THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510290067
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Gov. George F. Allen is offering state employees extra time off during the holidays, but workers and Democrats dismiss it as a ploy by the Republican to influence workers' votes in the Nov. 7 legislative elections.
In a two-page memorandum that will accompany state employees' paychecks distributed Wednesday - six days before the elections - Allen announces that workers will get three more days off between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe said his boss isn't trying to sway a state employee vote that could be crucial in several House and Senate races. It's only to reward workers - many of whom believe the governor has treated them badly - for their ``dedication and hard work'' during a ``transitional period.''
``It's Santa Claus all over again,'' said Speaker of the House Thomas W. Moss Jr. of Norfolk. ``It's so blatant, so transparent. He's wearing a Santa suit.''
Last year, the administration announced an extra 1 1/2 days off during the holidays in a late October memo to Cabinet secretaries and agency heads from Chief of Staff Jay Timmons. In 1994, Allen ordered state offices closed at noon on Thanksgiving eve, and on the Friday before Christmas.
The Allen memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, says state employees will pick up an extra half-day off on Nov. 22, when government offices will close at noon. They also will be closed Thanksgiving Day, as well as the day after the holiday.
State offices also will be closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day, which both fall on Monday. But offices will close the day after Christmas and at noon on the Friday before Christmas.
Plus, employees may take an additional day of holiday leave on one of four days - Wednesday, Dec. 27; Thursday, Dec. 28; Friday, Dec. 29; or Tuesday, Jan. 2.
With the two half-days at Thanksgiving and Christmas, the day after Christmas and the bonus day, state employees will have an additional three days off. Depending on when they take the bonus day, some workers could have a 5 1/2-day break over Christmas. by CNB