Employers across the country are offering workers the option to telecommute or work a four-day week to help cut down on fuel costs. Compressed work weeks are particularly attractive to employees who work in places without reliable mass transit -- especially since a 10-hour day can mean coming in early and leaving late enough to avoid rush hour traffic. As an added bonus, offices find that fewer employees on site means lessened energy costs. And allowing workers to cut down on commuting can also increase morale. "As the price of gas rises, the level of grumbling rises," says a spokesperson for Kent State University, where 78 of 94 custodial staff have taken the option of a shortened work week. In a survey of U.S. workers released Thursday, 44 percent of respondents reported having changed the way they commute, up from 34 percent a year ago.
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Ashley Braun Posted 8:28 am
30 May 2008
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Delay And Deny Posted 11:53 am
30 May 2008
The best commute is none at all. With inflation increasing, workers may also want to trade hours for pay increases. Get the same salary but for 30 hours work (minimum for keeping benefits).
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Delay And Deny Posted 3:01 am
31 May 2008
You know, all all the "health care" reforms that the candidates are touting, probably the most useful would in fact be to allow people to get full time benefits even if they work less than 30 hours. So, someone could take a minimum hours, but high wage job for 10 hours a week and still get health, 401k etc.
We really need to make our workstyle fit in with the idea that almost all of us are becoming a form of knowledge worker...even a Wal*Mart employee may find ways to doing a job more efficiently and he should be allowed to work less and keep his current salary with time off as a bonus...
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