I met with my state senator today, Aaron Osmond, R-West Jordan, to discuss the Utah work week law. (For more info, see my previous posts here and here.) He is willing to sponsor a bill to offer employees more flexibility, such as either removing the work week law or changing it to match the wording Governor Herbert included in his executive order, which limits the requirement to critical, public-facing services and allows these services to be offered either by Internet, phone or in-person. He also supports removing the definition of "agency" that makes small units including "offices" subject to this law.
He asked for my help in finding state employees who are willing to contact him and describe the hardships the work week law imposes on their organizations so that he can use this information to support his bill. He is willing to accept anonymous feedback if necessary.
I would appreciate anyone who would be willing to share this information with other state employees. Feel free to share this post with others.
Senator Osmond's contact information is here. If you would like to leave comments here, I could also share that information with Sen. Osmond. (Please let me know whether it is okay to use your name or if you would prefer to be anonymous.)
You got your wish here?
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/utah-ends-4-day-workweek-experiment-190248911.html
Nope. The offensive law I am referring to is the one that forces state government offices to be open 9 hours a day, five days a week. The four day work week "experiment" was never written in law. When lawmakers decided to force the state to go to a 5 day work week, they legally mandated employee work hours for the first time ever. Not only did this end the 4-day work week (which was a good idea because it saved money and reduced pollution), using force of law to manage employee work hours, regardless of whether those work hours are 4 or 5 days/week, results in a number of problematic side effects, described here: http://aprilreigns.blogspot.com/2011/08/turning-state-employees-into-outlaws.html
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