4-Day Workweek Savings Reported

The four-day workweek instituted last year for Ventura County’s government workers has saved the county more than $1 million, as electric bills dropped and employees took fewer sick days, a county report shows.

With about one-third of its employees working four, 10-hour shifts each week, the county has saved an estimated $451,000 on utilities, $270,000 on sick leave and $355,000 in car-pooling incentives, according to the report presented Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors.

What’s more, new work schedules have helped the county meet its state and federal smog reduction requirements by keeping more cars off the road.

“I’m pleased to see that it does seem be achieving the goals we set,” Supervisor Maggie Kildee said.

But Supervisor John K. Flynn said any report would be incomplete without measuring the impact on the taxpayers who depend on county government for services.

“The employees, they’re satisfied, I submit,” Flynn said. “But we need to know what the customers think. I suspect the customers are not satisfied.”

Other board members said the community seems to have adjusted to the inconvenience of shutting down many county offices on Fridays.

“I personally don’t like it,” Supervisor Vicky Howard said. But, she added: “I haven’t received any complaints for a very long time.”

Supervisors initiated the four-day workweek in June, 1993, as a means of cutting costs and reducing the number of cars traveling the county’s roads. County officials projected $1 million in savings, but later scaled that estimate back to $125,000.

In addition, the county secured its federal highway dollars by meeting its goals for air pollution reduction. The federal government could have withheld as much as $6 million a year had the county failed to meet requirements set for average vehicle ridership.