Governor consulted few over work plan

Giving state workers a say in setting up the new four-day workweek that begins Aug. 4 wouldn't have lessened the level of concern about the schedule shift, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said.

A records request by the Deseret News for the information Huntsman received before deciding on a Monday-through-Thursday, 10-hour-day workweek for most executive branch employees found that he only consulted top administration officials.

In fact, according to a memo also obtained through the records request, department heads were not instructed to release information to employees about the new workweek until just hours before the governor made details public in late June.

But Huntsman said in an interview that even if he had involved state workers before he announced the one-year pilot program, about 20 percent of them still would have difficulties adjusting.

That's about the same number who told the state Department of Human Resource Management the new schedule would cause problems with their child care, transportation, schooling and other aspects of their personal lives.

"I'm not sure that it would have made a difference. You reach into your management, and they in turn have discussions with their own people," the governor said. "You get the best feel possible for the direction you're about to take."

Too much analysis, he suggested, could have stalled any action.

"You can study it and study it and study it, and then end up doing nothing," Huntsman said.

His "Working 4 Utah" program is expected to save taxpayers about $3 million in energy costs by shutting down state buildings on Fridays. Utahns will be able to access state services from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, as well as anytime online.

The new schedule was set after the governor surveyed top-level members of his administration in mid-June about how a shorter workweek would impact their agency, including employee productivity.

The survey results, released as part of the records request, showed that one-third of the bosses believe the four-day week would impact their department's productivity. Less than one-fourth said it would result in an improvement.

The majority of the respondents said they would need a month to notify both employees as well as consumers of the services their agencies provide about the change. Just under one-fourth, though, said they could take care of the notification in two weeks.