Utah's T.G.I.T..(4 day work-week)..Success? or failure?

http://www.good.is/post/tgithursday/

An energy- and money-saving solution that pretty much everyone can get behind: three-day weekends. Workers of the world, unite in giving Utah a round of applause. The Beehive State has made Thursday the new Friday, and by proving the benefits of this condensed calendar, Utah has brought us all closer to the dream of a shortened workweek. A year ago, Republican Governor Jon Hunstman announced the Working 4 Utah initiative, essentially putting 17,000 of the state’s 24,000 executive branch employees on a 10 hour a day, four day a week schedule. The goal for the cash-strapped state was energy savings. Now that a full year has passed (we checked in on the program back in April), a clearer picture of the benefits is coming into focus.

Learning from the lessons of Utah, here are five reasons the “TGIT” (Thank Goodness It’s Thursday) four-day, 40-hour workweek just might make sense:

1: Energy savings and reduction in carbon emissions

Closing state offices on Fridays has cut energy use by 13 percent in Utah. Officials hope to bring that number closer to 20 percent as the kinks are worked out (and as they figure out how to actually shut down some of the heating and cooling systems in some of the buildings). Through these energy savings alone, Utah is shrinking its carbon footprint by about 6,000 metric tons. If you add in the gasoline savings from fewer commutes, that number is doubled—to roughly the equivalent of taking 2,300 cars off the road for a year.

2: Traffic reduction and commuter health

Of course, as fewer workers commute on any given day, there’s less traffic. But the hour shift for the four-day crew also thins out the traditional rush hours, speeding up travel for everyone. Besides easing the mental burden of traffic, commuters are exposed to fewer airborne pollutants. A California EPA study found that “50 percent of a person’s daily exposure to ultra fine particles (the particles linked to cardiovascular disease and respiratory illnesses) can occur during a commute.”

3: Budget boost

There are big savings to be had in operational costs when shaving a day off the workweek. As of May, nine months into the program, Utah had saved $1.8 million. And, according to Governor Huntsman, “the cost savings will only grow if the four-day workweek is granted permanent status” because the state can renegotiate long-term leases and further refine “smarter” energy, heating, and cooling systems in buildings.

4: Happier, healthier workforce

Lori Wadsworth, a researcher at Brigham Young University, surveyed Utah workers who’ve transitioned to the 4 x 10 schedule and found that 82 percent prefer it. And, according to Wadsworth, “Utah employees actually show decreased health complaints, less stress, and fewer sick days.” And while absenteeism has dropped, productivity and quality of service have improved—customer complaints, for example, at state agencies like the DMV are down. Early evidence seems to quell the initial fears that 10-hour workdays would “burn out” employees.

5: Economic stimulus through savings

It costs money to go to work—commuting expenses like gas, tolls, or public transit fares are obvious, but plenty of workers also pay for five days of childcare every week. Collectively, Utahans are expected to save $5 million to $6 million annually on commuting alone. Thus the four-day workweek has macroeconomic benefits as well, leaving more cash in the pockets of workers.While we’ve come to take it for granted, the the Monday-through-Friday, 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek has only been the standard since 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed. It made plenty of sense at the time, and improved the lives of loads of American workers who regularly endured dangerously long hours with scant free time. But, in reality, the Monday-through-Friday grind was rather arbitrary, and as Utah’s experiment has already shown, it could well be time for a rethink.

snip


assessment of the "experiment" follows.........................

http://www.good.is/post/utahs-four-day-workweek-experiment-did-it-work/

one snippet:

But by every other measure, the new system has been hugely successful. Seventy percent of the workers affected like the change and the amount of time off they’re taking is actually down significantly (because, presumably, overall job satisfaction is higher). There’s also less driving on Fridays now, which helps the environment.

And what are people doing with their time off? They invest in their children and build social capital. Robert Putnam would be proud:

“Every Friday morning now, Smith volunteers at her son’s school. She helps students with their spelling tests and relishes the extra time with her son. Smith’s family and baby sitter adjusted their schedules to enable her to work the adjusted hours.”

In short: it’s all gravy (if slightly less gravy than hoped for in energy savings). And we can assume the energy managers will eventually figure out how to turn the heating systems off and Utah will reap the full 20 percent energy savings soon.

I've been doing 4-10's, with Monday's off, for well over a year now, and it's been very nice. The only rough part some days is I get up at 4am so I can leave work at 3:30pm. It's nice having a week day off to take care of those errands you can't do on the weekend. I do try to not drive on at least 1 of my days off so it doesn't defeat the purpose of saving energy.

but we'll have to see if private buisness will follow this new idea.

And ha ve every other Friday off. I wouldn't mind the switch to 4-10s though, that's what my dad does here.

At my last job at the dealership a few of us tried talking our boss into moving to either the 4-10 or 9-80, have some off on Fridays and some off on Mondays. She was such a stick in the mud that she wouldn't do it.

She works for the Canadian equivalent of the FDA, and I believe they have the option of which day they take off. She takes Wednesdays off and uses that for her "going to the store and getting errands done" day then just relaxes or takes little roadtrips on the weekends.

Now, I guess their offices remain open 5 days, so it doesn't do much for the energy footprint, but it does cut her commuting costs and she's been in the same job 20+ years with no sign of burnout.

Unfortunately the attitude seems to be if you can work 40 in 4 days, then you can work 50 in 5.