Test begins of extended City Hall hours in Fayetteville

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Although the full roll-out is planned for Jan. 1, City of Fayetteville employees are using an alternate work schedule plan to extend the hours of City Hall.

The hours of operation at City Hall are now 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., giving residents who commute outside the city to work each day a little extra time to drop in and pay their water bills in person, for instance.

Making the city offices more available to residents was the main idea behind the flexible work schedule plan, officials said. The alternate work schedule, which allows for staggered schedules, also can create three-day weekends for employees who choose to work four 10-hour days instead of the traditional five-day work week.

Some employees on the 10-hour schedule will get Fridays off while others can get Mondays off. This helps them schedule doctor appointments and other personal plans for weekdays that normally would require taking a sick day, officials said.

Lynn Robinson, the city’s director of finance and administrative services, said all 11 employees in her department have begun working the four-day schedule. She knew of only two City Hall employees who haven’t yet implemented the schedule, one for family reasons.

“The first Monday I had off I thought I was cheating,” Robinson said.

For Robinson, the only real catch to the four-day, 10-hour work week is getting used to getting work done ahead of schedule in anticipation of having the three-day weekend.