Examining the 4 Day Work Week
Christen Uber August 29, 2008
Type in 4 day work week into CNN’s search engine and suddenly an abundance of articles come up on the screen. Amazing, in such a short time, how a long standing 70 year tradition is being challenged because of gas prices. As both an employee and HR professional the question I am throwing around lately is why now? Why was gas prices the catalyst of pushing general consideration and acceptance of a shorten work week. Plus, I have been mulling over both the pros and the cons of moving towards a 4 day work week.
Lets begin with a short history lesson. The traditional 5 day, 40 hour work week was instituted in 1938 with the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It was simply an idea and benchmark to reduce unfair labor practices and put consequences into place for any company or organization that did not follow them. Since 1938 Americans have experienced 5 Wars (including our current one), 1970’s oil crisis, Global Warming, 9/11, and a Technological Boom providing us with greater access to information at a moments notice none of which ever challenged the way Americans worked. We have always worked longer hours and taken less vacation/personal time than our European counterparts.
So what does this mean for all of Americans who work long hours week over week? While reading through all of those CNN articles, I came across a HR blog that outlined both sides very well.
The Good: Why Condensed Work Weeks Might Be Here To Stay
Organizations are certainly using four-day work weeks to appease employees, but there are other benefits beneath the surface. For employees with families, this might mean one less day they need to pay for child care, and one more day that they get to spend with their kids. For employers with large offices or plants, turning off the power (air conditioning, heat, computers, etc.) can translate to quite a large energy savings each year. In
Utah, the state will save about $3 million…per year. This should help the environment as well through the reduction of CO2 from manufacturing plants and offices as well as emissions from commuters’ vehicles. For organizations looking to recruit young talent, a three-day weekend can be a very appealing perk.
The Bad: Why Condensed Work Weeks Might Fail
Four-day work weeks are being adopted by several organizations, however most are on a trial basis. There are several potential downsides that employers and employees should consider before adopting a condensed work week.One obvious concern is the productivity of an organization operating on a shortened work week. Not only are employees missing an entire calendar day of work, but the office is also closed for one work day, which might not please customers. According to Forbes magazine, a big issue for businesses is being available during the hours their clients keep. (”Is A Four-Day Work Week Good For Business?,” Forbes) An example of a four-day work week that didn’t work? Right here in Ohio. According to th ePBS Nightly Business Report, “the state governement of Ohio recently went back to a five-day week after complaints about a lack of service on Fridays.”
Like most other blogs, articles or editorials the biggest pro for a 4 Day work week was quality of life and the opportunity for families to spend more time together. As a single parent of a 5 year old child, I don’t necessarily agree. Part of the desire for people to have Work/Life Balance is to achieve equality between the time spent dedicated toward building a career and the time necessary to have a solid enriched family life. A 4 Day work week doesn’t automatically provide it. Let me give you an example. This week basically is a short week with the long Labor Day Weekend approaching. Like many others, I will be taking the day off on Friday so I may travel to NYC for the long weekend. Knowingly, I would only be productive for 4 days this week, I spent most of the days stressed about trying to fit everything in and meeting all of my deadlines (including writing this blog). I worked longer hours and felt less effective in other areas of my life. When I took a moment to understand why I was so stressed, I realized others who were not working a 4-day work week were depending on me to get them proposals, follow-ups and information to conduct their job effectively. I could not let them down. This brings me to my next point. The only way a 4-day work week would truly work is if everyone did it and that is not possible.
Four day work weeks are only going to provide a greater quality of life if everyone does it. However, for some industries this is not possible. Consider the Hotel Industry. Here is a service industry that is a 24/7 business and based on the needs and demands of its clients could not move towards a 4 day work week. Overall, I think there are better alternative flexible schedules companies can implement to provide employees with a better quality of life, reduce the impact of gasoline prices, reduce energy prices and reward employees for a job well done. The 4-day work week is necessarily the best solution.
Posted in Human Resources Analytics
