Maintaining Fiscal Health

The post Pandemic inflationary period has left the County grappling with high costs to provide services to the citizens of San Juan County. Wage pressure brought about by consumer inflation, economic uncertainty, and the Island’s high cost of housing all created the expectation and want for a substantial double-digit wage increase.

The high cost of services, goods, and wages places extraordinary pressure on the County’s budget. To stay within the limits of the current budget, as well as the voter-approved taxing authority, the County took the bold step of holding wages relatively constant but reducing the work week by 8 hours. This effectively gives the employee a sizeable increase in hourly wages. Holding the total cost of wages (payroll) relatively constant, even for a short time in an era of rising wages, is a prudent hedge against future anticipated wage inflation.

This creative approach enables the County to live within its financial means, and it provides the employee with a wage increase and schedule flexibility, so that they do not have to use leave balances to take care of personal and family business.

Workforce Studies

In 2019, the Henley Business School at the University of Reading surveyed over 500 business leaders and 2,000 employees that have implemented, or are considering implementing, a flexible working week such as the 32-hour schedule. The results explore the benefits and challenges to this schedule, as well as the cost savings. "The combined savings to UK business is already as high as £92 billion a year, 2% of total annual turnover," the study shows.

Benefits of a Flexible Work Week (2019)

The improvement in efficiency and quality, along with the reduction in absences means savings are being made from flexible working patterns. In 2021, the combined savings to UK businesses grew to £104bn, representing 2.2% of total annual turnover. Two-thirds (66%) of employers report a reduction in costs – compared with 51% in 2019 - as well as a maintaining of the ‘quality of work being produced’ (64%).