4 Day Workweek 3 Day Weekend
September 14, 2009 · Print This Article
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On April Fools day, I made a post about working all 40 hours of your work week at once and then having the rest of the week off. In the post where we discussed working from home, I mentioned that one way to reduce your commute is to work a shorter work week.
Before I go any further, let me address all the people who are poised to send me vicious hate mail saying things like “What type of world do you live in?!” or “My boss would never let me do this!” Please recognize that this won’t work for everyone–I know that. However, it is a good thing to keep in mind throughout your career because there may be a point where it would work for you.
Okay. Now that that is out of the way …
When I was a teenager, the school I attended was on a 4 day per week schedule. The state requirements for school specified a certain number of hours each year, and the school administrators found that, by having longer days, they could meet the requirements and free up Fridays. As a student, it was very beneficial because I was working as a waiter at the time and could pick up a day shift on Friday, which worked out very nicely. The extra hour or two that we spent each of the four days was well worth having a big block of time off (Friday).
These types of arrangements aren’t as odd as you might think in the current work force–particularly in healthcare–especially with night shifts. It is common for ER doctors and nurses to work three 12 hour shifts in a row and then have the rest of the week off. Some even work a series of shifts totaling 80 hours in a week and then take the next week off.
Back in 1994, the World Bank started a program where they would let people work longer days in exchange for the 10th day off as part of a work/family balance program. While there were challenges, the total productivity remained the same.
My point is that not everyone is working 8 hour days 5 days per week. It depends on your job, but you might be able to ask about going to a 4 day work week. For some people, it might even be more productive. Imagine that you have 2 extra hours to get stuff done Monday through Thursday before anyone else came into the office. For a lot of people, these extra 8 hours would be much more productive when put before the normal work day on Monday through Thursday than they are all on Friday like normal because you would have a big block of uninterrupted time before the rest of the world got started.
Here are some tips for if this is something that interests you:
- Try to shoot for coming in early instead of staying late. It is going to be easier to convince your boss that you’ll get more done by coming in a 7:30 am and getting a head start on everything than staying a few hours late.
- Try to arrange your schedule to avoid traffic. If you normally take an hour to drive to work, you may find that it only takes 30 minutes when you come in earlier.
- Concentrate on selling the business advantages to your boss. It doesn’t matter if it is convenient to you. You need to show that it is beneficial to the company business. (A lot of the tips from asking your boss to work from home still apply.)
- Consider consulting. If your current employer isn’t interested in this type of setup and you have skills that are in demand, you might consider becoming a consultant where you could set up this type of schedule for yourself. We will look at this in more detail later on.
Obviously, a 4 day week won’t work for everyone, but it is something to keep in mind as you work on achieving work/life balance. Your work productivity is important, but so is the time you spend with your family or pursuing your non-work activities.
Originally published April 14, 2007.
I think that four, ten hour work days in a week are ideal. I received a job offer from a place that works six, eight hour days with three days off rotational. Some of the police stations around here work twelve hour shifts, three on three off. But over all I think the firefighter have great shifts. 24 shifts, one day on, one day off, one day on, three days off. There are many variations of this type of rotation.
A few years back I had a job at a pubishing company at which I worked four days a week and was paid for five. The agreement with my supervisor was that I would be as productive as other people in my group working five days a week with the same job description; as it turned out, I was actually more productive. Sadly, our group was transitioned to another part of the company during a re-org and the new division did not allow flexible work schedules. I was back to five days a week, a schedule that eventually led me to leave the company. The irony was that in the five-day schedule, people spent a least an hour or two a day on gossip, long coffee breaks, and, of course, lots of phone calls and emails dealing with personal business (legal issues, elderly parent issues, house repair, etc.) that could have been handled on their own time — if they’d had the fifth day off.
@Karen — Thanks for your comment. Just out of curiosity, was your employer offering 4 day work weeks to everyone or were you the only one doing that?
@Corey – I’m not sure I could handle a 24 hour shift. I’m guessing that firefighters get to sleep some during that time. Of course fighting fires would probably keep me awake for a 24 hour period too.
