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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-01-11 - AGENDA REPORTS - REVISED WORK SCHEDULE (2)AGENDA REPORT NEW BUSINESS DATE: JANUARY 11, 1993 SUBJECT: REVISED 9/80 WORK SCHEDULE DEPARTMENT: CITY MANAGER BACKGROUND ger Approval nted by: George Caravalho As you are aware, the City of Santa Clarita has had the responsibility of implementing and maintaining a plan to meet air quality improvement goals as required by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Regulation XV. Under this regulation, companies of over 100 employees are mandated to develop and maintain programs to reduce peak -hour commuting trips. In response to this mandate, and in the interest of furthering the goals of the SCAQMD, City of Santa Clarita employees have been on a 9/80 work schedule since January 1992. As detailed in the attached memorandum, this schedule (employees off on alternating Mondays), while succeeding in reducing vehicle trips, has resulted in management, organizational and customer difficulties. The attached memorandum proposes an alternative 9/80 work schedule of alternate Friday closures of City administrative offices which is consistent with many other neighboring municipalities and various department of the City and County of Los Angeles. Upon approval by the City Council, materials will be developed to publicize the change in schedule, including a press release, calendar and public notice. Implementation of the new work schedule is expected to occur in February, and will have no negative impact on the City budget. RECOMMENDATION That the City Council review and approve the change in work schedule as proposed. ATTACHMENT Memo to George Caravalho on Revised 9/80 Work Schedule GCIREP.mat PRCOUNCIL 19-80re vi. 114 Continued To: i- s gil S Js CITY OF SANTA CLARITA INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO:le r A. Caravalho, City Manager FROM: ssistant City Manager DATE: December 6, 1993 SUBJECT: Revised 9/80 Work Schedule The following report evaluates the experience the City of Santa Clarita has had with its current 9/80 work schedule, which was designed and implemented to meet the air quality standards set forth in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Regulation XV. The report also discusses the experience of other municipalities on this matter and recommends changes to the current Santa Clarita program. BACKGROUND Regulation XV of the SCAQMD was developed and implemented to improve air quality in the South Coast air basin, covering a four -county area including Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, plus the non -desert portion of San Bernardino County. Regulation XV requires companies which have 100 or more employees to develop and implement a trip reduction plan and trip reduction incentives for those employees who report to work between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Penalties for noncompliance with the plan can result in fines ranging up to $25,000 per day. Through its current 9/80 work schedule, the City of Santa Clarita is complying with Regulation XV while participating in regional efforts to improve both air quality and traffic congestion. The City has further demonstrated its commitment to improving air quality and mobility through the efforts of the TDM Task Force, which is developing rideshare alternatives to the unique needs of Santa Clarita. CURRENT 9/80 PROGRAM In approximately January 1992, City of Santa Clarita personnel were placed on a 9/80 work schedule. This schedule effectively expands the normal 80 -hour two-week pay period into 90 hours, as each day various staffinembers are required to be at their jobs for nine hours (although most offices are typically only open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with certain exceptions). To compensate for the extra hours worked, each employee has one day in ten off (excepting weekends). These days off are currently scheduled on alternating Mondays, with the perceived intent to maintain office coverage and public availability five days per week while everyone works through the schedule. - 1 - There have been some significant management, organizational, and public accessibility consequences of the present program in complying with Regulation XV. The problems experienced as a result of the current implementation of our 9/80 system have been voiced by staffmembers as well as members of the public who frequent City Hall on a regular basis for customer service. To further determine the extent of the consequences related to the current system and to explore the impacts of the proposed revised 9/80 schedule, all City employees were invited to participate in one of three meetings held on Tuesday, November 23, 1993, to discuss this topic. Not surprisingly, all departments, with a few exceptions in field service and transportation functions, responded with similar concerns relative to our current system of administering the 9/80 program. Principally, these concerns were: • Unavailability to the public • Difficulty In maintaining proper supervision • Lack of staff coverage • Productivity and efficiency Impacts • Difficulty In scheduling meetings Details of the above impacts are explained as follows: UNAVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC Under our present 9/80 work schedule, each employee has one day off every two weeks. These days are currently alternated on Mondays throughout the period for the perceived purpose of maintaining staff coverage. However, frequently when a member of the public calls or comes in to City Hall for certain services on that Monday, they find that the person or persons they need to see are not available. Monday is a heavy work day for the City, since many prepare over the weekend to either call or come in on Monday. Because 50 percent of the City staff is not here one day per week, and because often days off must be switched to accommodate vacation days or absences of other colleagues, it is difficult if not impossible for the public to know when any given employee's day off will be. In the simple conduct of daily business, it is virtually impossible for one staffinember to cover for another in these instances, particularly if the absent staffperson has a background or knowledge of the issue at hand. Several staffinembers and departments commented that the public has expressed concern over these absences of staff. It is both difficult and confusing to explain to the public that staff works an 80 -hour period while the appearance under our current system is that they are frequently missing from their posts. The current system is awkward and not easy for the public to understand. • DIFFICULTY IN MAINTAINING PROPER SUPERVISION Because the current 9/80 schedule has effectively created a 90 -hour work period, there are at least ten hours each work period (and often more) where supervisors are off while their employees are working. While supervisory coverage is never perfect, e.g., vacation, sick leave, jury duty, lunch schedules, etc., the current 9/80 system has created an additional significant gap in the supervision and management of public service. -2- LACK OF STAFF COVERAGE Maintaining adequate program and service coverage is one of the most pressing difficulties experienced with the current system. This is particularly true for smaller departments and for various work functions within departments. For example, the City Clerk's Office has only two full-time staff employees. Under the current work schedule, one person is off every other Monday. When the remaining person is either out sick, on vacation, or attending a meeting, there is virtually no one left in the office to handle public calls or respond to staff needs. When this person is at her post, she must cover the telephones, public inquiries, and staff inquiries, as well as accomplish other daily tasks. This graphic example can be applied across the board to most City departments and functions. PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY IMPACTS While harder to quantify, many departments have stated that they have experienced a negative impact on productivity as a result of the current schedule. This is primarily a result of the unavailability of various staff members throughout a given work period relating to the coverage problems mentioned above. This unavailability translates into delays in obtaining coordination of other staff and the often experienced frustration of seeking information from staff only to determine that they are on their 9/80 day off. For both staff -to -staff communication and community -to -staff communication, it can often take three to four days to respond to various requests. This results in a discontinuity in the system, which is represented by 50 percent of the City staff always off on a given Monday. Add this to the normal absences from the workplace, and severe consequences are experienced. DIFFICULTY IN SCHEDULING MEETINGS ' Because staff is spread so thin on Mondays, most meetings have to be scheduled on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Fridays are typically an undesirable day to meet, particularly for community or public meetings, even though staff are often at City Hall. Inflexibility and the inability to schedule appropriate meetings is the norm, and inefficiency is the consequence. Regarding the above -noted difficulties with this type of system is a study known as the Zucker Report. This report was commissioned by the City of Los Angeles Planning Department and conducted by Zucker Systems et al. in July 1991 to evaluate the department's managerial and operating effectiveness. While we understand that at the time of this study the Los Angeles City's Planning Department alternate work schedule included rotating Mondays and Fridays off versus the City of Santa of Santa Clarita's alternating Mondays off, we note that the corresponding problems are virtually the same. Parts of the report the City Council may find pertinent are as follows: The flexible work schedule is a very popular option.... However, our on-site observation and analysis of the department's operation indicated the design, implementation, and management of the flexible hours work schedule is having a significant negative impact on the staffing and effectiveness of its operations.... Our on-site observations noted that on Monday and Friday there are limited staff available to provide customer service and perform required work. Moreover, because of the overlapping schedules, there are regularly scheduled periods when employees do not have supervision and adequate direction. 