Running head: FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK Four-Day Workweek 1 FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK 2 Four-Day Workweek The usual workweek of five days per week is proving to be hard for employees as well as employers. The reason is because most employees get tired during the week before the five days are over. In addition, the 5-day workweek has many consequences such as the probability of being caught up in traffic, decreased morale because of long working days among others. In light of these, it has become important for employers to consider putting into effect a four-day work weeks because of the many advantages that it has over five-day work week. The advantages will be discussed below. Productivity does not always depend on the number of hours that employees work. This is because even though an organization can require its employees to work for more hours per week, it will not directly translate to high productivity. Burnout and fatigue come in as the week advances, and therefore employees need to be given enough rest to maximize their output. In addition, they require more rest time as they do the same thing continuously, resulting in boredom (Calvasina, & Boxx, 1975). To avoid boredom, the management of the organizations should give employees time between working days as well as reducing the days they work per week. Talented female workers can be retained by implementing a four-day work week. An organization that requires its employees to work for long hours may discourage workers especially women as they need to get children. However, implementing fewer working days per week and more flexible timeframes for working will enable the women who are child-bearing age to prefer the organization as they have more time to take care of their families. Most of the times, working mothers negotiate for four-week work days and therefore implementing that in FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK 3 organizations will enable the organization to attract the best talents in women (Martin, 1981). Female employees would be much happier to work in an organization rather than quit altogether to take care of their children. Four-day workweeks enable employees to pursue leisure activities as well as giving them more time to do their own activities. The most beneficial are family togetherness where one spends time with their families in places that would not be possible if they spent most of their time at work. Visiting places such as beaches and game parks can be done by these families on an extra dayoff, therefore, making them rejuvenated to come back to work the next week (Henderson, & Loveland, 1989). Also, the employees are able to provide care for their children and the elderly instead of leaving them to the caregivers. This increases the bond between the family members making them live a quality life. Furthermore, the organizations benefit from four-day workweeks. The reduction in overhead costs and enhanced commitment by all employees in the few days that they work benefits the organization greatly. It has been established that decreasing the number of working days and increasing the number of hours in a day increases productivity in an organization. For example, if employees were working for eight hours per day for five days, then they should be told to work for ten hours per day for four days (Fottler, 1977). This will not only make them happy that they have saved the transportation costs for the fifth day but also make sure that the 40 hours they used to work in a week are maintained. A four-day workweek has health benefits on the employees. Sitting for long hours per day has effects on the health of employees as the body needs to be in movement to stimulate metabolic processes. However, when one is sitting, he or she can suffer from obesity, which is a FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK 4 condition that can occur due to sitting for long periods of time. Also, for people that use computers while working, they may have difficulties with their eyesight due to the light that comes from the computers. If the light is not regulated from time to time, it may make the individual have vision problems, which could be minimized by implementing a four-day work week (Henderson, & Loveland, 1989). The extra day could be used to exercise the body and therefore keeping the body healthy. Time spent in traffic has proved to be a nuisance for both the employers and employees. In a five-day workweek, the employees come from home late and go home early and therefore are likely to be caught up in traffic. Most of the times, the employees report to work at 8am or 9am in a five-day work week, and this has a high possibility of them being caught up in traffic. Also, in the evening, they get out of work at 4pm or 5pm, and this means that they may get caught up in the rush hour traffic because many employees go home from work at the time (Allen, & Hawes, 1979). However, in a four-day workweek, the employees get to work early and go home late, therefore, saving time and fuel that could have been spent in traffic. Four-day workweeks help in providing more time for employers and employees to run other errands and appointments. The extra day off provides an opportunity to take care of personal appointments, and perform additional activities as needed. Employees knowing that they have a three-day weekend will make them work hard for the four days and arrange for other activities in the other three days (Fottler, 1977). This helps them balance their lifestyles in a convenient manner. In conclusion, a four-day work week should be embraced because of the different benefits that it brings to both the individuals and the organization. In implementing a four-day FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK 5 workweek, there is no change in the number of hours the employees have to work in each week because the hours in a four-day work week will be more. What will improve is employee morale and in most cases productivity. Therefore, a four-day workweek should be embraced by employers and the government because of the many benefits it brings to organizations. FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK 6 References Allen, R., & Hawes, D. (1979). Attitudes toward work, leisure and the four-day workweek. Human Resource Management, 18(1), 5-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrm.3930180103 Calvasina, E., & Boxx, W. (1975). EFFICIENCY OF WORKERS ON THE FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK. Academy of Management Journal, 18(3), 604-610. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/255689 Fottler, M. (1977). Employee Acceptance of a Four-Day Workweek. Academy of Management Journal, 20(4), 656-668. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/255364 Henderson, K., & Loveland, N. (1989). Components of Positive Attitudes Toward the Four-Day Workweek: Leisure Attitudes, Recreation Participation, and Personal Characteristics. World Leisure & Recreation, 31(1), 22-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10261133.1989.10559053 Martin, L. (1981). A Modified Four-Day Workweek. Public Productivity Review, 5(3), 262. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3380297 Running head: TYPE A SHORT TITLE IN ALL CAPS HERE Title of Your Paper Your Name School Your Course Name Your Course Number Your Professor’s Name Due Date 1 PUT THE SAME SHORT TITLE IN ALL CAPS HERE 2 Title of Paper Here--Not Bold or in All Caps Click your cursor here and start to type. It automatically will type in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-space the text. The indent of one-half inch is set here, too. To start a new paragraph, just hit the Return button once. It will keep the format going for you without adding extra spaces between paragraphs. 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