4 day working week

[srb7677]

A 4 day working week will only become the norm without generating mass impoverishment and a resulting depression if either A) people are paid the same for 4 days as they currentlay are for 5, ie paid about 25% more per hour, which would involve all kinds of affordability and inflationary issues. B) People work the same hours over 4 days instead of 5, necessitating working days about 25% longer. C) We work the same hours per day over four days instead of five with the slack being taken up by a universal basic income. Yet that is unlikely to be affordable without higher taxes for substantial numbers of people on their earned income or perhaps upon landed wealth and property. 

Without at least one of those three - or some combination thereof - millions of people simply could not afford to work a four day week.

[HDQQ]

I'm retired now but during my working life I did all sorts of hours:
Standard Monday to Friday 5-day week around 40 hours
Same as above but with lots of overtime (total 60+ hours a week)
Flexible working
Part-time / casual working
Self-employed - flexible to some extent.

Looking back, a 4-day working week would have suited me - even 4 x 10 hours would have been better than 5 x 8 hours - saving on one day's commuting time (an hour and a half or more).

[patman post]

When I was at sea I saw men come out of the pit crying. Not because they were hurt but because they were so bloody tired.

They say that that hard work never hurt anyone. Maybe not, but I don't intend to take the risk anymore

Perhaps not as physical, but I've recently seen my Mum exhausted and in tears after a couple of years of real hard graft watching people die, comforting the bereaved, and biting her tongue at criticism and insults for outcomes that weren't her fault.

She's often done a full week's worth of hours in three days!

Conversely, I've largely been working from home. I may have been putting in more hours (we keep a record), but I've had less commuting and can spread tasks over greater parts of the day.

So getting back on theme, I'm just one example of a large number of people with changed work patterns, and I don't see things reverting anytime soon.

From now on, TfL and the railways are going to have to live with reduced passenger numbers. This means fare income is going to be reduced. The result will be fewer trains and less staff. TfL and railway workers can either work to make this transition painless, or they're going to be their usual bloody-minded selves and make things worse for everyone...

[Borchester]

i did three 12 hour "continental shifts" in the print industry for years barry. Ive done as much as 96 hours in a week when i was much yonuger on shift work and i tell you it nearly killed me , i  was in tears i was that tired.

As you say , we can't generalise , as someone could do more hours in a 4 day week than those on a normal five day.

When I was at sea I saw men come out of the pit crying. Not because they were hurt but because they were so bloody tired.

They say that that hard work never hurt anyone. Maybe not, but I don't intend to take the risk anymore

[Thomas]

My neighbour seems to do a three day week, 12 hour shifts. I wonder if we can actually put everyone into a box and generalise - we can't.
People and vocations and jobs are all a bit different, so whatever suits the boss and the employee has to be the guide for how we work.
I'm all for people not having to work too many hours. 40 per week is enough for anyone, especially those who need to keep a high degree of concentration to avoid mistakes.
Hospital doctors come to mind.

i did three 12 hour "continental shifts" in the print industry for years barry. Ive done as much as 96 hours in a week when i was much yonuger on shift work and i tell you it nearly killed me , i  was in tears i was that tired.

As you say , we cant generalise , as someone could do more hours in a 4 day week than those on a normal five day.

[johnofgwent]

I remember Ted Heaths three day week well,I was in what was classed an essential job so had to do the full week whilst other buggers got paid in full for little more than half a week.

To add insult to injury where I lived we had more rota power cuts because a hundred yards down the road was on the same grid as the local hospital so had no cuts,so not only had to put a full week in but the lazy sods up the road  we're paid in full and had no cuts.

I don't remember it that well but I do remember the power cuts.

Out in ARSEbook land there is a bit of a tussle going on regarding this.

I said in there that the 35 hour week I work now is rather less than the 72 hour one I worked at the start of my working life. I recall deciding to go freelance when my first employer outside academia chose to unilaterally change my terms and conditions from being paid overtime to not being paid a brass farthing for it yet being expected to keep working it. 

