The benefits of a 4 day work week

It is really a fantastic idea. I have thought of it before. But i gave it up because if the company's clients don't practise this advice, it is impossible for our company to do so. I do hope one day the advice can be applied to every company. Another question, i think people in the world work hard to improve themselves and seek development of thewhole society. So why we have to work extremely hard and sometimes get very exhausted? We are borned to be happy. But what i see till now is that many people are seeking development of themselves or of the society at the cost of their health and at the cost of our enviornment. I am confused.

its raelly nice. you can work most probably 2 hours more each day when you get rest for one day more. also you can cut the gas bill as well.its really innovative idea.

It is a wonderful concept. In all truths, the only con would be the working for ten hours on the days you work; and if you think about it, all of the pros out weight that con. I hope it works out for you so that you can save money and be able to spend more time with your family.

The good thing is that you have that extra day and you can use it to touch base with the family or friends. The bad side you will have to work 2 extra hours on the remaining 4 days, there are some who would prefer to work all 5 instead of cramming those extra hours into 4 days.

I had talked about this starting several months ago. I think you can find my responses when googling mylot and typing in four day work week. Anyways, I have family that work 4 day work weeks already out in Virginia/Maryland/DC Area. It was to help address traffic problems more than gasoline issues (but I think they are happy they've got the program in place with recent developments!) They say they like it and all they do is 10 hour workdays... I think with slightly longer lunches or another break in there somewhere. There are also A week and B week setups for certain occupations. The A week consists of say Monday-Thursday, while B week consists of Tuesday-Wednesday. Alternatively, I've seen this setup try to cover the entire week in an overlapping fashion, depends on occupation/situation. Yet different from this I've seen proposals, which I'll dub C week, of having Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday...(leaving Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday) Don't really know if that would work but it'd be interesting seeing it in action. Overall workers do get a 3 day weekend (or a 2 day weekend and a week break). There is more time around the house, with the family, and overall relaxation. Morale boosts are there too even with the C week setup (you get two "fridays"). The cons are obvious for several industries and companies. There is one less day to get things done. Even though the time adds up, the worker psychology and work setup doesn't. One example is land/housing development. Someone might submit plans on Monday and expect them within the 1 week timeframe (just an example). Instead of 5 days to work with, its just 4. That 5th day could have been a sight inspection or more work resolving department issues (electric, public works, fire). Now that a day is eliminated the timetable has to be pushed up and plans completed on the next week. This naturally effects the developer on their own timetable/work schedule. Just a hypothetical example. Here is a more common example. There are plenty of careers that require more than 40 hours: managerial, executives, leader positions. While a 4 day workweek may spillover to them, its likely their work schedules will not change. The managerial work has to be done along with any other "on-duty" work, so its quite a task. Of course... with current technology and synching, managers, executives could do their work online and at home (so you see I'm thinking of bringing this to everyone). The only other con or item I can think of is what happens when transportation actually catches up with many of the other 1st world nations (yes I'm talking about rail and to extents public transport). There will then be enough transportation to offset the cost to the individual: say a few bucks for a ticket versus a few bucks for a gallon...(don't forget it typically takes more than one gallon to sensibly fuel the car...). With efficient transportation there would be no need for the 4 day workweek due to cost of transportation. Of course, if productivity and citizen morale is favorable, there is a possibility the 4 day work week would stay.

It's a fantastic idea. I hope more companies could implement it. It can make working more efficient and life more easy. Work hard and play hard. That's the real life. We should work for life, but unfortunately quite a lot guys are living for working, including me.

well, my hubby's company is doing that... he is only working 4 days in a week and he works 10 hours shift a day... i also think that it is a great arrangement as he has more time to spend with me as you say... i, myself am working 5 days in a week... but we have weekends off to spend the time together which is very fortunate... take care and have a nice day...

