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September 14, 2011 By Hilton Collins
This week marks the first full week of Utah’s return to a traditional five-day workweek for state workers after years of implementing the 4/10 schedule in which employees worked four 10-hour days with Fridays off.
Utah’s 4/10 workweek debuted in 2008, implemented by then-Gov. Jon Huntsman. Utah CIO Steve Fletcher told Government Technology at the time that two of the benefits of the condensed schedule would be saving more than $3 million annually in energy costs — because government offices would be closed an extra day each week — and luring top-notch IT workers accustomed to flexible hours in the private sector.
Officials said at the time that Utahans wouldn’t be hindered by the government’s shorter workweek thanks to the state’s improved online service offerings. But reportedly citizens and businesses complained to lawmakers about state offices being closed on Fridays and how that inconvenienced them. In the end, legislators jettisoned the 4/10 experiment primarily out of skepticism about its effectiveness as a money-saving endeavor, Stateline.org reported.
According to one late-2009 report, annual savings were $502,000 with 4/10s in place, well below the $3 million target.
The state Legislature passed a bill to end the 4/10s schedule, and Huntsman, no longer governor, is preparing to campaign in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Last Tuesday, Sept. 5, was the first day of the week that state employees were to return to the five-day schedule, but Monday, Sept. 5, was Labor Day, so they worked four days anyway. That makes this week the real return to the good-old days.
Dave Fletcher, Utah’s chief technology officer, said this week that the reversion to the five-day schedule doesn’t mean the state is giving up pursuit of its efficiency goals. “We’re not abandoning any of our objectives in terms of saving energy. We still have energy-saving initiatives, including our green IT initiatives,” he said. Prior moves have included data center consolidation and technology deployment that recycles heat energy.
And in spite of recent developments, attracting exemplary IT talent is still a goal. “We’ve returned to a five-day workweek, so that enticement is no longer there. So we’ll continue to provide an environment where we stress innovation and opportunity for IT talent to be able to perform and do things that they might not have the opportunity to do elsewhere,” Dave Fletcher said. He divulged no details on what those opportunities would entail.
Studies suggested the four-day schedule did enjoy favor among state workers and some residents. When the Department of Human Resources Management surveyed employees for a 2009 report, more than 82 percent of respondents wanted to continue with the 4/10s. In another survey of 500 Utah residents, 62 percent of respondents thought the new schedule was a good idea, and 73 percent felt it was sufficient to meet their needs as citizens.
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http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Utah-Abandons-Four-Day-Workweek.html
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The 4 day work week is a great idea for most people who have to commute long distances to get to work. Saving 20% on commute costs is major. So is energy savings of reducing cooling or heating levels in empty offices on the 1 day govt offices are closed. This decision to go back to 5 days sounds purely political and is illogical. We wish we had 4 day workweeks in NY but the conservatives wont allow any different thinking here.
I agree with most of what you said, although I'm not sure that you factored in the cost of home heating/cooling. How many people, in NY especially, will stay in and crank the AC/heat while they're home. Some of the savings at the pump I fear would be lost to the home anyway. Of course, if you want to talk value of free time gained from not commuting that's something else. Day care, for workers who need it, won't see any savings either as most day care providers these days don't give much of a discount for only going 4 days...especially if they are able to fill a slot with someone who wants their kid to go all 5 days. As much as I might like a 3 day weekend every week, I know I would likely still procrastinate home projects, etc. but would start getting some respectable skills at 'Call of Duty' on the Xbox and not get schooled by my nephews all of the time.
Re: Joe in NY...sure, a 4/10 is better from the worker's point of view, but you're apparently forgetting that government is there to serve citizens. The "customer" (public) is not served as well by having offices closed on Fridays; people/business complained, and the government is adjusting. It isn't just about the workers. The cost savings were only 17% of what was projected, and the tradeoff of inconvenience makes the 4/10 a bad deal for the public. And you're complaining about conservative lawmakers in NY, one of the most liberal states, while this was tried for 3 years in...Utah. Huh?
