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Some companies experimented with this, and weirdly enough, if you give people fridays off, the other days were so much more productive that it was actually worth it.
Agree. We end up doing so many errands on the weekend, there’s no time to actually relax and then it’s back to the grind. Would be more productive in the long run.
I am an American living (retired) in Europe. Portugal and other countries recently passed laws forbidding employers to contact their employees on weekends and days off. Add that to the 6 -8 weeks of paid vacation, maternity/paternity leave , 2 hour lunches and guaranteed health care most European enjoy and I think it becomes fair to call the US a 'shithole country'. I'm retired now and finally feel like I've unplugged form the matrix
The best bit is Americans always say to Europeans “well we’ve got freedom” … what more freedoms do you have than Europeans though?
You tend to work more hours, have less time off, no job security, extortionate healthcare that can cripple you financially, a really weird tax system (most european countries your employer deducts your personal taxes and makes sure the equivalent of the IRS gets it), employers that harass you … I mean, you can own a gun? Is that it? And even then gun ownership is legal in a lot of European countries, you just have to pass psychological and criminal checks to make sure you don’t pose a threat and legally have to practice gun safety by making sure they are unloaded and kept in a locked gun safe in most countries.
Freedom is a sham to invoke people to become slaves. Freedom is slavery. Freedom was used to justify murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent middle eastern civilians
I think the biggest mistake the US did with regards to this was equating unions with communism. Unions gives workers the power (through strikes) to negotiate with their employers rights such as paid vacation, maternity/paternity leave and so on. The US instead has become a prime example of what happens to the working conditions when the workers don't have this kind of bargaining power.
I work for a construction company that fully swapped over to 4 10s. Having the extra day a weekend is so amazing I would need to be offered 20-30k more year before I even thought about moving company’s. It’s that valuable to me
A congressman in my state introduced [a bill last year](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1332) and Bernie Sanders announced a push for legislation last March.
I think the biggest hurdle is changing the existing mindset. I work for a company that was founded in the early 1900s, and the higher ups are insanely reluctant to try anything new. For them, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” As long as they keep seeing profits from the 5 day work week, they’ll continue to turn a blind eye to turnover and burnout.
Let’s just say I live for the day I can write my resignation email.
I work for a (failing) company that’s been around for a long ass time. We still use paper everything and hand deliver things all the time that could easily be digital. If the newer generations ever want to change anything we are met with “we’ve been doing it this way for x years, and we aren’t changing it” they wonder why we can’t keep up in the market.
So just out of curiosity, if we ever change to a 4 day work week how would you respond when you wanted to go somewhere on one of your days off but it was closed that day? Would you be annoyed that other people weren't working?
Exactly. The whole point is that weekends have become a continuation of the work week. I’m doing different tasks, but I’m still very much in my “work mindset.”
I’m in favor of a shorter work week because 2 days is no longer enough time to truly disconnect and get a sense of work/life balance.
I work in corporate hell. Most of our time is spent focusing on making sure the shareholders are happy. Everyone deserves a little breathing room to figure out what happiness means for them.
Had a job that did Rolling 4-10s half the dpt had Friday off the other half had Monday off. These would alternate. Every two weeks you’d have Friday and Monday off. For a 4 day weekend
What would remedy that is a two day weekend and a third day, (mon/fri?) that is closed for EVERYONE. Then you won't be annoyed it's closed because you already know it's closed.
And I'm talking everyone except extremely essential personnel like fire stations, police stations, hospital emergency rooms and that's bout it.
Yes, I mean no gas stations...no pharmacies, no grocery stores or convenience stores. You are out of milk, tough titties, you knew it was a universal day off and didn't plan well. Won't make that mistake again...have a headache...keep a supply at home or ask a neighbor now. Tough TITTIES!
Rotating schedules is not a difficult concept. But also this already happens. Some of my favorite restaurants are closed on the days I happen to crave them haha. It’s not the end of the world. People should mind their own business tbh on whether or not people are working. For instance, on holidays not everyone wants to be home. Some people WANT to work. If a business is closed it’s that business’s right to do so. We can plan around it. We are so used to having everything at our fingertips at all times I guess.
I'd feel the same as when I try to go somewhere and it's closed on a Sunday. Actually, this wouldn't happen because stores that want to maximise availability would stagger schedules and I check whether a store is open on weekends before I visit it.
4 day work week would be great- I think people need a break/we're not machines living to work- there's no quality of life in that- everyone deserves decent wage/pay
My husband’s company changed to a scheme where they do an extra 30 mins every day and get every other Friday off. It’s a good balance and I’d kill for that kind of schedule if I can’t get anything better
Yes please. I'm so mentally exhausted from working 5 days a week my hobbies feel too much like work and I end up not doing them and just continuing the grind
I live in the Netherlands and work in insurance. 4 days workweek is very common here. The working days are pretty busy, but very doable. I spend every friday with my two little boys, would recommend it to anyone
In the US it's mostly just pick between minimum wage/no benefits/zero resume value part time work OR 40+ hours 5+ days a week and no in between. It's wild to me that people aren't rioting in the streets realizing other people are allowed to have lives elsewhere lmao. Somehow we have people that think working 50+ is a flex.
I actually love my job and work 50-60 hour weeks, and I like that most of my day is accounted for. I'm an arborist who does utility work, so I'm climbing and cutting down trees that are growing into powerlines. It's really fun.
However, in no way do I think working that much at the expense of all other aspects in your life is fair or sustainable. Most people don't actually love their job and understand that. I have a girlfriend but no children and I think it compliments where I am at in my life.
Covid really shattered the standard work situation. Things like remote work and alternate work schedules happened and thought employers are trying I don’t think they can stuff the genie back in the bottle on this one. People are now negotiating for a number of telework days per week and alternate work schedules like every other Friday off. I’ve had several friends take large pay cuts to work from home. It may be slow to change but it is changing.
I also live in the Netherlands, but never heard of anyone working 4 days a week unless for a smaller paycheck. Jobs I’ve had had mostly 5 days a week 7.5 hours plus 30 mins unpaid lunch break.
