4-day workweek to begin

State employees better be resting up this weekend — starting Monday in most government offices, their workday will begin at 7 a.m. and won't end for 10 hours.

Of course, they're going to have Fridays off from now on to give them plenty of time to recover from the new schedule of four 10-hour days, Mondays through Thursdays, a one-year pilot program ordered by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

The "Working 4 Utah" program, first proposed by the governor just over a month ago, was expected to save taxpayers an estimated $3 million annually in energy costs by shutting down 1,000 of the state's more than 2,100 buildings on Fridays.

So far, state leaders are a little short of that goal, with only about 600 buildings closing down completely three days a week. But another 287 are going to be at least partially closed on Fridays.

"We are saying we are right now at 89.1 percent of our goal," said Department of Administrative Services Executive Director Kim Hood. She said more buildings may end up being added to the list, such as some that are only leased by the state.

It's not clear how close the state can come over the next year to slicing $3 million from its utility bills. Hood said she is confident the state will see that amount of savings, which would represent a 20 percent reduction.

That could come from additional efforts to cut costs in the future, including moving the limited number of employees in some agencies who'll continue working a traditional five-day workweek into a single location on Fridays.

Some state services aren't affected by the governor's order, including state courts and higher education. But many executive branch agencies will keep some or all of their services available Fridays, including corrections, transportation and alcoholic beverage control.

Utahns, though, are going to have to get used to accessing such state services as drivers' license renewals Mondays through Thursdays, or online anytime. The extra hours of operation those days are expected to ease at least some of the public's frustration.

State workers themselves are generally supportive about the switch to a four-day workweek, although there are still child care, transportation and other difficulties to be worked out for some, said Todd Sutton of the Utah Public Employees Association.

Sutton, an employee representative, said there are several situations where disabled employees unable to work a longer day still need to be accommodated under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

"We have to wait and see how it affects the employees after the implementation," Sutton said of any potential grievances. "For the most part, we've received quite a bit of positive feedback on this."

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