One Colorado police department to continue 4-day workweek: productivity up, better community connection

The Golden Police Department moved to a four-day work week last summer on a temporary basis. This week, data revealed that the new workflow is going so well, the department will extend the program. 

The results show that productivity is up and the way officers respond to the community has also improved. 

The reason for the four-day workweek was to keep as many employees as possible while the city faced staffing issues. Golden is home to approximately 20,000 people. 

The new workflow has had a positive impact for some officers like Golden Police Officer Phil Rogers who is currently assigned to the Baker District. 

Rogers has three years of experience with Golden combined with several more at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. He feels like his best days are still ahead of him. 

"I'm fresher when I get home and fresher when I come to work," Rogers said. 

Latar Durand is a crime scene investigator with the Golden Police Department. She's been there for six years and said she's more efficient than ever. 

"You don't realize how much time you spend on your phone. And so it's even taking fewer breaks to look at my phone and putting it on "Do Not Disturb" mode. It's cutting my meetings in half," she said.

Both officers credit the change in workflow as the reason why they feel more productive. 

"We were facing a lot of challenges around hiring and retention, particularly within the police department," Golden City Manager Scott Vargos said.

His answer was to move to a four-day workweek. Staff are paid and receive benefits for 40 hours but only clock in for 32.

For the past six months, they've been tracking the pilot program using several data points. 

"We are still seeing response times that are typically less than the response times under the previous schedule. We are seeing more calls for service activity under that previous model and we have a level of morale and engagement with the staff that is in the 90-plus percentile," Vargos said.

This success comes as no surprise to Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey who had several reasons for wanting to participate. 

"This could really be a game changer for recruitment and retention but the overall health and well-being of our secondary family... that was the big reason for me to want to jump in on this," Harvey said.

For the most part, he says it's been a smooth transition.

"A lot of Baby Boomers have spent their entire career, 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday, and for some of them, it's uncomfortable. The Gen X folks, like myself, some of us have struggled with it in the beginning and are warming up to it. But you go to Gen Y and Gen Z, they love it because they have been raised to look at work differently," said Harvey. 

"I'm able to make more of my kids' outings at school and be present with their academies... I'm less stressed," Durand said.

Just a few months with the extra time off and she says her family feels stronger.

"It's made all of our lives better. We don't realize how valuable that time is," she said.

Rogers had a similar review of his new 32-hour weeks. 

"I pick my kids up every day from school. Unless I was off, I've never been able to do that," he said.

Seeing his productivity increase has wiped out any fears he has had about maintaining a high-level of service to the community.

"It's been life-changing," Rogers said.