Others Thank God It’s Thursday
Southern California’s ride-share rule is long gone, but its effects linger at companies like Allergan Inc., where many workers get three-day mini-vacations every other weekend.
About half of the 1,500 employees at Allergan’s Irvine headquarters work nine-hour shifts Monday through Thursday and eight hours every other Friday, totaling 80 hours every two weeks. “They love it,” said Thomas Burnham, a vice president of human relations at the eye- and skin-care company. “It’s a great morale booster.”
The program initially was a response to Air Quality Management District requirements that big employers help get cars off the road, typically through ride-share plans. Allergan cut employee commutes by 10% simply by having half its staff off on any Friday. In 1995, the state Legislature ordered the AQMD to abolish this unpopular experiment in social engineering.
Rather than do away with its new schedule, though, Allergan made the nine-day, 80-hour schedule optional for its departments. The human resources department, which handles compensation and benefits matters for 6,200 workers worldwide, was among those going back to the old-fashioned schedule. But other departments such as research and development continue to offer many employees the popular alternate three-day weekends.
There’s no doubt the program is an employee-pleaser. Just ask Carole Serdoz, an administrative assistant at Irvine’s Fluor Daniel, which pioneered the alternate-Fridays-off schedule.
“Some people grumbled about the idea of longer work days at first. Then when they tried it, they changed their minds--fast,” Serdoz said. “I could never give it back. I think I’d leave the company first.”
E. Scott Reckard covers workplace issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at scott.reckard@latimes.com
