Reduction-in-Force Policy

Policy Statement

In the event that economic or operational factors require Duke to eliminate jobs, Duke is committed to attempting to retain staff who have established acceptable performance records and qualifications. Where possible, Duke will first try to redeploy staff into comparable positions in which they meet the minimum requirements. Next, training options will be considered to provide an affected staff member with skills sufficient for placement in a position of comparable pay. Finally, if redeployment is not possible, layoff provisions will be implemented.

Any staff member directly affected by a reduction-in-force will receive at least 60 days written notice of layoff from a supervisor, entity or department Human Resources representative, and/or a department head. This notice will contain information including instructions concerning staff member rights and responsibilities. Each staff member will usually work until the effective termination date. Although this is meant to be a period of transition, staff may stop working on the day they receive notice or at any time during the 60-day notification period. The staff member's pay will stop at the time he/she stops work. Staff rehired by Duke within one year following the necessary layoff will retain all benefit eligibility accrued during the prior service period, and continuous service dates will remain the same as those prior to layoff.

Policy Details

• Eligibility
• Flowchart
• Determination & Provisions
• Definitions
• Responsibilities
• Rights of Affected Staff

Eligibility

The reduction-in-force process applies to all regular full-time and part-time staff but excludes staff who have not completed the 90-day orientation and evaluation period and staff whose positions are fully funded by grants or term positions for special projects that have a specified end date (which has been communicated to the staff member at the time of hire in the form of a written offer letter advising them that they are not eligible for the severance under the reduction-in-force policy). Staff members' layoff and recall rights that are covered by bargaining unit agreements are governed by the provisions of those agreements.

Flowchart

Click here to view the Reduction-in-force flowchart.

Determination & Provisions

When organizational, entity, unit planning or budgeting needs dictate review and change, all relevant Duke offices will be consulted for direction. When a review involves personnel reorganization, reclassification, and/or the possibility of reducing the work force, the vice president for Human Resources and the vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity or their designees must be consulted early in the planning process. All necessary actions will be taken to ensure that decisions are made based upon careful analysis and that staff are treated fairly and offered opportunities for assistance through either the redeployment or layoff processes.

All reduction-in-force decisions should include the following elements:

• Careful analysis to determine which entities, departments, units, programs, services, etc. should be reduced.
• Identification of the positions to be eliminated.
• Identification of the jobs and functions that will need to be performed after reductions.
• Determination of reduction-in-force implementation plan to include timeline, communication plan, notification process, reassignment/bumping process, redeployment process, etc.
• Assessment of competencies of affected staff.
• Assessment of competencies of present staff to perform the jobs/positions remaining.
• Opportunities for reassignment and bumping within entity units.
• Support from entity, organizational and/or institutional senior leadership to apply priority interview and/or priority selection consideration processes.
• Written notification to the affected staff member(s) as soon as feasible, but not less than 60 days prior to the effective date of the action.
• Reasonable opportunities for displaced staff to interview for other employment at Duke.
• A program developed and provided by Human Resources to support the reduction-in-force implementation.
• Opportunity for the affected staff member to appeal, if he/she believes that the reason for the reduction action is a form of discrimination or if the appropriate reduction-in-force procedures were not followed.

Steps for a Reduction-in-Force Plan

• A clear statement of the rationale for eliminating or reducing positions, programs and/or services must be developed. The statement must address the ultimate objectives to be achieved, such as reallocation of resources, effecting a budgetary reduction or enhanced productivity.
• Organizational, entity, department and/or unit functions and responsibilities must be carefully analyzed to determine which areas, activities, programs, organizations or classifications should be reduced.
• The jobs and functions that will need to be performed after the reductions are identified.
• Personnel file review for affected staff to determine acceptable performance record.
• The nature of the reduction-in-force, reduction-in-force process (reassignment, bumping, redeployment and/or layoff) and the staff affected must be determined.
• All documentation prepared in the evaluation process and an explanation of the recommendations will be sent to the appropriate Duke executive vice president, chief executive officer or executive director of the affected entity(ies), vice president for Human Resources/Chief Human Resources Officer and vice president for the Office for Institutional Equity (or their designee) for approval.