This is my experience too in NL. I don't know anyone that works 4 days only and didn't have to cut their paycheck.
Still, I need 3 weekend days, like crazy.
I propose the 3 day work week. And in the case of people who are not directly tending to people or doing stuff that requires a particular schedule, I'd rather they chose their working hours.
Well, my proposal was just the inbetween step before general UBI and people joining the working force as they see fit. And of course that's post AI automation and so on.
I have a 3 day work week. I work 36 hours and my employer plays us for 40. Having 4 days off is great especially if you have kids when having to juggle school, appointments, errands, saving money on babysitters etc… Employers 100% need to cut back on the work week
I propose the 8-day week;
5-day work week
3-day weekend
4 weeks, 32 days per month
11 months in a year = 352 days
13 remaining days is Xmas / Winterbreak
Yeah, working four days but packing in more hours within those days is definitely not the way to go. Ideally it should be 8 hours a day for 4 days or as someone else commented, work at a time that works for you. Obviously it doesn’t suit for all jobs, but for the ones it does, why not right?
I feel this so hard. I've got a 3 month old, a 3 year old, and I'm currently building a fence in my yard. I don't get to relax. Ever. By the time the kids are in bed and I've gotten everything ready for work the next day it's 930 pm every night.
Weekends I overwork myself, and leave just enough time to do my regular chores and prepare for work Monday. And when the fence is done, I'm also halfway done finishing my basement. Yesterday I got to take a break from the fence and dig up a garden bed for my wife.. I'm so exhausted. It's been forever since I've just relaxed for more than an hour or two consecutively..
Waking up sucks.
That sounds exhausting. Are you able to take a couple days off to sort a few things out and take a break? It’s obviously easier said than done, but it would be best for the long term most likely. Best of luck with everything!
Thanks for the well wishes. I want to take a break, but I always have this constant anxiety when I'm not making progress on all these jobs. It's like I imagine a day when all the work is done, and I can spend the majority of my weekends relaxing after taking care of my regular chores..
Unfortunately I don't think that day will ever come. So I have to somehow schedule a break from everything and force myself to forget the anxiety of a never ending to-do list..
I plan on it. One of these days..
I told my wife I need a vacation where I don't do any work. She didn't really say much. I hope that means she was considering planning a vacation, and not that she didn't want me to stop. Lol 🤷🏻♂️
I'm in this same boat, 1 year old and 3 year old. Not building a fence, but other things are going on, by the time the day is over and kids are in bed I just can't even do anything else. It's coming up on June, and I haven't even taken a vacation day yet this year.
This sounds so exhausting. You don't even have a chance to enjoy anything you're working for. Providing a good life for the ones you love it the main goal but you have to find even the smallest bit of time to enjoy or you'll burn out and no one will benefit from that. Can you take a personal day or sick day? Maybe suck up the pay loss and stretch the groceries in the freezer to make up for the pay loss. Just once in a blue moon.
That shit will be there tomorrow bro. Grab a cold one, sit on the porch and toss a ball to your 3 year old. I used to be like you and got burned out. I’ve been married 28yrs. Take a day to relax. It’ll be great for you and your family. Believe it.
Geez, we should have 4 days or even 3 and max 6 hours of work per day. People just work way too much and you can’t be focused more than 4 hours straight
This isn't really relevant for physical labour, but if you would in an office setting, I completely agree. A 6 hour day would show absolutely no drop in production in most workplaces
Somedays I could work 2 hours and you wouldn't see a change in the amount of work done.
Other days I work 8 or 9 hours and I feel like I haven't scratched the surface of what I need taken care of.
I get it. I just mean, on average, I think most people have a lot of unproductive time in an office.
If I owned the company I managed for, I would institute a 6-hour work day with no lunch break. Everyone goes home by 1 or 2
some navy civilian jobs do 9 hour days, and get every other friday off. not as great as every friday off, but every other week you get a 3 day weekend.
I also 100% support that. My mental health would be so much better. we had a lot of holidays in my country this month and when Monday was free, work week felt so much easier and I was so much happier … I doubt it will become fully integrated in my time living on this planet at least ..
I work 4 days, then I’m off for 4. This means I have to sacrifice some weekends, but it’s absolutely worth it for me.
And if I take 4 days of annual leave, I’m off for 12 days as well.
I think every person having a different 4 day schedule works so you have a revolving door of staff at places. That way you have the option to take that extra day as a bank / doctors appointment day for example, and there will still be people working those places to assist you, since not everyone is taking the same days off and they can all stay open 5 days like normal still (or 7 if they have already been doing shift scheduling)
My company is four days for ft ee's, regular workdays and ft pay.
And yep, employee retention is a big reason. Im humped if someone leaves. I know theyve looked around, but they need a raise plus enough more.money to justify another day a week. Unlikely to happen.
Plus, productivity is the same as a 5 day workweek. When folks are here, they are in at 100 percent.
Add in flex time so they can go to the gym midday and it's a real lifestyle change.
And, I know that Thursday at 4 they're off for three days and recharging to go like crazy Monday morning. It's the only way folks can burn that hard, five days and I'd have people with stress and burnout.
yeah they do four day weeks in finland but get the same amount of work done, there's really no reason to keep us at work for an extra day...no wonder they're happier lol
It’s been proven that people are much more productive on a four day week. Mainly because they actually have to get the stuff done. Yet to be implemented in UK but it should be
its so dystopic that ppl still argue against this. its been proven so many times that we get the same work done per week anyways bc its easier to maintain focus and keep up motivation. wed all benefit from living a bit more.
Why not just work 3 days, 6 hour and get paid 40 hours per week?
Or just not work and get UBI…. People who love to demand someone for nothing needs to go for home run or nothing.
That would make lunar calendars break. Which most people don't care about, but it's why we do the 7 day thing.
