[Vision2020] Washington state tries 4-day week to save money

[Jeff Harkins]

I have not read the proposal in depth, but it is my understanding 
that the state offices will remain open Mon through Friday, but will 
be staffed by folks working 4 10 hour shifts.  The savings will 
accrue to employees - one less day of work per week.

In discussions in several states (reported sometime ago in Governing 
(an academic journal - I don't have the cite handy), cities and 
counties have determined that reducing government services to only 4 
days per week could actually impose additional costs on taxpayers 
(less flexibility) and reduce benefits. Bottom line - here is no free lunch.

Those interested in this topic should keep an eye out in the academic 
accounting journals featuring governmental accounting.  This is a hot 
area for publishing - a lot of governmental entities are exploring 
this strategy.  Another hot topic is eliminating duplicate services 
(local example - Joint Law Enforcement Center).  Lots of opportunity 
for cost saving - but it does threaten traditional power structures.

At 06:11 PM 9/11/2008, you wrote:

>Can someone explain how going to 4 10-hour work days is going to help
>eliminate or even reduce by any margin whatsoever either the state budget or
>energy cost / consumption ???
>
>"Gregoire said the plan could help save money by cutting electric
>consumption and janitorial costs at the offices, and could have side
>benefits for the environment and traffic congestion by keeping some
>commuters off the roads"
>
>
>Washington will not be the first state to try this. Utah has already 
>put into place
>a similar plan. Electricity consumption will be decreased because computers
>can be shut down in office, air conditioning turned off, and 
>janitorial services
>for the 5th work day can be eliminated. Those who commute to work will save
>on not having to pay for motor vehicle fuel or public transportation for the
>5th work day. This all seems very understandable.
>
>That all of this might not make a serious difference in the state budget
>as a significant percentage of the total is yet another matter to be
>considered.
>
>--Loren Singh
>
>
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