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Fewer than half of state agencies in Arkansas offer flextime Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Fewer than half of Arkansas' state agencies, boards and commissions offer flexible work schedules to their employees, though the option has been available since the 1970s, state officials said Tuesday. The head of the state employees union urged legislators to encourage more agencies to offer flextime, especially at a time when high gas prices are making commutes costly for some state workers. Flextime schedules, or schedules not confined to the traditional eight-hour day and five-day week, are offered to employees of 49 state agencies, Kay Barnhill-Terry, administrator of the state's Office of Personnel Management, told a legislative panel studying the flextime issue. That's 49 out of more than 140 agencies that could offer flextime to employees under a 1997 policy directive from the governor's office, according to the state Budget Office. Kay Durnett, executive director of the Arkansas State Employees Association, told the House and Senate committees on state agencies and governmental affairs that flextime not only saves money for employees but should also save money for the state by improving morale, reducing turnover and increasing productivity. Employees who start work before 8 a.m. or stay past 4:30 p.m. may find they can get more work done because of fewer interruptions, she said. State Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, who requested the interim study, said allowing some employees to work 10 hours a day, four days a week also reduces traffic problems, air pollution and oil dependency. "Is their any assurance that on this extra day off they won't be driving around?" asked Rep. Rick Green, R-Van Buren. "I don't think we're going to put leg monitors on them, Rep. Green," said Sen. Steve Faris, D-Malvern, the Senate committee chairman. Durnett said economics would determine whether employees stayed home on their extra day off. "How long can a $9-an-hour employee afford to pay $4 a gallon for gas to commute 40 miles to and from work?" she said. Richard Weiss, director of the state Department of Finance and Administration, said Arkansas' flextime policy, which allows agencies to devise their own alternative work schedules, dates back to the energy crisis of the 1970s. It was last updated in 1997 by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. Gov. Mike Beebe has not updated the directive since taking office last year, but Weiss said any proposals that come out of the interim study will be submitted to Beebe. |
