That is the topic of a deeply fascinating piece on the Chronicle Career website. Keith D. Miller, a professor of English at Arizona State University tackles both the pragmatic and philosophical problems related to mandated unpaid furloughs. Here is his opening set of questions:

I am taking 12 days of furlough — mandated, unpaid leave — this semester. Why am I, a professor of English, required to do that? Doesn’t that happen only to blue-collar workers at a GM assembly plant? And is it actually possible for an academic to take a furlough? If so, how?

Here are the specific requirements placed upon Miller and his colleagues:

Our administrators initially told us that we could not work on furlough days. Then they stated that we might volunteer to serve the university during some or all of our furlough time. They further informed us that in each department, a staff member would have to track which days we would select for our furloughs (presumably that would be done on one of the staff member’s nonfurlough days). We were not allowed to cancel classes or office hours.

So, work load does not reduce, but your only option for tackling that work load at the same pace is to “volunteer” to do so without pay. Miller’s analysis of the situation is insightful and enlightening. Give it a read!