Home  News Local News Four day work week for City
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Four day work week for City |
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Written by Dr. Garth A. Rose
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Friday, 11 July 2008 |
The implementation of a shorter work week is slowly becoming a solution among South Florida and national employers as a cost saving measure to the employer and the employee.
The City of North Miami announced Tuesday that it would be implementing a four-day work week effective in September. In this new schedule employees will be required to work four 10-hour days per week. The hours of work will now be 7:15 am to 6:30 pm Mondays to Thursdays.
The main purpose for the change in the work week from 8:00 pm to 5:00 pm Mondays to Fridays, a release from the North Miami City Hall indicated, is to save money. Closing the city hall on Fridays is expected to cut some $200,000 annually off the city’s operating costs, which will help to alleviate a portion of the city's $7.3 million budget shortfall. The shorter work week is expected to help employees save on gas, especially with the prices hovering over $4 per gallon, with them having one less day of commute to and from work.
However, not all the employees are excited about the four day week. Some, who are parents like Madeline Perez, say the longer hours are going to pose a problem in getting their children to school and also present after-school care problems. Perez says she usually drops her two children to school at 7:30 am for its 8:00 am start, and it will be very difficult for both the children and herself to get them to school before 7. Now they will be at home until around 7 pm without adult supervision, and they are two young to take such a risk. “I may save money for gas, but now I will have to find more for after-school care and perhaps someone to take them to school,” Perez said.
The City of North Miami’s new four week work schedule is also being considered by other South Florida local governments. The City of Coconut Creek implemented the schedule two years ago, and the Cities of Hollywood and North Miami Beach are currently considering the proposal. The Miami-Dade County is also considering a four-day work week plan.
Non-government employers are also considering the new work schedule, and other cost saving measures. Florida International University employees are working shorter weeks for the summer, as a test project, and there are reports of several private employers cutting back on the work week. Other employers like an international airline company based in downtown Fort Lauderdale, is allowing its employees, on a staggered roster, to work from home two days a week, and link with the corporate office by telephone, and the Internet.
Nationally the four-day work week, and the work-from-home option are being offered by an increasing number of companies. Last week, Utah became the first state to implement the four-day work week for most of its 17,000 employees.
A private consumer group “Citizens for Saving More and Spending Less,” recently formed in Tampa, Florida found in a research that if the employees of Florida were to work a four day week, demand for gas would fall by some 8 percent monthly, due to less frequent commute work, at an average savings of $60 per month per employee.
Although the longer work day could present some problems for parents, some believe it may also improve family life, as it could give parents more time to spend with their children.
The new hours in the City of North Miami will also serve as an advantage to city residents who will have extended hours from Monday to Thursday to do business at the city hall.
The four-day work week will not affect the services provided by the city’s police. Police officers will continue to patrol North Miami streets 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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