It looks like 4-day workweeks are catching on. In Utah, Governor Jon M Huntsman, Jr. is kicking off the Working 4 Utah initiative in August. State government agencies will operate on extended hours Monday through Thursday, 7 am to 6 pm, and close Fridays. Essential services, courts and the like remain unaffected.

The plan is already winning raves from the Salt Lake Tribune. However, they rightfully point out that 10-hour workdays may upset 5-day routines.

West Valley City and Provo, have adopted four-day schedules and they report that most employees like it, although a 10-hour workday takes some getting used to. A Brigham Young University study suggests that both morale and productivity improve.

Still, the schedule will be a challenge for employees with children. Day care from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. is going to be hard to find, and no parent would relish getting kids ready for elementary school by 6:30 a.m., then figuring out how the children will be supervised until school starts at 8:30 a.m. And how are parents supposed to help with after-school activities when they don't get off work until 6 p.m.?

Nonetheless, the energy savings and lowered emissions, for both the State and its workers, are hard to ignore. Plus one more solid, uninterrupted day of family/personal time? I suspect many will gladly make the trade-off.