Hartford - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is holding off for at least several days on issuing large-scale layoff notices to state workers, the governor's senior adviser said Thursday.

Malloy warned as late as Wednesday that the first batch of notices would go out today if his administration hadn't reached an agreement with unions representing the equivalent of 45,000 full-time employees.

The governor put the number of potential layoffs in excess of 4,000, but hasn't said how many notices would go out with the initial group. Contracts mandate an eight-week notice for the most senior state employees. Malloy initially sought to have all potential layoffs in effect by the July 1 start of the next fiscal year.

His adviser, Roy Occhiogrosso, told reporters that Malloy decided between late Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning that he will give more time for negotiations.

The governor is seeking $1 billion in annual savings and concessions from state workers to balance the two-year, $40.1 billion budget that passed both chambers of the legislature this week. The budget also calls for $1.4 billion in tax increases in its first year.

Occhiogrosso said the reprieve can be considered "an act of good faith" on the governor's part as talks continue.

"He wants to reach a deal," Occhiogrosso said. "He has no desire to lay off thousands of people."

About 100 layoff notices will go out today, but these layoffs are unrelated to labor negotiations and are a result of agency consolidations in the governor's new budget. The majority of workers receiving the 100 notices are nonunion managers, Occhiogrosso said.

The labor talks began in early March and have been shrouded in secrecy, both sides adhering to a confidentiality agreement.

The administration's chief labor negotiator said last week that he anticipated a "solid" agreement by the end of this week. However, Occhiogrosso said Thursday that that assessment was overly optimistic.

Union officials were pleased with the governor's decision to hold off.

"I think that the members of our unions are going to see this as a welcome step towards a little more space to come to a mutual agreement," said Matt O'Connor, a spokesman for the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, which represents the group of 15 state employee unions.

Malloy was to meet Thursday evening with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to discuss alternative ways to balance the budget if concessions come up short.

In addition to layoffs, the governor's so-called Plan B is said to involve program cutbacks and cuts to municipal aid.

If mass layoffs do occur, those senior employees requiring eight-week notices would continue to work for a few days into the next fiscal year, Occhiogrosso said.

j.reindl@theday.com