With budget cuts, incessant political and media attacks on public employee benefits, a 4-day work week can be a morale booster. And it does not cost tax payers more than traditional 5-day weeks. Another benefit is that employees would need to take less days off work for doctor appointments & other errands.
Re: Mike - So what if Public can not be served on Friday! Many businesses are open on Saturday and Sunday but Government cannot help businesses on the weekends. Most of the working public do not work on the weekends. The weekends would be the perfect days for working people to go to government offices for service. Perhaps the Gov offices should be open 24/7/365. A better solution is for flex work. It helps everyone. Some have Fri off, some have Wed off, some have Mon off, etc. Maybe adjust the 40 hr week further so some Gov offices can be open on Saturday.
Government work isn't that stressful and they get more time off than most banks with the same hours. I personally witnessed the abuse of many to the 4-day work week in Utah. A lot of employees would justify the 10 hours by: counting their travel time to and from work, count their "work-out" time and then leave at 3:30 or 4:00 on Thursday's and have way less than 40 hours while getting paid the same for less efficient work. It would be great if people actually did their work and time. But, give an inch an we take a mile. I'm not judging, I would most likely "shave" time where I could. But, It is hard enough to get Gov workers to do a good job, let alone give them an excuse to be even less efficient. Check the KSL.com report on the scandal of Gov employees taking advantage of the 4/10 system.
And here I was thinking that taxpayers wanted less government. It seems like the four days of operation would have quenched that thirst.
"not judging" - yeah right. The examples you give are people who should and would be fired where I have worked. (private and public sector) Using government workers as a pinata my make you feel better, but these prejudices are no different than those applied to racial, religious or education groups. Grow up.
Those 4/10 days mean (for our office) we can be open and hour earlier and later Mon-Thur every week. (we have alternating Friday's off) Being able to pay a bill just before or just after most people start their "normal" work schedules beats the lunch-time crunch in my opinion. Just try running in and out of a bank quickly around noon - won't happen here unless you're doing it illegally. ;)
Never mind the environmental costs... Utah tax payers just saw a $500,000 surcharge to daily businesses AND gave up two hours per day of service time. Not sure how this is a win but I guess another survey in a year will tell the truth one way or the other.
Maybe they're just viewing smaller portions at a time is a short-term fix
You can keep the 4/10 schedule and allow the employees who prefer 5-day weeks to work Fridays. You only need a skeleton crew to man the front counter and answer phones. I work in a gov office on 4/10 schedule but some employees do prefer 5-days/wk, 8 hour/day. If gov was flexible enough they'd accommodate employees and can still provide public service 5-days/week. That's in an ideal world anyway. Gov can be inflexible.
I have been in gov for just 5 years but I have not seen abuses like people trying to claim daily commuting time as part of their work day; that would not fly where I work. Yes there are abuses but even if just 0.01% of gov workers are abusing the system they will get 100% of the media coverage. When was the last time the news reported a "good" story, they always report the bad. And what about abuses and incompetence in the private sector? Like the bank & mortgage lending fiasco being blamed for the economic downturn. And think of how many private sector employees waste hours on the Internet and email on corporate time. Most people do their jobs but it is always the rotten apples that get attention. By the way I'm posting this on my iPhone during my lunch break. So stop reading and posting on this site on company time. :)
Just remember YOU are the Government as outlined in the US Constitution. Blame the Administration. 4/10's work only as good as they are administered. I work at a Federal Facility that is open 7 days a week all year long with only closings on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and we manage. But our services are different from State Offices as we are a Park. WE have considered closing an hour or two early in the summer to save costs but the Public gets very outraged at that. Unfortunately some of the Public has reconciled their watch to the time differences when they travel across date/state lines. There are many cost saving ideas out there and one of them is to cut the salaries of those we have put in office who continue to get raises while the rest of us languish on the same salary frozen two years ago. What Change? Vote!!!