Acton announces reduced town-hall hours, moves to 36-hour full-time schedule for nonunion staff to aid recruitment and retention

The Town Manager told the Select Board the town faces staffing and recruitment pressures across multiple departments and proposed a set of administrative changes intended to improve retention and work-life balance for nonunion employees. The board voted to support the changes at the June 16 meeting.

The package of administrative adjustments includes: (1) reducing posted afternoon hours by one hour Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; (2) reducing Tuesday evening open hours by 1.5 hours while preserving some evening availability for scheduled appointments and Tuesday-night meetings; (3) retaining morning opening times (8:00 a.m.) and preserving early permitting hours for contractor needs; and (4) formally changing the full-time nonunion workweek from 40 to 36 hours. The manager said these changes will not reduce salaries and are meant to reflect widespread use of virtual services, high morning demand, and low take-up of late-evening in-person hours.

The manager also described companion compensation measures to improve retention: quicker accrual of three weeks’ vacation (after two years rather than five) and a one-time longevity payment for staff who remain beyond five years. He said the changes will not eliminate evening meeting attendance by staff when needed, and confirmed a start date of July 1, 2025 for the adjusted schedule.

Select Board members expressed support for the changes and asked staff to continue coordinating meeting schedules and committee needs to minimize out-of-office evening work. The board formally recorded support for the manager’s package; staff will implement revised schedules and report back on recruitment metrics.