Friday, October 23, 2009

4-day work week

Interesting concept! When I first read the term ‘4-day work week’ (before clicking to read the short article), I thought it meant 4 by 8 hours-day with equivalent pay cut (like one I'm looking for but haven't been successful so far), but what they did was to introduce 4 by 10 hours-day as opposed to 5 by 8 hours-day. So that means coming to work at 8, say, and then leave at... 7. Would you choose this option if it is available to you?

About a year ago Utah Governor Jon Hunstman introduced the 4 day work week, and it has proven to be a success. The Working 4 Utah initiative put 17,000 out of 24,000 executive branch employees on a 10 hour a day, four day work week, with a three day weekend, and it seems the employees are liking the change.

Not only are the workers able to avoid rush hour, but it seems the four day work week also lead to energy savings. State officers in Utah reported that Fridays at home cuts state energy use by 13%. Utah also saved $1,8 million in operational
costs.

Other states, among them Texas and Florida, are in the process of
introducing similar programs.

Credit to Nik Nazmi for the news/link (via FB).

5 comments:

Ummu Auni

interesting though! walaupun tak nak balik pukul 7. boleh ke still 8 -5 pm?? hehe

SMM

ummu auni afif,
kena potong gaji kot hehe :) terfikir jugak, mcm mana agaknya kalau kita totally free to decide 40 hours per week tu bila kita nak buat kerja. certain hari kita gi 8 hours, certain hari kita gi 10, certain hari buat kerja kat rumah 2 hours then gi office pukul 10 (lepas traffic).. etc.. can the employers trust their employees with such freedom?
but i guess, kalau nak total freedom gitu, kena berhijrah jadi self-employed la hehe :)

Intan Saleh

zidni already doing this, no? except he does it for 5 days, sometimes 7 days a week.

i dont even want to think how my working hours will be next year. 7 to 10 is the worst i heard. not including oncalls. ouh haruslah mengikhlaskan hati setiap saat.

if employers realize the benefit of keeping the employees happy, they won't hesitate to offer this option.

Zidni

i am already doing this for approximately 6 days a week! kalau campur weekend duties, offshore trip, etc. averaged out

hm, i still can't imagine what housemanship hours are like... T_T brace... brace...

SMM

intan,
oh, tu mmg 'menang' hands down.. good luck sis!

zidni,
kalau kerja 6 days and compensated for 6 days (some form of allowance?) still ok compared to kerja 6 days compensated 5 days... although the latter probably happens more often..

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