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Council mulls over 4-day weeks
Submitted by mdees on 07/24/2008 - 14:16
Durham City Councilman Howard Clement III proposed today that city staff investigate having employees work four-day weeks to help save on energy costs.
The idea is that having to power City Hall and city vehicles four days a week instead of five will save money on power bills and gas, as well as spare employees one commute per week.
"It's been tried all over the country in light of the gasoline situation, which I don't think is going to improve anytime soon," Clement said today at a council work session.
"I would hope we would take this seriously. This could amount to significant savings, particularly for our employees."
City Manager Patrick Baker said he would have staff look into the experiences of other governments that have tried the change. County commissioners in June also asked county staff to look at the possibility.
State of Utah employees recently started the practice.
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Matt Dees
Matt Dees roves Orange County seeking a wide range of stories, from life-and-death to quirky. He's worked for the News & Observer since 2004. He began as the Chapel Hill town hall reporter before moving to Durham in 2006, where he covered the police beat for six months and Durham City Hall for 18 months. He returned to the Chapel Hill bureau in August 2008. A former editor-in-chief at The Daily Tar Heel, he lives in Carrboro.
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Comments
4 day work schedule
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 16:00 — Anonymous (not verified)I think the 4 day work week would help a lot of people. I work with a group of people that are on call 24/7 after a disaster. Our upper management does not think a 4 day workweek is going to work for us. They are continuing to look into the situation and I hope they will have a 4 day workweek very soon. Even one day can help with the gas prices.
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