It didn’t take new lightbulbs or using less air conditioning for the summer, but the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce still managed to go green last month when it offered its employees a four-day work week.
The chamber officially began the four-day work week policy on Monday, July 7, after the management team discussed ways to help employees who were struggling with high gas prices, as well as helping to protect the planet.
`We want to be more responsible and to put the focus on energy use. We know that taking 22 cars off the road is not even a drop in the bucket, but what we hope to do is to demonstrate what can be done,` Lyn Taylor, president and CEO of the Chamber said.
According to Taylor, the concept of the program is not to have the offices shut down to conserve electricity, but instead, `The idea is to take a few cars of the road a few days a week.`
Other alternatives that were discussed included telecommuting and carpooling, though neither worked out since, as Taylor said, `Our business is people, and much of what we do has to happen in person with other individuals.`
Taylor said that carpooling might have failed since not all employees live near each other.
It took about three weeks to iron out the details, Taylor said, but as a result, the Chamber decided on a four-day work week in which some employees do not come in on Mondays and others do not come in on Fridays. The employees then makes up the hours lost on the four days they come in to work. Employees can choose how to divide up the extra hours, whether it is coming in early the other days, staying later or both.
According to Taylor, this allows the Chamber to remain open five days a week.
One month after the program was implemented, Taylor said, `So far, I think we’ve been doing really well with it. Our members are very very supportive of the concept.`
For marketing and online media manager Trevor Sparks, the program has been rewarding so far.
`I have two children, so we take them out of daycare for a day, and I play ‘Mr. Mom’ for the day,` he said.
Aside from being able to spend extra time with his children, Sparks said the program has actually saved his family a good amount of money.
`We take them out of daycare for one day, and over the course of a year we save about $4,000,` he said. `It’s like the Chamber gave me a raise of $4,000.`
Sparks said the program has also helped ease the stress of his commute because now he is traveling to work earlier and is able to beat most rush-hour traffic.
While some employees, like Sparks, enjoy various aspects of the program, not every employee chooses to take advantage of it.
Vice president of member services Laura Cassidy said that she does not take one day off per week because, as a manager, some employees in her group do not take it off, and she would not want to make them do it just because she did.
Cassidy also said that, `From a scheduling perspective, with my children, it was more advantageous to not [take the day off].`
At the same time, Cassidy said she was excited about the kind of staff response the Chamber has received since implementing the program.
`I think I’m more excited about the way the staff has responded to it,` she said. `It kind of enhances the positions here and gives them a little more value.`
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