Blog for Democracy

4-Day Workweek?

I wasn’t aware that municipal and state governments were experimenting with a four-day workweek, but it’s certainly an interesting idea.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman launched the “4/10” workweek — 10 hours a day, Monday-Thursday — for thousands of employees in 2008 to improve efficiency, reduce overhead costs and conserve energy at a time when budgets are tight and resources are dwindling.

Apparently, the savings never materialized for the State so they’re ending the program, but.. another report says it did have its advantages.

By staying open for more hours most days of the week, Utah’s government offices have become accessible to people who in the past had to miss work to get there in time.

Yes. Bank/Post Office hours are extremely inconvenient for most people. But working 7am to 6pm isn’t the easiest if you have young children. In any event, I’d work 10 hours a day if it meant having Friday/Mondays off.

Posted

in

by

Jen B.

Tags:

Comments

11 responses to “4-Day Workweek?”

  1. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    I don’t see why you couldn’t stagger to have some people there on Fridays. Where my fiancee works (Mailchimp) when they have a holiday like Labor Day where they will need customer support people on hand, they typically give half of the people Friday off and half Monday so that everyone gets a day off but they’ve got their stuff covered.

    You could, in theory, do a lot for traffic if you had some percentage of the workforce in metro Atlanta not working (or working from home) one day a week, but it couldn’t be Friday or Monday for everyone, some people would have to do Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

  2. JMPrince Avatar
    JMPrince

    Laudanum for childcare in the “Heroin century” By Tom Carnwath, Ian Smith. During Victorian times (and earlier) in England, it was not at all uncommon for mothers to dose their kids with enough yes, smack, to put them down all day. Problem solved, and no DHR/CFSR to intervene. No effective DEA or laws either. Ah, the wonders of our non imagined pasts. JMP

  3. Lee Greenwood Avatar
    Lee Greenwood

    Actually I will say this: It wouldn’t be hard to determine how quickly childcare providers adapted to the new market… would be interesting. I imagine it would be one of the first things any municipality looking to adopt a 4-day week would look at.

  4. Lee Greenwood Avatar
    Lee Greenwood

    I had a three comment run…gimme some slack.

  5. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    Thanks for your thoughtful commentary.

  6. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    IRDK, or C.

  7. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    I know of private employers who do this, but name me a government one in Georgia.

  8. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    On-site/government-workforce-dedicated childcare. Neither of which are unique or unheard of.

  9. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    “Why would it be any harder for parents?”
    Because you’d have to find a daycare that’s open from 6am to 7pm. Good luck with that. I understand that the market should provide for that but people who run daycares may not want to have a 13 hour day.

  10. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    Why would it be any harder for parents? if you have to find daycare/supervision it is no more work to find it for four days than five. I mean I get you’d have to find people/centers open extended hours but it is unfathomable that the market would not meet that demand.

    Also, I’m absolutely perplexed why anyone would wish to raise children in any manner other than how the British do with their boarding schools. Seriously, kids suck.

  11. JMPrince Avatar
    JMPrince

    Dean Baker for one is quite a serious advocate of this approach as one that could work well now & possibly help given some serious thought & adjustments:
    http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/shorter-weeks-longer-vacations

    Deeper into the whole, oh 100 some odd year philosophy on the question is Tom’s ‘Ecological Headstand’, which will be mostly incomprehensible to folks here. But it’s worked elsewhere in Europe for example with little troubles, and there’s been plenty of useful ‘experiments’ with work sharing in corporate venues recently too.
    JMP

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *