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Lehi City News

Mayor Johnson asks for 5-day workweek from city staff

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Currently, most Lehi City services and departments (except public safety) are available Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Due to a desire to make Lehi City staff available each weekday to respond to citizen needs, Mayor Johnson has asked Lehi City Administrator Jason Walker to work with each city department to create a plan to add Fridays to staffers’ workweek.

Each department is now in the process of figuring out the details and cost of altering staff schedules to cover the additional workday. In certain departments, all personnel may not be available on each day, but according to Mayor Johnson, “I just want someone to be able to respond to citizens every weekday.”

Additional hires may be needed in some areas, particularly in utilities, but the Mayor’s hope is that most departments’ current staff can massage schedules to accommodate the extra day. In some cases, city workers have expressed the difficulty in obtaining daycare prior to 7:00 a.m.  A shorter work day in a five-day-a-week schedule would be beneficial to employees who have children in daycare for nearly 11 hours currently.

Mayor Johnson likes the idea of offering “flex-time” to workers to meet individual situations and to cover the needs of the city. “We will make sure our full-time employees get their 40 hours,” said Johnson.

“I want Lehi City to be available to serve citizens when they need our services. Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to me seems reasonable,” Johnson said. “We are in the process of figuring out the details and costs of the changes in various departments. We will implement the changes as soon as is practical.”