Furloughs To Send Some Public Employees Home, Unpaid

Furlough days are starting next week for some, but not all, federal employees in Wisconsin. The furloughs are designed to cut federal government spending as a result of the sequestration agreement reached earlier this year in Congress.

There was concern that prison guards at the Oxford Federal Corrections Institution would have to take furlough, but that’s no longer the case. There are no plans to furlough staff at the federal district courthouse in Madison either. And visitors to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin won’t notice changes, as 240 federal workers there won’t be furloughed this summer.

Furloughs will, however, start next week at the U.S. Army military base Fort McCoy in Monroe County, where 1,500 civilian employees are taking one day without pay each week through the end of September.

Fort McCoy spokesperson Linda Fournier says it’s unrealistic to completely shut down the military base for one day a week, so they are asking people to call ahead if they have business, to make sure an employee will be there to help them.

Fournier: “If you’re going to be coming to Ft. McCoy for some business of some sort, even if it’s for recreation, just call ahead. Just make sure everything’s operational for you so you’re not wasting a trip.”

The furloughs at Fort McCoy won’t affect 400 active military employees or private contractors.

Fort McCoy’s summer savings from furloughs and deferred maintenance and repair costs is $6 million.