Position Elimination/ Layoff Procedures

• Positions of temporary and orientation and evaluation staff within a job classification will be eliminated before any regular staff (full-time, abbreviated work schedule, or part-time work schedule) or regular part-time staff within the same classification and department.
• Positions of regular part-time staff (staff working less than 20 hours per week) within a job classification within a department will be eliminated in reverse order of their seniority. The position of a regular part-time staff member with the least seniority will be eliminated first, and the position of a regular part-time staff member with the most seniority will be eliminated last.
• Positions of regular staff on an abbreviated work schedule (greater than 20 hours a week but less than 40 hours a week) within a job classification within a department will be eliminated in reverse order of their seniority. The position of a regular staff member with the least seniority will be eliminated first, and the regular staff member on an abbreviated schedule with the most seniority will be eliminated last.
• Positions of regular full-time staff within a job classification within a department will be eliminated in reverse order of their seniority. The position of a regular full-time staff member with the least seniority will be eliminated first, and the positions of a regular full-time staff member with the most seniority will be eliminated last.
• Positions made vacant by a reduction-in-force may not be filled for at least 12 months from the effective date of the reduction notification, except by following the recall provisions of this procedure. This requirement applies even if, following the reduction-in-force, the affected position is reclassified into another similar position.
• In the case of a staff member whose duties are divided between two or more departments or entities a reduction-in-force decision by one department/entity will not obligate the other(s) to increase the hours or funding to compensate for the reduction.

NOTE: The selection of exempt employees for a layoff will be made by the appropriate department head. Review of the department head's initial selection will be made by the Vice President for Human Resources or his/her designee.

Authorization for Layoffs

The decision to affect layoffs should be made by the designated senior leader only when redeployment and training/re-training are deemed impractical. Human Resources will provide early consultation and collaborative planning regarding policies, procedures and workforce demographics.

Reduction-in-force Plan Review and Approval Process

1. The Vice President for Human Resources/Chief Human Resources Officer (or designee) will review the written plan to determine that all work force reduction determinations are consistent with this procedure and that affected staff are treated in an equitable, compassionate and consistent manner.
2. The Vice President for the Office for Institutional Equity will review the plan for adverse impact; i.e. to ensure that protected classes are not disproportionately affected by the reduction-in-force decision.
3. The vice presidents/Chief HR Officer will submit the plan with their approvals or recommendations for action to the appropriate Duke executive vice president or his/her designee.
4. Following approval, the confidential written plan describing the nature of the reduction-in-force and the staff affected will be sent through the appropriate administrative channels. Only at such time as the Duke executive vice president and entity chief executive officer (or designee) concurs with the recommendation may the organization, entity, department or unit initiate the notification process.

Reduction-in-force Notification Process

1. Once the reduction-in-force plan is approved, the organization and/or entity senior leader will meet with the management staff to review the communication, notification and implementation plan.
2. The entity and/or department head will schedule a meeting with affected staff (either as a group or individually) not less than 60 days prior to the effective date of the action.
3. At that time, the affected staff member(s) will be formally notified and provided with a letter of notification of the position elimination.
4. Each letter of notification must include language describing transition assistance offered by Human Resources and the affected staff member's right to file an appeal.

A copy of the notice of reduction-in-force will be provided to the vice president for Human Resources and entity HR director.

Definitions

These definitions apply to these terms as they are used in these procedures.

Acceptable Performance Record

• The current or latest performance evaluation must have an overall rating of no less than Successful.
• There are no current corrective actions in the Disciplinary Action track.

Bumping Rights (Hourly-paid staff only)

The displacement of one staff member by another who is affected by a reduction-in-force action and has greater seniority and is serving the next higher-level direct line title in the unit affected by the reduction-in-force action.

• The affected staff member must have an evaluation of at least Successful on his or her most recent performance evaluation and no current corrective actions in the Disciplinary Action track.
• Once the affected staff member has been informed of his or her opportunity for bumping, he or she has 3 working days (Monday to Friday) to decide whether to accept or not.
• If the affected staff member does not accept the bumping opportunity he or she will move forward to redeployment.

Calendar Day

Any day between Monday through Sunday.

Comparable Pay

Pay that is no more than a 10 percent reduction in current base salary.

Comparable Position

A position is comparable if there is no more than a 10 percent reduction in current base salary. This is the primary consideration, which will determine whether a position is comparable. Secondary consideration which will not define comparability, but will be factors in placing a staff member include job level and job family. The affected staff member will be matched with the closest vacant position to the eliminated position for which the staff member meets minimum qualifications. Part-time staff have opportunities for available part-time positions.

Continuous Service Date

A staff member's most recent date of hire, used to determine certain benefits, including Paid Time Off accrual rates, seniority status and eligibility for certain programs including retirement. Staff who are rehired will not be given credit for prior service for purposes of continuous service date, paid time off (as PTO, vacation, or sick leave), or for other benefits unless they have left Duke within the last 12 months because of a layoff or research staff on active payroll.

