What is the four-day week anyway?

The four-day week has been making headlines in recent weeks.? One key challenge when discussing the four-day week is making sure that we know what we actually mean by the term.? There are different forms of the concept, and this in turn influences the potential risks, benefits and how it should be implemented.

Here’s a simple summary:?

Compressed hours, which has been the subject of some of those recent media headlines, is nothing new.? It was popular for a while in the 1970s, particularly in US manufacturing and factories (where the term 4x10 originates, referring to four, ten hour shifts).? In the UK today, it isn’t especially popular as a way of working, quite possibly because not that many people want to work four long days.?

It’s not the only form of compressed hours working – some organisations also compress the traditional eight hour, five day working pattern into 4.5 days or a 9 day fortnight.? Sometimes, these arrangements are individual, and sometimes they are ‘whole organisation’ or operated a team level.

What I call the ‘new’ four-day week is something entirely different.? It is part of a broader argument that people need to work fewer hours, and that a four-day working week should the standard for the future.? With this form of four-day week, employees reduce their hours but receive the same pay – often on the proviso that overall productivity will be maintained.? Generally, a whole organisation approach is taken to moving to this form of the four day week.

Research suggests that there are both potential benefits and disadvantages of the four-day week – but these vary depending on the particular format and how it is implemented and managed.? On the face of it, it might look like a simple idea, but organisations thinking about a four-day week should look at the relevant evidence, and carefully consider whether this is the right option for them and their employees. ??