Governor Orders UT State Employees To Go To Four-Day Ten-Hour Schedule In August To Save Energy

[hatrack]

Be prepared to go online if you want a hunting license or need to renew your vehicle registration on a Friday. Beginning in early August, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is directing the state go to a 10-hour, four-day week for many state agencies. Hours of operation will be extended from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

The change means the Division of Motor Vehicles, Division of Natural Resources and other state offices will shut down on Friday, along with many other offices that deliver services to residents. But essential workers - for example, highway patrol troopers, Corrections officers and state parks - will not be affected, although their administration offices will close. Utah courts, public schools and colleges will not change, nor will the Governor's Office.

The goal, Huntsman said, is to help conserve energy by not heating and cooling buildings, reduce gas consumption for commuters, and provide an incentive for state workers that could be a recruiting tool. Utah is the first state in the nation to make the change on such a large scale, although other states, local governments and the federal government have made the change on a smaller scale.

Huntsman said he thinks the change will encourage residents to take advantage of services online and employees to telecommute in cases where it is practical.


EDIT

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9714564

[MountainLaurel]

1. Interesting

At my POW (a medical center), one of the bigwigs in my division (non-clinical areas) announced that departments could look into allowing employees to work a 4-day schedule because of gas prices if there was no disruption to work. Apparently, she'd been approached by several people with long commutes asking about the possibility.

I think that a lot of organizations previously opposed to flexible schedules and telecommuting will be changing their tune as we get deeper into this crisis.