Entity

• For purposes of reassignment and/or bumping rights, the executive vice president will determine entity distinctions in conjunction with the vice president for Human Resources or his or her designee.
• If priority interview has been deemed appropriate, a department refusing to accept a qualified redeployed or layoff candidate may have the vacant position canceled for 12 months. Questions regarding qualifications will be referred to the vice president for Human Resources or his or her designee.

Exempt Status

A job status (management, administrative or professional) in which a Duke staff member is paid a fixed monthly salary and is exempt from coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Any hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek do not result in additional overtime pay or compensatory time off. This term is used interchangeably with “monthly” and “salaried.”

Guidelines

Guidelines clarify and provide detail about procedures.

Layoff

A loss of employment due to economic and/or operational factors requiring workforce reduction. A layoff can be either temporary (loss of employment is expected to be of short duration, i.e., 30 calendar days or less) or permanent (greater than 30 days).

Layoff Status

Preference in referrals for one (1) year following date of termination.

Departments will not be permitted to hire individuals other than qualified referred priority staff unless they can explain in writing why they are not qualified.

• If the hiring manager does not select the applicant he or she must provide written justification to the assistant vice president of Recruitment or her or his designee.
• The assistant vice president of Recruitment will review and discuss the justification with the hiring manager and his or her department head (and the entity HR director if applicable) and make a determination to accept or deny the justification.

Non-exempt Status

A job status in which pay is calculated based on the hours worked, and the staff member is entitled to overtime pay. This term is used interchangeably with “biweekly” and “hourly.”

Placement

A staff member who is affected by a reduction-in-force who declines a comparable position within one year of notification will be considered to have resigned.

Priority Interview

• A qualified referral is matched with a vacant comparable position for the purpose of a selection interview.

Priority Selection Consideration

• A qualified referral is matched with a vacant comparable position for the purpose of a selection interview.
• If the hiring manager does not select the applicant, he or she must provide written justification to the assistant vice president of Recruitment or her or his designee.
• The assistant vice president of Recruitment will review and discuss the justification with the hiring manager and his or her department head (and the entity HR director if applicable) and make a determination to accept or deny the justification.

Qualified Referral

• Meets the minimum qualifications for the vacant position.
• Successful (university) or Fully Achieves (health system) on current/most recent performance evaluation.
• No current corrective actions in the Disciplinary Action track.

Reassignment (Hourly-Paid and Monthly-salaried)

When a comparable position is vacant within the entity affected by the reduction-in-force, an affected staff member who is qualified for the vacancy will be offered the opportunity for reassignment based on the following criteria: (1) current/latest performance evaluation is a Successful (university) or Fully Achieves (health system) and no current corrective actions in the Disciplinary Action track; (2) meets minimum qualifications for the position; (3) is the most senior staff member qualified for the position; and (4) currently works in the same entity.

• Once the affected staff member has been informed of his/her opportunity for reassignment, he or she has 3 consecutive workdays (Monday to Friday) to decide whether or not to accept.
• If the affected staff member declines the reassignment offer he or she will have resigned (at the end of that workday) without eligibility for severance, recall or priority interview/selection consideration status.
• If the affected staff member accepts the reassignment offer, he or she will meet with the new supervisor to identify a transition plan.

Recall

A staff member who left Duke due to layoff status can be recalled to a funded position (of equal or lower classification for which he or she is qualified) that becomes available within a year in the department from which he or she was laid off.

Redeployment

• Placing a staff member into another comparable position at Duke within the 60-day notification period.
• Redeployment is not an opportunity for promotion or a guarantee of shift, working hours or additional premium pay.

Reduction-in-force

The elimination of a position and related work longer than 30 calendar days in duration, and, in some cases, even a permanent phasing out of positions.

Severance Pay

Provides limited financial assistance to regular full-time or abbreviated schedule (working at least 20 hours per week) staff who are not paid 100 percent from grant funds and who are affected by a permanent layoff.

• This compensation is predicated on several factors (see Rights of Affected Staff).
• Severance pay will not be provided in a lump sum payment

60-Day Notification Period

The period of time (60 consecutive calendar days) given to a staff member who has been notified that his or her position will be eliminated for more than 30 days.

• During the 60 days, the staff member will either continue working in his or her position on regular payroll, be relieved of job duties to identify and pursue other employment opportunities or a combination of the above.
• The 60-day period is provided as an opportunity to partner with the supervisor and the transition coordinator to identify and pursue other job opportunities.

Training/ Retraining

Focused skill development that can be reasonably provided during the 60-day notification period to qualify a staff member for redeployment.

Unit

For purposes of reassignment and/or bumping rights, the entity senior leader will determine unit distinctions in conjunction with the vice president for Human Resources or his or her designee.

