County work study nearly finished
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 16, 2015 1:50 AM
A study examining Wayne County's four-day work week is expected to be completed by next month -- and some departments may stay on a modified four-day week, but will be open five days a week, County Manager George Wood said during a Tuesday planning session.
Most Wayne County government offices moved to a four-day work week in August of 2008.
Rising fuel prices and a general higher cost of doing business were cited for the change.
Under that schedule, most offices operate on 10-hour shifts Monday through Thursday and are closed on Fridays under the plan implemented by former County Manager Lee Smith.
Smith argued that the schedule would produce energy savings while the 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule would provide a time for county employees to handle administrative work.
In June of 2014, Wayne County commissioners returned the Veterans Services Office to a five-day work week -- and during a board work session this past January, Commissioner Joe Daughtery said he thought that it is "wrong" that citizens could not get the services they need on Fridays.
During that same session, Wood said he would look at the four-day week and report back to commissioners -- and Tuesday, told commissioners that he is looking at the larger departments first.
"The Sheriff's Department is not an issue," he said. "They are around the clock. EMS is not an issue. Neither is 911, because all of those go around the clock.
"If you look at our employees, if you take the sheriff and the jail, EMS, Health, DSS and 911, that is the bulk of employees. It is probably 80 percent of them."
Some county departments are mandated to be open five days a week, Chairman Wayne Aycock said.
"As I work through those (other smaller) departments, I am going to bring a recommendation to you," Wood said.
"I think our overall goal is to make sure Wayne County is open five days a week," Daughtery said.