California Prison System Begins Issuing Layoff Notices

As was expected the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began the weekend with a bang for their workers. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began the process of major layoff on Friday when they issues about 26,000 WARN notices to prison system employees. For those of you who are not familiar with the term a WARN notice is not an immediate pink slip. It is simply a document designed to notify workers that they are very likely to be laid off in the near future. Think of it as a way that an employer can give staff more time to sharpen their resumes and maybe even build up a small cushion on savings for when the ax does come.

This move is partially in response to a fiscal issue, and partially because of a change in the California state law. A recent change to the laws allows the prison system to shift offenders who were convicted of less serious crimes to the county jails in the state. This move should also help to save the state of California some serious cash that, when paired with the $13 million that the unions of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation employees unions have already handed back, should help to make up for the states serious budget deficit.

While only 26,000 WARN notices went out on Friday, this will not be the end of the layoffs for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The department warned that it expects to lay off people more than once. Currently, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation employs about 63,000 people. As you can see, this is a serious amount of layoffs, percentage wise and another round would drag things further down. With only serious offenders staying on in the state prisons the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation expected to lose about 20,000 of the 144,000 prisoners who are currently being held to the transfers, as well as to releases.

A full list of the affected positions can be found at http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/layoffresources/index.html. While the list is too big to republish in full, it does reveal some interesting facts. First and foremost, these layoffs are not all for the corrections officers. Running a prison is a lot like running a very well guarded small town. It has its own cooks, its own medical care, its own facilities management of all kinds and administrative staff. Here is a partial list of the counties that are going to lose officers.

• Amador county facilities will lose 47 corrections officers.
• Del Norte will lose 8 correction officers.
• Fresno will lose 88. Imperial will lose 35.
• Kern County will lose 126 officers and 10 sergeants.
• Kings County will lose a total of 112 officers.
• Lassen County will lose 86 officers.
• Los Angeles County is going to lose 68 officers.
• Madera County will lose 121 officers.
• Marin County will lose 86 officers, 6 sergeants and 1 officer.
• Monterey County is losing 85 officers.
• Orange County is losing no officers.
• Riverside County is losing 59 officers.
• Sacramento is losing 51 officers.
• San Bernardino County is losing 173 officers.
• San Diego County is losing 69 officers.