Baltimore County is the latest local government to consider making the traditional five-day workweek a thing of the past, according to lawmakers who said the move could boost low employee morale, reduce energy consumption and ease rush hour traffic.
Baltimore County Council Chairman Kevin Kamenetz is sponsoring legislation that would direct auditors to study an alternative workweek. The Pikesville Democrat said he does not support eliminating a workday altogether, but added that requiring certain employees to work longer days could expand the public’s access to government services.
“It’s not for every department, but if it can be implemented without curtailing existing county work hours to the public, I think it’s worth considering,” Kamenetz said. “In my opinion, all government offices need to be open to the public during regular business hours, five days a week.”
This summer, Utah became the first state to institute a mandatory four-day week for most state employees, who no longer report to work Fridays. Public universities, the state court system, prisons and emergency services are exempt.
In Howard County, some employees began working four 10-hour days this month, a concept community activist Lee Richardson said could have a significant effect on traffic wherever employees are concentrated. Locals in Columbia’s Town Center, for example, will have less stop and go during rush hour, he said.
“When you spread people out to 10 hours — and not everyone gets spread — you are taking traffic off the peak hours,” said Richardson, who chairs the Town Center village board.
Baltimore City Councilwoman Belinda Conaway said a staggered workweek, in which one-fifth of employees take a different day off, would create a 20 percent reduction in rush hour congestion. Conaway, who introduced a resolution July 21 calling for a study on a four-day workweek for city employees, said rearranging the workweek could save the city 10 percent to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs.
Employees, she said, could save on gas if they don’t drive on their day off.
“We have a lot of folks that don’t make a lot of money, and it’s a hardship traveling back and forth,” Conaway said. “It’s also quite evident people are curtailing their extracurricular activities.”
