Managers in Denver city departments will consider some merit-based factors rather than just seniority when deciding who they will lay off to help fill a $200 million budget hole under changes approved Tuesday by the Career Service Board.
Four of the board’s five members supported the changes following a four-hour meeting. The decision came just weeks before Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration is expected to begin layoffs of city employees. While details haven’t been announced, the cuts could be substantial for some offices and agencies.
“The rule change is an important step toward ensuring our workforce meets the needs of our residents, even during difficult economic times,” Johnston said in a news release.
Previously, managers in city departments and agencies have made layoff decisions solely based on employees’ length of service with the city. Now, they will consider a combination of factors, including performance history, skills and abilities.
“These changes are a necessary step to ensure we retain the best people to serve the residents of Denver,” said Kathy Nesbitt, the executive director of the city’s Office of Human Resources.
The decision triggered protests and backlash among some employees and City Council members who said the proposal would hurt the city’s reputation as an employer and possibly allow discrimination.
“This change would create confusion, undermine employee morale and open the door to inequitable treatment and legal risk,” 11 council members wrote in a letter to the board Monday.
Tuesday’s vote followed an earlier hearing last month that drew hundreds of viewers in person and online.
“So many of us city workers can barely afford to pay our bills,” Audra Burgos, a Denver city worker for 37 years, told the Career Service Board then, according to Denver7. “We city workers who have fought and fought to keep our jobs and have tenure deserve to leave when we are ready. We earned that.”
The change comes more than a month after Johnston announced that because of a major budget shortfall expected this year and next — totaling $250 million — the city will have to implement layoffs and furloughs.
Some agencies could see overall cuts of up to 20%, including to programs and personnel, said Theresa Marchetta, a human resources spokesperson.
The vast majority of the city’s budget pays for personnel costs, which increased 81% between 2012 and 2022.
During the hearing, Nesbitt fielded questions about how the policy would work.
“As a hypothetical example, I know if I’m going to do more with less, the person with the broadest set of skills (is) going to be ranked the highest,” Nesbitt said.
Under the new policy, managers will be required to weigh length of service at 25% when calculating evaluations. They can choose how much to weigh the other three factors — performance history, ability and skills — between 10 and 35% each.
If there is a tie between two employees based on all the layoff factors, length of service will be the tiebreaker.
Board co-chair Ashley Kilroy was the only no vote, saying she disagreed with the part of the policy that allows managers the flexibility to decide which factors they will weigh more heavily.
“It opens up too much to implicit bias creeping in,” she said.
The board approved other changes to the layoff policy, including extending the length of time during which an employee who has been laid off can be automatically reinstated if their previous position becomes available again. It’s now within one year, rather than six months.
“I hope employees don’t see us sort of ignoring what the real human toll is,” Kilroy said. “We know it will be significant.”
City employees will receive a 30-day notice for layoffs, which could begin as soon as Aug. 1.
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