Four Day Work Weeks In Michigan

Many Michigan businesses are looking at four day work weeks in hopes of saving energy and increasing productivity.  When done right a four day work week can benefit a business of any size, but if the program is not managed properly it can back fire and be tough on the business.

The 2008 National Study of Employers finds that 38 percent of United States businesses allow four day work weeks for some employees, and only 8 percent allow a short work week for all or most of their employees.

Utah was the very first state to implement a mandatory 10 hour a day, four day week for some 17,000 state employees.  While this may sound like a great way to save on gas and allow employees more time with their families, it’s not being accepted with open arms by everyone.

Exhaustion is a hugh issue, working four tens can be very tiring.  Employees now have less time on work days to get their daily home tasks done.  Productivity can really suffer with many finding that the long says seem to drag on and it’s hard to keep busy throughout the day.

Employees must also weigh the impact of the longer day on their families. Condensed schedules raise these questions: If one parent works late, what happens to the family dinner? And what about child care, a lot of daycare centers will charge a premium if you don’t attend the entire week.

The energy crunch of the 70’s had a similar impact with many firms taking on a four day work week.  Once the gas crisis was over, they all went back to five day work weeks.

Is a four day work week really the answer?  What do you think?

Tim Somers
MichiganBusinessHub.com