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New Brunswick government says employees using less sick leave this year

The Canadian PressJune 12, 2013 16:35
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's human resources minister says efforts to reduce the use of sick leave within the public service have begun to show results. Troy Lifford says during the first quarter of 2013, employees of government departments used almost 2,300 fewer sick days than in the same quarter last year. But a spokeswoman for his department could not say how many sick days in total were used during those periods. Lifford says there has been an effort to educate employees that sick leave is an insurance program for times when they are unable to report to work.

'Furlough Friday' hits US federal employees

Agence France-PresseMay 24, 2013 17:32
The first day of US government furloughs imposed by a budget crunch saw more than 100,000 federal workers ordered to stay home Friday, including those at the scandal-plagued IRS. The largest non-weather-related US government closure in years saw nearly all employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House's Office of Management and Budget and the Internal Revenue Service placed on unpaid leave.

Budget cuts mean Furlough Friday at four federal agencies

May 24, 2013 16:47
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Across-the-board budget cuts have created Furlough Friday in Washington and elsewhere, as the one-day closing of four federal agencies forced an unpaid day off for 115,000 workers. Employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Internal Revenue Service and the Office of Management and Budget stayed home on Friday.

Over 800,000 U.S. government employees face furloughs

Agencia EFEMay 15, 2013 16:30
Washington, May 15 (EFE).- More than 820,000 U.S. federal government employees will have to take several days off without pay due to mandatory federal spending cuts for this fiscal year, media reports said Wednesday. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel informed Defense Department civilian employees that some 680,000 of them will have to take a total of 11 days off without pay, one per week from July until the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The number of forced furlough days could possibly be further reduced if savings in other areas can be found, officials said.

Pentagon poised to trim number of civilian furlough days, expand pool of exempt workers

The Canadian PressMay 14, 2013 20:30
WASHINGTON - After weeks of debate and number-crunching, the Defence Department announced plans Tuesday to furlough about 680,000 of its civilian employees for 11 days through the end of this fiscal year, allowing only limited exceptions for the military to avoid or reduce the unpaid days off. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, in a memo to the department, called the decision "an unpleasant set of choices" between furloughing workers or cutting training and flight operations.

Hagel announces unpaid leave for Pentagon civilians

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 14:36
The Pentagon will place most of its nearly 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid leave for 11 days through September to "survive" steep automatic budget cuts, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday. The Pentagon chief told an audience of civilian defense workers that he regretted the decision and had tried to limit the length of the furloughs while safeguarding the military's combat readiness. "I'm sorry, but I have to be honest and deal with the facts. You deserve honesty and you deserve the facts," he said at a conference hall in Alexandria, Virginia.

NYC set to pass paid sick days plan, seen as major step in push for the benefit around US

The Canadian PressMay 8, 2013 11:59
NEW YORK, N.Y. - A national push for paid sick days is poised to score a significant victory, with lawmakers in the nation's largest city set to vote on requiring businesses to provide the benefit to an estimated 1 million workers who don't have it now. The City Council was expected to OK that Wednesday, while also approving unpaid sick time for another roughly 300,000 workers. A mayoral veto is expected, but so is an override.

U.S. cuts become real with furlough notices sent to thousands

March 1, 2013 17:45
* Justice Department employees among first to get notices * Military's 800,000 civilian employees expected to be hardest hit * Cuts could affect border patrol, meat inspections, airports By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The nation's largest employer, the U.S. government, has begun notifying its vast and varied workforce to prepare for reduced hours and slashed paychecks over the next seven months as big budget cuts that were once an abstraction became a reality Friday.

FACTBOX-Impact of across-the-board U.S. budget cuts

February 26, 2013 19:00
Feb 26 (Reuters) - Deep U.S. budget cuts are due to kick in Friday unless Congress acts to stop them, which is unlikely. The $85 billion in across-the-board cuts, mandated by a 2011 deficit reduction law, apply in equal measure to defense and non-defense spending. The do not apply to about 70 percent of the money spent by the U.S. government, which includes Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on government debt.

Sequester cuts would further slow US economy

February 23, 2013 21:46
Looming austerity cuts will reduce aid to the poor, cause widespread flight delays and close parts of national parks, further hurting the US economy, government officials and analysts say. Warnings were mounting over the impact of the $85 billion automatic "sequester" spending reductions mandated to start March 1 if warring politicians don't strike a more modest deficit reduction deal before then.
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