Howard County’s decision to allow some department employees to work a modified week has not only cut down on their high fuel costs, but given them more time at home and a less hectic commute.
The county’s Office of Human Resources, which uses a combination of a flex-time and an alternative, four-day workweek schedule, allows eight of the 14 employees to take advantage of the offering.
“My employees were very interested, and it’s given them a chance to spend more time with their families, spend less money on gas and allow them to avoid traffic,” said Todd Allen, the county’s HR director.
“And we’ve found that they’re more productive and can focus better.” This has been true because of more time in the day to get things done, he added.
While most of the eight have four-day weeks with different days of the week off, one has a flex schedule, which allows for a greater time frame in which to work, Allen said.
County Executive Ken Ulman said many employees were being hit with high fuel prices and that this was just one of many options the county was exploring, including encouraging employees to carpool, to help reduce the burden.
Besides flex time or a four-day workweek, some could also apply for working eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day every two weeks, in exchange for one day off, Enright said.
Employees had until Friday to notify their department heads of their interest in exploring the different workweek options.
Department leaders are determining whether to grant the employees’ requests, so the number of employees who will use different schedules is not yet known, Enright said.
Councilman Greg Fox, R-District 5, said a modified workweek is all right, as long as residents are not being denied services they expect.
“It’s not an earth-shattering revelation in any size, shape or form,” he said. “It’s something that’s been going on for some time.” He mentioned how some positions in the federal sector have utilized these types of different workweek options.
The council office itself has used a summer flex schedule between Memorial Day and Labor Day for at least five years in which employees can work any time between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m, said Sheila Tolliver, administrator to the council.
Some employees also work four- or 4 1/2-day weeks, she said. A critical element of the system has been the cross-training tasks.
The council office will initiative a pilot program next month in which they’ll extend the flex schedule availability past Labor Day, but a normal schedule will be used in April and May, however, when the council deals with the budget, she said.
“It’s worked out really well and is popular with staff and meets our needs very well,” Tolliver said.