Posted on 05/30/2008 8:01:21 AM PDT by shrinkermd
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - When Ohio's Kent State University offered custodial staff the option of working four days a week instead of five to cut commuting costs, most jumped at the chance, part of a U.S. trend aimed at combating soaring gasoline prices.
"We offered it to 94 employees and 78 have taken us up on it," said university spokesman Scott Rainone.
The reason is simple: rising gas prices and a desire to retain good workers. And while so far only the university's custodians are eligible, Rainone hopes the option will be offered to all departments -- including his own.
"In our office, we have people who travel anywhere from five or six miles to a couple who are on the road 45 to 50 minutes," Rainone said. "As the price of gas rises, the level of grumbling rises."
...The federal government has offered four-day workweeks to eligible employees for years as part of a flexible work program that also includes telecommuting.
...Some 44 percent of respondents said they have changed the way they commute -- doing things such as sharing a ride or driving a more fuel-efficient car -- or are working from home or looking for a closer job in order to reduce gasoline costs, according to staffing services company Robert Half International. That's up from 34 percent two years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I have been carpooling with a co-worker for a couple of years. Recently, another co-worker joined, so that we each drive no more than twice a week.
I have done that shift many times. I like it.
I wish they’d do that here, but our guvvies say no way.
I’m currently on a six-day on, one-day off rotation at work. It sucks. But that’ll change come mid-June.
I only work 10 minutes from home, though. In a previous job, my cheapskate boss wouldn’t give me a raise, so I told him I was only going to work 4 day weeks for him, then, on the same salaried pay.
For some reason, he agreed to THAT, versus paying me one more dollar an hour.
A Good Businessman, he was not, LOL!
>>>>who travel anywhere from five or six miles<<<<<
So they are saving $1.45.... whoopeeee!
I fall into the 40 minute drive catagory and I would save a whopping $6. Heck, I could cut out using vending machines for snacks and save that much.
I had a couple coworkers that started carpooling because gas “was killing them”. Its not a bad idea to carpool, but now these guys go out to lunch 4 days a week instead of two, killing their savings.
Geez...people do things for stupid reasons.
It’s getting ridiculous. $4.33 for premium here.
Something’s gotta give.
Geez. Why don’t they just steal gas like my neighbors do?
Two words: Home office.
I think most people would love to work four tens regardless of gas prices. A three day weekend is always nice.
My husband is an electrical contractor and works all over the greater Phoenix area. He sometimes drives hundreds of miles a week. The gas prices are killing him, and until they come down, we have to pass along that expense to our customers. He’s also looking at using our 1/4 ton pick up on jobs that require a longer commute. Four day work weeks would be nice, but business is booming, and if you’re the owner, you just gotta keep up with it.
That would be nice, but I know very few people with jobs that they would be able to do from home.
There are lots of things you can do to reduce gasoline consumption. And you don’t need a government regulation to do them either. Just do it.
Absolutely. And... they cut off one day's commuting time.
I work three weeks overseas, and one week from home. Good money and logistically sweet.
The local school district where I live is considering going to a 4 day school week to cut costs of running the buses and building maintenance.
Who decided on a 40-hour week as the standard anyway? I want the normal workweek to be four eight-hour days. Business productivity is way overrated. :)
j/k
Our congressrats continue to inhale the fumes of ethanol and stand ignorantly by while thousands of windmills kill millions of birds.
I commute a little over 100 miles to work - I’ve had to rent a room near where I work for the week and then drive home on Friday. I’ve been doing that for three years now. Before that I commuted 125 miles one way five days a week (1250 miles a week). There is no one I can carpool with, so it’s all out of my pocket. I don’t feel badly for people who have only a 10 minute commute or so.
If my commute was any longer than the 10 minutes it is now, I’d seriously think about working from home more. Fortunately, the site where I contract is very good about that; we’re issued laptops and the ability to get to the corporate private network from home. I’m starting to see, slowly, more and more people here working from home occasionally if they don’t have meetings.
}:-)4
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