OJAI : Employees Start 4-Day Workweek

Most of Ojai’s 28 employees will switch to a 36-hour, four-day workweek beginning today, a move that will provide the workers with three-day weekends and save the city about $40,000 each year, council members said.

The Ojai City Council, which manages a budget of about $5 million, approved the schedule change in September on the recommendation of City Manager Andrew Belknap and many of the city’s employees.

Although the savings are relatively small, one official said the workers’ opinions were the main reason he supported the change.

“The money’s important, but you have to look at how the employees felt about it,” Councilman Joe De Vito said. “Everyone seemed very (eager) to try it.”

The new schedule will mean that most employees will work nine-hour shifts four days a week. The City Hall offices will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays under the new hours.

Employees will receive a 10% decrease in pay, but officials said they expect that morale and worker productivity will rise because of the extra day off.

“We’re still giving the full amount of service as we did with a 40-hour week,” Councilwoman Nina Shelley said. “They were willing to take that (salary) cutback in exchange for the extra time off.”

The four-day schedule will affect most jobs, except some maintenance work and Parks and Recreation Department activities scheduled on weekends and holidays, Shelley said.