LITTLE ROCK High gas prices were foremost on Karen Henson's mind when she volunteered this month to start working 10 hours a day, four days a week at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
"I am one of those employees that drives a Game and Fish car, and ... that's one day a week that I can save the commission money," said Henson, who commutes from Benton to Little Rock for her job as assistant chief of the commission's human resources department.
But when Henson began her new schedule last week, she discovered that a 10-hour day has other advantages besides saving money.
"I do feel like from 7 to 8 and from 4:30 to 5:30 I get a lot done, because it is a lot more productive time," she said.
Henson is one of a growing number of state employees who are moving away from traditional five-day work weeks as fuel costs reach record highs.
State agencies have had the option of developing their own flextime policies since 1997, when then-Gov. Mike Huckabee issued a directive to that effect. Gov. Mike Beebe has continued the policy, but state Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, has asked lawmakers to study the possibility of creating a statewide flextime plan.
"There is a lot of pain out there, especially at the gas pump, and that has affected so many areas," Steele in presenting his proposal to the Legislative Council.
State agencies, whose budgets were set when gas prices were $1 or more lower than current prices, are looking for ways to trim their expenditures as well as help employees. Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday that rising gas prices could "wreak havoc" on some agencies' budgets if the agencies do not limit their gasoline use.
Kay Durnett, executive director of the Arkansas State Employees Association, said interest in flextime has been growing. In the past month the association has received calls from dozens of state employees who are interested in working four-day weeks, she said.
"It's primarily those who are driving (long distances) and they are having to fill their tanks," she said. "It costs more to fill their tanks, so they are looking at ways to try to cut back on gas costs."
But employees with relatively short commutes could benefit from flextime as well, Durnett said.
"Even if you're working in Little Rock and you live in Jacksonville, coming across the bridge (from North Little Rock) and also on Kiehl (Avenue in Sherwood), a lot of times you're just sitting in traffic burning up gas," she said. "So it's not just people who are 40 or 50 miles away who are spending time commuting."
Another advantage of flextime is that traffic problems during peak driving times should ease as more workers go to 10-hour days, Durnett said.
Steele's proposal is "certainly worth looking into," Durnett said, but she said any statewide plan would have to be strictly voluntary and highly flexible. Each employee would need to be able to work out a schedule with his or her supervisor, she said, noting that not all employees are able to work nontraditional schedules.
"It's not something that you just jump into and say, gee, gas went up so why don't we do four-ten?" she said.
Another way state employees could reduce their gas costs is by living closer to work. Pam Hickman, chief of human resources for the Game and Fish Commission, said she lived in Cabot years ago, while working for the Department of Labor, but she moved to Little Rock to shorten her drive time. She said she would not be surprised to see more people do the same.
"I think the cost of real estate took them out to the rural areas or into suburbs, but the cost of gas might bring people back," said Hickman, who now lives three miles from work.
