If the findings from a recent BYU study are any indication of future trends, then fewer and fewer BYU graduates may find themselves working the traditional schedule of eight hours a day, five days a week.

The report, authored by Rex Facer, assistant professor of public finance and management, and Lori Wadsworth, assistant professor of public management, revealed that working four 10-hour days may actually lead to less conflict at home and result in higher job satisfaction and productivity in the workplace.

The study, which appeared in the most recent edition of "Review of Public Personnel Administration", surveyed more than 130 full and part-time employees of the city of Spanish Fork, where alternative work schedules were adopted in 2003 to minimize public service costs and make those same services more accessible to citizens by extending weekday work hours.

"A few years ago the city of Spanish Fork contacted us ... and they were interested in knowing if people liked the 4/10 [schedule]," Facer said.

So he and a group of students from one of his public management classes undertook the project and collected data measuring the effects of the compressed work week on city employees and their families.

"We were interested in the relationship between variables, like what was causing work-family issues," Facer said.

So what was the general employee reaction to the new four-day ten-hour schedule?

"It was overwhelmingly positive," Wadsworth said.

According to the report, employees who worked the compressed schedule said their jobs took less time away from their personal interests than did those of their counterparts who worked five days a week. Employees on the 4/10 schedule also said their jobs did not take as much time away from their families.

Facer said one reason employees were so pleased with the new schedules was that the extra day off allowed them to make time for doctors appointments, hair appointments and other errands that they otherwise might have a hard time fitting into a five-day work schedule.

But employees aren't the only ones who are happy with the new schedule. The report indicates that employers who implement compressed work schedules have something to smile about as well.

More than 60 percent of city employees reported higher productivity as a result new of the schedule. An equal number of employees agreed that citizen access to public services had also improved as a direct result.

The city of Spanish Fork certainly is not the first public employer to adopt alternative work schedules for its employees. Salt Lake, West Valley, Provo, West Jordan and Draper are just a few of many Utah cities that offer this kind of program to its employees.

Both Facer and Wadsworth said they believe the switch to alternative work schedules like the compressed 4/10 program is a growing trend among US employers, but they currently lack the evidence to prove that claim.

"The younger generation wants that," Wadsworth said. "There are now people looking for places that will let them work less. People are saying, 'I don't want to work like my baby-boomer mom or dad."

Though the facts are clear that employees of the city of Spanish Fork enjoy their new work schedules, some questions still remain for Facer and Wadsworth.

"Is this a Utah factor, or a Spanish Fork factor?" Facer said. "Or will we find similar results in California and New York?"

To answer these questions and others, Facer and Wadsworth plan to take their survey to employees of a dozen different cities across the US.

Copyright Brigham Young University 16 Jun 2008