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Human Resources will be live online Thursday (July 9) with a staff forum on furloughs and pay reductions, the layoff process, the Voluntary Separation Program and support services for �ٺ���Ƶ employees during the budget crisis.

Here are the Webcast links:

Previously, Human Resources planned to videotape the forum and post the video to the Web after the fact — and that will still happen.

But now, staff and faculty can watch the forum live online or attend in person. The forum is scheduled from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in Freeborn Hall.

For employees who are not already registered to attend, HR officials said the Webcast is probably the best option. As of noon Wednesday (July 8), 575 people had signed up — just shy of the number of chairs that will be available. Advance registration is taking place online: (search for “HR Forum”).

HR officials said opening remarks will be delivered by Enrique Lavernia, provost and executive vice chancellor, and Bob Powell, chair of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate.

Besides giving a brief overview of the university’s budget challenges, Lavernia is expected to talk about the furlough and pay cut recommendations that UC President Mark G. Yudof is preparing to deliver to the Board of Regents next week.

Lavernia also plans to talk about — feedback that went to the UC Office of the President as part of its drafting of the final recommendations.

The staff forum’s program will then shift to HR services and programs that are available to staff during these difficult budget times.

“We are very fortunate at �ٺ���Ƶ to have a breadth of programs and services to support our staff,” said Karen Hull, associate vice chancellor for HR. “While these services and programs do not eliminate the pain we feel as individuals and as an institution, they do help our employees weather these challenges.”

In addition to gaining information through campus news outlets and programs like the July 9 forum, represented staff are encouraged to bring their budget concerns and feedback to their union leadership.

HR officials said the forum’s layoff discussion will address available benefits, as well as preferential rehire rights and re-employment options and severance.

Other topics will include career counseling and staff development, Academic and Staff Assistance Program services available to employees and families, and mediation services.

The forum also will address the process of initiating retirement, as well as the Voluntary Separation Program, under which eligible employees will receive severance pay if they elect to leave their jobs.

A similar forum took place June 4 for managers and supervisors. A recording of this session is available online, in two formats:

The Voluntary Separation Program is open to nonrepresented employees, with exceptions that include senior managers and academic titles; and to represented employees, subject to union agreement.

The VSP application period opened July 6 and runs through Aug. 7. All separations under this program are subject to management approval, and they would take effect from Sept. 22 to Nov. 15.

Professional and Support Staff would receive one week’s pay for each full year of UC service, up to 16 weeks’ maximum; and Management and Senior Professionals (only grades I-VII are eligible) would receive one month’s pay for each full year of service, up six months’ maximum.

Severance for represented staff would be according to the terms of union agreements. They are available .

Voluntary separations are available to nonprobationary, career employees with appointments of 50 percent or more. Rehired retirees are not eligible, nor is anyone who, prior to July 31, is entitled to separation or severance pay under another arrangement, agreement or settlement with the university.

No severance package can exceed $75,000, and the Office of the President has the final say on any package of $50,000 or more.

An employee who takes a voluntary separation may not return to UC employment — in any appointment type, at any percentage of time, in any classification, anywhere in the UC system — for three years from the date of separation, unless the employee returns their severance pay (under a prorated formula).

In approving a voluntary separation, the department agrees that it will not refill the position for 18 months — in order to generate the funds needed for the severance package and to generate savings toward budget reductions.

If a department seeks to refill a position in less than 18 months, the department must demonstrate that refilling the position is part of a restructuring plan that produces permanent salary savings and generates the funds needed for the severance package.

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Health system VSP

The �ٺ���Ƶ Health System (including the School of Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing) launched its own Voluntary Separation Program, with different rules, earlier this year.

Health system officials said 109 people submitted applications by the June 5 deadline. Since then, the health system reopened the application period, setting a new deadline of July 10.