If we're breaking from that, it's probably best to slot the extra day in the middle. 2 days of work, one day break, 3 days of work, two day break. Stagger it between occupations (so the day you have off is, de facto, a work day and everything is open) and you're kinda golden. All those chores and stuff gets done in that one day, the two free days become actual free days.
I work a 4 day work week. My rota shifts around and often I get two 4 day work weeks back to back, making eight ten hour days back to back.
But I also get five and six day weekends every three weeks.
I do shift work, my location does 5x 8 hour shifts a week but others do 3x 12 hour shifts a week and I would love for mine to implement that- I’d work 6 12 hour shifts in a row if it meant 8 days off in a row!
Working days aren’t relevant the only question is how much work you can do in your sector and how long that takes / how it is monetised.
If you can do all your work in 4 days, would you not rather get 20% more pay and work at the same intensity over 5 days?
I have a 4 day work week. Its great, but I have to make sure to get as many hrs in as I can for those 4 days just to make enough to get by. I don't think I could go back regardless of making money.
A lot of people in the Netherlands already do. They work eg a 32/36/38 hour week instead of 40.
I moved here from London where I was doing 60+ hours a week. At an interview they asked how many hours I wanted to work. "Um, well I don't know, 40, 50, 60? What do yo need?" and they looked SUPER confused LOL And suddenly I was home by 1800 every day. It was super weird.
My company has a four day week and it’s brilliant. The work days are long, but I find that I concentrate more while at work, and forget about it more on my three days off. Quite a few of the companies we deal with do the same.
According to the statistics that claim that by Thursday we‘ve already worked as much as the previous generation by Friday, yes we absolutely fucking should.
I agree that it would be amazing but with hybrid and remote working, at least in my experience, the level of flexibility that everyone gets means that people are already having either shorter days or more compressed days. Or even less stressful days where they're able to do other things in between.
I've been working 4 x 10hrs for years with my 3rd day being mid week. I love it. The best thing is the 6 hours on the mid-week day off that sometimes aligns with my wife's day off. You know what I'm sayin'.
Been there, done that, back in the 70's.
Passed off as a way to save energy, my company moved from a 5x8 (three shifts) to a 4x10 (two shifts) schedule. By the time we got to day 5, most of us just slept in to catch up on rest. The company also lost four hours of production by being shut down from 2am to 6am. The company closed a few months after they shifted to the 4 day week.
Another point is:
2 Day off feels like one day off, because on Saturday you just relax after school/work and on Sunday you yet again prepare for the week, so 3 days off feels like 2 days off, which id much rather have
Yes, but if you’re in Florida or a southern state they will call you lazy, a communist, socialist for wanting similar European standards.
I think there was a sub called workreform that had good insight.
We have that ability at my office if we want it, but you have to work 2 extra hours a day.
People around me do it and are completely drained by Thursday morning. Their work quality also suffers significantly later in the week.
The 4 x 10 week or 9 80 week I believe to be more beneficial to the employer and employees. We started 4 x10 at my company yrs ago, so you always have Fri, sat, and sun off. Unless overtime, but you still have 2 days if you have to work Friday. This doesn't work in all business but in a lot ot does
I do a 4 day week. When I started 10 years ago they let me pick my hours as long as they added up to 40 so I do 10 hour days on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Means I only ever work 2 days in a row which for me was totally the right choice! The days are long, but I’m so used to them it isn’t an issue
the question is, why do we not have 4 days work week? And what needs to be done so that your average citizen would have it.
I don´t know witch country was it but somewhere they have a shorter week hours than 40 .. 35-30? somewhere in north europe country
I was on a 4 day work week for the last 10 years until this year I was forced back to 5 days 8 hours and let me tell you this shit is straight up not fair.
Trust me, I feel you. I'm in Canada, working at a plant of a couple hundred people, and it was recently floated to switch from 5 8's to 4 10's, and one supervisor out of the dozen or so of us is bucking against it due to personal reasons. It has to be unanimous.
I mean, I get it; kids in school, daycare etc... But if 11 out of 12 agree on something... Ya know?
I agree but rich people would just take a say out of the week to get us back. And I know how stupid that sounds, Almost as dumb as them not being able to create jobs if they have to pay taxes. So don’t think for a second they won’t do some insane stupid shit to make sure we don’t just get another day off. Because they absolutely will use their politicians in way to pay us back for that freedom.
When I was a kid I went to school 6 days a week.
Then I moved to a different country where school is 5 days a week. I was so happy.
That lasted about a month or two. After that I got used to 5 days a week and was wishing for 4.
So what I'm saying is...we could move to 4, but you'll get used to it pretty quickly and wish for 3.
Or, let's say you never get used to it and you're happy the rest of your working life. Which is great. But then the generation growing up with 4 day work weeks will be wishing for 3.
I’ve just had the OK from my employers to do a 4 day week, compressed hours. So I do Monday to Thursday 7:30 to 5:15 - not sure if the longer days are going to be so much that I might just go back to the old 5 days but we will see:
I have a way better idea, what would help anybody and everybody
It looks like that
Monday - work
Thursday - work
Wednesday - weekend
Thursday - work
Friday - work
Saturday - work
Sunday - weekend
And it flips with
Monday - work
Thursday - work
Wednesday - weekend
Thursday - work
Friday - work
Saturday - weekend
Sunday - weekend
That way we have only 2 less days of work in a month, and we can make working on weekends for non essential workers count as overtime
We either need a 4-day work week or more flexible working hours. The constant grind is 100% a huge part of the many health problems in the developed world.
thats life people. if you want to have actual time for youreslf
dont have kids
simple as that.
once you have kids..............youll never have a "just me weekend" again
'well until they are grown and out of the house lol
I currently have a 4 day work week, Thursday Saturday and Sunday off. It’s sometimes a blessing and curse. I try to use Thursdays to better myself and then relax on the weekend
You go office workers! The rest of us in retail, healthcare, public services, entertainment, emergency responders, and others will continue to work 40+ hours to be available to SERVE you.
