The Four Day Work Week Gains Speed, Saves Gas

Soon the Senate will consider the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (HR 5781), which the House just passed. A new email from MomsRising tells me "It's time for the federal government to become a model employer by offering their workforce paid parental leave, and to pave the way for the rest of the nation to follow. The Act guarantees qualifying federal workers four weeks of paid parental leave for the birth or adoption "of a new child. It would also enable federal workers to use up to eight weeks of accrued paid sick time immediately following the first four weeks of parental leave."

MomsRising supports the bill because it will hopefully serve as a model for private employers. Right on, I'll sign the petition. But paid leave for all in a rough economy feels like a stretch. Right now, though, I'm encouraged by how state and municipal governments are modeling flexible work practices. Utah just became the first state to provide state employees a mandatory four day work week. The four-day work week is gaining popularity among city and county governments and it's getting a lot of press of late. The four day rule was started to save energy costs for both the state and employees, but has become something of a benefit to workers seeking flexible options. A recent USA Today piece cites "Rex Facer, an assistant professor at Brigham Young University whose research team is studying the four-day work week concept, estimates that about one-sixth of U.S. cities with populations above 25,000 offer employees a four-day work week. His projection is based on the team's continuing survey of 150 city human resource directors."

Apparently, either Henry Ford or the labor unions are the reason Americans traditionally work 5 days a week, for 40 hours. Whatever the cause, in 1938 Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act regulating the eight hour day, 40 hour week. That was 70 years ago: most women did not work outside the home, the blackberry wasn't even yet the stuff of science fiction. And so, most scholars of work and many Americans agree: the traditional work schedule is a relic. Technology and new family arrangements, for good and ill, means fewer of us have to be in the office the whole time but that more of us are sending emails at ungodly hours. I think a lot of us are confused about what's right and what will work.

Is the four day work week an idea whose time has come? Numbers are pretty compelling. Writing at the Oil Drum, Aaron Newton notes

The idea of a shorter work week is not a new one to anyone old enough to have lived through the energy shocks of the 1970's. It should be fairly obvious to anyone interested in conserving oil that reducing the number of daily commutes per week would reduce the overall demand for oil. There are about 133 million workers in America. Around 80% of them get to work by driving alone in a car. The average commute covers about 16 miles each way. The math, as I see it, goes as thus (I welcome a discussion of these numbers, by the way...):
133,000,000 workers X 80% who drive alone = 106,400,000 single driver commuter cars each day.
106,400,000 X 32 miles round trip = 3,404,800,000 miles driven to work each day
3,404,800,000 / 21 mpg (average fuel efficiency) = 162,133,333 gallons of gasoline each day
Each barrel of crude oil produces, on average, 19.5 gallons of gas. (It is important to note that other products like kerosene and asphalt are produced from that same barrel.)
162,133,333 / 19.5 = 8,314,530 barrels of oil each day.
What this shows is Reason #1; the impact a 4 day work week could have on crude oil imports. I'm talking about a 10-20% and even perhaps a 40% reduction in the amount of oil we need Monday through Friday simply by rearranging our work week. No wonder this idea was utilized in the 70's.
But the clear fact that a 4 day work week would save such a precious non-renewable resource is just the first of 16 reasons why I think it's time to revive the idea of reducing the numbers of days we work each week. The 4 Day Work Week would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants.

Aaron's 14 other reasons for reducing the work week are equally compelling. To me, there's a large, non-sustainability related reason. When workers lack control over their schedules, they feel stressed. When we try to manage conflicts between work time and family time, we feel stressed. An extra day at home a week could go a long way towards mitigating such stress, thus reducing turnover and saving employers money.

As most of us now complete a four day holiday week, we can encourage Congress to support paid family leave, and consider ways we can be change agents and save energy in our own workplaces. How many of you work flexible schedules? Does it work for you and your families?

Comments

[SonofLiberty1]

I hate to rain on your parade here but Employers being employers are going to look at this concept and smell GOLD from 1,000 miles away...

Why?

It has NOTHING TO DO WITH SAVING GAS!

A four day workweek will mean to some employers that they don't have to pay an extra 8 hrs in compensation!

Don't be surprised.....

Many employers are CHEAP,CHEAP and more CHEAP!

Now, if you are a salaried employee it might be ok....if and only if your salary remains the same.

But for many who subsist on hourly wages what with the price of everything going up it will be a disaster unless they can work overtime!

[mamacat]

When I was still working, one of my employers (a multi-national corporation) experimented with 10 hour shifts in a four day work week. It didn't work out very well. Maybe in some situations it is a good choice, but not in all cases.

[Cathexis]

The 4-day work week is only a viable option for hourly wage earners. For Salary Slaves, who make teh same no matter how many hours they work, the average Work Week is already encroaching into teh weekend.

Why should they give us 4 10-hour days when they can already get 5 10-hour days and 2 six-hour days?

[DennyCrane]

The market will have no choice but to adjust. As the cost of going to work goes up, more and more people will want to work closer to home, making it harder for employers to find qualified workers. If you're a company in downtown, good luck getting people who live in the suburbs to come work for you. I'm sure critics will say to just move to the city and get out of boring suburbia, but most people in the burbs can't afford to live in the city. If it means taking a job in the suburbs that pays less, that's what they'll do. For people who have office jobs that don't require constant interaction with coworkers, employers will be pressured to let them work from home. This could be a huge change. Just think how much the home and workplace would change if more people worked from home.

