Boston ? When the state urged welfare caseworker Jo Irvine to take two weeks off without pay, there wasn’t any question of whether to accept. Irvine knew if she didn’t, it would mean more layoffs.

“The only incentive was to save our co-workers’ jobs. We would never do this for any other reason,” said Irvine, 42.

Irvine is one of more than 700 caseworkers who are doing their part to help ease Massachusetts’ budget crunch by voluntarily taking unpaid furloughs or accepting early retirement. The welfare department said those measures will help close a $3 million gap and avoid 160 layoffs.

“I’ll tighten the belt a little, but there’ll be food on the table,” said Irvine, who will receive three weeks of paid vacation in the new fiscal year as compensation.

From coast to coast, cash-strapped states are pressing employees to work extra hours for no pay, defer some of their wages, or take unpaid vacations  or furloughs  to help balance the budget.

States are, of course, also resorting to hiring freezes and layoffs. But furloughs are often seen as preferable to layoffs, in part because they can yield more immediate savings. Laid-off workers have to be given severance pay of six months or more in some cases.

“In the short term you spend more money on layoffs,” said Cheye Calvo of the National Conference of State Legislatures. “You can also lose a lot of talented people.”

In New Jersey, state workers are being asked to voluntarily take unpaid furloughs of up to 90 days to help close an estimated $2.9 billion deficit. The state also plans to lay off part-timers.

In Indiana, which is facing a budget deficit projected to top $1 billion by 2003, some agencies will ask employees to voluntarily work 30-hour weeks instead of the regular 37.5 hours.

In Iowa, the state faces a $120 million shortfall in this year’s budget, and Republicans running the Legislature have proposed forcing most state workers to take one day a month off without pay, saving roughly $13 million by the end of the budget year. Some workers would be exempted, including prison guards and hospital employees.

Massachusetts welfare workers are being asked to volunteer to work two weeks and then defer their pay for up to four years.

Also, the state’s court system has asked employees to work eight days without immediate pay and either defer their wages to 2003 or take 12 days of paid vacation during the next year. Two unions pushed for the option.