In August of 2008 Utah enacted a four-day work week affecting approximately 18,000 of the state’s 25,000 state employees. Utah’s goal in condensing the state employees’ work week was to reduce energy costs during a period when they were rising rapidly. Professor Rex Facer, a professor from Brigham Young University’s Institute of Public Management, and Lori Wadsworth co-authored Four Day Work Weeks: Current Research and Practice. The two preeminent scholars researched the four-day work week, and conducted numerous studies of Utah’s compressed work week. They found that in 2009, one year after the four-day work week went into effect in Utah, energy consumption was down over 10% and overtime costs were reduced by approximately $4 million.
At least three Massachusetts communities have experimented with the four-day work week in an effort to save money: Sudbury, Winchester, and Hingham. Studies have shown that these experiments are proving successful, but there has been little noise suggesting that Massachusetts is moving towards a state-mandated condensed work week like Utah’s. However, if energy costs and other expenses continue to rise, the four-day work week may become more attractive to Massachusetts.
Comments