I once worked for a collection agency where everyone worked 4 – 10 hour days per week. The office was closed on Friday. It allowed the collectors to catch people at home before or after work.
I liked the schedule but not the job.
Recently I have started to “negotiate”my scheduler and I do not have Fridays off but I have shorter Fridays. During the week (Mondays to Thursdays) i came to work early and leave a little bit later and this allows me to end up the work week earlier Fridays. Lucky me that I have a good boss
But, as you have perfectly said, this cannot be applied by everyone and in every company, here is an article describing when 9-5 isn’t working for a business
Many companies or departments within companies are allowing 4 day work weeks. It benefits the employees and employers by providing extended and flexible staffing.
At my company if the employee does not provide a customer service function a 4 day work week is permitted. Added flexibility is gained by supplementing this with telecommuting.
Our HR studies have shown gains in productivity. During periods where raises and other compensation will be flat or minimal this can be used to compensate for lost pay increases.
I’ve worked a 4 day workweek for 10 years, and love it. Our employer has always had a 10 hour workday. The extra 2 hours isn’t really that much more difficult once you get used to it. Our dept was on a crazy 2 week average for a while, where we’d work 12 hour days, 4 one week and 3 the next, for an average of 44 hours/week (we were all on salary). The 4 day week was looooong, but a 4 day weekend was awesome.
Our company has a slight variation. We can’t close the office for a whole day so iinstead we work an extra 1/2 hour Monday to Thursday and then get off 2 hours early on Friday. It’s amazing what a psychological difference it makes to get home early on Fridays. More time to take care of personal things that are best done during ‘business hours’. Or just get a jump on the weekend. The extra 1/2 hour each day is barely noticeble.
why not solve the unemployment problem that some of us know will only get worse in our post industrial economy, reduce the work week to 24 hours/ three days standard. there is no fundamental truth or law that says everyone has to work “full time” 40 hours a week. there will still be plenty of work left over for anyone who wants/ needs to do 30+ hours and people will be able to spend time doing what they want. get a hobby, an allotment, more time with your family, help out with charity and other creative projects that make our communities a better place for everyone. people would also be generally fitter with more physical activity. really the only things that need to be 24-7 are water, energy, food production, emergency services and one or two others. stop people making a lifestyle choice to live on benefits (im looking at it from a uk perspective), put them to work doing something constructive.
A four day work-week does sound fantastic! Unfortunately, where I’m from (Australia) it seems a 50+ hour work-week is pretty standard in corporate workplaces. (Ten hours * five days).
I couldn’t cope! I used up all my days off doing mundane things like going to the dentist, the doctor, getting my hair cut, and sometimes just to recover. When I asked my boss if I could please please please work part-time, he said no way… so I had to quit to preserve my sanity. Now I work in academia and don’t think I’ll ever be brave enough to return to full-time work in a corporate setting. I’d rather stock shelves at a supermarket!
I’m doing this right now at my job. I work 3, 12 hour days one week, and 4, 12 hour days the next, and every two weeks I have a three day weekend. I love these kinds of shifts, because if I’m working 8 hours, I may as well work 12.
The only downside is that it doesn’t leave me much time to do anything on the days I work, and I’m not able to schedule something at the same time every week (because I work opposite days each week).
However, I also get to work from home on the weekends
At Regency we operate a 9/80 system – where the staff work 80 hours in 9 days instead of 10. So in effect everyone gets every other Friday off. Because we are a small team we split the roster – one half are off this Friday and the other half next week.
It works wonderfully as people are encouraged to schedule doctor appointments and any other personal engagements they would usually need time off for on their 9/80 Friday. And because half their team is in, the customer is not negatively impacted – there is always someone here to talk to.
In Trinidad we are one of the few firms that does this as it is very unusual outside the energy sector.
Hey! I have been a fireman for 2 years and i work 4 days on 4 days off, i really like this job i get paid for 5 days and i only work 4 days, i get 75,000 pound a year,