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In the United States all levels of government face pressure to downsize. The costs associated with government services have continued to outpace revenue sources. Citizens are demanding that government provide better levels of service at lower costs.
In an effort to increase efficiency without increasing staff, the Lake County Health Department, Lake County Illinois, experimented with using a flexible four-day work week. The initiative was designed to increase staff field time while reducing automobile emissions in a cooperative effort to meet air quality targets by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Introduction
The use of flexible scheduling has increased in the United States and other industrialized nations. "Evidence shows people are more productive when they are given flexibility" (1).
The Environmental Health Services (EHS) unit, Lake County Illinois, has experimented with a four-day work week to increase efficiency. The program was initially designed to increase staff field time while reducing automobile emissions. It was one way to help meet EPA's auto emission reduction initiative,which has since been withdrawn.
Methods
EHS evaluated the four-day work week using one of its satellite offices as an experimental work group. The purpose of the fourday work week was sixfold. First, it was designed to increase the sanitarians' field time. A four-day work week could reduce travel time from work in the field to the office. Theoretically, staff would spend more time in the field each day because of the longer work hours and fewer return trips to the office.
The second feature was to reduce employee automobile use and the number of employee automobiles in the parking lot by 20 percent. The environment would benefit by the reduction of automobile emissions and fuel conservation. For example, 50 trips are made each week if all 10 employees drive to the office five days a week. In addition, 10 cars would be in the parking lot five days a week. If all tO employees work a four-day work week, the number of trips to the office from home is reduced to 40. Thus, there is a 20 percent reduction in both the number of trips to the office and in the number of automobiles in the parking lot each week. Fewer trips to the office from home also decreased the...