12.0 Work Schedule Changes

Employer-sponsored programs to permit flexible work schedules.
Section 108 (xiii), CAAA

Introduction

The goal of implementing work schedule changes is to reduce the volume of commute traffic during peak traveling times by spreading or moving those trips to other times of day. The programs may be voluntary, mandatory, or used by employers to satisfy trip-reduction ordinances or air quality regulations. The EPA Office of Mobile Sources has found that schedule change programs achieve greater success and gain employee approval if employers adopt the changes voluntarily with employee input.

Main Components

There are three main types of changes to work schedules:

  • Telecommuting is work done on a regular basis from daily to once a week at an alternative work site such as the employee’s home or a telecommuting center. A center is a facility that provides the employer, employee, and customers with all requirements to perform work and services without traveling to the employee’s main work site and may be operated by a single or consortium of businesses.

  • Flextime allows employees to set arrival and/or departure times with the approval of the employer in order to avoid traveling at peak traffic times, but all employees are present for some core period of the workday.

  • Compressed work weeks are work scheduling programs that condense a standard number of work hours into fewer than five days per week or fewer than 10 days per two-week period. For example, four days at 10 hours per day or 80 hours over nine days.

Work schedule changes are relatively easy to establish for several reasons, including the following:

  • No infrastructure costs or front-end investment of government resources is required.

  • These measures can be adopted voluntarily and require no approval from government agencies: there is no potentially lengthy process of obtaining funds and/or government approval.

  • The measures can be easily explained to and understood by employees.

Although work schedule changes are relatively easy to administer, they require careful planning and coordination to be successful. Transportation planners need to be aware of employer issues with implementing work schedule changes. In terms of cost, businesses planning and implementing the policies must be compared to the potential savings that employees will gain with costs to implement and maintain them. Labor hours will be required to plan and implement the changes, increased facility security may be required since some workers will stay later or arrive earlier, and there may be increased utility needs as the facility is used longer in the day. Client relations and intra-department activities within the business or agency accustomed to the previous work hours need to be considered. Businesses must also ensure that the programs are consistent with union agreements.

Other Considerations

The EPA Office of Mobile Sources has found that several factors should be considered when attempting to use work schedule changes as a mobile emission reduction strategy:

  • Diminished benefits as the decrease in work trip VMT may be mitigated to some extent by increased nonwork travel for people working compressed work weeks. The potential exists that although employees may benefit from driving on their day off, congestion and air quality may not significantly improve overall. However, more trips are likely to be taken during off-peak congestion hours so that the time distribution of ozone precursors is widened, and ozone formation is retarded.

  • Potential reduction in ridesharing and transit use by employees may occur because of variable work hours. Businesses should coordinate the schedule changes, whenever possible, with transit and ridesharing services. Schedules for these services may need to be modified as a response to new arrival and departure times.

  • Pilot programs are recommended for three to six months before committing to the changed hours so that the policies can be evaluated in terms of employee morale, productivity, and financial ramifications.

  • Applicability of variable work hour strategies can be an issue for businesses. Organizations that rely heavily on process manufacturing usually need all workers to be present at the same time to work efficiently. Compressed work weeks may be a more suitable option for manufacturing plants than a flextime or staggered hours policy. Service businesses may be more able to rotate worker schedules and permit flextime policies.

  • Location of the organization implementing a work schedule change may be a factor influencing success. Flextime policies may be more successful in areas of greater workplace density where associated traffic is highly concentrated around peak periods.