San Juan County employees have decreased their sick leave, absenteeism, and burn-out by gaining an extra eight hours off work per week. Working parents have more flexibility to be with their kids, and it’s possible to go to the mainland on a weekday for errands or a medical appointment without taking a day off. Overall, 78% of San Juan County employees say their job positively impacts their health and well-being.
The county set a precedent among Washington counties when it adopted a 32-hour work week for county employees last year, and other local governments are now following the idea with interest.
A detailed 60-page report was presented to the county council on Nov. 12, showing how the initiative is working after one year. A modified report was also presented at the Washington Association of Counties County Leadership Conference “Finding a Path Forward Together” on Nov. 21. Presenters were county council chair Jane Fuller, county manager Jessica Hudson, and Parks and Fair director Brandon Andrews.
Why the change?
County leaders turned to this solution in October 2023 when faced with a tight budget, with approximately one in six staff positions vacant and a union workforce looking for their first raise since the pandemic.
A one-year report, issued to the citizens of San Juan County jointly by the employee Union Local 1849 and county leadership, states that the 32-hour work week resulted from negotiations between the county and the employees union.
The union’s executive committee wrote, “Our team worked hard to secure a fair, yet progressive, contract for our colleagues. The 32-hour workweek win has been significant for our members. Our members are dedicated to continuing to work with the County to ensure the success of the 32-hour work week and to see it as the new standard for public servants throughout the state.”
Frances Robertson, a manager in the Department of Environmental Stewardship, serves as vice president of the local union and was on the negotiating committee. She said the idea of the 32-hour work week did not originate from the union. The union had proposed employee raises, and then waited.
“Contract negotiations had been on hold for six months, waiting for a counteroffer,” Robertson said. The county “recognized the lay of the land, did their homework, and made their offer,” she said. Employees were offered the same pay for 32 hours as they had received for a 40-hour work week.
Measuring outcomes
All 237 county employees were surveyed prior to implementing the proposal, at the six-month mark and again after one year, and 70% responded. Union members comprise 155 employees; elected officials and their staff, management, and certain others are exempt.
Most notably, at the one-year mark, 84% of all employees “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that the 32-hour workweek has improved their work/life balance.
Other quantitative benefits highlighted in the report include:
- The county saved $975,000.
- Turnover rate dropped 43%.
- Filling positions became 23.75% faster.
- Separations dropped 48%.
- Sick time was reduced by 23%.
All of the indicators show significant improvement in employee retention and recruitment. “Interest in County employment has dramatically increased. The total number of applicants has spiked by 85.5% and the time it takes to fill positions has dropped by 23.75% when comparing pre and post data,” the report notes. Hudson said that, on a more qualitative basis, the survey asked why people want to stay in their county jobs; 66% said it is a heavy factor in why they choose to stay.
Clearly pleased with the results, Fuller called it a “fantastic report, with many very positive findings.”
Interest in San Juan County’s experience is evident, as county manager Jessica Hudson told the council that she was recently interviewed by CNN. Asked by council member Christine Minney whether other municipalities are following similar plans, communications manager Erin Andrews said she has been contacted by other municipalities who are curious, and “others are in bargaining now.”
Continuing adjustments
The shift has not been without some confusion and frustration.
Each department head and elected official was given flexibility to manage the 32-hour work week in a way that maintained services in their department. Some departments have kept working on a five-day-a-week schedule, while others, including the financial wing of the assessor, auditor, and treasurer offices, have switched to a four-day, Monday-Thursday work week.
This inconsistency has led to confusion both between departments and among the public. There is a desire to work toward a universal schedule, but Hudson told the council “that is probably very unlikely” due to the requirements for different departments, some of which must remain open five days a week.
Nonetheless the county will continue exploring all possible scheduling options in an effort to prioritize department productivity and support ease of public access. Andrews told the council they are working to get the word out to the public about open hours, and she also points out the many county services are now available 24/7 online, so there is access.
Another concern raised by the report is the fact that exempt employees are having to work more than 32 hours per week. These are salaried employees, not eligible for overtime pay. Hudson told the council that this is happening because “part of the promise of the 32-hour workweek is that 100% of the work or productivity, would be done in 80% of the time.”
