04 - 4-Day Work Week - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Going Green I Bryan Walsh Thank God It's Thursday Shifting to a four -day workweek could save tow'- energy, cut traffic —and make you happier IN AN ERA WHEN MOST OF us seem to be working more hours than ever (provided were still lucky enough to have jobs), r7,000 people in Utah have embarked on an unusual experiment. A year `.. ago, the Beehive State became the first in the U.S. to mandate i a four -day workweek for most state employees, closing of- fices on Fridays in an effort to reduce energy costs. The move is different from a furlough in that salaries were not cut; nor was the total amount of time employees work. They pack in 4o hours by starting earlier and staying later four days a week. But on that fifth (glorious) day, they don't have to commute, and their offices don't need to be heated, cooled or lit. After 12 months, Utah's experiment has been deemed so successful that a new ac- ronym could catch on: TGIT (thank God it's Thursday). The state found that its compressed workweek resulted in a 13% re- duction in energy use and esti- mated that employees saved as much as $6 million in gasoline costs. Altogether, the initiative will cut the state's greenhouse - gas emissions by more than r2,000 metric tons a year. And perhaps not surprisingly, 82% F NDAY 7:00 SDAY 7A0 DNESDAY 7:00 T URSD FRIDAY SAT_ — URDAY AA SUNDAY �a of state workers say they want to keep the new schedule. "It's beneficial for the environ- ment and beneficial for work- ers," says Lori Wadsworth, a professor at Brigham Young University who helped survey state employees. "People loved it:' Those who didn't tended to have young children and difficulty finding extended day care. Managers from around the world have gotten in touch with Utah officials, and cities and towns in- cluding El Paso, Texas, and Melbourne Beach, Fla., are following the state's lead. Private industry is interested as well — General Motors has just instituted a workweek of four io -hour days at several of its plants. "There is a sense that this is ready to take off," 7:00 6:00 6 :00 6:00 6:00 THE UTAH EFFECT 10 Hours Utah makes many state employees work four days a week 13% Reduction In energy costs due to compressed - workweek 82% Percentage of workers who want to keep the schedule says R. Michael Fischl, an as- sociate dean at the University of Connecticut's law school, which is organizing a sympo- sium on four -day weeks. The advantages of a so- called 4 -ro schedule are clear: less commuting, lower utility bills. But there have been un- expected benefits as well, even for people who aren't state employees. By staying open for more hours most days of the week, Utah's government offices have become acces- sible to people who in the past had to miss work to get there in time. With the new 4 -10 policy, lines at the department of motor vehicles actually got shorter. Plus, fears that work- ing ro -hour days would lead to burnout turned out to be unfounded — Wadsworth says workers took fewer sick days and reported exercising more on Fridays. "This can really make a difference for work- life balance," says Jeff Herring, Utah's executive director for human resources. Of course, in the age of the B1ackBerry, fewer days in the office may not make much of a difference in terms of work- load. But as energy prices start rising again, it makes sense to be flexible and find savings where we can. 10-4, 4-10. ■ 58 TIME September 7, 2009