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Abstract:
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With the increasing need for highway maintenance and the decreasingly available funds , the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) Austin District has sought to better utilize maintenance section employee resources by implementing a compressed workweek . The primary goal of this thesis is to establish a framework and methodology to study the effects of a compressed workweek on maintenance crews in both rural and urban environments . Secondly , this thesis will provide a background of best practices of popular flexible work arrangements , including compressed workweeks , telework , and flextime . The compressed workweek is a type of flexible work arrangement that allows employees to work longer days during a part of the week in exchange for a partial or full day off later in the week . Compressed workweeks can offer numerous benefits to maintenance crews , including increased production , less set up and shut down time per week , decreased operating costs , reduced overhead , and increased employee morale . TxDOT will implement a six -month pilot project in two rural maintenance sections and one urban section . Compressed workweeks have proven to be successful in other districts with rural maintenance sections , but application of a compressed workweek in an urban maintenance section has yet to be studied . Therefore , maintenance crew activity data from previous years will be compared to data collected during the trial period to understand changes in productivity and to estimate vehicle operating costs . Lastly , surveys of maintenance employees will be conducted throughout the study to solve any personal issues that arise as well as determine employee satisfaction with the new schedule . |