By Donna Hemmila

UC Regents have given the go-ahead for the university to pursue a voluntary Staff and Academic Reduction in Time program to help cope with proposed state budget cuts.

The START program offers UC employees, whose departments have agreed to participate, the option of cutting back their work hours and corresponding pay by 10 to 50 percent.

On May 14, Regents approved amendments to the UC Retirement Plan, the first step to instituting a new START program, which would run from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2010. The program is likely to be approved after a 30-day employee comment period, which ends on June 6.

UC offered a START program in 2003 that ran for three years. Between June 2003 when the program launched to July 2006, the voluntary time reductions resulted in a systemwide salary savings of $41.9 million.

Sixty percent of the 3,032 employees who took advantage of the program reduced their time 20 percent or less.

Doris Wildeman, a supervisor in the general accounting office at UCOP, took advantage of the last START program by cutting her hours 20 percent for the full three years. She had two young daughters in elementary and middle school, and she arranged her workday to leave early enough to pick them up from school each day.

"I was able to take part in their school activities and volunteer," she said. "I was able to be active in my kids' day-to-day life. "

The cost of child care would have been greater than the 20 percent reduction in her paycheck, she said, but money wasn't the issue.

"I just enjoyed the time with my family," she said. "That's worth more to me than the money."

Wildeman said she would take part in the new START program but doesn't think her workload now will allow her to cut back hours.

START participants continue to accrue sick leave, vacation and retirement plan service credit at the same level they did prior to joining the program.

Participants must work at least 50 percent of their full-time hours each month. Employees have the option of joining the program for one month to a maximum of 24 months. Either the employee or the department head can terminate the agreement with 30 days notice. Employees must have approval of their supervisor to participate, and not all departments are likely to participate in the program. For represented employees, the option of participating will depend on the agreement of the applicable union.

More details on the program are available at the Human Resources and Benefits Web site.

For more information or to comment on the START program by June 6, faculty should contact their local academic personnel office and staff should contact their local HR departments.

Donna Hemmila is editor of Our University.