As the nation continues to recover from the pandemic a lively discussion about the reimagining of the workplace has taken place. One of the items that has arisen is the four day work week. While the pandemic is the impetus for this discussion it should be noted that the four-day work week is not a new idea. Even then Vice President Richard Nixon believed the nation would eventually transition to a four day work week. It should be remembered that the workforce in America and other countries has been evolving for decades if not centuries.

While America takes the five day work week as a given, it has been a part of the American landscape for less than a century. The Ford Motor company implemented the 40 hour work week at its plant in 1926. In response to the Great Depression, the United States Senate in 1933 passed a bill that would have temporarily reduced the work week to 30 hours. While the bill was narrowly defeated in the House because of backlash from the business community, it led President Roosevelt to use it as a threat against business leaders to get them to abolish child labor and support a 40 hour work week which became law in 1938 under the Fair Labor Act. 

Today many corporations and organizations are researching the idea of a four-day work week. Companies such as Basecamp has implemented a 4 day work week for 6 months out of the year and over one hundred companies are now experimenting with the idea. In Japan, companies such as Panasonic and Microsoft Japan have implemented a four day work week which has reportedly led to increased productivity. 

In Great Britain thirty corporations have implemented a six month trial to gauge the impact on their productivity. Companies in other nations have also begun to implement trials including New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Ireland and Spain. Some non-profits such as Healthwise have also begun to move towards a 4 day work week. 

One reason for this resurgence of the four day week day obviously stems from the pandemic and it’s aftermath. What is erroneously deemed as the great resignation has resulted in companies reporting difficulty in hiring workers. As a result the workforce seems to have more leverage in steering the conversation about how the workplace can be re-imagined. The challenge however is maintaining the momentum on this conversation as the economy returns to pre-pandemic levels in regards to employment and worker participation.

The four-day work week is perhaps an idea whose time has finally come. Companies are experimenting with it, nations are supporting it and even in the United States H.R.4728, sponsored by Rep. Mark Takano of California and co sponsored by 17 House members, has been introduced to amend the 1938 Fair Labor Act by reducing the work week to thirty two hours. In the state of California an initiative bill AB-2932 Workweek has been introduced as well. 

Nonetheless, care must be taken to ensure that the implementation of a four day work week is done in a manner that doesn’t simply assuage an emotional response to the idea but actually benefits all who would be affected.

There are potentially many benefits to a four-day work week including increased productivity, decreased worker burnout, decreased turnover and better work,life balance. The four day work week may not be a fit for every type of organization and institution. Organizations whether for-profit or non profit will have to do its due diligence and a cost benefit analysis and make its decision based on actual evidence. Nonetheless, it is an idea that deserves a forum. The five day work week come about as a result of political and social pressure from labor advocates over decades. The one difference this time around is that many within the business community are taking the lead, as Henry Ford did, and leading by example. There will be those who will oppose it for legitimate reasons. Some will raise the issue of the theory of the ”Hedonic treadmill” which suggests that in regards to worker satisfaction their happiness will return to a stable level of happiness no matter what positive or negative event occurs. Some will raise the issue of France which has reduced its work week to 35 hours to increase employment but unfortunately it failed to meet that goal. Others will raise the issue of increasing productivity in places such as Ireland where productivity levels is already one of the highest in the world. Nonetheless, there is no reason that political and social pressure cannot result in a four day work week.

Given the momentum that this idea presently has it is not unreasonable to suggest that within the next decade the United States will incorporate the idea of a four-day work week.