layoff and a furlough. The eight furloughed employees will have their jobs back when the work returns and, in the interim, they keep their borough health care coverage. The 32 layoffs, however, are permanent. There is no guarantee of return to work, as these jobs will have to be posted and competitively filled. Laid-off employees also lose health care coverage and will need to purchase their own plans or find some other means to cover medical bills.

“In this time of crisis, I believe furloughs make better sense as a first step for non-critical employees experiencing temporary work stoppages. This is what the Commonwealth of PA and City of Scranton just did. Here in West Chester, I would hope for a similar, deliberate approach that strikes a balance between responsibility to taxpayers and compassion for workers and their families during an unprecedented health crisis. And I know West Chester to be a very caring community.”

Nick Allen, W2, is the newest Borough Council member.

“I am deeply concerned about layoffs and furloughs in the borough,” Allen said. “My biggest concern is the percentage of borough employees who have been laid off instead of furloughed.

“I think this sends a sour message to our workforce that they are not valued as they cannot be promised a return to employment once the pandemic is stamped out. It also looks as though we will need to rehire numerous positions as each department returns to normal operations. While it is true that many employees may be able to return to their jobs, the borough will have to publicly post and hire applicants through an extensive hiring process. I am currently unaware of any other municipalities in the state that took such measures as a response to this public health crisis.

“In my view, it would have been better to look at options where the borough furloughed staff while continuing to contribute to their health care benefits. Thankfully, Mike Perrone has committed to doing this for those who were furloughed. Unfortunately, I still worry about the many employees who were laid off and must pay out of pocket for health care with no job.

“Obviously, this pandemic and the nature of our health care system are both brutal problems way beyond the scale of municipal government, but the borough is headed down the wrong path with the large number of layoffs as we adjust to this stark reality.”