[speakeasy]

Give employees which day of the week they want off as a choice and there will be less traffic each day as everyone has different ideas as to what is the perfect day off during the week. Imagine if you not only saved gas overall on the day off, but on the commute every day as well... Of course it won't work in many situations, but in most it can be structured properly.

[avraamjack]

.
Any job that can be done in five 8 hour days can be done in four 10 hour days.
.
Four 10 hour days provide a huge quality of life boost. It takes a three day weekend to fully recharge.
.

[FemWorkingClass]

"Flexible" work schedules seldom benefit workers. Working hours are determined by the employer, who can schedule such that you do not have the same day off every week or work the same shift every day you work. Anyone who works in retail knows that when the store is open someone will be there. The employee is expected to arrange their life around the schedule posted the week before. In order to be sure you will have the time for doctor, dentist, parent/teacher conference, jury duty, court appearance, government agency appointment, etc. (not to mention a job interview), that day must be requested at least two weeks prior and 'excessive' requests can result in being written up and disciplinary action taken for being 'unavailable'. Remember that the next time you encounter an 'associate' in the early morning, evening or weekend shopping.

[sethrp]

It seems the only people who don't realize how monumentally awful this idea is don't have to work 5 days a week - folks like rich business executives or graduate students (ahem, Morra). Do you just not realize how few positions allow telecommuting? No jobs involving manufacure and service can be done over the Internet - and they can't be done efficiently on a four-day week either. Many of these business aren't doing well as it is!

And consider for one moment that actual pay adjusted for inflation hasn't risen for Americans in decades. I can't make ends fully meet each month on what I get paid for five days of work. How the HELL am I supposed to do better on a four-day week? How can I expect my employer to pay the difference if the tasks of my job position can't be done from the Internet? And how can an employer ever create a motivated and professional business environment if the employees aren't present? Some of these questions can be answered, but the notion of a 4-day week is already so silly that these particular questions don't need answering.

Exactly. I can't. To say nothing of this patronizing and silly notion that people will somehow not use gas on off-days. As though we sit around at our places on weekends!

[ihavenobias]

Plenty of people CAN and DO work from home part time at my organization, myself included. I go into the office 1-2 days a week for meetings, training and the face to face professional environment that keeps me grounded.

But the other 3-4 days a week I actually get work done. I don't waste 2-3 hours of my day commuting and aside from errands I have to run anyway, I don't really use much more gas (in fact I use far less).

I don't understand the dismissive nature of your post. No, of course many jobs can't allow for working from home, but many can. And again, the nice middle ground is that you can have people come into the office a certain number of times each month. This DOES reduce energy use and traffic (you know how much productivity and fuel is lost sitting in traffic?), and employees save a ton of money on transportation, and things like daycare (human and doggie).

Employers have more productive and satisfied employees, and a group that almost always uses less sick days. Plus there is less conflict in the office.

4 day work week shifts (4, 10 hour days) and limited working from home for many office jobs is a no-brainer and something that can be done virtually overnight to increase efficiency, reduce costs to employers and employees, reduce fuel usage and the list goes on and on.

[Badbone]

I'd be happy with a five day work week.

I"m the company"s "computer guy". That means I come in on weekends to bring down servers that can"t be brought down during business hours, get in early to hook up the conference room for you, and stay late to pack it away.

And I am hardly alone. How many people in my office work Saturdays as just a matter of course? How many are working 10, 12 hour days? Most people grab lunch, then eat it at their desks, while working.

It"s all well and good for a "blogger and political consultant" to talk about how we should change our lives, but us plebes work in the real world.

[mamacat]

Police departments often have non-standard shifts and work-weeks. However, many policemen end up getting a second job to fill in their days off, or working a lot of overtime. Young, healthy people are going to stay busy somehow, including working, pursueing hobbies, and/or raising a family.

[rwoodsathome]

What makes you think a 4 day work work will save gasoline? Do you expect everyone to stay home? Live like hermits? No, people will go out and use just as much gasoline - maybe more - doing other things. With people at work at least their cars are parked.

Let me see if I understand. Working 10 hour days (four days a week) because it will allow more time for 'family time'? But what about those four days with 2 less hours for 'family time'. Seems to me that families will be more hard pressed by the longer work days.

[jennyjen]

I also think it is time to shorten the # of hours for full time from 40 to 36. Let's be honest. How many productive hours do you work out of each 40 hour week? I think that reducing the work week to 36 hours will actually increase productivity and reduce burnout.

[FemWorkingClass]

jennyjen, under current federal labor regulations enacted by this administration, 36 hours a week is considered full time, but there is no requirement to raise wages to a 40 hour work week level

[kmac23va]

I work flexible hours in terms of start/end times, but where I'm at right now has never brought up the four day work week. Due to the nature of the business, some people have a "nonstandard" work week (like Sunday - Thursday) which could also help the shift.

But I also do tech work, with remote access, and I think telecommuting is another tact that more employers need to try. The problem, I think, is they're worried about a lack of productivity and accountability (if you can't see them, they aren't working). But with so many communication methods now, that's crazy. I have e-mail, home phone, cell phone, IM, and my computer has a webcam so I could even do a video conference. So I could easily do a 3 or 4 day work week in person, with a day or two of telecommuting.

I have some friends that also have a job that allows them to do a four day work week by working 10 hours a day for four days, which really just cancels out the fifth day. Still, it works, and the hours can be such that there isn't as much traffic to push through...sitting in backups just eats and wastes gas.

The question is how to change more employers' mindsets toward the lack of perceived control.