Work Day

Any day between Monday and Friday.

Responsibilities

The major responsibilities each party has in connection with Reduction-in-force are as follows:

Rights of Staff Affected by a Reduction-in-Force

The following conditions apply to all staff affected by a reduction-in-force.

Written Notice

• 60 consecutive calendar days prior to position elimination.
• Although this is meant to be a period of transition, staff may stop working on the day they receive notice or at any time during the 60-day notice period.
• Declining an offer of a comparable position or stopping work, which ever occurs first, the staff member's pay will stop.

Transition Coordinator Support

• Each affected staff member will be provided coaching and support from a transition coordinator to assist him/her in formulating career options.
• The affected staff member is expected to decide whether or not to accept an offer of a comparable position or voluntarily resign.

Staff members not meeting the standard of a Qualified Referral will not be assigned a Transition Coordinator.

Qualified Referral

• Meets the minimum qualifications for the vacant position.
• Successful (university) or Fully Achieves (health system) on current/most recent performance evaluation.
• No current corrective actions in the Disciplinary Action track.

Right to Appeal Reduction-in-force Decision
(Hourly-Paid and Monthly-salaried staff included)

The right to question, through the Duke Dispute Resolution Process, the specific provisions of the reduction-in-force process and how they were applied to the staff member. However, the assessment and evaluation of economic and operational factors leading to a decision to effect a reduction-in-force will not be the direct or indirect subject of a grievance.

• Any staff member affected by a reduction-in-force decision may appeal on the basis outlined in this policy.
• The staff member will follow the provisions and timeline outlined in the Duke Dispute Resolution Process.
• Failure to comply with this requirement will be deemed a waiver of the right to appeal.
• The burden will be on the appealing staff member to show that the reason for the reduction action was not reasonably related to a legitimate reduction-in-force factor, but rather due to a reason impermissible under federal or state statutes or organizational policies.
• If the appeal process is not completed by the staff member's last scheduled day of work, the staff member will be released on the effective date of the reduction-in-force and the appeal process will continue through completion.

Reassignment
(Hourly-Paid and Monthly-salaried staff included)

When a comparable position is vacant within the entity affected by the reduction-in-force, an affected staff member who is qualified for the vacancy will be offered the opportunity for reassignment based on the following criteria: (1) current/latest performance evaluation is a Successful (university) or Fully Achieves (health system) and no current corrective actions in the Disciplinary Action track; (2) meets minimum qualifications for the position; (3) is the most senior staff member qualified for the position; and (4) currently works in the same entity.

• If a staff member has reassignment rights, it is the responsibility of the department/entity HR director to counsel the staff member about that fact, and to inform the staff member on how to exercise those rights.
• Once the affected staff member has been informed of his or her opportunity for reassignment, he or she has 3 consecutive workdays (Monday to Friday) to decide whether or not to accept.
• If the affected staff member declines the reassignment offer he or she will have resigned (at the end of that workday) without eligibility for severance, recall or priority interview/selection consideration status.
• If the affected staff member accepts the reassignment offer, he or she will meet with the new supervisor to identify a transition plan.

Bumping Rights
(Hourly-Paid staff only)

A regular, full-time staff member with an established and acceptable performance record, who is hourly-paid and who is affected by a reduction-in-force, will have the right to assume another position in an equal or lower classification within the same unit if:

• The position is of the same type. Regular full-time hourly-paid staff may only bump into regular full-time hourly-paid positions. Regular staff on an abbreviated schedule (20 hours but less than 40 hours) may only bump other regular staff on the same abbreviated schedule. Similarly, regular part-time hourly-paid staff may only bump into regular part-time hourly-paid positions.
• If a staff member bumps into a lower classification, that staff member will receive the lower of his or her current rate of pay or the maximum base pay of the classification into which he or she is bumping.
• If a staff member has bumping rights, it is the responsibility of the entity HR director to counsel the staff member about that fact and to inform the staff member on how to exercise those rights.
• The staff member has 3 consecutive workdays (Monday to Friday) to decide whether or not to exercise bumping rights.
• Staff who choose not to exercise bumping rights will be placed on layoff status.
• NOTE: Bumping rights are not applicable to monthly-salaried staff

Declining an Offer for a Comparable Position

During 60-Day Notification Period: During the 60-day notification period, if the staff member is offered a position of comparable pay, and he or she declines that offer, the staff member will have resigned (at the end of the work day) without eligibility for severance, recall or priority interview/selection consideration status.

