Furloughed?

Unpaid time off.

Whatever you call it some companies and government branches are requiring furlough days so that they can balance their budget. Interesting. Not all of the workers can afford to work one day or more less per pay period and still be able to pay their bills.

In an ideal world, said Juliet Schor, an economist at Boston College and the author of books on labor, leisure and consumerism, shorter working hours would be voluntary, and workers would be compensated for any increased productivity. But even forced furloughs could provide more time for family, community, learning and volunteering, unless people must scramble to fill the time with a second job. Smaller paychecks, she said, would “dampen down the competitive consumption that’s associated with the high-hours economy,” leading to a sustainable way of life. 

Though economists lament that when people earn less they have less to spend, that is an issue for a society whose economy is based on consumption. Those who are required to take a furlough day are having their wages decreased – something they might not have known about when they rented an apartment, took out a mortgage or decided to have their bathroom remodeled. So, instead of being able to pay their bills their own personal budgets may suffer. Even if they are making ends meet, will an unpaid day off make it impossible for people to live? For those not spending really close to the vest, and extra day off might work well for some.

If you have to take a furlough day and children, see if you can work out an arrangement with your child’s school to be a volunteer or chaperone for those trips. Weekly volunteers are always needed at many places, so while you are working a full time job, you might be able to volunteer twice a month.

Dreading furlough days, because you need the money? Try reassessing your budget and see if you can make it without a day’s pay. Really can’t? Check and see if you can find a part time job or do some contract work.

Required unpaid days have benefits for some people. This could be one less day to pay for preschool, before or after school care and one less day to drive and pay for parking. Some studies have shown that people are more productive when they have less time to do their work. For some smaller government agencies this may work well or eve some companies where workers try to spread out their work over the course of a week to “look busy.” Not all offices have peak work periods and offices that do not deal directly with the public or customers can have furlough days without inconveniencing the public as much.