Lt. Gov./ Commissioner Carol Molnau

The partial state government shutdown has ended, at least for now, and I am elated to welcome all Mn/DOT employees back to work. I believe all of you and the roles you fill are essential to the department and to the state. I hope you realize how vital your individual contribution is to the mission and goals of this agency.

The past 10 days have been unsettling and frustrating for all of us. It may be difficult to get back in to the swing of things and morale may not be the highest. But I ask you to please do what you do best—provide the citizens of this state a safe and efficient transportation system. I am confident that you will quickly re-establish the teamwork I have witnessed on a regular basis throughout this department and get the job done.

As I mentioned, the shutdown has ended for now. The Legislature now needs to pass Mn/DOT’s base biennial budget. This budget is based on existing revenue levels and unfortunately does not include the increase in transportation financing sought by the Administration this session.

We will get out communication to you as soon as we know the final outcome of the bill.

Once again, thanks for your patience during this process.

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As a follow-up to the layoff notices mailed July 1, many Mn/DOT employees this week will receive a letter notifying them of their layoff options if the Legislature does not pass a final transportation budget bill by midnight, July 14.

District and Central Office human resource staffs began notifying employees of their layoff options last week either by letter or phone. Once a tentative budget agreement was reached allowing the state’s 9,000 employees on limited job interruption to return to work, HR staff suspended communication to the employees not yet notified. If a final budget is not passed by July 15, layoff option notification will resume by mail or phone.

For most employees, layoff options are limited since the only bumping that can occur is into the 1,000 or so jobs that top management has identified as necessary to support critical functions, according to Rich Peterson, Human Resource Operations director.                                        

For more information, contact either Human Resource Operations or your district human resources representatives.

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If you were on limited interruption of employment status during the shutdown, please use vacation or comp time on your time sheet for those days when you were not at work during the pay period ending July 12. Sick leave is not authorized for this pay period. You may also use your FY06 floating holiday. However, you will need to contact your payroll administrator to help you as the RCA system is not set up to accept a floating holiday until next pay period.

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Communications during the shutdown were maintained in part by Mn/DOT’s Employee Hotline. That service will be maintained for use statewide until the biennial budget issue is resolved. The message will be updated on Wednesday or Thursday, July 13 or 14, when new information may become available from the Legislature.  

In addition to the Employee Hotline, 1-888-234-1245, you may want to refer to the Department of Employee Relations Web site at www.doer.state.mn.us and your local news media reports.

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