Congressional Leader: Use 4-Day, 10-Hour Shifts in U.S. Agencies
By ARI PAUL
The U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader is urging the Federal Government to mandate a four-day work week for its employees in an effort to boost morale and cut down on commuting costs for workers.

STENY HOYER: Calls for revised workweek for Feds.

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer asked U.S. Office of Personnel Management officials in a letter Aug. 4 to explore the idea of making the schedule of four 10-hour work days universal for Federal workers. Some agencies already offer such an option.

'Cuts Congestion, Commuters'

"In the National Capital Region, where approximately 400,000 area residents are employed by the Federal Government, implementation of a four-day a week, 10-hour a day work schedule could yield several benefits," Congressman Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said in his letter. "First, staggering 10-hour-a-day work schedules would reduce road congestion, decrease commuting times, and reduce gasoline-wasting vehicle idling. On any given day of the work week, the policy could be managed such that only 80 percent of Federal employees would be commuting to their offices."

He continued, "Put another way, adopting a compressed work week would take approximately 20 percent of Federal employees off the roads on any given week day, generating significant cost savings for the American taxpayer without a drop in productivity or decrease in service. Second, Federal office buildings could achieve additional energy savings by not providing peak load climate control and lighting to building areas that are not being utilized."

Greg Heineman, the president of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations, said that while he supported Congressman Hoyer's goals of reducing fuel usage, he feared that because of short-staffing in his agency having 20 percent of the front-office workforce not present during normal business hours would have a negative impact.

'Hand to Service Public'

"It depends on the type of work that you're doing," he said in a phone interview last week, noting that back-office functions would fit better into a four 10-hour-day schedule. "It's going to be very hard to provide front-line service to the public."

Mr. Heineman added that he would be more supportive of the proposal if his agency and others saw significant boosts in staffing.

"To me it's a resource issue," he said. "If we had additional resources in order to make sure that we could accommodate the people that are coming to our office, there's a real advantage to it."

Federal union officials have often pushed for the option of four-day workweeks in collective bargaining agreements.

"Alternative work schedules are an excellent tool to improve employee morale and productivity while reducing energy consumption and commuting costs," National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen M. Kelley said in a statement. "The business of the Federal Government is no longer conducted on a strictly 9 to 5 basis and these options increase agency flexibility to respond to emerging issues."