As a self employed businessman I found 40 hours working for the client (more if they paid by the "business day" which they invariably meant 10 or more hours and no lunch break was only the start with a further 16-20 hours unpaid travel from my office to theirs and about 40 hours working for my own company after that, also unpaid.

I rather like my seven hour a day five day week now.

Former Colleagues and current twice a week drinking companions who work in another company have a compressed work schedule where ten days are compressed into nine giving three days off to all and factory shutdown. 

This does not work at the bank although our main front end developer has wangled himself a deal where he does his 37 hours as three nine hour days and one ten hour one and has Friday off. It works for him because the live system builders work their arses off thu-fri-sat using his builds .... It wouldn't work for me as I liase with testers too intensively 

I do not see a way of our organisation increasing productivity across the board in less hours in exchange for free days off 

[T00ts]

Before I retired the rule was that I would finish the day job and then, on week days, spend three or four hours a night tutoring and the most of Saturday doing the same. When I got a chance I would go to the car boot sales and look out for books and the like that I could sell on the internet.

The day job wasn't particularly demanding, which was just as well because that was where I caught up on my sleep, but one way and another I reckon I put in a 70 hour week. And when I retired I went to bed and stayed there for five days

  

[Borchester]

Before I retired the rule was that I would finish the day job and then, on week days, spend three or four hours a night tutoring and the most of Saturday doing the same. When I got a chance I would go to the car boot sales and look out for books and the like that I could sell on the internet.

The day job wasn't particularly demanding, which was just as well because that was where I caught up on my sleep, but one way and another I reckon I put in a 70 hour week. And when I retired I went to bed and stayed there for five days

[Barry]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10888755/More-3-000-staff-begin-four-day-working-week-pay-today-worlds-biggest-pilot.html

My only memory of a 4 day working week was in troubled times but now it is apparently the way forward. Strictly speaking I have heard of those who condense 5 day hours into 4 days and claim improved output etc. Others are simply cutting days and hours but maintaining pay levels. It would be so nice if the concept gave people a better work life balance. Will it work across the board or simply make way for AI?

My neighbour seems to do a three day week, 12 hour shifts. I wonder if we can actually put everyone into a box and generalise - we can't.
People and vocations and jobs are all a bit different, so whatever suits the boss and the employee has to be the guide for how we work.
I'm all for people not having to work too many hours. 40 per week is enough for anyone, especially those who need to keep a high degree of concentration to avoid mistakes.
Hospital doctors come to mind.

[DeppityDawg]

If I could get some of ours to do a 4 day week, or even a fecking 3 day, that would be a result 

Having said that, I'm already down to a 3 day week anyway 

[cromwell]

I remember Ted Heaths three day week well,I was in what was classed an essential job so had to do the full week whilst other buggers got paid in full for little more than half a week.

To add insult to injury where I lived we had more rota power cuts because a hundred yards down the road was on the same grid as the local hospital so had no cuts,so not only had to put a full week in but the lazy sods up the road  we're paid in full and had no cuts. 

[Streetwalker]

Back in my younger days on site when you actually worked alongside tradesmen instead of chancers with the freedom to pitch up and feck everything up ......We used to crack on Mon-Thurs and spend Friday cleaning the tools while waiting for the pub to open . If the mixer got fired up we had had a bad week with the weather or suchlike 

I suppose that was like a 4 day week in that production was up compared to today where the bosses are clockwatching and trying to get the last drop out of people who cant really do the job as well as the lads back in the day did . I hardly get out of 1st gear these days and to be honest trying to speed up some of todays workers wouldn't be a good idea quality wise .

[T00ts]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10888755/More-3-000-staff-begin-four-day-working-week-pay-today-worlds-biggest-pilot.html

My only memory of a 4 day working week was in troubled times but now it is apparently the way forward. Strictly speaking I have heard of those who condense 5 day hours into 4 days and claim improved output etc. Others are simply cutting days and hours but maintaining pay levels. It would be so nice if the concept gave people a better work life balance. Will it work across the board or simply make way for AI?