Leaders of the state employee unions have postponed their final vote on the concessions deal with Gov. Dannel Malloy to try and save jobs.

Postponing the vote indefinitely was the only way to prevent imminent layoffs, union leaders said on Monday. However, Malloy said layoff notices could begin going out next week.

As union leaders try to save jobs for 7,500 state employees at risk of being laid off, they are considering changing complicated union bylaws that require 80 percent of members to vote in favor of a deal for it to pass as well as a revote for people who voted no.

Union leaders said some members were misinformed about the concession plan before they voted.

There is little else they can do unless changes are made to union bylaws and quickly. In Those rules require 80 percent approval for measures to pass and for no more than one union unit reject it, Matt O'Connor, a union spokesman, said on Friday.

More than half of union members actually passed the concessions deal, but 57 percent are not enough.