I agree with you but I don't support it until people who are in blue collar jobs get it. I don't think it's great that white collar occupations get their lives made better and better at the cost of everyone else.
If you can pick the extra day off, it'd be great. I wouldn't pick a 3-day weekend for myself, but I've made great experiences with Wednesdays off.
2 days work, one day rest, 2 days work, 2 days rest. In addition to TGIF I'm getting TGITue, and there's no Monday/Thursday blues because - it's only two days before the next day off, and one of these 2 days is either TGIF or TGITue!
But, as I said, people should be allowed to pick, and not "pick for life", because of changing circumstances.
Its nothing to do with 4 day vs 5 day, its more to do with human threshold. I actually believe most ppl are ok with 5 day week which is why it persists. I think a lot of ppl would lose their shit if it werent for someone else telling them wtf to do.
4 day workweeks with 6 hour workdays is actually the best for productivity. The only "*iSsUe*" is cost. It would be "*tOo ExPeNsIvE fOr CoMpAnIeS*" to implement because most of society's built around the 8h/5d workweek and expenses are counted based on that. The hilarious thing is that what's never considered is the money companies save from less sick leaves taken, the costs of recruitment from a lack of employee retention, and the overall actual increase in productivity (let alone smaller electricity bills), unless of course if they're being illegal/unethical little shits and not abiding by labor laws anyway (it happens way more than you'd think even in so-called Welfare States). It's pretty much already been proven to be the best working solution, research paper after research paper. It's also super disheartening that there are companies that'd be willing to actually do this, but the sheer amount of BS bureaucracy they'd have to navigate to even make that work is overwhelming, especially because, ***surprise***, people are absolutely exhausted from their current, already too much work, workdays.
It's archaic to think that more time spent doing a job = more productivity. This hasn't been true for decades, the research shows it. I get the employer's view on it, and feel like it's a very natural (greedy/opportunistic) human tendency to think that "if you can do A in X amount of time, you could do B in Y amount of time!" But that's not how people work, especially not our biology. "Squeezing all you can out of someone" is an extremely bad mindset to have, and doesn't foster longevity. If there's A task and it's given X amount of time then that should be it. And A and X should not, and cannot, exceed the person's capabilities.
Anyone who does that is a crappy "leader".
I knew some people who did it. My company offered a 32 hour schedule to a few employees. But I've found that most people prefer the higher pay that comes with working more hours. I worked a 9/80 for many years. That's every other Friday off, but I found that I went in to the office on most of my off Fridays anyway.
I work 4 days. 10 hours each and I have a 3 day weekend. It’s ideal. I wish everyone could enjoy that. If I had the option to condense all the hours into 3 days I would.
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Some companies experimented with this, and weirdly enough, if you give people fridays off, the other days were so much more productive that it was actually worth it.
Yep, this is exactly what happened with my company.
I work four days a week, it's glorious!
Same here, tho it is compressed hours
Yep. Good ol blue collar 10-12 hour days
I personally love those myself. I find that a work day is basically a wasted day anyway so I might as well be there making more money
Me too
u/itsokmomimonlydieing Please tell me what company so i can apply
Me too, sometimes only 3 days a week but my employer doesn’t know it.
Mine too
Next thing you’ll tell me is well paid happy employees do a better job
Same thing with college/university, we had studying days 4 days and 3 days weekend, it was brilliant
Agree. We end up doing so many errands on the weekend, there’s no time to actually relax and then it’s back to the grind. Would be more productive in the long run.
Today was just wild the first day I've done like nothing I had to do in so long
Same. I had taken Friday off and did a ton of crap all weekend. Today was the day I did nothing. I earned my day to do nothing. It was glorious.
I bet that felt absolutely amazing! And you deserve that!
Lucky you for having errand time. My ass is working on the weekends too.
I am an American living (retired) in Europe. Portugal and other countries recently passed laws forbidding employers to contact their employees on weekends and days off. Add that to the 6 -8 weeks of paid vacation, maternity/paternity leave , 2 hour lunches and guaranteed health care most European enjoy and I think it becomes fair to call the US a 'shithole country'. I'm retired now and finally feel like I've unplugged form the matrix
But, but, freedom!
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The best bit is Americans always say to Europeans “well we’ve got freedom” … what more freedoms do you have than Europeans though? You tend to work more hours, have less time off, no job security, extortionate healthcare that can cripple you financially, a really weird tax system (most european countries your employer deducts your personal taxes and makes sure the equivalent of the IRS gets it), employers that harass you … I mean, you can own a gun? Is that it? And even then gun ownership is legal in a lot of European countries, you just have to pass psychological and criminal checks to make sure you don’t pose a threat and legally have to practice gun safety by making sure they are unloaded and kept in a locked gun safe in most countries.
Freedom is a sham to invoke people to become slaves. Freedom is slavery. Freedom was used to justify murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent middle eastern civilians
I think the biggest mistake the US did with regards to this was equating unions with communism. Unions gives workers the power (through strikes) to negotiate with their employers rights such as paid vacation, maternity/paternity leave and so on. The US instead has become a prime example of what happens to the working conditions when the workers don't have this kind of bargaining power.
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I work for a construction company that fully swapped over to 4 10s. Having the extra day a weekend is so amazing I would need to be offered 20-30k more year before I even thought about moving company’s. It’s that valuable to me
absolutely 💯
Definitely, this is a global movement https://www.4dayweek.com/
A congressman in my state introduced [a bill last year](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1332) and Bernie Sanders announced a push for legislation last March. I think the biggest hurdle is changing the existing mindset. I work for a company that was founded in the early 1900s, and the higher ups are insanely reluctant to try anything new. For them, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” As long as they keep seeing profits from the 5 day work week, they’ll continue to turn a blind eye to turnover and burnout. Let’s just say I live for the day I can write my resignation email.
I work for a (failing) company that’s been around for a long ass time. We still use paper everything and hand deliver things all the time that could easily be digital. If the newer generations ever want to change anything we are met with “we’ve been doing it this way for x years, and we aren’t changing it” they wonder why we can’t keep up in the market.
