News and Events
EU SAVING RESOURCES WITH FLEX WORK SCHEDULE
St. Davids, PA, July 24, 2008: Eastern University President David Black, in alignment with the University’s commitment to the environment and care “for the earth itself as responsible stewards of the environment and other physical resources,” has introduced the option of flexible work schedules effective June 30, 2008. This nontraditional work week option was implemented to try to alleviate the impact of increased costs of petroleum and food products on the University’s faculty and staff.
While maintaining overall work hours, departmental coverage, and levels of service to students and other constituents, the following flextime options are now being offered to assist full-time employees in saving on travel costs: Work four extended days per week (four ten-hour days if one works 40 hours per week), work from home up to eight hours per week, or work off-peak hours.
The desired outcomes are financial relief (reduction of transportation costs by 20%) for employees, if possible, and conservation of resources. With gas prices at over $4 a gallon these days, it's a valid concern. High gas prices contribute not only to stress in the wallet, but stress on the job as well, potentially hindering employee performance.
This initiative is one more way that Eastern University is committed to helping the environment. In 2002, Eastern first purchased wind power to cover 37% of its energy needs. Overwhelming student and faculty support helped grow this commitment to 100% in 2006, making Eastern the first college campus in Pennsylvania to be completely powered by wind energy. The environmental benefit of the campus being run 100% wind energy is that it prevents the release of 2,030 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, the equivalent to taking 375 cars off the road or planting 1,800 acres of trees.
Similar to wind energy, improvised work weeks will be beneficial to the environment as well. After eliminating holidays, vacation, personal and sick time and weekends, the average worker goes to work about 233 days each year. With gas prices in Pennsylvania averaging $4.05 (or more) per gallon, if that person commutes just 15 miles each way, he or she could be burning more than $6 in gasoline every day, or $1,400.00 annually. On a four-day-a-week schedule, however, that total drops to $1,120.00, a savings of more than $280.00. If individuals choose to use the flexible hours, they could save time, money and ultimately gas. When missing the morning and evening commutes/rush hour, there would be less vehicles idling on the road.
Proposals for flextime must be feasible for the department, approved by the employee's supervisor, and subject to final approval by the vice president or dean overseeing the respective function.
For more information about Eastern’s commitment to energy conservation, visit http://www.eastern.edu/news/releases/archive/press_release_static12.html or http://eastern.edu/welcome/missionstatement.html.
