Tumwater four-day week: 28 city staff trade pay rises for time off
By Vikram JoshiLife Balance Correspondent, Peepals Shakti
Representative image: hudsoncrafted / Pixabay
Tumwater, Washington, will put 28 of 133 eligible staff on an opt-in 32-hour week from January 2027, in return for skipped raises.
What Happened
Tumwater, a small city in Thurston County, Washington, in the United States, will put 28 of its non-union employees on a voluntary four-day, 32-hour week from January 2027. The city offered the shorter week to 133 non-union staff, and 28 had signed up by the end of October 2026, local reports published in the first week of November said. In return, those who opted in agreed to give up cost-of-living pay rises for at least two years and part of the rise in the third year. City officials described the plan as a way to recruit and keep staff, since Tumwater has struggled to match the salaries paid by larger cities nearby.
Key Facts
- Tumwater offered a voluntary 32-hour, four-day week to 133 non-union employees.
- 28 employees accepted by the end of October 2026; their new schedules begin in January 2027.
- Staff who opt in give up cost-of-living raises for at least two years and part of the third-year raise.
- The city's example: skipping a 4% raise, another 4% the next year and 2% in year three, to reach its goal of 10% wage savings for a 32-hour employee.
- A city spokesperson said Tumwater faces a projected $5.4 million gap in its 2027-2028 two-year budget and wants to close it without cutting staff.
- Officials looked at San Juan County, Washington, and Golden, Colorado, before designing the plan.
Why It Matters
Many four-day-week experiments keep pay the same and cut hours. Tumwater's plan is more open about the trade-off: employees are offered time instead of future pay rises, and each worker decides which matters more at this stage of life.
That makes it a useful case for anyone weighing work-life design, including the many women who juggle a job with care for children or older parents. The question it puts on the table is concrete: how much future income is one free weekday worth? About one in five eligible employees in Tumwater answered yes to that offer. The rest kept the standard week and their raises, a reminder that a shorter week is not the right deal for everyone.
The city's reasons are practical. According to officials, a small city cannot always win a salary contest against bigger neighbours, so it is competing on time and flexibility instead. At the same time it faces a budget gap of $5.4 million over 2027 and 2028, and forgone raises reduce the wage bill without lay-offs.
Tumwater studied San Juan County, also in Washington, which moved its staff to a 32-hour week through negotiations for its 2023-25 labour contract. There, employees kept the same pay for 32 hours as they had received for 40, in place of a larger pay rise. The county has since made the schedule permanent after a two-year trial. Its leaders said the change saved nearly $2 million in projected cost-of-living expenses, that the number of job applicants rose by more than 200%, and that voluntary departures such as resignations and retirements fell by an average of 28%. The county also reported fewer sick days, alongside continuing problems: co-ordinating schedules between departments, telling the public clearly when offices are open, and balancing workloads.
Peepals calculation: 28 of 133 eligible staff signed up, a take-up of about 21% (28 ÷ 133 = 0.21). On the city's own example, a 32-hour worker's pay ends up about 10% below the 40-hour path (4 + 4 + 2 points of skipped raises) while hours fall by 20% (32 ÷ 40 = 0.8), so pay per hour worked comes out roughly 12.5% higher than on the full-time path (0.90 ÷ 0.80 = 1.125). Our calculation from the reported figures.
| Plan | Hours a week | Pay arrangement | Reported result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tumwater, Washington (from January 2027) | 32 | Gives up 4%, 4% and part of a third-year raise (city's 10% goal) | 28 of 133 eligible staff opted in |
| San Juan County, Washington (now permanent) | 32 | Same pay as for 40 hours, in place of a bigger raise | Nearly $2 million in projected costs avoided; applicants up over 200% |
Impact
Short-term: From January 2027, 28 Tumwater employees will work four days a week, and their teams will need to share cover on the fifth day.
Long-term: If it helps the city hire and keep staff, it offers small employers a model in which a shorter week is paid for with forgone raises rather than job cuts.
Who is affected: The 133 non-union employees who were offered the choice, the 28 who took it, the colleagues who share their workload, and residents who use city services.
What to watch next: The new schedules begin in January 2027, and the city's 2027-2028 budget, with its projected $5.4 million gap, is still to be closed.
Key Takeaway
Tumwater's opt-in four-day week shows the real price of free time in plain numbers: about one in five eligible staff chose a shorter week over their next pay rises.
Questions and Answers
What is the Tumwater four-day work week plan?
The city of Tumwater in Washington, US, offered its 133 non-union employees the option of a 32-hour, four-day week starting in January 2027. Those who accept give up cost-of-living raises for at least two years and part of the raise in the third year.
How many Tumwater employees chose the four-day week?
28 of the 133 eligible employees, about 21%, had accepted by the end of October 2026.
Do Tumwater workers keep the same pay on the four-day week?
Not in the way some other trials work. They do not take a pay cut, but they skip future cost-of-living rises. The city's example is skipping 4%, then 4%, then 2%, to reach its goal of 10% wage savings for a 32-hour employee.
Why is Tumwater doing this?
City officials said Tumwater struggles to match the salaries of larger nearby cities, so it is offering time to attract and keep staff. It also faces a projected $5.4 million budget gap for 2027-2028.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Vikram Joshi, Life Balance CorrespondentCovers Life Balance and more for Peepals Shakti. All stories by Vikram Joshi
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Vikram Joshi is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
