State starts 4-day work weeks

Several agencies try out schedule in cost-saving effort

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published October 07, 2008

Starting work an hour earlier was cause for celebration in some state offices Monday.

Many state employees have backed trying four-day workweeks, and 82 percent of those at the Department of Community Trade and Economic Development supported it before the agency made the shift this week.

One division had a breakfast party to kick off the new shifts, deputy director Jan Marie Ferrell said. "There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm."

The department is the largest of several agencies experimenting with four, 10-hour shifts, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It and the Department of Veterans Affairs switched to the new schedule, moving away from the traditional five-day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule.

Gov. Chris Gregoire asked for programs including 650 employees to try the shorter week as an energy-saving step, allowing buildings to be shut down for three-day weekends. Smaller programs, such as the Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation, already had switched.

Facing slowing tax income, Gregoire ordered a hiring freeze in August. She also noted that moving to a four-day week was the single most-popular cost-saving suggestion among state workers.

"Right now we're looking at it as something that fits with our agency," Ferrell said. "We said, 'We can do this.' "

Community, Trade and Economic Development will close its Olympia headquarters near the Capitol Campus on Fridays. The new shift affects about 300 workers.

Managers were briefed on the change, and they worked with employees to sort out complications with child care or other conflicts, Ferrell said. "Really we haven't had any show-stoppers; no one has had issues we couldn't address."

Of 57 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters, fewer than 10 had conflicts with the four-day week, spokeswoman Heidi Audette said. Those workers will adjust their schedules by logging work on the agency computer system from home Fridays, she added.

Agencies changing schedules have worked to tell citizens about the new shifts and have some remote offices that will be open Fridays.

They will track how much energy is saved, employee performance and satisfaction, as well as feedback from the community.

"Those are the sorts of things we will deal with as they come up," Audette said. "A lot of the veterans we deal with are also working, so we anticipate this will be a good thing. … They will be able to conduct business in the early evening."

Adam Wilson covers state workers and politics for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-753-1688 or awilson@theolympian.com.