Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

All full time classified and exempt employees (represented and non-represented) are required to take furlough days during the 2025–2026 academic year. However, there are two key exemptions: full-time employees earning less than $67,000.00 annually (before deductions) and employees whose positions are grant or contract funded at 50%-100% are not required to participate in the furlough. Positions that are 1%-49% grant funded are required to furlough like all the rest.

For non-faculty

• Employees earning between $67,001 - $87,000 annually: 8 furlough days (annual salary, before deductions)
• Employees earning $87,001 or more annually: 12 furlough days (annual salary, before deductions)

To maximize flexibility for employees and management, Seattle Colleges District is not prescribing specific days for required furlough at this time. Employees must plan with their manager and receive their manager’s approval to ensure they satisfy the required 8 or 12 days of furlough during the 2025-2026 fiscal year (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026). Classified and exempt unrepresented employees may be approved to furlough between July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.  AFT Seattle Professional Staff exempt-represented positions will be approved to take furlough days no earlier than August 7, 2025; they may be approved to furlough between August 7, 2025, and June 30, 2026. Management’s responsibility is to ensure the minimization of service disruptions and so must balance the unpaid absence of furlough days based on the overall staffing of their departments and the service demands of their clients. 

Employees may only furlough up to a maximum of 9 days in any given month. This monthly maximum ensures that employees do not place themselves in a status that renders them ineligible for vacation leave accrual.

Seattle Colleges District does not make unemployment insurance decisions. Unemployment insurance decisions are made by the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD). Seattle Colleges encourages any employee interested in filing for unemployment insurance to follow the guidelines detailed by ESD on their website here: esd.wa.gov - how to apply for unemployment benefits 

No, pay reduction of any furlough day must be allocated to the specific date on which it is taken. 

If you are working a schedule that is different than the traditional five eight-hour days per week, work with your supervisor to ensure that your 40 hours work-week is reduced by 8 hours for every furlough day you take (e.g. working only 32 hours in a work-week in which you take one furlough day). For employees working an alternative schedule (such as 4 x10’s) your supervisor will need to change your schedule for the week to a regular 8-hour work day schedule in any week in which you furlough.

No, they are not included in the furlough currently. 

All employees working less than full-time are currently exempt from furloughs.

For those retiring from PERS/TRS, one of the variables used in calculating the retirement benefit is “average final compensation” – the average of one’s highest 60 consecutive pay. DRS tends to strip out zero earnings periods. It is recommended that individuals set up online account access at: https://drs.wa.gov/oaa to use the Benefit Estimator tool to calculate their retirement benefit.

For those retiring from the State Board Retirement Plan (SBRP), the benefit is based on the value of the account. It is recommended that individuals reach out to TIAA with any questions.

In either case, retirement contributions will continue based on pay received by the employee, however a reduction in paid hours may impact the employee’s service credit accumulation. More information regarding service credit is available here: https://www.drs.wa.gov/employer/ch3/
 

The "060 Furlough Take" absence code in Manage Absences will process as unpaid leave for C06 [Classified] employees. On days when an 8-hour "060 Furlough Take" absence is submitted in ctcLink to record a furlough day, classified employees do not need to enter any work hours on their timesheet for that day.

Yes, employees on FMLA will still be required to take furlough days. This means replacing a paid leave day with an unpaid leave day using the "060 Furlough Take" absence submission in ctcLink to record a furlough day. 

 No, you may not record paid leave hours on the same day as a furlough day. Furlough days are designated as unpaid leave and must be taken as such. 

Yes, if your new position is subject to furlough and you were transferred to that new position within Seattle Colleges mid-year, you would still be required to satisfy the total furlough day requirement. The furlough requirement is based on your employment status, position funding source, and salary, not the timing of your transfer. Therefore, if your new position is designated, you will need to take the required furlough days for the remainder of the fiscal year. 

Employees on furlough the day after a holiday won’t receive holiday pay.

However, employees will still receive holiday pay if they are only in Furlough Status the day before a holiday. 

WAC 357-31-010 - (2) Full-time higher education employees and cyclic year position employees who work full monthly schedules qualify for holiday compensation if they are in pay status for the entire work shift preceding the holiday. Time spent on temporary layoff as provided in WAC 357-46-063 is considered time in pay status for the purpose of this subsection.  Employees will still receive holiday pay if they are in Furlough Status the day before a holiday.

In alignment with Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 182-12-114: An employee is eligible if they are anticipated to work an average of at least 80 hours per month and are anticipated to work for at least eight hours in each month for more than six consecutive months. As folks would be expected to work at least 80 hours/month without furloughs, employer-paid insurance will continue during any month in which the employee is in pay status for at least 8 hours. 

