STORY:
Y2K Spoiling Vacations

An Associated Press story appearing in the USA Today reports on some U.S. companies plans to cancel employee vacations at year's end because of possible Y2K computer bug problems.

According to the story which is centered on the Cleveland area, some of the bans are just a couple days or so. Others will last months. Technicians, utility workers, bankers, city employees, emergency personnel and financial consultants are among those who'll be shelving their party hats and noisemakers come Dec. 31.

One of the countries largest banks, KeyCorp has told about a fourth of its workers in its 960 branches that they will have New Year's Eve duty. Although Key Corp and thousands of other companies believe they're Y2K compliant, they don't want to take any chances. According to the AP, among employers imposing vacation bans are:

• Merrill Lynch, with 64,000 employees worldwide, has asked managers and other key personnel not to take time off from Dec. 1 through Feb. 15, 2000.
• Detroit Edison Co. has banned vacations for its 8,400 utility workers from Dec. 27 to Jan. 7, 2000.
• The DuPage County Sheriff's office, just west of Chicago, has blocked off all of November, December and January for its 530 employees, ranging from deputies to secretaries.

More than half the 200-plus chief information officers and technology executives polled by CIO magazine earlier this year said they would ban vacations for information technology staffers in the week around New Year's.

The Federal Reserve, anticipating a surging demand for cash toward year's end, plans to stockpile an extra $200 billion, one-third more than normal, and the Fed branch in Cleveland is asking its 1,200 employees to be available from Dec. 27 to Jan. 10, 2000.

The Sabre Group, a travel and transportation technology company based in Fort Worth, Texas, will have officials in a command center tracking the new year's arrival around the world.

Source: The Associated Press / USA Today

DATE: 4/06/99

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