Furlough: Funny Word, Serious Meaning
Absent in America’s lexicon for years, suddenly the word “furlough” is popping up again, usually in relation to the frequent job furloughs being forced upon workers in an effort to cut costs while maintaining employees. Think of the line from the old TV show Good Times to define furlough: “temporary lay offs.”
Many of today’s job furloughs are often in the form of reduced hours rather than total layoffs. One popular form is a forced day off each week without pay. This gives the company about a 20% salary break while the employee still gets his/her benefits and paycheck, albeit a smaller one.
An article in today’s Chicago Tribune website states “… as of April, 2.8 million people over 16 years old who usually worked full time reported working only part time because of economic reasons.” 1 In other words, except to hear the word uttered at a family gathering in the coming months. Consider yourself armed.
Read on:
TVLand – Good Times theme song (because you know you can’t get it out of your head now)
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Comments
AsAn employee currently on a one day a week furlough, taking a 20 percent hit for a full quarter down right sucks. I see the furlough as a way for a public company to cash conserve, stop from laying off people, but why would a company furlough sales employees who are bringing in the much needed rwvenue?
OH my, I love that site with the TV songs. My favorites are “The Brady Bunch,” “I Love Lucy,” and “Little House on the Prairie,” all shows that HoganSistahs and I used to watch when we were little! Now, *those* were “good times”! LOL! Ok, must. get. back. to. work. so. I. do. not. get. furloughed.