After 60-Day Notification Period and within One Year of Termination: If a staff member declines a comparable position after the 60-day notification period but within one year of termination, he or she will be considered to have resigned and will forfeit any remaining severance payments and priority interview/selection consideration status.

Trial Period

• As a newly transferred staff member, the 90-day orientation and evaluation period is considered a trial period.
• A newly transferred staff member may use accrued and unused PTO time during the first 90 days in a position with the approval of the supervisor.

Training Opportunities

• Training/re-training requirements (including funding) will be a joint determination among the senior administration of affected entity, entity HR director, Learning & Organization Development, and Recruitment & Talent Management.

Curriculum determination will be based on the following: (1) competencies for current vacant positions, (2) gap analysis of affected staff members and (3) the ability to develop or enhance skills within the 60-day notification period.

Rights of Laid Off Staff

The organization, entity, etc. may determine that the layoff process is preferred. For those affected staff, the following provisions apply. These provisions also apply to redeployment candidates who do not find positions within the 60-day notification period.

Staff Member's Rights

See previous chart "Rights of Staff Members Affected by a Reduction-in-force".

Severance Pay

If a comparable position cannot be found within the 60-day notification period, the following provisions will apply:

• Only regular full-time or abbreviated schedule (working at least 20 hours per week) staff who are not paid 100 percent from grant funds are eligible for severance pay.
• Eligible staff will receive 1 week's base pay for each completed year of credited service.
• Severance pay will be calculated based on the staff member's:
  • normal work schedule in effect when he/she received reduction-in-force notification
  • base rate of pay in effect when layoff status begins
• See chart "Compensation for Laid Off Staff " for severance pay calculation.
• Severance pay will be a minimum of 2 week's pay and a maximum of 26 week's pay.
• Severance pay will be mailed to laid-off staff or, for those with direct deposit, credited to their bank account on their regularly scheduled payday.
• Severance pay will not be provided in a lump sum payment.
• Severance pay will cease in the event that the laid-off staff member returns to work at Duke.
• Any layoff candidate who rejects an offer of placement into a comparable position will forfeit all rights to severance pay.

Payment of PTO Accruals

• 100 percent of any accrued and unused time in the Short Term Bank.
• 50 percent of any accrued and unused time in the Long Term Bank.
• Accrued time off pay will not be provided in a lump sum payment.
• Reinstatement of prior accrued and unused time in the Carry Over Bank will occur if the affected staff member returns to employment at Duke within one year of the layoff date.

Payment of Vacation and Holiday Accruals

• 100 percent of any accrued and unused vacation and discretionary holiday time.
• Accrued time off pay will not be provided in a lump sum payment.
• Reinstatement of prior accrued and unused sick leave time will occur if the affected staff member returns to employment at Duke within one year of the layoff date.

Continuous Service Date

Reinstatement of prior Continuous Service date will occur if the affected staff member returns to employment at Duke within one year of the layoff date.

Children's Tuition Grant Eligibility

• For laid-off staff who were eligible for the Duke Children's Tuition Grant Program as of their layoff date, the grant will be paid for a maximum of 12 months from the date of termination for a total of two semesters per child or the equivalent, as long as the children are continuing students and remain consecutively enrolled.
• The overall benefit maximum limit of eight semesters per child and 16 semesters per family will continue to apply.

Health and Basic Life Insurance Coverage

Health and Basic Life insurance coverage for the balance of the month in which the layoff occurs, and for as many as six (6) additional months thereafter, as long as the staff member pays his or her share of the premiums. An additional 12 months of health insurance may be elected; however, the staff member will be responsible for the entire COBRA premium.

Recall

Recall to funded positions of equal or lower classification for which the laid off staff member is qualified that become available within a year in the department from which they were laid off.

• Staff previously laid off from the department will be returned in seniority order. That is, the last staff member laid off will be recalled first.
• Within 48 hours following receipt of notification, staff receiving notification of recall must indicate their intent to return and report for work no later than 7 calendar days after receipt of this notification.
• Notification will be made by certified mail. Refusal to accept recall will be considered a waiver of all recall rights.
• For purposes of Carry Over Bank/Sick Leave accumulation, laid-off staff who are recalled into another Duke position within a year of termination will have their prior balance of unused Carry Over Bank/Sick Leave reinstated.
• For purposes of Continuous Service reinstatement, laid-off staff who are recalled into another Duke position within a year of termination will have their prior service date reinstated.

Compensation for Laid Off Staff

For regular full-time or abbreviated schedule staff member working at least 20 hours per week and is not paid 100 percent from grant funds.

Neither Severance Pay nor PTO bank/vacation and holiday accruals will be provided in lump sum payments.

Policy Number: 04.05