Picatinny furloughs begin Monday

The Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey will move to a shortened five-day operating schedule with more than 4,700 civilian employees forced to take off either Mondays or Fridays, according to a statement from the facility.

All civilian employees will be furloughed for up to 11 days without pay following the July 4th weekend, Base spokesperson Peter Rowland said.

Half the Picatinny workforce will be furloughed on Mondays and the other half on Fridays, he said.

Rowland said supervisors have some flexibility to adjust an employee's furlough schedule on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier this week, the Tobyhanna Army Depot announced that 3,500 civilian employees would be furloughed for 11 straight Fridays beginning July 12.

The furloughs are due to federal sequester cuts.