Flextime Has Green Appeal And Lures Younger Workers
They have replaced incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, cut the number of cars in their fleets and embraced hybrids. They have planted native grasses to cut down on lawn maintenance and, with it, fuel consumption. Now a growing number of businesses and state and local governments from Fairfax to Detroit to Salt Lake City are pondering a strategy for saving on utility costs and being kind to the environment: telling their workers, stay home.</br></br>Congress, too, is weighing in on the merits of flexible work schedules. This month, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) proposed that more federal workers shift to a four-day, 10-hour-a-day workweek to help eliminate unnecessary commuting and reduce road congestion. He asked the Office of Personnel Management to analyze whether such a shift would be possible and report back by the end of this month.</br></br>Such scheduling arrangements, in which employees work longer hours but fewer days, share jobs or stagger start or quitting times, have been a part of the U.S. workplace for years. But in recent months, interest in flextime has been growing quickly. From Howard County to Chrysler's manufacturing lines, employers who want to cut costs, show environmental sensitivity and attract young workers who seek flexible schedules are brushing aside some critics' productivity concerns to embrace the new proposals.</br></br>This month, Utah became the first state in the country to take the leap, shifting most of its 17,000 state employees to a mandatory 10-hour-a-day, four-day workweek and closing most state offices on Fridays. Hawaii is piloting a similar experiment with about 100 state workers, and officials in Fairfax County are studying whether such an arrangement would work for them. Even officials in governments that are not ready to move to a four-day week, such as those in Michigan and West Virginia, say they might allow more workers to do so or to work other alternative schedules to help them save money and reduce commuting stress.</br></br>After taking other steps to reduce energy consumption, car giant Chrysler is pondering whether to shift about a dozen of its manufacturing facilities and several of its parts units to 10-hour, four-day workweeks. The change, which must be negotiated with unions, could affect more than 10,000 workers. Because it could mean plants would be shuttered three days instead of two, it could save the company millions in utility costs, spokesman Ed Saenz said.