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variety of ways that a city could accomplish this, there are some general guidelines that cities may want to follow: 1. Apply the program across - the -board to all employees or to one identifiable group of employees. 2. voluntary Fmgrams have the advantage of allow* g those that can better afford the unpaid leave or reduction in hours to be the ones to step forward. However, whenever some employees volunteer and others do not, there is a risk of employee morale problems. 3. Involuntary programs that apply to all employees are likely to be seen as fair and consistent but may not be the most efficient method of reducing hours. For example, in the winter months, reducing the hours of snowplow drivers at the same rate as golf cow employees may not be the most efficient way to use city dollars. 4. Decide whether the city wants to pay any or all (employer or employee -paid) insurance benefits during the period of unpaid leave and whether the city will allow the employee to continue to accrue vacation and sick leave. billowing all benefits to continue during the unpaid leave will make the program more attractive to employees, but the city will need to consider these costs in calculating possible savings from the program. Also, the city should consult its insurance providers to snake sure that they will allow benefits to continue during extended periods of unpaid leave or to make sure that a break in service will not impact the employee's insurance coverage in any way. 5. Consider the impact on exempt (not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act) versus non - exempt employees (subject to the Fair Labor Stand Act / overtime eligible). There are some issues to consider when applying these cost -saves measures to exempt employees. Most exempt employees are expected to run a program, a division, or a department. It is difficult to determine how to `cut back} on these responsibilities in a way that realistically translates to cuts in their work hogs. Exempt employees are generally expected to work as many lours as it takes to X11 their responsibilities and work hours can vary from weep to week. Cities will probably need to elftnninate specific duties from the job description of an exempt employee in order to provide realistic ways to cut hack on hours. It MaY be somewhat easier to ask exempt employees to participate in a voluntary unpaid leave program where they take an established amount of time of work — several days or a week is likely to work better flm a single day. The city should probably not ask exempt employees to take less than a full da of unpaid � y p leave in order to x la nta in their exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. How does unemployment insurance work? A. The city is directly responsible for unemployment benefits. Unlike private sector employers, most Minnesota cities pay for unemployment insurance on a reimbursement basis. This means that the city pays the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance IIFA