Oakland County Facilities Maintenance & Operations Architectural Unit (Internal Memo to Phil Bertolini, Deputy County Executive/CIO, from Dave Atkins, Maintenance Supervisor II, October 3, 2008)

"The Facilities Maintenance & Operations Architectural Unit has 11 employees with five participating in the 4/40 program. The five employees would like to continue the program, but understand the decision regarding effectiveness of the program lies with management. Listed are a few examples of the Architectural Unit 4/40 pilot program savings.

The previous six months, the Architectural Unit has worked 102.5 hours of overtime for conference room set-ups. Since starting the program on July 20, 2008, the unit has had minimal overtime for this task with a savings of $4,482.52 and a projected savings of $8,965.04 for the year.

Additional savings are Petapalooza cage pick-up/drop-off on Fridays, 4-6 times per year, courtroom work for audio/visual/laptop cabling, emergency calls to pick-up and deliver flowers for news conferences, and other unforeseen calls.

Along with the overtime savings, the Architectural Unit employees' gas savings for the year will be approximately $1,542. Additionally, morale is high and productivity is up."

 

"Add the City of Wixom to the ranks of other local governments following your lead and making an effort to extend our financial resources through the implementation of a Pilot Compressed Workweek Program. Based on our calculations, we will save in excess of $22,000 annually. For a small community this is a significant savings. Additionally, access to government will be increased during non-traditional work hours, our employees will save in fuel costs and commute time, and we will be doing our part in reducing green house gasses and regional traffic congestion.

On September 9th the Wixom City Council unanimously approved the pilot program which was subsequently implemented Monday, September 15th. The program will be continuously monitored for effectiveness and extended past its termination date of January 3, 2008 as may be appropriate.

I would like to thank Phil Bertolini for his assistance in developing the program and to thank you for your innovative vision and leadership. I truly believe that together we can, and will make a difference."

WorkLife Financials employees are our most valuable asset. Anything we can do to help their financial situation helps our company become stronger. Providing the option of a 4-day work week has given our employees a benefit they want and the flexibility they need to accommodate their lives.

Since the program was implemented on Monday, July 14th, our employees have noticed a reduction in the amount of fuel they use as well as the amount of time spent commuting to and from work. Additionally, the majority of employees participating in this program have mentioned they feel more productive throughout the day as they are able to get caught up on work that may otherwise get interrupted by phone calls and email during regular business hours.

At this time, we have 40 employees participating in the program; the majority of employees surveyed on the standard 5-day work week said that, if their schedules permitted, they would consider switching to the 4-day work week.

Overall, the program has been successful in reducing fuel costs for our employees as well as time spent commuting to and from the office. All of this helps improve their quality of life and the amount of time spent with their loved ones - making for happier, healthier and more productive employees.