The General Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee has approved draft language that would allow state agencies to grant employees five days of leave in fiscal year 2010 to account for a 2.5% pay cut recommended by the committee earlier in this month.

    Under the plan, state employees would see their total pay reduced by 2.5% on July 1 and receive five days of mandatory leave, equivalent to the amount of the cut.

    However, unlike a traditional furlough, the days will not be counted as unpaid and the lost wages would be spread out over the entire year.

    The proposal requires state agencies, including school systems, the legislature and the judiciary, to submit individual plans for implementing five-day leave policies for their staffs. The language further requires that these plans create no additional overtime costs or staffing shortages.

    Another section of the proposal emphasizes the temporary nature of the plan and would ensure that state salaries return to 2009 levels next year, which also protects retirement calculations.

    Gov. Jack Markell, state employee groups and leaders of both parties in the legislature say they agree with the plan, since it preserves the $28.5 million in savings that would have resulted from a straight 2.5% cut.

    The proposal is written into the 2010 grant in aid bill, which both houses must pass tonight.

Email Doug Denison at doug.denison@doverpost.com.