In the midst of the16-day government shutdown, most contractors mirrored the government’s strategy of furloughing staff until funding is re-authorized. IntelliDyne decided to take a very different path.
To help mitigate the effects and ensure that IntelliDyne employees will still be able to support their families in the midst of the congressional stalemate, IntelliDyne leadership team challenged itself to think outside the box and come up with a viable solution. Their plan included a voluntary program that allowed employees to pledge their own paid time off to a pledged pool that would be evenly distributed to furloughed employees.
Announcing the program on Friday, October 4, and finalizing the legal and regulatory details over the weekend, IntelliDyne executive management quickly led the way by starting the pledging with over 300 of their own PTO hours. Pledges from more IntelliDyne employees began coming in, and by the morning of October 8, more than 1,500 hours had been pledged.
The story was widely covered by both local and national media as IntelliDyne was dubbed “Good Samaritans” for stepping up to protect its employees under difficult circumstances. “I could not be more proud of my team and their sincere commitment to each other during difficult times,” says Tony Crescenzo.
Read more about the story and IntelliDyne’s coverage below:
Washington Post – October 7, 2013
“At Falls Church-based technology contractor IntelliDyne, just over a dozen of the company’s nearly 300 employees have been furloughed. Company executives, concerned about how they would pay the workers, pooled their own vacation time to create a bank of hours the furloughed can draw from.”
Wall Street Journal – October 8, 2013
“After huddling with his chief financial officer and tax advisors on Oct. 4, Mr. Crescenzo found there was enough accrued vacation among staff and executives to keep the 14 full-time equivalents going for three weeks, if the paid time-off was divided among employees.”
Fox News – October 9, 2013
NPR– October 8, 2013
“Robert Siegel: More than a dozen people are furloughed contractors employed by the consulting firm IntelliDyne in Falls Church, Virginia. But instead of having to make do without pay or benefits, their non-furloughed colleagues decided to share their paid time off. IntelliDyne’s Tony Crescenzo says the idea started with the company’s senior executives pooling their paid time off.”
Huffington Post – October 8, 2013
“It’s unfortunate that private companies can find a way to do this kind of thing and Congress can’t do it,” Crescenzo said.
Yahoo! Shine – October 9, 2013
“To date, 50 employees and 100 percent of the executive team have donated in excess of 1500 hours — which translates to more than a month of pay and benefits for the company’s furloughed workers.” Says Crescenzo, “I was amazed by the swiftness and generosity of the response.”
Washington Business Journal – October 7, 2013
“What no one is mentioning is that for federal employees that are furloughed, Congress can eventually pass a bill and they get paid again,” said IntelliDyne’s Tony Crescenzo. “But these folks won’t get paid. For most contracts, they’ll eventually turn the spigot back on. But the money that was going to be spent is gone and gone for good.”
WTOP 103.5FM – October 8, 2013
“Crescenzo spent eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps and says, ‘One of their many mottos is ‘we don’t leave anybody behind,’ so we really took this seriously and we wanted to take care of our own.’”
WashingtonExec – October 9, 2013
“To lead the way, my executive team kick-started the donations and within 24 hours, company employees have collectively donated nearly 1,000 PTO hours have been contributed to cover our furloughed colleagues. I could not be more proud of my team and their sincere commitment to each other during difficult times,’ Crescenzo stated.”
Federal News Radio – October 11, 2013
“If you’re a fed, chances are you’re getting a skimpy paycheck today. But at least you know Congress may vote to pay your entire salary retroactively once the shutdown ends. It’s not that way for federal contractors, especially the smaller ones. The shutdown is forcing them to make tough decisions.”