4-Day Work Week Issues

Fatigue, Safety

Among these issues, fatigue remains the most serious concern. Extra hours can slow down work and decrease alertness, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. These effects can put safety at risk and reduce productivity in some workplaces. The severity of this problem generally depends upon the type of work and the working conditions. Adequate breaks and mealtimes prove important for limiting fatigue, regardless of how many days employees work each week.

The longer work day sometimes conflicts with employees' existing routines. They might need to take a bus, pick up a child from childcare or attend a college class at a specific time in the evening. Notifying employees at least a month in advance of starting a four-day workweek gives them time to prepare for these issues; some additional flexibility may be necessary. A scheduling benefit of the four-day workweek is that employees can make medical appointments on weekdays without missing work.

If the organization provides vacation and sick time on an hourly basis, employees need to use more hours to take each day off. Considering that sicknesses last the same number of days regardless of hours worked, additional sick time may prove necessary. From the employer's point of view, employees also miss more hours of work when a holiday or weather cancellation occurs (compared to a five-day workweek). However, this only results in 16 fewer hours of productivity in a year with six paid holidays and two weather cancellations.

When a business or government agency switches to a four-day workweek, it typically closes the other three days. The public can't access its services during this part of the week. However, it does become more accessible during the four-day week; people who work eight or fewer hours have time after work to call or visit. For example, a call center that operates from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. leaves 90 minutes for people to call after finishing work at 5:00 p.m.