With the onset of the pandemic, the revision of work schedules and forms of work in companies has become a topical issue since the beginning of 2020. Some companies have switched to remote work, while others have chosen a mixed work schedule. Some companies have set a goal of changing the standard 5-day work week that has prevailed for almost a century and argue that a 4-day work week is a new trend and solution. In their opinion, this method, on the one hand, increases employee productivity, and on the other hand, allows employees to have more time for their personal life, which improves their quality of life and motivation.
What does a 4-day work week mean?
The traditional workweek consists of 40 hours of work over 5 days a week. When switching to a 4-day workweek, employers generally choose between two different alternatives:
- 40 jobs hours Per week: This is a compressed work schedule where employees work the usual 40 hours per week, but over four days.
It is worth noting that such an approach carries the risk of employee burnout, since the employee is 10 hours will have to work during the day. Therefore, this is a less common work schedule.
2. 32 jobs hours Per week: This method offers a short work week with reduced hours. This means that employees work only 32 hours in a four-day work week, or 8 hours a day.
An additional day off is determined based on the specifics of the business, for example, in the middle of the week.
Should an employer withhold wages from an employee under reduced working hours?
The question is logical, but the answer is: no.
You may be surprised, but according to this theory, employers can compensate employees by increasing their productivity and saving on utility bills.
Is switching to a 4-day work week realistic?
In Georgian reality, the answer to this question could be as follows:
In positions where pay is based on hours, reducing the number of hours will automatically result in a reduction in employee salaries and an increase in the number of employees to achieve the same amount of work. hours , as much as is needed for the smooth operation of the company. For example: hospitality, trade, restaurant, etc.
And in those positions where the salary is set monthly, it is quite possible to switch to a new schedule so that the business is not harmed and the employees are more motivated.
Why would an employer want to transfer employees to a shorter work schedule and give them full pay?
First of all, employers spend a lot of resources to increase employee productivity. In today's economy, there are many methods and theories that they meticulously use for this purpose.
The fact is that employees are quite tired at the end of the work week as a result of working consecutive days, and it can be assumed that Friday is no longer productive for them.
It is also a fact that employees actually work much less than the number of hours they are supposed to during their 40-hour workday. A lot of time is spent drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and engaging in pointless communication. Added to this is browsing the web and scrolling through social media.
It can be argued that the concept of a four-day workweek solves the problem of employee fatigue at the end of the week. Also, since an employee has to complete a full week's work in 4 days, they will waste much less time. This allows employers to eliminate unproductive hours from their employees.
For example:
Microsoft's Japan office saw its employee productivity increase by 40 percent and its utility costs decrease by 32 percent after implementing a 4-day work schedule;
The same experience was experienced by a New Zealand trust management company in New Zealand: productivity increased by 20 percent, and utility costs decreased by 27 percent.
This can’t just be a coincidence. In addition, 63 percent of companies that have already switched to a 4-day workweek confirmed that it is easier for them to recruit and retain better staff than before. Based on the results already obtained, the following countries are currently ready to support a 4-day workweek: Iceland, New Zealand, Spain and Japan.
How to effectively transition to a 4-day work week schedule?
If you are considering switching to a 4-day work schedule in your company, you should first analyze what will change with this? You should also establish exactly how you can maximize efficiency and make sure that the specifics of your company will not be harmed by this new regime.
Before transitioning to a new work reality, a company must definitely consider the following:
1. It all starts with a pilot project.
2. Once again, analyze the positions available in your company and their workload.
3. Based on the case specification and the readiness of the employees, select one of the structural units where you will implement the pilot project.
4. Analyze how much time each employee in the selected structural unit spends on unnecessary activities. For example: browsing websites and social media, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, etc.
5. Create a working group tasked with generating ideas and describing processes for what can be done to increase the productivity of their own activities.
6. Create specific rules for employees working a 4-day schedule that they must strictly adhere to.
7. Implement a pilot project and test it for at least 6 months.
8. Compare the results and measure employee productivity and motivation, and your saved costs (if any).
9. Optimize the pilot project based on the results obtained.
10. Now you can implement the project in stages, or completely company-wide.
Another positive side that I would like to mention at the end: if your company switches to a 4-day work week, you will be one of the pioneers in Georgia and an example for other companies. And you can use this quite well for positive PR and advertising of your company.
