Simi Moves Closer to 4-Day Workweek for Police

The Simi Valley City Council has moved a step closer to implementing a four-day workweek for the city’s 105-officer Police Department.

The council, in closed session Monday, gave conceptual approval to the proposal and is expected to make a final decision by August, city officials said. The issue was handled in closed session because it involves personnel.

City and police officials said they believe that the compressed workweek will help reduce overtime and sick leave. They said it will also help the city comply with new county air pollution rules that require large employers to reduce the number of vehicles arriving at the workplace each day.

“I think it will be more efficient,” Councilwoman Sandi Webb said. “I know the officers want it very badly, and so I think it will also help boost morale.”

Councilwoman Judy Mikels said she favors the plan because it will give officers a three-day weekend that will help relieve some of the stress that they experience on the job.

“I think with this type of job, you’ve got to have an extra day off to decompress,” she said.

Assistant City Manager Mike Sedell said a number of details need to be worked out between the city and the Simi Valley Police Officers Assn. over the new work schedule before it can be adopted by the City Council.

“But I don’t expect there will be any problems,” he said, adding that the plan has been under study for the past two years. The police union had requested the study as part of its 1989 contract agreement with the city.

Under the proposal, the city’s 105 officers would work four 10-hour days. Administrators, including Police Chief Paul Miller, and their staff would also juggle work schedules so they would be able to put in 80 hours over a nine-day period. This would give them a three-day weekend every two weeks.

“Obviously, all the officers are very happy,” Capt. Dick Wright said of the proposed work schedule. “It’s something the union has been asking for for a long time.”

The Ventura Police Department is the only law enforcement agency in the county that has a four-day workweek for its officers.

Ventura Police Lt. David Inglis said that the 125-officer department has used the compressed work schedule for more than 10 years and that it has worked well. “There haven’t been any complaints,” he said. “In fact, if you tried to take it away from these guys, you’d have a fight on your hands.”

The city of Thousand Oaks recently proposed putting city workers on a four-day workweek to comply with the new county air pollution rules. The plan, which has not been given final approval, would require shutting down City Hall on Fridays.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is also reviewing a plan to establish a four-day workweek for some of its administrative staff because of the new air pollution rules, Lt. Mike Brown said. However, he said no plans exist to change the schedules of the department’s 630 deputies, who work four days and are off two days under their current schedule.

An estimated 11% of the county’s more than 700 businesses with 50 or more employees offer a compressed workweek, according to a 1990 survey by Commuter Transportation Services of Los Angeles. The private, nonprofit organization conducts studies throughout Southern California of work schedules and their effect on pollution, transportation and work conditions.