Peachtree City, considering every option available to help ease traffic in town, is looking into something that could have other benefits for employees and citizens — a four-day work week.

Mayor Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin mentioned at the Nov. 4 City Council meeting, after discussion of the traffic impact ordinance, that the city should consider the pros and cons of having its employees work four 10-hour shifts per week where applicable. The city has already been studying just such a move.

According to assistant city manager Joe Morton, city staff has researched other municipalities and industries across the state to see where it may be implemented and how popular it is. Four-day work weeks are apparently much more popular in government than in the private sector, according to city research, Morton said.

A possible benefit to citizens from changing the schedule in this way would be extended operating hours at City Hall. Since employees would be on duty for 10 hours at a time instead of eight, City Hall could open one hour earlier and close one hour later, giving local residents more flexibility when they need to go there, Morton said.

Studies also must determine which jobs can benefit from the plan and which cannot. As Councilman Robert Brooks mentioned in the meeting, some positions, such as city clerk, may not allow anyone other than the actual person in that position to perform those duties.

Brooks also pointed out that, according to an employee survey conducted in relation to the traffic studies, only 40 out of 225 city employees commute from Coweta County to work, so the effect of a four-day work week on traffic in the Ga. Highway 54 West corridor could be minimal.

Since a good deal of information has been acquired from other areas already using the four-day week, the next step for the city is to meet with the directors of the various departments to see which positions could feasibly use the plan.

City employees have not yet been officially surveyed on the four-day work week, Morton said, but unofficially the move already has some support among employees, many of whom would gladly trade an extra two hours per day at work for a third day tacked onto the weekend. “I know I'd like it,” Morton said.

One obvious group of employees that would not be affected is the city's firefighting corps, which typically works 24-hour shifts every third day.

Back to News Home Page | Back to the top of the page