HR Specialist: Michigan Employment Law

Warning: Michigan gives employees more rights than many other states. More

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is considering four-day workweeks for some state workers to help cut commuting costs in light of skyrocketing fuel prices.

More than a third of state workers already enjoy alternative work schedules. Roughly 8% of those employees have a compressed workweek of up to 12 hours per day.

Granholm said she is considering options that won’t interfere with the delivery of state services—and could improve them in some cases.

Final note: Could a four-day week work for your organization? If your goal is to offset employees’ higher transportation costs, it might be a better alternative than raising pay. After all, schedules can be adjusted at any time, but pay increases have a way of remaining permanent.