Government services should be available outside of regular business hours
Seriously - its a service industry. Be open Saturdays. Heck, be open on Sundays. Be open after 6:00 PM. The government doesn't exist to give you a cushy job working 8:00 to 5:00 when everyone else is also working. I'm not asking for the lazy government workers to work more than 40 hours a week but have some flexible shifts.
My city hall is open outside business hours if you make an appointment (which doesn't sound like a big issue to me). Just not sure if there is a big waiting list for appointments.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
There is a 9-5 jobs worth attitude to many public services. It's not a cost issue (which some would no doubt say soon) as a fortune is spent on expensive property which are only used part of the time. Flexible hours don't necessarily cost more.
Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer
My system is open 7 days a week. In fact I'm working this Saturday.
Want the hours, you got to pay the taxes. More staff for more hours, supervisors for all hours, the added cost of electricity in a now occupied building, security, etc.
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 10-26-2012 at 12:47 AM.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
I think they should be open in black neighbourhoods too.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
I think it depends upon the service anyway. Some (like yours) definitely ought to be public facing and so open reasonable hours. Others not so much.
More and more systems should be dealt with online nowadays anyway and if non-urgent can be dealt with later. Eg to get my drivers licence renewed with a new photo card and new address on it I filled in online an online questionnaire on the DVLA website last Friday. On Monday my application was dealt with. On Tuesday I got my new licence through the post.
I see no possible reason to need to face-to-face apply for renewed ID (if you have sensible security procedures) so there's no reason for it to be extended hours.
Having a day off in the middle of the week but be open on a weekend day makes a huge amount of sense.
That could be easily fixed. Any government agency that deals predominantly with citizens can stay open Saturday and Sunday instead of Thursday and Friday and/or stay open from 2 to 10 PM several times a week. The people hurt most by the current working hours of most government agencies are the working poor, who can't afford to take a day off work to deal with the government.
Hope is the denial of reality
Hours would actually be 1 to 10pm, and if you correct it for the idea that it can get kind of rough being out past 10 for someone that works 8 - 5, you could end up with 12-9 hours, which many of our locations currently do. Extra hours on Sunday are a complete flop, because the poor are also known suffer from an affliction known as religion. Non-standard or regular hours will also increase compenstation costs since your available pool of personal shrinks. Working nights is extremely rough on parents, since most child care locations have hours that barely extend past the regular working day, and those that do offer late or weekend care charge exorbitant rates.
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 10-26-2012 at 12:16 PM.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Most state "government" offices do that. Maybe it's just Texas that sucks.
Oh I'd love to be able to do everything on-line. Sadly people are still on the stone age in some areas. Hell I'd love to have jury selection actually be done electronically instead of housing 300 people in a room and sending 250 of them home after wasting a day of their lives. And not all transactions can be done electronically with the dreaded DMV here.
RB, I think you underestimate the variable costs of keeping a gov't institution open on evenings and weekends.
Regardless, I do agree that at times it is more cost effective to have non-working hours for some government institutions - notably ones that require face-to-face contact with working people and can't be handled online (now, online gov't services which are available online but only during business hours... those are truly ridiculous). That being said, I think the reverse is sometimes true. We don't need Saturday mail delivery IMO, pretty much all business-related services don't need to be open beyond business hours, etc. The slice of gov't services which actually should be open (at added expense) during evenings and weekends is probably quite limited.
Public facing institutions could reasonably be open Wed-Sun. No variable cost involved.
It's pretty common to pay workers more for weekend hours.
It's pretty common to do lots of things for public workers that wouldn't be done for private sector ones.
Hope is the denial of reality
Private sector office jobs also get overtime for weekends, no? I know GE does that here.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
Apple also pays more for weekend and night hours, and Walmart even pays their parttimers more for weekends. Its not OT wages, but its a bump.
Even if its not a direct pay bump for working weekend hours, the pay is generally higher for positions that don't have a set 8-5, mon-fri, schedule.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Well if Apple and Wal-Mart do it, everyone must do it. You win.
Hope is the denial of reality
I was simply replying with 2 of America's heavy hitters (and we all know how cheap walmart is when it comes to compensation). If you have any research that shows weekends offer identical or lower pay than weekdays, then please, don't allow your thirst for 1 liners stop you from actually contributing anything of value to the discussion.
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 10-26-2012 at 03:39 PM.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
I really don't understand, Loki, there's a clear wage premium in the private sector for working nights and weekends.
The link shows that 8% of companies pay workers more for working regular weekend shifts (for salaries employees)...
Depends if it's a one time requirement or if that's the shift the worker always works. OG's own link shows that only 8% of companies give higher wages for salaries workers doing regular weekend shifts.
Hope is the denial of reality
and 38% for hourly employees, and higher for customer service focused positions (59%) which is what we are referring to in this thread. Are you suggesting customer service workers are as a majority salaried employees?
Its 96% (hourly) for the shift you suggested earlier in the thread.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Wow, that's an incredible misstatement of the data there, Loki.
Since when are most government workers paid by the hour?
Hope is the denial of reality
None of the part timers here are, and thats generally all you would hire to fill in the gaps presented by a non-regular second shift. The only ones salaried around here are the ones holding degrees and supervisory positions. Everyone else is hourly.Since when are most government workers paid by the hour?
now who do you expect to find a customer service position, a salaried or hourly worker? Feel free to consult the link above for a hint.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
How the hell are you supposed to select an unbiased jury electronically? My mother was summoned last month and while the jury ended up selected before she made it into the box herself she'd have been excluded as soon as she got up there because it turned out the defendant's lawyer was one of her old co-workers. How is a jury-room computer supposed to pick up on something like that?Oh I'd love to be able to do everything on-line. Sadly people are still on the stone age in some areas. Hell I'd love to have jury selection actually be done electronically instead of housing 300 people in a room and sending 250 of them home after wasting a day of their lives. And not all transactions can be done electronically with the dreaded DMV here.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
If you have to do some paperwork, you can always take vacations and enjoy in a queue of the paradise of government bureaucracy...
Freedom - When people learn to embrace criticism about politicians, since politicians are just employees like you and me.
No it's not and its becoming increasingly less common and more normal.
I can't think of any common sort of employer here who doesn't offer extra pay for working weekends, evenings, nights and public holidays
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Its even law in some places. Australia calls it a penalty rate.
and the link above shows the majority do compensate hourly customer service workers for weekend and late shifts
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
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