5 Reasons It’s Time for the 4-Day Work Week

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/5-reasons-its-time-4-day-work-week

1. Makes workers more productive.

A lot of people automatically think that reducing the work-week to four days will crash productivity. But there’s evidence that this is far from true. American Online and Salary.com found in a survey that the average worker wastes about two hours every eight-hour workday, doing stuff like making personal calls or surfing the web. If given the choice, most of these employees would gladly drop those behaviors in exchange for a four-day work-week.

***SNIP

2. Good for the environment.

One day less at work means reduced electricity use and less time spent driving. Fewer commuters during the traditional rush hours makes travel quicker for everybody, which means less time spent idling in traffic and churning out less greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

***SNIP

3. Makes employees happier.

Let’s be honest. Being on a treadmill where all you do is work, eat and sleep, is a crappy way to live. That’s why the four-day work-week is good for morale and worker happiness. Spending more time with family and friends, pursuing hobbies and interests outside of work, and engaging with the community are all things that boost well-being and keep employees, sane, focused and committed to their jobs.

4. Creates a healthier workforce.

For many Americans, going to see a doctor involves sneaking off in the middle of the workday, because there's no time outside of work to do it. Ironically, they probably need the doctor more because they spend so much time in the office.

[Tetris_Iguana]

1. I wish it would happen but it won't.

Not when the upperclass is as out of touch as ours. Heck they think bathroom breaks are a generous benefit.

[yeoman6987]

4. I always wondered how they could be so unbalanced on work vs personal time

5 days to 2 days off is hardly fair. Whoever thought of this was out of touch with workers for sure. I know it was made decades ago, but whoever did should be vilified. Working 4 days with 3 days off is more balanced. Heck if you want to be completely fair, work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and get out of work Thursday at noon. That is the way it should be. Last year, we had furlows so we only worked 4 days off. Of course we only were paid for those 4 days. At first, it was not popular due to the financial part, but once we received a few paychecks that were reduced, people found that it really was not that much of a difference. You would think it would be 1/5 of the paycheck but it really isn't after the deductions are all reduced. Of course a great option would be to work 4 days and get paid for 5.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. All it requires is a search and replace on the FLSA law.

Replace every instance of "40" with "32".

[Brickbat]

2. Some big construction projects work on four 10s, and it works great.

[AngryOldDem]

3. And exactly for all of those reasons, it will never happen.

[rock]

5. Well, you would have to convince the managers

Did I ever mention that managers are not very smart? In fact i believe they're mostly repiggies!

[Gormy Cuss]

6. It also creates jobs.

In converting to a four-day week, most offices jobs would just shutter on the fifth day but plenty of other jobs either wouldn't (retail and service jobs, for example) or can't (nursing, emergency services, etc.) thus more workers would be needed to fill the schedule cards.

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. +1.

But businesses are only open because there are customers to serve. I doubt that most businesses would close on the 5th day if for no other reason than space utilization - a business that keeps 10 people busy for 5 days would need adequate space for an additional 3 people if the office was only open 4 days.

But yeah, it's a good and overdue thing.
It increases wages
It decreases workers' expenses
It improves quality of life
It creates jobs

An alternate means to the same end is to leave the 40 hour week alone but mandate 4 weeks of paid leave.

[leftstreet]

7. DURec

[fizzgig]

8. i technically have a four-day work week

but i have a minimum hours requirement to keep my benefits, so i usually work short days on friday rather than burn pto to hit those hours.

it is awesome, though, when i don't have to work that fifth day and i feel much better on monday.

[whistler162]

11. Hmmm... a 4 day school week

when people are bemoaning the poor shape of the educational system. Or doesn't this apply to educational system workers?