A pilot program testing a four-day workweek for most City of Morgantown employees will start in July and last about a year.
The affected employees will work 10-hour days Monday-Thursday from 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m., starting July 6 through June 30, 2021, according to Morgantown Communications Director Andrew Stacy.
City administrative offices will be closed on Fridays.
Stacy said the city looked at phased workweeks, meaning some employees would work Tuesday-Friday to keep offices open five days a week but there were several negatives. Those include the loss of any potential cost savings from having closed offices, difficulties in scheduling and some departments don’t have enough employees to do it.
By sticking to a Monday-Thursday schedule, the city will open up an hour earlier and stay open a half hour later which will allow people an opportunity to do their business with the city before or after their own workday, Stacy said.
The issue will be closely monitored through the duration of the pilot program.
The switch will not cost the city and there are modest cost savings, according to Stacy.
Cost savings are found in energy, fuel, vehicle costs, janitorial costs, overtime and water usage, Stacy said. Utility bills are the most expensive part of keeping buildings running outside of major projects because many of the city’s buildings are older and not energy efficient.
The city expects to see a reduction in those utility costs over the duration of the program.
Other communities that have implemented a focused workweek have aso seen environmental benefits from reduced energy usages, less travel, less fuel usage and a reduced carbon footprint, Stacy said. A survey sent to city employees found 43% of them commute 10 or more miles round trip each day.
The idea of a focus workweek was brought forward by the city employee’s Health and Wellness Committee, Stacy said. The goal was to save money, increase productivity and create a better work/life balance for employees. It was publicly brought up at a council meeting during the most recent budgeting process.
The committee, Interim City Manager Emily Muzzarelli and Human Resources Director John Bihun took the lead on researching the idea and figuring out how to make it work for Morgantown, according to Stacy.
Other cities that have adopted a focused workweek were contacted to find out why they transitioned, what the benefits and challenges were and if the transition was successful.
The city contacted:
Westminster, Colorado;
El Mirage, Arizona;
Suffolk, Virginia;
Gainsville, Georgia.
“A majority of the municipalities we spoke with had an overwhelmingly positive reception from employees,” Stacy said.
Some of the challenges the cities mentioned include feeling burnt out at the end of the week and less personal time in the evenings. However, Stacy said those cities also saw improved morale and increased employee retention.
The departments affected are:
Code Enforcement, Finance, Municipal Court, Information Technology, Arts and Culture, Human Resources, City Clerk, Development Services, Engineering, Communications, Urban Landscape, Public Works, City Manager’s Office, and the administrative offices for the Morgantown Police Department and BOPARC.