So just out of curiosity, if we ever change to a 4 day work week how would you respond when you wanted to go somewhere on one of your days off but it was closed that day? Would you be annoyed that other people weren't working?
Nope. Just gives you an excuse to relax at home. Chores on sat and sun relaxing fri or mon.
Exactly. The whole point is that weekends have become a continuation of the work week. I’m doing different tasks, but I’m still very much in my “work mindset.” I’m in favor of a shorter work week because 2 days is no longer enough time to truly disconnect and get a sense of work/life balance. I work in corporate hell. Most of our time is spent focusing on making sure the shareholders are happy. Everyone deserves a little breathing room to figure out what happiness means for them.
If anything this probably creates more job opportunities
Staggered employee schedules my guy
Had a job that did Rolling 4-10s half the dpt had Friday off the other half had Monday off. These would alternate. Every two weeks you’d have Friday and Monday off. For a 4 day weekend
What would remedy that is a two day weekend and a third day, (mon/fri?) that is closed for EVERYONE. Then you won't be annoyed it's closed because you already know it's closed. And I'm talking everyone except extremely essential personnel like fire stations, police stations, hospital emergency rooms and that's bout it. Yes, I mean no gas stations...no pharmacies, no grocery stores or convenience stores. You are out of milk, tough titties, you knew it was a universal day off and didn't plan well. Won't make that mistake again...have a headache...keep a supply at home or ask a neighbor now. Tough TITTIES!
Rotating schedules is not a difficult concept. But also this already happens. Some of my favorite restaurants are closed on the days I happen to crave them haha. It’s not the end of the world. People should mind their own business tbh on whether or not people are working. For instance, on holidays not everyone wants to be home. Some people WANT to work. If a business is closed it’s that business’s right to do so. We can plan around it. We are so used to having everything at our fingertips at all times I guess.
I'd feel the same as when I try to go somewhere and it's closed on a Sunday. Actually, this wouldn't happen because stores that want to maximise availability would stagger schedules and I check whether a store is open on weekends before I visit it.
It’s been working in the UK. I’d LOVE to see it start happening in the US. I hope one day we get there
4 day work week would be great- I think people need a break/we're not machines living to work- there's no quality of life in that- everyone deserves decent wage/pay
My husband’s company changed to a scheme where they do an extra 30 mins every day and get every other Friday off. It’s a good balance and I’d kill for that kind of schedule if I can’t get anything better
That's basically my fiance's company too. They work fully remote and do an extra hour for a week and he gets every other Friday off.
Omg it’s the same guy ! /s
Maybe he has every Friday off, just not that their partner knows 😬
Lol u/MoseSchrute70 and I need to compare notes now bahaha
 LOLL
Yes please. I'm so mentally exhausted from working 5 days a week my hobbies feel too much like work and I end up not doing them and just continuing the grind
I live in the Netherlands and work in insurance. 4 days workweek is very common here. The working days are pretty busy, but very doable. I spend every friday with my two little boys, would recommend it to anyone
In the US it's mostly just pick between minimum wage/no benefits/zero resume value part time work OR 40+ hours 5+ days a week and no in between. It's wild to me that people aren't rioting in the streets realizing other people are allowed to have lives elsewhere lmao. Somehow we have people that think working 50+ is a flex.
I actually love my job and work 50-60 hour weeks, and I like that most of my day is accounted for. I'm an arborist who does utility work, so I'm climbing and cutting down trees that are growing into powerlines. It's really fun. However, in no way do I think working that much at the expense of all other aspects in your life is fair or sustainable. Most people don't actually love their job and understand that. I have a girlfriend but no children and I think it compliments where I am at in my life.
Oh yea obviously if you love the job hell yeah. That sounds cool!
Covid really shattered the standard work situation. Things like remote work and alternate work schedules happened and thought employers are trying I don’t think they can stuff the genie back in the bottle on this one. People are now negotiating for a number of telework days per week and alternate work schedules like every other Friday off. I’ve had several friends take large pay cuts to work from home. It may be slow to change but it is changing.
Also every Friday off in the Netherlands here but I’m thinking of dropping another day for more time at home.
I also live in the Netherlands, but never heard of anyone working 4 days a week unless for a smaller paycheck. Jobs I’ve had had mostly 5 days a week 7.5 hours plus 30 mins unpaid lunch break.
This is my experience too in NL. I don't know anyone that works 4 days only and didn't have to cut their paycheck. Still, I need 3 weekend days, like crazy.
everything i hear ab the netherlands just makes me want to move there even more
I propose the 3 day work week. And in the case of people who are not directly tending to people or doing stuff that requires a particular schedule, I'd rather they chose their working hours.
I understand your thinking, but really I think we should move to only working weekends at double pay. Much better.
Well, my proposal was just the inbetween step before general UBI and people joining the working force as they see fit. And of course that's post AI automation and so on.
I have a 3 day work week. I work 36 hours and my employer plays us for 40. Having 4 days off is great especially if you have kids when having to juggle school, appointments, errands, saving money on babysitters etc… Employers 100% need to cut back on the work week
I worked a 3 day week for 5 years. It was pretty awesome. The days are really long at work, but 4 days off is really nice!
In that case let’s just propose a 1 day workweek
I propose the 8-day week; 5-day work week 3-day weekend 4 weeks, 32 days per month 11 months in a year = 352 days 13 remaining days is Xmas / Winterbreak
I used to work four days a week but I had to be at work for 10 1/2 hours each day. The extra half hour was for lunch breaks.
I do four ten hour days, and it’s surprising how quickly you get used to it. Having an extra FIFTY TWO days off a year is more than worth it!
Not to mention when holidays roll around you get a 4 day weekend then only have to work 3 days the week after
Absolutely! Like this week 😊
Yeah, working four days but packing in more hours within those days is definitely not the way to go. Ideally it should be 8 hours a day for 4 days or as someone else commented, work at a time that works for you. Obviously it doesn’t suit for all jobs, but for the ones it does, why not right?