3- The department should select a specific flexible schedule for use by all employees. Given its service requirements (hearings, meetings, public counters, Commission meetings, etc.), it appears a flex -hour schedule over a nine -day, 80 -hour work week would maintain the desired flexibility for employees, meet mandated requirements, and enable management to maintain the continuity of the work process and current levels of service with minimum interruption to the public (one day closure every other week). ALTERNATIVES TO THE 9/80 SYSTEM Unfortunately, the City does not have the option of foregoing some type of compressed work week for its employees. It is currently the only method of trip reduction that is accepted by the SCAQMD for the City because it is the only known method that adequately advances the City toward compliance with Regulation XV. The predominant method of compliance increasingly chosen by cities within the SCAQMD sphere of jurisdiction is closure of most city offices one or two days of the Work period. Some departments and/or portions of departments of L.A. County, such as the Department of Regional Planning and the Department of Public Works, have moved to a 4/10 system, where their offices and/or functions are open four ten-hour days and closed every Friday. Other cities have implemented similar programs of Friday closures, although many more have opted for a 9/80 system of closing city offices every other Friday. The most common reasons cited for choosing a 9/80 program over a 4/10 are productivity and child care complications. Ten-hour work days are very long for most employees, and too long as viewed by many employees. A ten-hour day has proven a hardship on parents whose child care providers may not be willing to keep children for that length of time or charge a substantial increase in service cost for extended hours. In an effort to determine how other cities have responded to the SCACMD Title XV Regulation, staff contacted several of these municipalities and found that several of these cities have instituted a 9/80 plan where City Hall is closed every other Friday. Under this system, City Hall and most municipal functions continue to remain open to the public a minimum of 80 hours in a two-week period because of extended building and/or service hours Monday through Thursday. Hence, the public does not experience a reduction in hours City Hall services are available, but simply a restructuring of the hours of availability. For many working people, being able to access city services earlier than 8:00 a.m., and particularly after 5:00 p.m., is perceived as a definite service enhancement. Four of the six cities contacted by staff (West Hollywood, Culver City, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica) have moved to a 9/80 system of closing city offices on alternate Fridays. Because of their proximity to each other, each of these cities is closed the same Friday. The cities contacted were asked to provide information about how this system works (or doesn't work) for them. Following is a report of their experience. BEVERLY HILLS The City of Beverly Hills originally adopted a 9/80 work schedule with alternating Fridays and Mondays off. After experiencing many of the same operational, management, and logistical problems we are currently facing, they modified their schedule to an alternating Friday off, and after a short period of time experiencing the same problems, realtered their schedule again to closing city administrative offices every other Friday. Patrons who call the city on closed Fridays reach a taped message informing them of City Hall business -4- hours. The staff and community of the City of Beverly Hills are satisfied with the current system, stating that they have received no serious complaints or problems of constituent acceptance. CULVER CITY For approximately six months, Culver City experimented with a 9/80 system that was similar to that originally implemented by the City of Beverly Hills. City representatives indicated that they had significant dissatisfaction with that system, indicating a variety of problems parallelling those currently being experienced by Santa Clarita. Due to those difficulties, Culver City switched in April 1990 to an alternate Friday City Hall closure. City Hall hours are currently 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Taped messages informing the caller of City Hall hours are also used to intercept calls coming in on closed Fridays. Culver City continues to perform code enforcement inspection services on Friday closure days. Culver City expressed satisfaction with the Friday closures. LANCASTER While the city's traffic staff work a 4/10 schedule, all other city employees are on the conventional Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. work schedule. The city is currently proposing a switch to a 9/80 work program for all city employees and is determining whether or not to completely close on Fridays. Their experience and research of other jurisdictions on a 9/80 program are indicating that a 9/80 work schedule with a closure of city administrative offices every other Friday is the most desirable option, SANTA