HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07271993 - 2.5 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: J. MICHAEL WALFORD, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
DATE: July 20, 1993
SUBJECT: Revised Office Hours for the Public Works Department
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
I. Recommended Action:
1) APPROVE closing 255 Glacier Drive offices every Friday.
2) APPROVE increasing hours of counter service at 255 Glacier Drive
from 9: 00 a.m. - 11: 00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. - 4 :00 p.m. Monday through
Friday, to 7: 00 a.m. - 12 : 00 noon and 12 : 30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday
through Thursday.
II. Financial Impact:
Savings of $40, 000 per year based on twenty percent reduction in
custodial care and ten percent reduction in electric utility expenses.
III. Reasons for Recommendations and Background:
Approximately one-third of the Public Works Department (the Maintenance
Division) has been working a 4/10 schedule (four days per week, ten
hours per day). for about fifteen years. In the spring of 1987, about
sixty percent of the department went to a 9/80 work schedule (four days
per week, nine hours per day, with the fifth day of each week alterna-
ting between an eight hour work day and a day off) . The remainder of
the department either works a twenty-four hour per day coverage schedule
(Buchanan Field) or has jobs where the work schedule must conform to
hours someone else works, such as construction inspection.
Continued on Attachment: x SIGNATURE:
_ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION GrF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON July 27 , 1993 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER X
DEFERRED decision on this matter to August 17 , 1993.
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT - - - 1
AYES: NOES:
ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
JMW:djh
c:\agen\bo-20.t7
Orig. Div: Public Works (Admn.) I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of
contact person: M. Walford - 313-2201 an action taken and entered on the minutes of the
Board of Supervl,ora on the date shown.
c: P. Batchelor, CAO ATTESTED: K S
V. Alexeeff, GMEDA PHIL TCH OR,Clerk of the Board
H. Bragdon, Comm. Development of Supervisors and County Administrator
E. Doten, Permit Center
B. Gilbert, General Services ey � -�— .Deputy
Accounting Section - PWD (�
July 20, 1993 Board Order-
Sub: Revised Work Schedule and Office Hours for the Public Works Department
There have been several problems with the 9/80 schedule, at least as implemented in Public Works.
The main one is that employees are allowed to select their day off, as long as the distribution is fairly
even since the office is expected to say open for business five days a week. About three-fourths of
the employees choose Friday for their day off while the remainder choose Monday. The result is almost
half the staff off each Friday due to the 9/80 schedule, and when vacations, voluntary furlough and
telecommuting are added,there is often only thirty-five to forty percent of the Glacier Drive staff working
on a given Friday. As a consequence, phone traffic is down significantly, counter traffic from the public
is rare, and even the schedules for our five conference rooms, normally full, seldom have an entry on
Fridays. With a significant part of the work force also off on Mondays, we really have only three days
a week when all staff is present for meetings, questions, supervision, etc. Closing the office on Fridays
will mean all employees will be working a Monday-through-Thursday schedule and the custodial and
utility expense of keeping the office open on Fridays, estimated at $40,000 per year, can be saved.
An alternative which was considered was to put all employees on the same 9/80 schedule. This would
solve most of the scheduling problems, but would be confusing to the public regarding whether the
office is opened or closed on a given Friday, the savings would be only half as much, and scheduling
custodial services would be more difficult.
It is anticipated that most employees will adjust to the longer work day by coming into the office an
hour earlier. Since early hours are more quiet, and for most people more productive, efficiency is
expected to increase.
Another benefit will be fewer miles per week driven to work for the employees involved, which will help
the county meet its traffic demand management (TDM) goals.
Payroll will be simplified since the flexible 9/80 schedule we currently have provides a choice of ten
different work schedules (six are currently being used) and a 4/10 schedule will reduce that to one.
Los Angeles County implemented this same program in their 1600 employee Public Works office on
September 10, 1990. The results, quoted from the 1991 Los Angeles Productivity Program Annual
Report, were "an increase in productivity, decrease in the use of overtime, and reduced use of sick
leave." After one year as a pilot program, the "results were so favorable with both employees and the
public that the project has become the model for implementation countywide and has been praised
by productivity and air quality agencies throughout"the state."
After Board approval, the Public Works Department will provide appropriate notice to the people with
whom we do business with a target date for implementation being October 4, 1993.