Published: August 12, 2008 06:14 pm            

Fayette commission ends idea of a 4-day work week

FAYETTEVILLE — Fayette County commissioners put to rest the idea of a four-day work week for Fayette County employees citing several concerns from elected office holders, including scheduling problems and the potential of increased costs to the county.

During Friday’s regular commission meeting, commissioners were told that employees in the Circuit Clerk’s office requested they consider the idea for county employees who want it in order to save gas money driving to and from work five days a week.

“The high price of gasoline appears to be the reason for this request,” said Commission John Lopez.

Commission President Ken Eskew said the county is obligated to keep the courthouse and all county offices open five days a week, Monday through Friday, which could create additional problems.

“Are there enough employees that if they work four 10-hour days then will there be enough to cover the five days the courthouse would be open?” he asked.

Circuit Clerk Daniel Wright said he believed his office could cover its duties, because each position in his office has “back-up” staff.

“If that person is not there, we have a back-up to handle their duties,” Wright said. “Some people in my office think the few extra hours they would have without the public being able to come in would be advantageous to them to be able to catch up on work they can’t get to when they are dealing with people coming into the office constantly.”

Wright added that some think there would be fewer missed days because they would have a day off in the week.

However, other office holders, like Fayette County Assessor Eddie Young, said sick days and vacation days could create scheduling problems.

“You will also have people saying they got an hour for lunch each day and now they only get four hours of lunch a week instead of five and they are working the same amount of hours each week,” Young said. “Also, would they take four 10-hour days for a week’s vacation or would they get five days, even though they are working the four 10-hour days? I still have mixed emotions about this proposal.”

Young said he believed it would be difficult keeping the windows that serve the public staffed and that production might decrease if field workers went to a four-day work week.

Commissioners added that Sheriff Bill Laird also had concerns regarding his office’s ability to switch to a four-day work week.

Prosecuting Attorney Carl Harris informed the commission that overtime would not be an issue because the employees would be working the same number of hours, but over a four-day period instead of five.

“The employee handbook would need to be amended, if there was a change,” Harris said.

Harris said since the courthouse would close at its regular time daily, there would still be county employees present for an additional two hours with a 10-hour work day.

“This could potentially lead to increased utility and other costs for the county,” Harris said.

Harris said his office operates a little differently from the others and the four-day work week would not work for lawyers in his office, but might work for office staff.

After hearing from the elected officials, commissioners voted unanimously to reject the notion of a four-day work week for county employees.

“We have heard many comments that some offices would be very thin in the ranks on some days and it could affect their ability to serve the public properly,” said Commissioner Matt Wender.

Wender said counties like Kanawha that are trying the four-day work week are four times the size of Fayette.

“I think it works better the more employees you have in that you have enough people to cover when people are sick or go on vacation,” he said. “I think this is one of those economy-of-scale things. I believe the size of our county falls short of that threshold and clearly could potentially cause great hardships.”

Wender said fair consideration was given to the idea before it was rejected.

“We looked at how others across the state are doing it and heard the comments from our elected officials,” Wender said. “It’s my read that there isn’t a very strong consensus to do this.”



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The commission also appointed Dr. George Becker, Dr. Bobby Green and Jennifer Salvatore to the Fayette County Planning Commission.

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