***PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO ALL STAFF***
Monday, August 3, 2009
TO: Campus Community
FR: Cynthia Cronk, Human Resource Director
RE: Voluntary Separation Option (VSO)
The financial challenges facing the University of California have caused us to consider all sorts of options as our campus seeks ways to deal with significant budget reductions and, at the same time, tries to minimize layoffs. One innovative program that we are now introducing at UC Santa Barbara is the Voluntary Separation Option, or VSO. This program will enable the campus to realize salary savings while awarding eligible and interested employees a severance payment for ending their university employment. UC Berkeley, UC Irvine and UC Davis Health System have all offered Voluntary Separation Programs over the past several months.
Complete details of the program can be found on the Human Resources' Web site (see below), but here are some highlights:
In general, non-represented, non-probationary career staff employees working 50 percent time or more are eligible, with the exception of the Senior Management Group. Eligibility for represented employees will be determined by collective bargaining as appropriate. The amount of severance pay will be based on the employee's classification, salary and years of service. Participants must have the approval of their department manager or, for academic departments, from the department chair and dean. Participants must agree not to be reemployed by any entity of University of California for three years. A department will not be able to fill a position vacated by a VSO participant for 18 months.
The VSO application period begins on Friday, August 14. Completed applications, including the departmental or dean's approval, must be submitted to Human Resources by 5 p.m. Monday, September 14, 2009. The effective date of separation under this program is Friday, October 30, 2009.
Human Resources will be presenting two information workshops on the VSO program, both held in the HR Learning Center, 3101 SAASB:
-Thursday, August 6th, 11am - 12 noon
-Monday, August 10th, 2 pm - 3 pm
In addition, there will be a retirement information workshop on Tuesday, August 11th, from 3 pm to 4 pm, in the HR Learning Center, for employees who also wish to retire after the VSO separation date of October 30, 2009.
Details about the VSO, along with a complete description of the program and the application form, are available on the Human Resources website:
http://hr.ucsb.edu/budget/Voluntary_Separation_Option.php
Questions about the program may be directed to me (x8137, Cynthia.Cronk@hr.ucsb.edu) or Tricia Hiemstra, HR Manager of Compensation & Benefits (x4832, Tricia.Hiemstra@hr.ucsb.edu)
