Results tagged “4 day workweek”

Utah's 4-Day Work Week: Energy Savings Fall Short

By Pedro Hernandez on October 22, 2009 12:50 PM
Don't worry, there were energy savings to be had, $500,000 rather than the estimated $3 million.  It sounds like a failure, but the economy put a damper on the expected surge in energy prices in the last year.

However, there were a slew of other savings, which indirectly impact the consumption of energy.  For example, the state state fleet 3 million fewer miles in the past year, resulting in a savings of $1.4 million.  Labor costs, plummeted by $4.1 million because of state workers used a lot less overtime, too.  I imagine gas tanks stayed fuller longer for state workers as a result of the shorter work week as well.

Source: The Salt Lake City Tribune

Utah's 4-Day Work Week: Energy Savings Fall Short

By Pedro Hernandez on October 22, 2009 12:50 PM
Don't worry, there were energy savings to be had, $500,000 rather than the estimated $3 million.  It sounds like a failure, but the economy put a damper on the expected surge in energy prices in the last year.

However, there were a slew of other savings, which indirectly impact the consumption of energy.  For example, the state state fleet 3 million fewer miles in the past year, resulting in a savings of $1.4 million.  Labor costs, plummeted by $4.1 million because of state workers used a lot less overtime, too.  I imagine gas tanks stayed fuller longer for state workers as a result of the shorter work week as well.

Source: The Salt Lake City Tribune

Utah Hearts Four-Day Workweeks

By Pedro Hernandez on August 6, 2009 3:24 PM

Last August, Utah moved its many of the state's government offices to a four-day work week. Apart from a nice long three-day weekend every week for many of the state's workers, other benefits include the 13 percent savings attributed to reduced energy use. Monetarily, that amounts to $1.8 million that taxpayers saved thanks to computers, office lighting and HVAC systems that remain off off an extra day every week.

The state is still working to maximize the savings, but first it has to unravel a knot of complications, like offices where the electricity is factored into the rent. There's also scheduling difficulties to contend with, especially for early birds and those that burn the midnight oil.

Even though employees are still working 40 hours a week, Harrington says energy savings are being realized under the new schedule because buildings were previously being used at all hours of the day to accommodate wildly divergent work schedules and personal preferences. Now, anyone who comes into work early, stays late or comes in over the weekend does so without being guaranteed the heat or air conditioning will be on.

Unsurprisingly, a solid majority of state employees want to stay on a 4-day, 10-hour a day schedule.

A solid 82 percent of the state employees working the schedule want to keep it. They're feeling healthier, volunteering in greater numbers, and exercising more. Utah estimates that, all told, their experiment saved at least 12,000 metric tons of CO2 from being created -- the same as taking 2,300 cars off the road for a year.

A healthier workforce too! What's not to like?

1

Categories

Archives