City of Santa Maria furloughs 93 employees
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The City of Santa Maria announced Tuesday that it is furloughing many of its hourly “limited service” workers because facilities are closed and programs have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“At this time, 93 people - who worked from four hours to 19 hours per week - have been informed there is no work for them and have been instructed to file for unemployment,” Public Information Manager Mark van de Kamp said in a news release.
“The only change to our workforce is the limited number of 19-hours per week employees furloughed during this time. No layoffs have been processed at this time” he said.
Many of these hourly employees were already not working or working very few hours due to the renovation of the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center pool, which began in January, according to the city.
68 furloughed workers worked with the Recreation and Parks Department, 22 at the Public Library (main and branches), two worked with the Community Development Department and one at the City Manager’s Office.
Notices to the Library employees were given on March 18, when all libraries were closed and programs canceled. Notices to the Recreation and Parks employees went out at various times as recreation facilities and programs were closed, to limit exposure to the novel coronavirus, and other work was not identified.
Overall, the City has 160 limited service positions.