“The work still needs to get done,” said Hudson, and 31% of exempt employees, mostly managers and directors, responded that the initiative has had a negative impact on their workload. Nonetheless, 67% of exempt employee respondents agree that the initiative has improved their work/life balance.
Efforts are needed to make sure that there is parity, with everyone feeling the benefits, Hudson said.
Each department also identified its own key performance indicators (KPIs) to track productivity, which the report displays in its appendix. Hudson told the council there is wide variation in departmental activity, as some are more seasonal. Therefore, having two years of data a year from now will be important as adjustments are made.
Robertson told this Salish Current in an interview that she is concerned the general public doesn’t have a full understanding. “I don’t think it has hindered our work,” she added.
She pointed out that another unintended benefit that she has noticed is that an extra day off is not only beneficial to the individual employee for work/life balance, but it often allows people to contribute to the community in other ways. She listed activities that “most of my colleagues in my department” are involved with on their days off: community theater, Audubon society bird walks, involvement in nonprofit organizations and more. She herself just became a board member of the Whale Museum, for example.
With two new county council members joining Fuller in January, support for the 32-hour work week is evident. Council member elect Kari McVeigh told Salish Current before the election that “the 32-hour work week is a legitimately negotiated contractual agreement between the County and their employees and therefore cannot be reverted to 40 hours outside of another negotiated agreement.” She would like to see counter service available to the public five days a week, however, if possible.
Council member elect Justin Paulsen also supports the 32-hour week, saying it is “a creative solution to budgetary and employment obstacles. Employee satisfaction and retention are critical. I support the continuation of the program with consideration of operational modifications that the analysis may recommend to address any service concerns identified.”
An international trend?
Interest in the 32-hour work week has been building nationally and globally over the last decade. A bill establishing a standard 32-hour work week was introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders into the U.S. Congress in March.
Research done in 2022 by Boston College, University College Dublin, and Cambridge University concluded that “the trials have been a resounding success on virtually every dimension.”
Iceland began a reduced work week in 2019 and reports that “trials were an overwhelming success, and since completion, 86% of the country’s workforce are now working shorter hours.”
More countries are moving towards the 32-hour workweek, as shown in an interactive map by Word Population Review, and private businesses are also rethinking the 40-hour week.
In attempting to balance the budget, deal with employee burnout and recognize the efficiencies of new technologies, San Juan County now finds itself on the cutting edge of progress, and in the national spotlight. It’s the little county that could.
This article first appeared in the Salish Current.
It’s interesting that San Juan County has done this (and thank you for writing this piece). But isn’t it odd that the priority to do this was over the county’s (and other jurisdictions’) “tight budget” rather than the right thing to do?
The 40-hour work week was created in 1938 during the Roosevelt administration 86 years ago. For some time I have wondered why the US (and Canada) hasn’t updated our labour laws like in Europe. Hasn’t the high tech/gig economy and Covid pandemic taught us anything?
Many employers have been allowed to change with their “casual” employee classification and hiring lower-paid employees vs. higher paid for long-term employees, etc. Why hasn’t our labour laws in the 21st century?
Productivity was lagging in the US in the 1970s. Then the American workforce increased their productivity in the 1980s. But you know what? Most workers weren’t ‘rewarded’ with better pay to keep up with inflation or benefits like child care, longer maternity and paternity level while management and stockholders reaped billions.
How we pay for local government needs to be reformed too. The struggling worker or senior who live in San Juan County is struggling because of the ever-higher cost of living, including taxes. All the while the summer parade of the wealthy with their tax breaks sail on by in their yachts.
The irony is that many working class people voted for a new president who is super rich, has avoided paying taxes, and is a grifter (even while visiting the the re-dedication of Notre Dame Cathedral, his underlings posted a photo of him with First Lady Jill Biden pitching his new cologne/perfume, ‘Fight, Fight, Fight’).
And some people wonder why there was such a backlash about the UnitedHealthcare CEO being gunned down on the streets of New York.
What happened to the work? Was the county previously operating that inefficiently? Do taxpayers really not need the benefit of 40 service hours/week? I have so many questions!
I think it could be surprising how weak the relation is between how long people work, and how much work they get done.
Not in-person, essential work, like staffing courtrooms or jails, libraries or emergency services. Every hour is work, coverage, or access to public services.