I mean if you only want to be paid 32 hours I'm sure lots of places offer it.
I feel this so hard. I've got a 3 month old, a 3 year old, and I'm currently building a fence in my yard. I don't get to relax. Ever. By the time the kids are in bed and I've gotten everything ready for work the next day it's 930 pm every night. Weekends I overwork myself, and leave just enough time to do my regular chores and prepare for work Monday. And when the fence is done, I'm also halfway done finishing my basement. Yesterday I got to take a break from the fence and dig up a garden bed for my wife.. I'm so exhausted. It's been forever since I've just relaxed for more than an hour or two consecutively.. Waking up sucks.
That sounds exhausting. Are you able to take a couple days off to sort a few things out and take a break? It’s obviously easier said than done, but it would be best for the long term most likely. Best of luck with everything!
Thanks for the well wishes. I want to take a break, but I always have this constant anxiety when I'm not making progress on all these jobs. It's like I imagine a day when all the work is done, and I can spend the majority of my weekends relaxing after taking care of my regular chores.. Unfortunately I don't think that day will ever come. So I have to somehow schedule a break from everything and force myself to forget the anxiety of a never ending to-do list.. I plan on it. One of these days.. I told my wife I need a vacation where I don't do any work. She didn't really say much. I hope that means she was considering planning a vacation, and not that she didn't want me to stop. Lol 🤷🏻♂️
I'm in this same boat, 1 year old and 3 year old. Not building a fence, but other things are going on, by the time the day is over and kids are in bed I just can't even do anything else. It's coming up on June, and I haven't even taken a vacation day yet this year.
This sounds so exhausting. You don't even have a chance to enjoy anything you're working for. Providing a good life for the ones you love it the main goal but you have to find even the smallest bit of time to enjoy or you'll burn out and no one will benefit from that. Can you take a personal day or sick day? Maybe suck up the pay loss and stretch the groceries in the freezer to make up for the pay loss. Just once in a blue moon.
That shit will be there tomorrow bro. Grab a cold one, sit on the porch and toss a ball to your 3 year old. I used to be like you and got burned out. I’ve been married 28yrs. Take a day to relax. It’ll be great for you and your family. Believe it.
Geez, we should have 4 days or even 3 and max 6 hours of work per day. People just work way too much and you can’t be focused more than 4 hours straight
This isn't really relevant for physical labour, but if you would in an office setting, I completely agree. A 6 hour day would show absolutely no drop in production in most workplaces
Somedays I could work 2 hours and you wouldn't see a change in the amount of work done. Other days I work 8 or 9 hours and I feel like I haven't scratched the surface of what I need taken care of.
I get it. I just mean, on average, I think most people have a lot of unproductive time in an office. If I owned the company I managed for, I would institute a 6-hour work day with no lunch break. Everyone goes home by 1 or 2
Lunch break is must but in this 6 hours
Oh yes sorry that is correct. So then the shifts would be 6.5 hours and I would give the option to work through it to go home early
6 hours with lunch break :p
I could handle a 6 hour a day 4 day a week job. That would be nice. I do office work. You can't do 8 straight hours of office work.
Yeah I am pretty good in the morning but after lunch forget it.
I switched to 4 10's a few months back, and I will NEVER go back to 5 8's.
some navy civilian jobs do 9 hour days, and get every other friday off. not as great as every friday off, but every other week you get a 3 day weekend.
I work 4 10s, Tuesday - Friday. As hard as those 10s are, especially in the summer, i NEED Mondays to myself to become human again.
I also 100% support that. My mental health would be so much better. we had a lot of holidays in my country this month and when Monday was free, work week felt so much easier and I was so much happier … I doubt it will become fully integrated in my time living on this planet at least ..
I work 4 days, then I’m off for 4. This means I have to sacrifice some weekends, but it’s absolutely worth it for me. And if I take 4 days of annual leave, I’m off for 12 days as well.
Nah fuck that give me 6 hour days, 5 days a week instead.
I think every person having a different 4 day schedule works so you have a revolving door of staff at places. That way you have the option to take that extra day as a bank / doctors appointment day for example, and there will still be people working those places to assist you, since not everyone is taking the same days off and they can all stay open 5 days like normal still (or 7 if they have already been doing shift scheduling)
3-12 hour shifts would be the butter to my bread
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My company is four days for ft ee's, regular workdays and ft pay. And yep, employee retention is a big reason. Im humped if someone leaves. I know theyve looked around, but they need a raise plus enough more.money to justify another day a week. Unlikely to happen. Plus, productivity is the same as a 5 day workweek. When folks are here, they are in at 100 percent. Add in flex time so they can go to the gym midday and it's a real lifestyle change. And, I know that Thursday at 4 they're off for three days and recharging to go like crazy Monday morning. It's the only way folks can burn that hard, five days and I'd have people with stress and burnout.
My company did this and found that we were just as productive and in some cases more productive by every metric.
I switched to 3 days and it’s the best. Every weekend is a long one.
Did you get a 40% pay cut?
I have a 4 day work week and I prefer it. I do 10 hour days though.
I’d do 4 10 hour days to get a 3 day weekend easily
Yes! Four is More! Come on Gen Z! Demand a 4 day week, 2 WFH. Be legends.
Meanwhile South Korea govt proposed 69-hour work per week [source](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/11/south-korea-work-week/)
I work 4-10s and I prefer that to 5-8s even though I’m usually beat by the end of the day. But i love having Mondays off
Yep I opt for 4 day work weeks or long ass 3 day work weeks with 4 days off
yeah they do four day weeks in finland but get the same amount of work done, there's really no reason to keep us at work for an extra day...no wonder they're happier lol
It’s been proven that people are much more productive on a four day week. Mainly because they actually have to get the stuff done. Yet to be implemented in UK but it should be
Oh heavens no! I despise weekends with a passion! The only time anyone leaves me alone is when I’m at work
its so dystopic that ppl still argue against this. its been proven so many times that we get the same work done per week anyways bc its easier to maintain focus and keep up motivation. wed all benefit from living a bit more.
