The Four Day Work Week –  the ‘cons’ and further considerations (part 2)

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If you missed it, in our last blog post we raised the topic of the Four Day Work Week – what it’s all about and the potential positives it can bring for business and employees alike.

We’re hearing more and more from clients looking to implement a four-day week to give them a competitive edge when recruiting, and ultimately to ensure a happier, more engaged workforce. 

In considering such a workplace change, an employer it would be remiss to not consider the potential cons and practicalities of implementation, and how a four-day work week might actually work for them in practice.  We outline just some of these considerations below:

  1. Will a shorter week = longer workdays and more pressure?
    • As the employer you would need to decide on what the new full-time weekly work hours would be.  For example, if you currently have a 38-hour full-time work week, will your four-day work week = 30.4 hours, or will you increase the number of hours worked across the four days to make up some of the shortfall?
    • Either way, employees may need to work longer hours on the days they are scheduled to work. This could lead to fatigue and potentially negate some of the benefits of a four-day week.
    • While the intention is to provide more time off, a four-day work week could create pressure to complete the same amount of work in fewer days, leading to unrealistic expectations or stress during the compressed work week.

All of which leads to point 2…

  1. Job design challenges, particularly for certain roles:
    • To mitigate and understand the potential challenges, an analysis of each job and how they interface with other roles and clients should be undertaken.
    • Rostering and scheduling of specific roles would need to be carefully considered to ensure appropriate coverage.
    • For industries that rely on daily customer interaction, reducing office hours can be disruptive, especially if customers expect/require service five days a week.  It goes without saying that a four-day week is unlikely to be successful in certain industries like retail, hospitality, and healthcare where customer or patients require and expect greater contact time. 
  1. Impact on collaboration and teamwork:
    • Fewer workdays may limit opportunities for spontaneous collaboration or hinder team communication, especially in industries where creativity or teamwork is crucial.
  1. Impact to employee’s pay:
    • As part of implementation, employers would need to determine if the reduction in work hours was to equal a reduction in weekly pay, or if employees would receive the same pay for less hours. If the latter, this effectively increases the employee’s hourly rate; which may result in further payroll considerations around leave liabilities and so on.

In considering a four-day work week, employers should give careful thought around the potential pros and cons for both individual employees, clients and the broader business. As with any change management piece, to give it the best chance of success, it should be done via a detailed planning process and with the appropriate level of employee consultation, input and feedback.

Nick Hedges is the founder of Resolve HR, a Sydney-based HR consultancy specialising in providing workplace advice to managers and business owners. He recently published his first book, “Is Your Team Failing Or Kicking Goals – Take Control Of Your People & Their Performance”. It is a practical response to the most pressing HR challenges, which can be found at https://resolvehr.com.au/.

Disclaimer: The contents written do not constitute legal advice and does not cater for individual circumstances.   The information contained herein is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.

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