More than 2,000 employees of Westinghouse Electric will settle into new offices when the nuclear power company completes construction of its headquarters in Cranberry over the next few years.

But for many of them who live near Westinghouse's existing headquarters in Monroeville, the move will cost them more to fill their gas tanks to drive an additional 30 miles to work each day.

With that costly commute in mind, Westinghouse is about to launch a pilot program that will allow 100 employees to work from home two or three days each week. If the telecommuting option proves feasible after a six-month trial period, Westinghouse will consider expanding it to other employees, including some in other geographic locations.

"Gas prices have played a role," said Glennis Williams, who works on programs that help the company better serve customers and operate more efficiently.

"Because of moving the headquarters, we wanted to alleviate some of the cost to people."

High gas prices as well as soaring costs for heating and cooling buildings have prompted businesses nationwide to set up flexible work arrangements or schedule compressed offices hours.

Beginning this month in Utah, most state offices were closed on Fridays and open longer -- 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. -- Mondays through Thursdays under the Working 4 Utah program. Gov. Jon Huntsman implemented the mandatory workweek of four 10-hour days to reduce energy costs throughout the state. Universities, courts, prisons and some essential services do not fall under the mandate, but 17,000 state workers are affected.

While gas prices crept toward $4 per gallon in May, a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found some employers initiating ways to help employees cope. According to the survey, about 26 percent of businesses nationwide offered flexible schedules, 18 percent offered telecommuting, 14 percent offered discounts on public transportation, 14 percent rewarded employees with gas cards and 42 percent raised mileage reimbursements on cars used for work.

Some even helped workers organize carpools and offered priority parking spots to those who carpooled, the survey said.

In the Pittsburgh region, several companies that already offered telecommuting benefits said gas prices had caused a spike in the number of employees working from home, though numbers were tough to track.

"We have a telework program for our employees, and we are using it more today than we have in the past," said Greg Wilkinson, vice president, public and government affairs, for Nova Chemicals Corp. in Moon. "Gas prices have definitely resulted in more interest in the program recently."

At PNC Financial Services Group where telecommuting and compressed workweeks are among the flexible work arrangements that have been in place for a decade, "We have seen heightened interest by employees and managers" as gas prices have risen, said Sharon Cercone, vice president and manager of work-life strategies.

Compressed workweeks at PNC include four 10-hour days or other varieties of flextime over the course of two weeks or a month, said Ms. Cercone who telecommutes from home one day a week.

"We find when people have an ability to decide when, where and how they do their work, they are much more connected to the organization, and that certainly makes them more productive."

Not to mention happier about saving on fuel costs.

The Mt. Lebanon School District created a four-day workweek for district offices during the summer of 2006 and has stuck with it. For the last two weeks of June and all of July, employees work four, 10-hour days Mondays through Thursdays, and all buildings are closed on Fridays. Spokeswoman Cissy Bowman said the district saved $65,134 on energy bills in July 2007 because of the Friday closings and other energy conservation activities.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, some municipalities are following Utah's lead. Fairview Township in York County, for example, adopted a four-day workweek for its public works department through October and plans to resume it next spring.

Telecommuting isn't the only perk Westinghouse is offering to assist employees on their longer trek to Butler County. About 400 workers who already are working at the new headquarters site can park at the Monroeville offices and hop a ride to Cranberry.

"We provide buses," said spokesman Vaughn Gilbert.