Alachua moves to four-day work week

City of Alachua employees will soon be saying “TGIT” (Thank God It's Thursday) as a result of the city commission's decision Monday night to put the city on a four-day work week.

The new schedule, which will begin Oct. 1, is expected to save the city about $42,000. Instead of working eight hours a day, five days a week, employees will work 10-hour days Monday through Thursday. The proposed hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Under the proposed schedule, City Hall will be open to residents for 42 hours each week rather than the current 42.5 hours per week. Full-time employees will still be required to work 40 hours per week, and paid holidays will continue to be for eight-hour days rather than 10-hour days.

The city employs 115 people including five seasonal employees. All employees will be on the four-day work week schedule, except the Alachua Police Department, with 29 employees, the Recreation Department, with nine employees, and the Wastewater Division, with seven employees, said Alachua City Manager Traci Cain.

Four commissioners voted for the move to a four-day work week, while Commissioner Ben Boukari, Jr. voted against the proposal.

“Not being open for services on Fridays versus the $42,000 in savings is just not enough, in my opinion, for me to say, 'Yeah, that's great. Close City Hall on Fridays',” Boukari said.

In order to realize much savings in utilities, the doors to City Hall will have to be closed and locked, but Boukari said he doesn't see that happening. Boukari said he has been in City Hall on the weekends and often has meetings there, so the building will still be in use on Fridays, and closing it down won't be as helpful as some are predicting.

Mayor Gib Coerper said he understands Boukari's hesitation, but the Commission is only approving a one-year trial of the system, so it can be reversed if it doesn't work out.

“This is a one-year trial, and if we feel like, or the citizens feel like, it's not working out for them and/or us, in one year, possibly earlier, we'll go back to [a five-day work week],” Coerper said.

Although concerns have been expressed that the city will not be as accessible to residents, Charmagne Manning, deputy city clerk staff assistant, said that the benefits greatly outweigh the negatives.

In her presentation of the city staff report on the four-day work week, Manning pointed out nine advantages and four disadvantages to the plan.

Disadvantages include lack of service to citizens on Fridays and increased difficulty scheduling meetings. Employees may also experience conflicts trying to pick up children from school or daycare, and some employees may feel uncomfortable leaving work while it is dark.

Advantages mentioned by Manning include decreased operational costs, more after-hours services for customers, improved employee morale, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, less traffic congestion and decreased use of sick hours. Advantages for employees are having a three-day weekend, savings on commute and more time to handle personal business.

Alachua's savings are expected to come from $14,388 in utilities and $27,964 in fuel each year.

The average daily fuel usage for each vehicle was calculated based on fuel charges, and that figure is then subtracted from the number of services days the vehicle would not be used on a four-day workweek schedule. The utility savings were calculated by monitoring utility usage at City Hall, the city's warehouse, the electric and public works office spaces, and the water plant to determine a per-day savings. That figure was then applied to calculate the savings if these facilities were closed on Fridays, said City Manager Traci Cain.

Manning pointed out the positive results a four-day work week has provided for other cities and states that have used the plan.

Green Cove Springs, Fla., whose population is comparable to that of the City of Alachua, reported $13,952 annual savings on fuel, 3,600 gallons less fuel used annually and 1,110 fewer hours of sick leave used annually, Manning said.

The City of Gainesville, which went to a four-day week in 2008, reported $90,710 annual savings on utilities and $30,200 annual savings on fuel. Overtime has gone down 18 percent and city employees have logged an average of 10 fewer sick-leave hours per year. The City also reported a 27 percent reduction in absenteeism, and employees have logged 9,528 more work hours due to the reduction in absenteeism, Manning said.

According to a study conducted by the City of Gainesville, 36 percent of employees felt the extended hours had a positive impact on customer contact. It is unclear whether the remaining 64 percent of employees believed there was a negative impact or no impact on customer contact.