- This topic has 17 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by cheburashka.
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4 day week?
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PiefaceFull MemberPosted 12 years ago
Some people are saying that working 40 hours in 4 days would be better than 40 in 5 – this would be good for workers morale and the environment.
However I’ve also heard in an unrelated story that it would achieve with the GDP figures in one fell swoop what the current deficit reduction programme is trying to achieve.
I’m all for compressed hours to get a longer weekend, but what other downfalls are there and why isn’t it taken more seriously (maybe we could have a referendum?).
I’m more than aware that it wouldn’t be entertained for political reasons as they used it in the 70s / 80s, however in Utah they see it as a way to reduce staff costs without losing their talented staff ready for an upturn.
ARTFull MemberPosted 12 years agoI recall an American example where they reduced all state workers to a 4 day week. Not compressed hours, reduced hours, in a bid to save money. The overall results were increased productivity, less time off for sickness/ ill health/ stress etc, and an overall increase in outputs. A 4 day week makes sense for lots of basic common sense reasons; unfortunately lots of organisations/ businesses don’t see it this way and aren’t prepared to take what they perceive as being a risk to trial it. Daft really.
aracerFree MemberPosted 12 years agoThose of us who’ve worked part time will tell you that typically you get almost as much done in a (reduced hours) 4 day week as in a normal 5 day week. I couldn’t possibly comment on whether I was just a slacker when working full time.
phil.wFree MemberPosted 12 years agoWe do 41 hours in a 4.5 day week here.
Friday morning is the least productive time.When the company was taken over by the Americans the working week went up from 38 to 41 hours. On the whole productivity hasn’t changed.
Make of that what you will.
aracerFree MemberPosted 12 years agoWhen the company was taken over by the Americans the working week went up from 38 to 41 hours. On the whole productivity hasn’t changed.
You mean the amount you get done in a week hasn’t changed, so productivity has reduced?
StonerFree MemberPosted 12 years agoAs a freelancer I work anywhere between 5 and 70 hours a week over half a day to seven days a week. Any days. Sometimes Tuesday. Sometimes Sunday.
Id hate to be tied to the office Mon-Fri again.
I can get to the shops when they’re quieter.
I can ride my bike when the hills are quieter.
Jamming all economic acitivty into the same 40 hours out of the 168 available in any given time zone is silly.
FunkyDuncFree MemberPosted 12 years agoI work a kind of 4 day week on a flexi system so that I get Fridays off. Generally it means I work roughly 44 hours in 4 days.
Its hard, by the end of the day your knackered (I do alot of VDU work). Am I more productive? Yes when I have some thing I need to get done by a deadline. When its quiter, I think its easier for your mind to wander as its a long day to be in work…
footflapsFull MemberPosted 12 years agoI worked a 4 day week for a year or so and ended up doing 5 days work in 4 days. IMHO a person has a natural productivity limit and once you’ve used that up it makes no difference how many extra hours you work. So I think going from 5 to 4 days would make not a lot of difference to productivity (well personally it probably wouldn’t, I’d just spend less time on here..).
aracerFree MemberPosted 12 years agoSo I think going from 5 to 4 days would make not a lot of difference to productivity
You’re also misusing “productivity” – if you’re working less hours for the same output, your productivity has increased.
vinnyehFull MemberPosted 12 years agoimo, one of the biggest boosts to office productivity would be to turn off non work related internet access. 🙂
I think the 4 day week works best in manufacturing, on the floor, or a retail environment (where productivity is largely constrained by the customer).
For most other workplaces there’s a need for Mon- Fri cover, resulting in staff scheduling problems, the impact of increased break provision on the working day length, and breakdown of staff interdependency relationships, not to mention the impact on families.phil.wFree MemberPosted 12 years agoone of the biggest boosts to office productivity would be to turn off non work related internet access
I find 5 mins on here every couple of hours means I concentrate more the rest of the time.
If i don’t I just slow down as my mind starts to wonder. Just have to make sure it is only 5min every now and then. 🙂
rocketmanFree MemberPosted 12 years agoHave been on a 4-day week since 2007 😀
My commute is 25 miles and Friday we did FA and finished at 4 anyway. A quick word with the MD and now I get that Friday feeling on a Thursday.
Like today! 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
monkfishFree MemberPosted 12 years agoWe do 41 hours in a 4.5 day week here.
Friday morning is the least productive time.Agreed,we do the same albeit on 36 hours and on a Friday by the time i’ve had a coffee, browsed the internet and shuffled a few papers its time to go home.
bonjour le weekend
monkeypFull MemberPosted 12 years agoI managed to negotiate a 4 day week when I moved jobs and it’s great. Compressed hours, so early starts, but a 3 day weekend and more time with the children. I have Fridays off and my wife managed to get Thursdays off, both with no loss in salary.
I guess we are both lucky, but the expectation is that we support where necessary outside of these hours which can be difficult.
If I had to work it would be a half day on Friday so the productivity is a bit pants anyway and it means one less 50 mile commute and 2 fewer days of paid nursary for 2 children, so a big financial benefit too.
IanMunroFree MemberPosted 12 years agoI’m all for compressed hours to get a longer weekend, but what other downfalls are there and why isn’t it taken more seriously (maybe we could have a referendum?).
Unless it was tongue in cheek, I’m a bit puzzled as to how would a referendum work? Are you advocating that the state would make it compulsory to work 4 days for 10 hours?
cheburashkaFree MemberPosted 12 years agoWorked 35-hour 4-day week since 2005, can’t knock it, wonderful.
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