MONICA Since August 1990, the City of Santa Monica has been on a system of alternate Friday closures. City Hall is open for business from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on alternate Fridays. The city reported that it rejected the 9/80 plan where City Hall is open every day for several reasons: Public counter and staffing needs, supervision concerns, internal communication considerations, and public access. The City Manager's Office reports that the city is very satisfied with the current system, and that there has been no appreciable negative reaction from the community. Six weeks before the new schedule was implemented, the city undertook an extensive public information campaign to notify residents and the business community of the 9/80 work schedule. The community quickly caught on to call or consult the city's calendar to insure a given Friday was an "open" Friday before coming to City Hall to conduct business. As reported from other communities, callers on Fridays are greeted by a taped message advising them of City Hall hours and referring urgent calls to several emergency numbers. Santa Monica conducts building inspections on off -Fridays through an appointment and overtime fee process. This is the same method it has employed for weekend inspections for many years. The City of Santa Monica recommends their implementation system of the 9/80 schedule. -5- SAN FERNANDO The City of San Fernando is currently on a 9/80 program which began in August 1993. The city has an A and B workforce, which is off on alternating Fridays, with police and parks personnel presently not on the schedule. While the City of San Fernando has experienced many of the concerns articulated in this report, they are not currently considering a change in program. WEST HOLLYWOOD The City of West Hollywood adopted a 9/80 system with city office closure every other Friday. Its hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the open Friday. Those who call on closed Fridays reach a taped message informing them of City Hall business hours. West Hollywood has left its Code Enforcement Office on a five-day weekly schedule. The City Manager's Office expressed satisfaction with their current system, stating that they have had no serious complaints or problems of constituent acceptance. West Hollywood went directly to this system to fulfill its Regulation XV requirements, and has no experience with a system like that in Santa Clarita. When asked if they would recommend their system, the response was affirmative. PROPOSED CHANGES FOR SANTA CLARITA Due to the significant concerns experienced by the City of Santa Clarita with its present system of implementation of the 9/80 program, it is recommended that the City's 9/80 work schedule be modified to one where affected employees have a consistent day off by closing City Hall and other administrative offices every other Friday. Under this system, City Hall would be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the Friday City Hall is open. Like those cities contacted with a similar work schedule, patrons calling City Hall on a closed Friday would reach a taped message informing them of City Hall business hours and referring them to appropriate emergency numbers. Building inspections and other potential field functions may be considered for an alternate schedule to provide broader coverage. As a result of a recently produced staff report on City Hall parking conditions, it will also be necessary to address this issue in the 9/80 modification plan, To adequately prepare the public for this modification in work schedule, an intense media campaign should be undertaken to advise the business and residential communities of the new City Hall hours and the reasons why this change is being implemented. Such a modification of the current work schedule would result in: Better service to the community through resolution of the coverage problem (creating a work period of nine consecutive work days versus ten days spattered with absences and discontinuity); 2. Increased availability of City services nine days in a ten-day period by opening City Hall for business an extra hour; 3. More accessibility to the public and City Council on days of need, particularly Mondays preceding a City Council meeting; 4. Improved productivity, supervision, and efficiency. While we fully understand the concern that the City Council (and other City Councils) have expressed over the closure of City offices every tenth business day, the fact is that City Hall will remain open 80 or more hours during a given period, virtually the same availability if there were no 9/80 program at all. We are confident that many members of the public will appreciate the longer hours each day when business can be conducted at City Hall. The positive experience of the other cities we have contacted who have implemented a program similar to that being proposed at this time leads us to believe that this change can be implemented with little or no negative impact on our employees or the public, and that it will remedy the problems identified in this report. RECOMMENDATION It is respectfully recommended that City Council approve the proposed modification to the City's 9/80 work schedule. KP:REP.dis pradmin19-80work.rep -7-