My husband does maintenence (not meaning that he cleans like some places, but he fixes machines and stuff when they break down)work at a local factory. Well, I guess you could say local, its local for us, even though it is a little over an hour drive combined there and home. Anyway, they have had a shift there that works 4 days a work. They work 10 hours a day and sometimes more if they have some extra work needing to be done. My husband is getting ready to move to that shift as a supervisor so I am hoping it will help us a lot. We were talking about the gas prices and even though it is just one day, but that one day will save us a lot in gas if you think about how much you spend on gas in a month.

I think it's an excellent idea. You are so right, it would save a lot on gasoline. Plus, you could have an entire day off to take care of business you are normally trying to do before or after work. Or worse, during your lunch hour. I worked for Social Services and we tried to get them to implement this plan years ago. They didn't though. Of course, our offices could not close, but the higher-ups couldn't understand how the employees could rotate having Friday and Monday off. I think it's a great idea, though!

I have always thought it was a great idea. Law enforcement has been that way for at least 10 years now. My daughter loves it. A full day for errands and such and the next 2 for her and her child. Works out great! IT is so practical, intelligent and accomodating and work efficient and expense cutter - guess that is why companies don't do it...they just don't get it! Ask any working mom - they'll tell you what a good decision a 4 day work week would be! Some places, like banks couldn't do it, but so many other companies and business could...

I think that's a great idea. It would save the company money also. In the summer if it's warm out I think your work slips a bit anyway as you just want to get outside. 4 day working week sounds great and i can't see anything wrong with it if you're still working the same hours and getting the same money.

ya its a great concept - four day week i wish everyone implements that concept soon so that we get 3 days off and also we can enjoy a lot with our friends if we get that amount of time.

I think it's a great idea and you should go for it. Not only will you be saveing money by cutting down on the gas but you will have more time w/ your family and be able to get other things done. They have it at my work place but only a limited amount of people there have it. They work 4 ten hour shift days and get 3 off. If I could do it I would but my boss already gave me the no on that one so I have to stick to my 5 days a week and get 2 off. I guess it's better than nothing if you do get that i wish you the best of luck.

Personally, I love 4 day work weeks. I work 40 hours and work Monday - Thursday. My husband works a rotating 12 hour shift of 4 days one week and 3 days the next. Pros Saves gas (Husband and I both have to drive 60+ miles a day and that one day makes a huge difference!) More time with family and friends Entire weekend not spent doing errands If required to work overtime, you still have a 2 day weekend Work week goes quicker Cons Longer shifts

I think that's a great way to cut down on worker's gas. I don't work 40 hours a week, but I worked 4 days a week until recently. I have to travel pretty far to work at times as I work in different places, so I have to drive a car. But, when I don't work, I ride my bike or walk. I think the best thing employers can do is have more people telecommute. I know it's not possible in all cases, but if they can do it, it would definitely help many people not just with gas, but other expenses like childcare.

I worked for a place that did four day weeks in the summer and it was nice. You do save on gas for sure but it also makes for a happy environment as employees love having Fridays/Mondays off. We alternated having friday or monday off so that the place was never closed either day someone was working.

Hi Tee, I have never worked a 4 day work week, but like you I think it would be a good idea. With the price of gas being what it is, I can see a lot of people liking the idea. Also as you mentioned, it would be good to have three days off every week. Lets see what others think. Blessings.

I think that would be a great idea for you. I work about 4 days myself and get around 40 hours with that and I love it. But I'm a bartender so I don't have an office job. If I did though that work week would be awesome. I don't see anything wrong. Would you have 3 days off in a row or split up?

I think it is a fantastic idea. Definitely a gas savings with the prices so high and predictions to go even higher. I work at home, on the farm, so I don't really leave every day. I try to conglomerate any errands I have to one or 2 trips max to town in a week.

I'm currently a part time worker who works 30 hours per week over four days. I have two seven hour shifts and two eight hour shifts. I must admit it's nice to have that three day 'weekend'... even though it doesn't actually coincide with the real weekend since I work saturday and have Sun/Mon/Tues off. I really would like to have it as Sat/Sun/Mon since my daughter is in school and the only day I really get to spend time with her is on Sunday.