Contact Information	Date
For Immediate Release Contact: John Campbell 434.220.9070 or 434.989.0665	Oct. 7, 2009 VDOF 09031

VDOF Shifts to 4-day Work Week;
Offices Will be Closed Fridays

As part of its budget reduction strategies, the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) has been chosen by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to determine if working four 10-hour days each week instead of five 8-hour days can generate significant savings of tax dollars and still deliver the level of service Virginians deserve.

This pilot project will begin Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 and run through June 30, 2010. VDOF hours will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.  Employees will have one hour for lunch, and all offices will be closed Friday.  Employees whose positions have been approved to telework can choose to continue to work five 8-hour days but would have to telework on Friday as all offices will be closed that day each week. The changes will affect the agency's headquarters in Charlottesville, its three regional offices (Tappahannock, Salem and Charlottesville), and all of its county offices. At the end of the current fiscal year, the test program will be evaluated and will either become permanent, be modified or be discontinued.

Also impacted by the pilot program will be the Charlottesville branch offices of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which lease space in VDOF's Charlottesville headquarters. Employees of these agencies who work in the VDOF's Charlottesville office complex will adapt to the 4-day work week based on their agencies' directions.

The Charlottesville offices of the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control, are not affected by this program. In addition, the program will not impact the federal employees assigned to the Virginia Interagency Coordination Center, also located in VDOF's Charlottesville headquarters. These agencies are located in suites with independent HVAC systems that operate 24 hours per day.

State Forester Carl Garrison said, “We're honored that the Governor selected us for this pilot program. He had asked that agencies be creative in thinking about ways to address the budget shortfall, and shifting to a 4-day work week was one of our 19 strategies he approved. By switching to working four 10-hour days, we expect to see a reduction in utility costs in our offices as well as a reduction of gasoline expenditures by not having vehicles on the road five days per week. Of course, our emergency response mission will not change. If a wildfire or other emergency requires our attention, our First Responders will be there regardless of the day of the week.”

VDOF, which has both law enforcement and public service responsibilities, had its operating budget reduced by 10 percent last month and took a 15.3 percent cut just three months ago.

“With just 265 employees having the responsibility of protecting the lives and property of more than 7.5 million Virginians from the ravages of wildfire; ensuring the health of more than 15.7 million acres of forestland; providing services to more than 375,000 forest landowners, and inspecting more than 5,000 timber harvesting operations each year, we had to be very creative as our annual general fund budget shrank from $18.6 million to just $14.6 million.  The 4-day work week could be just one of the ways for us to continue to protect and serve the Commonwealth with 25 percent less operating money,” Garrison said.

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The Virginia Department of Forestry protects and develops healthy, sustainable forest resources for Virginians. Headquartered in Charlottesville, the Agency has forestry staff members assigned to every county to provide service to citizens of the Commonwealth. VDOF is an equal opportunity provider.

With nearly 16 million acres of forest land and more than 144,000 Virginians employed in forestry, forest products and related industries, Virginia forests provide more than $27.5 Billion annually in benefits to the Commonwealth.