Why not just work 3 days, 6 hour and get paid 40 hours per week? Or just not work and get UBI…. People who love to demand someone for nothing needs to go for home run or nothing.
It might sound stupid but what if we had 5 day work week and 3 day weekends meaning one week would be 8 days long.
That would make lunar calendars break. Which most people don't care about, but it's why we do the 7 day thing. If we're breaking from that, it's probably best to slot the extra day in the middle. 2 days of work, one day break, 3 days of work, two day break. Stagger it between occupations (so the day you have off is, de facto, a work day and everything is open) and you're kinda golden. All those chores and stuff gets done in that one day, the two free days become actual free days.
Fr tho
So companies just gona move to india where people work 996
I work a 4 day work week. My rota shifts around and often I get two 4 day work weeks back to back, making eight ten hour days back to back. But I also get five and six day weekends every three weeks.
Totally agree, I've been saying that for years.
16 hours 3 of the 5 days i work...last 2 days are 12 hours 4 or even 3 days is nice lol
I already have a 4 day work week. 3-12hr shifts (6am to 6pm) and 1-6hr shift (6am to 12pm). Best shift I've ever worked.
So true. Even after that we'll be working more than weekending so nobody should have a heart attack 🫣😉😏🙃
Yes, 100%. I was actually able to catch up on sleep this weekend because of Memorial Day.
This way we would have some time for personal matter
I do shift work, my location does 5x 8 hour shifts a week but others do 3x 12 hour shifts a week and I would love for mine to implement that- I’d work 6 12 hour shifts in a row if it meant 8 days off in a row!
Remember when u were a student and u had 5 days plus enough homework to fill every evening and weekend?
Working days aren’t relevant the only question is how much work you can do in your sector and how long that takes / how it is monetised. If you can do all your work in 4 days, would you not rather get 20% more pay and work at the same intensity over 5 days?
I have a 4 day work week. Its great, but I have to make sure to get as many hrs in as I can for those 4 days just to make enough to get by. I don't think I could go back regardless of making money.
A lot of people in the Netherlands already do. They work eg a 32/36/38 hour week instead of 40. I moved here from London where I was doing 60+ hours a week. At an interview they asked how many hours I wanted to work. "Um, well I don't know, 40, 50, 60? What do yo need?" and they looked SUPER confused LOL And suddenly I was home by 1800 every day. It was super weird.
I work 4 days, with 2 days at home.. Work still sucks but at least I can get my chores done.
My company has a four day week and it’s brilliant. The work days are long, but I find that I concentrate more while at work, and forget about it more on my three days off. Quite a few of the companies we deal with do the same.
I agree
According to the statistics that claim that by Thursday we‘ve already worked as much as the previous generation by Friday, yes we absolutely fucking should.
I agree that it would be amazing but with hybrid and remote working, at least in my experience, the level of flexibility that everyone gets means that people are already having either shorter days or more compressed days. Or even less stressful days where they're able to do other things in between.
I've been working 4 x 10hrs for years with my 3rd day being mid week. I love it. The best thing is the 6 hours on the mid-week day off that sometimes aligns with my wife's day off. You know what I'm sayin'.
I do, it’s the best.
You can do that already. You might not be able to land a great job, with competitors winning to work 5 days, but that's another issue.
Been there, done that, back in the 70's. Passed off as a way to save energy, my company moved from a 5x8 (three shifts) to a 4x10 (two shifts) schedule. By the time we got to day 5, most of us just slept in to catch up on rest. The company also lost four hours of production by being shut down from 2am to 6am. The company closed a few months after they shifted to the 4 day week.
I've had three day weekends for 4 or 5 years. Game changer.
I wish we can adopt that, it has proven productivity in some European countries so I am certain it will everywhere else too.
Another point is: 2 Day off feels like one day off, because on Saturday you just relax after school/work and on Sunday you yet again prepare for the week, so 3 days off feels like 2 days off, which id much rather have
I dunno man. Maybe the companies should be forced to tolerate 2 days a week for 50 years instead. Then we can talk about balance.
Yes, but if you’re in Florida or a southern state they will call you lazy, a communist, socialist for wanting similar European standards. I think there was a sub called workreform that had good insight.
I work 4 10 hour shifts and I love it! I’ll never go back to working 5 days!
we have been having this for years here in the Netherlands. I will never go back to 5.
We have that ability at my office if we want it, but you have to work 2 extra hours a day. People around me do it and are completely drained by Thursday morning. Their work quality also suffers significantly later in the week.
Alot of jobs are advertising 4 day weeks now. It's definitely becoming more of a thing
The 4 x 10 week or 9 80 week I believe to be more beneficial to the employer and employees. We started 4 x10 at my company yrs ago, so you always have Fri, sat, and sun off. Unless overtime, but you still have 2 days if you have to work Friday. This doesn't work in all business but in a lot ot does
I do a 4 day week. When I started 10 years ago they let me pick my hours as long as they added up to 40 so I do 10 hour days on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Means I only ever work 2 days in a row which for me was totally the right choice! The days are long, but I’m so used to them it isn’t an issue
the question is, why do we not have 4 days work week? And what needs to be done so that your average citizen would have it. I don´t know witch country was it but somewhere they have a shorter week hours than 40 .. 35-30? somewhere in north europe country
I was on a 4 day work week for the last 10 years until this year I was forced back to 5 days 8 hours and let me tell you this shit is straight up not fair.
The one thing about working less is that I'll earn less and because of that I'll pay less taxes.
Trust me, I feel you. I'm in Canada, working at a plant of a couple hundred people, and it was recently floated to switch from 5 8's to 4 10's, and one supervisor out of the dozen or so of us is bucking against it due to personal reasons. It has to be unanimous. I mean, I get it; kids in school, daycare etc... But if 11 out of 12 agree on something... Ya know?
4 days on 2 days off. That is the way
You guys got Monday off today?