There may be exemptions to the furlough requirement in specific and limited circumstances. Any narrow partial or full exemptions from furlough will be determined by the respective campus President or the Chancellor. 

Furloughs may only be taken in full-day increments. Partial days such as half-days or hourly furloughs are not permitted. This ensures Seattle Colleges is able to provide the legally required consistency in how furlough time is tracked and reported across the institution. 

Yes, if you were hired mid-year and your position is subject to furlough, you are still required to participate. However, the number of furlough days will be prorated based on the month of your hire date. For example, if the annual requirement is 12 furlough days, and you started halfway through the year, you may be responsible for approximately 6 days. Please contact HR to confirm your specific furlough obligation based on your start date and employment classification. 

As a manager, you should evaluate furlough day requests using the same criteria you would for other types of absence: ensuring that business operations are maintained and that coverage is adequate. While employees have flexibility in requesting their furlough day schedule, it’s important that approvals are balanced with operational needs, team schedules, and workload demands. If you’re unsure or face a complex situation, consult with your campus HR for guidance. 

Exempt (E06) employees do not normally track hours, but when taking furlough, they become hourly, overtime-eligible employees, due to Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules. Employees exempt from overtime must not exceed 40 total hours of combined work and furlough time in that week. If you work more than 32 hours in a work week in which you are taking a furlough day, you are not meeting the furlough requirement, and the College will need to pay you for all the hours worked.

To record your furlough day(s), submit an 8-hour "060 Furlough Take" absence submission in ctcLink Manage Absences for each furlough day.

Example to avoid: A 1.0 FTE employee works a cumulative 40 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in advance of a furlough that begins on a Thursday. If Thursday and Friday are entered as unpaid furlough days, the employee would be underpaid for the workweek, as they have already worked 40 hours.

Best practice example: A 1.0 FTE employee scheduled to be furloughed on Thursday and Friday should work 8 hours each day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in advance of their furlough. When 8 hours of unpaid furlough time off is entered for Thursday and Friday, they will be accurately paid. 

Furloughs don’t affect accruals, months of service toward a higher vacation accrual rate, progression start date, seniority, or time off and company service date as long as an employee doesn't take more than the maximum allowable 9 furlough days in a given month. 

Provided you properly request and receive manager approval, you may rescind your previous paid absence submission and resubmit as a furlough absence request.

If a furlough is scheduled for a day you’ve already planned to use PTO, your paid time off would be canceled for that furlough day and replaced with unpaid leave. However, PTO scheduled on other days within the same week can generally still be used, unless otherwise directed. Please check with your manager or HR to confirm how this may apply to your situation. 

Employees may not voluntarily furlough beyond the 96-hour requirement. The furlough program is a structured, mandatory cost-saving measure, and additional unpaid time off outside of the approved furlough policy must follow the institution’s standard leave procedures. However, if you wish to take additional unpaid time off, please consult with your supervisor and campus HR to explore additional options.  

You must complete three steps to get unemployment benefits:

1. Create a SecureAccess Washington (SAW) account in order to access ESD’s eServices.
2. Apply for unemployment benefits.
3. Submit weekly claims each week you want to receive a payment. You submit a claim each week after you have a furlough day.

If you can not log in for any reason (trouble with your SAW account, it’s still locked, SSN doesn’t match DOB, etc.) – you should email the SAW help desk at ESDGPSAWIssues@esd.wa.gov. This team can either resolve the issue or will forward to the correct department within ESD for resolution.

ESD may be able to consider your hours worked in another state.

There's an option early in the application process where you will be asked if you have worked for an employer in another state. If you click Yes, you'll be prompted to input information regarding that employer. ESD will then contact the other state and "bring over" your hours to try and meet the 680 hour threshold. This may take some time (e.g. California is telling other states to give them at least 30 days), but ESD will then determine eligibility as of your application date.

If you find that you get an error message saying that your Social Security number already is associated with another account, you might indeed be a victim of fraud. ESD is taking care of this for you.

Please report this to your HR team to ensure ESD has a copy of your Seattle Colleges email address to help expedite unlocking your account.

You should also read the answer to What should I do if I’m a victim of identity theft? in the Questions and answers section of this ESD page about fraud and follow the steps outlined there.

Email the following department withing ESD and include your SAW username and contact information and they will either work to correct the issue or will forward the issue to the appropriate department for resolution: ESDGPSAWIssues@esd.wa.gov.