Evan Low who is currently serving in the California Assembly has co-authored a bill for Californians to have a shorter work week. The measure would implement a four-day work week, dropping from 40 hours to 32 – and require overtime pay beyond that. The four-day work week would apply to companies with 500 employees or more and does not affect salaried employees.
What Does A 4-Day Work Week Look Like?
Businesses would likely open earlier and close later.
A trial study conducted by a New Zealand business, Perpetual Guardian, confirmed a 4-day work week is more productive than a 5-day work week. The shorter week increased employee engagement. The research also found not only does a 4 day work week increase employee satisfaction, company commitment, and teamwork, but it also decreases stress levels and a companies carbon footprint. However, long term results aren’t known.
What Is A 4/10 Schedule?
A 4/10 work schedule is a compressed schedule where employees work four 10-hour days within a week rather than five eight-hour days. While most workplaces using a 4/10 schedule opt to have their employees work Monday through Thursday with Friday through Sunday off, some prefer to give their employees a day off in the middle of the week.
Will A Standard 4-Day Work Week Ever Happen?
According to changerecruitmentgroup.com, A 4-day work week may seem like a radical idea, but we’ve gradually reduced the number of hours worked within a typical work week since the late 19th century.
In 1890, the United States government estimated that a full-time employee within a manufacturing plant worked an average of 100 hours a week. By the mid-20th century, manufacturing employees only worked 40 hours a week.
Why Do We Have A 5-Day Work Week?
In 1908, the first five-day workweek in the United States was instituted by a New England cotton mill so that Jewish workers would not have to work on the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Henry Ford began shutting down his automotive factories for all of Saturday and Sunday in 1926. It was in 1929 that the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Union was the first union to demand and receive a five-day workweek.
Is A 4-Day Work Week Good Or Bad?
Peter Rex, the CEO of Rex, a technology, investment and real estate firm that moved from California to Texas, argues his company would not ‘flourish’ under a to 32-hour work week. Companies will have to increase their labor cost. There will be more jobs than workers and wage inflation could rise. If passed, this bill might have more companies in California relocating which will devastate the already turbulent housing market.
If your customers expect to find people who are available five days a week and then an employee becomes unavailable every Friday, it could cause problems. The move will have dramatic effects on small businesses especially those in trade occupations.
