A lot of cities across the country are ready to dump casual Fridays.
It's not that they disapprove of the Hawaiian shirts and ragged, torn jeans. They want to dump Fridays altogether. At least Fridays in the office.
Many public and private employers are warming up to the idea of a four-day workweek.
Employees in Marion County, Fla., work only four days a week. Road crews in Oconee County, S.C., and Walworth County, Wis., fill potholes only Monday through Thursday.
But the most high-profile condensing of the workweek happened in Utah. Who would have thought the Beehive State would lead the nation in anything besides, well, beehives?
Earlier this month, the majority of state employees shifted to a 10-hour, four-day workweek, with many state offices closing on Fridays.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a first-term Republican, told USA TODAY that he made the change to reduce the state's carbon footprint, increase energy efficiency, improve customer service and provide workers with more flexibility.
And Workbytes is sure $4.25-a-gallon gas also had some influence.
But while Utah was the first state to implement four-day workweeks, businesses have long known the benefits of avoiding Fridays.
Almost one-quarter of companies surveyed by Challenger, Gray and Christmas offer employees a condensed workweek, typically consisting of four 10-hour days, which moves more Americans toward the long-held dream of three-day weekends.
Principal Financial Group is one such company that beat government entities to implement the latest employee benefits.
Michelle MinnehanGolightly, senior benefits consultant-work/life balance at the Des Moines-based financial services company, estimates that as of January, about 2,500 Principal employees take advantage of a compressed workweek.
Some employees do it formally (the same day every week), while others take advantage of a shortened week informally.
An additional 4,500 Principal employees at least occasionally take advantage of telecommuting.
MinnehanGolightly said both numbers have probably gone up since January, a result of higher commuting costs.
Higher gas prices led Iowa's Gov. Chet Culver to say he would consider a four-day workweek.
"We have to look at those type of things long term, I think, and put them in the category of 'options' if we find ourselves in a position where we have to look at some savings," he told The Register this month.
In government speak: Not right now.
While we relish the idea of an extra day to sit around in our pajamas until noon, we aren't sure everyone will benefit from a shorter week.
What if the IT guy isn't close by when the spinning ball of death appears on the screen, or if the project manager isn't around to pass off problems to?
"The flip side is you have more coverage from the customer perspective," MinnehanGolightly said.
Workbytes takes a look at who wouldn't benefit:
- Those who try to get things done on Fridays. It's not like anyone is going to take off Tuesdays. Team projects get harder to do when the team is sitting by the pool.
- Those who try to get nonwork stuff done on Fridays. Only working four days would give us the false sense of being able to get things done on that extra weekend day. But what if your dry cleaner moves to a four-day work? Your bank? Starbucks?
- Those of us who work more than 40 hours a week. Workbytes can spot workaholics a mile away and they aren't clocking out at 5 p.m. Fridays anyway.
- Those who want to have a life after the end of a working day. Travis Simpson, who works at Wells Fargo, says longer days would interfere with his softball schedule.
"In the winter I could do it, but I just have too much going on in the summer. I think that an extra day off isn't worth the couple hours a day you miss working," he said.
Simpson would rather spend his evenings playing at the softball field instead of in front of a computer.
Plus he said: "You'd probably wind up using the off day catching up on household chores, too, like laundry and yard work since you'd be getting home later and have less time for it."
So why should companies -- and perhaps cities and states -- support a condensed week?
Because it promotes better work-life balance, employers said.
Rex Facer, an assistant professor at Brigham Young University, studied the four-day workweek concept, and told USA TODAY it's about promoting life outside the office.
"More and more young workers are entering the work force," he said. "They're looking for ways to enhance their work-life balance. Alternative work schedules offer more of this work-life balance than do traditional work schedules."
Whether it's to spend more time with kids or attend a championship softball game, giving employees time to live their lives is important to recruiting and retaining talented employees, said Principal's Minnehan Golightly.
The key to making flexible start times and a condensed workweek effective is communication, she said. Knowing what works within your particular team and with your co-workers in critical to taking Fridays off.
"It's all about education," she said. "It doesn't work for every employee."
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