Employees who are dismissed through a layoff shall be those within each job classification by department (as listed in Appendix A to this Section) with the least amount of bargaining unit seniority, which shall be determined by an employees total length of bargaining unit seniority, pursuant to Article III, Section 5. Employees with special skill or superior ability may be retained out of seniority for layoffs which are not as a result of subcontracting. Minneapolis Star-Tribune The Publisher shall not be required to reduce the force (whether by buyout or layoff) within a job title or the basis of seniority if the Publisher deems that an employee must be retained. The Publisher may exercise its rights pursuant to this paragraph by exempting no more than twenty (20) percent of any reduction in force to one exemption for every five positions or fraction thereof reduced within a job title. However, there shall be no more than 12 exemptions during a calendar year. San Francisco Chronicle The Employer shall have the unqualified right to reduce the number of Employees without regard to classification or department by layoff and to determine which Employees are to be laid off, which rights shall not be subject to grievance or arbitration. The effective date of a layoff shall be the date set by the Employer in its notice to the Employees concerned, with a copy to the Guild. The Employer will provide the Guild and the affected Employee(s) two (2) weeks notice or pay in lieu of such notice prior to the effective date of layoff. This notice requirement or pay in lieu thereof shall not apply to a discharge of an Employee for good and sufficient cause. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Inc. The Employer will decide when and how many employees will be dismissed or laid off. When deciding on dismissals or layoffs the Employer will give consideration to the needs and requirements of the work to be done and experience, length of service, proficiency, affirmative action goals, specialized skills and other factors. If all the other factors are equal, length of service will be the determining factor. Indianapolis Star The Publisher may identify positions deemed expendable within each of the following classifications: 1) Columnist; 2) Reporter; 3) Producer; 4) Photographer; 5) Community Content Specialist; 6) News Assistant; and 7) Building Services and lay off employee(s) in said classifications. The Publisher shall consider the following factors in determining which employees are to be laid off from those classifications, in the following order of priority: (a) seniority, (b) individual skills and abilities, and (c) individual performance history and disciplinary history. If, after evaluating the employees using the above criteria, the Publisher determines there are two or more individuals of equal qualifications, they will be ranked by seniority. The Publishers judgment and assessment of these factors shall not be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedures; however, the Guild may grieve and arbitrate a failure to follow the provision of this Article VI. St. Louis In any given layoff event, the Employer may in its discretion, regardless of seniority, exempt up to 20 employees in the newsroom (12 in the reporter category, 3 in copy editing, 3 photographers and 2 artist/designers) and 5 in advertising from layoff for any reason. It is understood that the exempted employees will remain in that designation for 12 consecutive months.
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Reduction in Force Language Other Guild CBAs
The Washington Post In the event that The Post determines to lay off employees in the Guild unit, after considering and, in its sole discretion, implementing any appropriate voluntary methods for reducing headcount pursuant to Article X(8), The Post will prepare a list of employees in the affected job classification(s) in the affected work area(s) and rank such affected employees in the order of their seniority of employment with The Post. The Post will proceed with layoffs in inverse seniority order, with the following exception: The Post may in its discretion exempt up to 25% of employees in the affected job classification in the affected work area from layoff for any reason that The Post deems essential to its operations; provided that, in all work areas of less than four employees, The Post may exempt one employee in the affected work area from layoff for any reason that The Post deems essential to its operations. Such exemptions shall not be subject to the Article XXII grievance and arbitration procedure. Substitute voluntary resignations by longer term employees in the affected area will be given consideration by The Post in lieu of employees otherwise slated for separation, and if acceptable to The Post, such substitute employees voluntarily resigning shall be paid severance in accordance with Article XIV of this Agreement. Memphis Commercial Appeal In determining the employee or employees to be discharged in a reduction in force, the following factors shall govern: competency, ability to do the work assigned, special abilities or qualifications for the particular function, and the length of service of any employee who is selected for dismissal. When there is no substantial difference after application of the above, the employee or employees with the greatest total service shall be retained.