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Geary County Commission approves six‑month trial of modified office hours to boost recruitment
Summary
The Geary County Commission voted to run a six‑month pilot beginning June 1 that lets participating departments use a four‑and‑a‑half‑day schedule with staggered hours and Friday half‑days; staff will collect employee and public feedback and report in December.
Tammy Robertson, Geary County finance director, told the commission that a team studying recruitment and retention had surveyed employees and residents and found the most popular response was a four‑day week, but the team is proposing a four‑and‑a‑half‑day pilot instead.
Robertson said the proposed trial would run June 1 through Nov. 30 and would allow offices to stagger start and end times to keep doors open to the public at 8 a.m. while giving participating employees a Friday half‑day. She urged a controlled trial with data collection: "If you guys approve a trial run with this, we would have that information to bring back at the end of the year for you to consider whether we would continue on as a permanent change or whether we feel like it's just not beneficial to the county or to the people," Robertson said.
The proposal would let some offices begin serving the public earlier (finance and HR proposed 7:30 a.m.) while others (for example, the treasurer and register of deeds) would adjust staffing so public access remains available at 8 a.m. Fridays would be appointment‑only in some offices, and the register of deeds proposed rotating half‑day schedules so employees share mornings and afternoons.
Commissioners stressed the need to preserve public access at a public building and to track employee and public feedback carefully. Robertson said departments will collect feedback forms and suggested compiling a single entry per person to avoid skewed results.
Commissioner discussion centered on implementation details and community notice; Robertson said the county would publicize the pilot throughout May. After debate, a commissioner moved to approve a temporary trial beginning June 1, with employee and public feedback to be presented to the commission in December to decide whether to make the change permanent. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.
The pilot is intended to test whether flexible schedules improve recruitment and retention without imposing significant costs; Robertson said anticipated savings would be limited to turnover reductions and some utility savings from closing offices afternoons during the trial. The commission directed staff to publish outreach materials and to track key performance indicators during the pilot.