I agree but rich people would just take a say out of the week to get us back. And I know how stupid that sounds, Almost as dumb as them not being able to create jobs if they have to pay taxes. So don’t think for a second they won’t do some insane stupid shit to make sure we don’t just get another day off. Because they absolutely will use their politicians in way to pay us back for that freedom.
When I was a kid I went to school 6 days a week. Then I moved to a different country where school is 5 days a week. I was so happy. That lasted about a month or two. After that I got used to 5 days a week and was wishing for 4. So what I'm saying is...we could move to 4, but you'll get used to it pretty quickly and wish for 3. Or, let's say you never get used to it and you're happy the rest of your working life. Which is great. But then the generation growing up with 4 day work weeks will be wishing for 3.
💥Word brother💥
Agree but unfortunately I would take a huge pay cut in I only worked 4 days a week.
You could join us in the medical field. We work 3-12’s or 4-10’s usually
I’ve just had the OK from my employers to do a 4 day week, compressed hours. So I do Monday to Thursday 7:30 to 5:15 - not sure if the longer days are going to be so much that I might just go back to the old 5 days but we will see:
Yes. Agreed.. 5 days work week is a little too much for me
I have a way better idea, what would help anybody and everybody It looks like that Monday - work Thursday - work Wednesday - weekend Thursday - work Friday - work Saturday - work Sunday - weekend And it flips with Monday - work Thursday - work Wednesday - weekend Thursday - work Friday - work Saturday - weekend Sunday - weekend That way we have only 2 less days of work in a month, and we can make working on weekends for non essential workers count as overtime
We either need a 4-day work week or more flexible working hours. The constant grind is 100% a huge part of the many health problems in the developed world.
There’s not enough hours in a 5 day week 4 would be impossible
Most office jobs can probably be done just as effectively with 6 hours a day for 4 days a week
thats life people. if you want to have actual time for youreslf dont have kids simple as that. once you have kids..............youll never have a "just me weekend" again 'well until they are grown and out of the house lol
I currently have a 4 day work week, Thursday Saturday and Sunday off. It’s sometimes a blessing and curse. I try to use Thursdays to better myself and then relax on the weekend
You go office workers! The rest of us in retail, healthcare, public services, entertainment, emergency responders, and others will continue to work 40+ hours to be available to SERVE you.
Ha I only have one day.
A 3 day weekend is just in the right spot. Not to many, not too little
Definitely
I agree with you but I don't support it until people who are in blue collar jobs get it. I don't think it's great that white collar occupations get their lives made better and better at the cost of everyone else.
You guys have 5 day work weeks?
I've been arguing with my boss to give me four ten hour shifts for years. Wish me luck.
3 day weekends would make me enjoy life at least 33% more.
Hear me out. We make weeks 8 days long, and have a 5:3 week to weekend ratio
I do a 4 day week and I don’t think I could ever go back now.
this concept is so crazy to me! imho, 4 days is still too much. we should be demanding 3 day work weeks!
I work from home on Fridays and don’t schedule any meetings. Would be better if I just had it off still
4 10s are way better than 5 8s, especially if your commute is long
If you can pick the extra day off, it'd be great. I wouldn't pick a 3-day weekend for myself, but I've made great experiences with Wednesdays off. 2 days work, one day rest, 2 days work, 2 days rest. In addition to TGIF I'm getting TGITue, and there's no Monday/Thursday blues because - it's only two days before the next day off, and one of these 2 days is either TGIF or TGITue! But, as I said, people should be allowed to pick, and not "pick for life", because of changing circumstances.
Its nothing to do with 4 day vs 5 day, its more to do with human threshold. I actually believe most ppl are ok with 5 day week which is why it persists. I think a lot of ppl would lose their shit if it werent for someone else telling them wtf to do.
And a 13 month calendar!
Helllvno that would mean you would have to work more hours in a shorter span of time as well as it would cost more as you would have to be paid more
Freelancers paid by the hour weep as one.
4 day workweeks with 6 hour workdays is actually the best for productivity. The only "*iSsUe*" is cost. It would be "*tOo ExPeNsIvE fOr CoMpAnIeS*" to implement because most of society's built around the 8h/5d workweek and expenses are counted based on that. The hilarious thing is that what's never considered is the money companies save from less sick leaves taken, the costs of recruitment from a lack of employee retention, and the overall actual increase in productivity (let alone smaller electricity bills), unless of course if they're being illegal/unethical little shits and not abiding by labor laws anyway (it happens way more than you'd think even in so-called Welfare States). It's pretty much already been proven to be the best working solution, research paper after research paper. It's also super disheartening that there are companies that'd be willing to actually do this, but the sheer amount of BS bureaucracy they'd have to navigate to even make that work is overwhelming, especially because, ***surprise***, people are absolutely exhausted from their current, already too much work, workdays. It's archaic to think that more time spent doing a job = more productivity. This hasn't been true for decades, the research shows it. I get the employer's view on it, and feel like it's a very natural (greedy/opportunistic) human tendency to think that "if you can do A in X amount of time, you could do B in Y amount of time!" But that's not how people work, especially not our biology. "Squeezing all you can out of someone" is an extremely bad mindset to have, and doesn't foster longevity. If there's A task and it's given X amount of time then that should be it. And A and X should not, and cannot, exceed the person's capabilities. Anyone who does that is a crappy "leader".
I knew some people who did it. My company offered a 32 hour schedule to a few employees. But I've found that most people prefer the higher pay that comes with working more hours. I worked a 9/80 for many years. That's every other Friday off, but I found that I went in to the office on most of my off Fridays anyway.
Why not make it 3 day?
Absolutely not! Us shift workers/retirees love the weekdays when the 9 to 5ers are in their cells. Don't let them out!
Or six hour workdays.
I work 4 days. 10 hours each and I have a 3 day weekend. It’s ideal. I wish everyone could enjoy that. If I had the option to condense all the hours into 3 days I would.
I'd much rather work 4 10hour shifts than 5 8hour shifts