Pawtucket – The Administration and Pawtucket City Council, with the support of the School Administration and Pawtucket School Committee, recently passed another no tax increase budget for residents and businesses.

The City will now take advantage of the WorkShare Program as a tool for financial offsets for savings of thousands of taxpayer dollars. This Workshare program, which employees had the choice to opt into, allows the City to do partial employee layoffs that will save an estimated over $500 thousand. The City thanks the more than 150 dedicated employees who voluntarily signed up in order to save hardworking taxpayer dollars.

“The WorkShare program is a win-win situation for our employees and community during these challenging times where budgets across the state and country have been met with uncertainty,” said Mayor Donald R. Grebien. “The City will continue to find financially responsible ways to navigate through the budget that holds the line on taxes.”

“The implementation of the WorkShare program will allow the City to save dollars, retain its employees and, most importantly, continue the high quality services provided to our community. We understand that there may be a few hiccups as we go through the program and are committed to continue providing exceptional customer service to our residents,” continued Grebien.

WorkShare, a program offered by the Unemployment Insurance Division in the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT), allows qualified employers to reduce the hours of work for employees rather than lay them off completely during a time of economic hardship. City of Pawtucket employees signed up for WorkShare will work three days out of the week.

The WorkShare program was available for non-public safety union employees to opt in. City Hall will continue to operate by appointment until further notice.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2020
Contact: Wil Arboleda
401-728-0500 ext. 358