4 Day Work Week

ozstarlett

I think it is an interesting idea. Although I don't understand how things would run properly. We are already having to pay overtime rates for weekends so that would give another day that would destroy small businesses. Working in education the students are at school 5 days a week - how are some parents going to cope having kids home an extra day every week. I already work from home and there is no way I could do my job at 4 days a week. There would not be enough time for planning then teaching - only way would be a work from home option but then who decides which 4 days etc and it would mean even less planned learning time. Some businesses it may work - but it should be a case by case basis with the employer. Some people prefer 5 days, others would prefer 4 days and work longer hours - there is also the 9 day fortnight option for some.

HB46

The 5 day work week is dinosaur thinking left over from the 1800s. There is no reason at all to have a 5 day work week other than the workforce being conditioned into it. The infrastructure to move an entire workforce into the offices and home again 5 days a week is a waste of resources. Countries and workplaces that have implemented a 4 day week appear to prove it is a viable alternative that can help people improve their personal lives. Hopefully we will continue to move away from Victorian ideas about industry.

linnyj

Having a 4-day working week has advantages and disadvantages. It could improve one's mental health, or it could create more stress with a busier workday load. It can help the fuel crisis by creating less travel, but local businesses such as cafes and transport companies can suffer through less business. Some say they work more efficiently at home, some say the opposite. Hence, it will depend on the business and the individual if a 4-day working week works for them.

funnysag

I think it would be better if the wages support it the same at least 2 times a month having the extra day

jtmorri

I think it is a good initiative and can definitely work, especially in office settings. Its success depends on the industry and how the workload is structured. Condensing the same hours into fewer days suits some teams, but it can be draining in frontline roles or industries like construction and mining where physical intensity and scheduling are a restriction. It’s not perfect for everyone, but it’s still a strong step toward modernising work and recognising there is life outside of work to organise. When companies recognise their employees’ needs and build in flexibility rather than forcing a one‑size‑fits‑all model, it tends to work well, and productivity isn’t affected negatively as employees and teams remain motivated.

dee84

Absolutely not!! With AI taking over some people will have no choice to have a 4 day week or less

woko

No

woko

No

woko

No

dicky a

This incredible desire adds further credence that the current generation have no idea of “ work,” Seduced by the slackness resulting from Covid and by gifts from indulgent vote seeking governments, this country is ruined.
God help you if you are an employer.. you are a victim of utter self indulgence and general laziness .
Sorry , the world does NOT owe anyone a living

dicky a

This incredible desire adds further credence that the current generation have no idea of “ work,” Seduced by the slackness resulting from Covid and by gifts from indulgent vote seeking governments, this country is ruined.
God help you if you are an employer.. you are a victim of utter self indulgence and general laziness .
Sorry , the world does NOT owe anyone a living

Sahida31983077

I think a four-day work week can be a good option, but its effectiveness depends heavily on how it’s implemented and on the industry involved.

One important distinction is between, a true four-day work week e.g., 32 hours over 4 days with no reduction in pay. A compressed work week e.g., 38–40 hours condensed into 4 longer days.

EileenW1

Many people will just work overtime or take ob an extra job.

Sil sil

So we all have either Monday or Friday off? How does it work? Weekend penalties still apply? What about shift work, penalties still the same?

victory

Yes I think it is a brilliant idea to have a four day work week and then that allows the people who are unemployed to get work and then when you need to work more hours you have an optional shifts.

Tuzy

It should be available to anyone who wants to take advantage of it. Families are so time poor today with most both working so any time to spend together it very valuable and so necessary.

annielou

I think it's an excellent idea. Whether it is 4x10 hour days, or the working hours get reduced to 32, working 4 days for me has always increased productivity at work, while increasing happiness and contentment outside of work, so my life overall is much better. It creates more opportunities for families to be together, or for parents to share the caring role, and I really see no downsides.

ZKM

In my current job I effectively elected to have a four day work week, I value my time with my family and my hobbies, so from the get go only said I would work 4x 8 hour days a week, my family can live off less than 50k a year so my partner and I only work part time/casual so we can enjoy time together. I’ve worked full time previously and don’t see the appeal, but if that’s your thing go for it.

pasar

Our country is increasingly feeling like a nanny state. Sure, there are companies that exploit employees and underpay them, but more legislation won't stop it. Laws are usually introduced to deter bad behavior and force a change, but unfortunately, it rarely works across the board—bad actors always find a workaround.

Look at our tax law; it’s already one of the most complex in the world. To appease voters, governments introduce laws that end up hurting law-abiding citizens, and politicians are rarely willing to fix their mistakes. For example, when the government changed the rules for Australian expats, forcing non-residents to pay full CGT from the original purchase date without indexation or revaluation, they just decided it was too much work to fix because it only affected a minority.

My preference is for employers and employees to take responsibility and accountability for their own arrangements. Bad behavior will be weeded out naturally if both sides simply operate with integrity, rather than relying on blanket legislation like a mandated four-day work week.

site77

If you work 10 or 12 hours a day to have Friday off, the accumulated fatigue can negate the benefit of the extra day of rest. For this to truly be a "good approach," the focus should be on efficiency and the quality of what is delivered, and not just on shifting hours from one place to another on the calendar

peaky

Definitely if it is feasible

kidwithsmurf

A four day work week when mentioned excites everyone, even me. This is because people at face value think, sweet a three day weekend. However, in reality, it means working the same hours in a shorter time period. This has numerous issues that do not work for everyone, all industries or the likes.

A four day work week when mentioned excites everyone, even me. This is because people at face value think, sweet a three day weekend. However, in reality, it means working the same hours in a shorter time period. This has numerous issues that do not work for everyone, all industries or the likes.
It does mean you get three days to relax and recover from the same hours worked as a four day week, but this means you get burnt out sooner. For example, a full time employee works 38hrs. This equates to 7.6hrs per day for 5 days or 9.5hrs for a 4 day work week. This is approx 2hrs more per day if you switch to a 4 day work day. Most people I know, complain they are burnt out doing their normal hours per day little own adding more even though it's the same overall weekly hours. Also, most people I know complain they don't have enough hours in a day little own a week to get all their work done. So even with a four day work week, most people would be working extra hours just to keep on top regardless.

That said above, a four day work week only works for certain industries. If you are an office worker for example where the office can be closed for an extra day of the week, it would fit perfectly as clients would just get used to this being the new normal. However, for industries like self employed, retail, hospitality, labourer's or anyone who works full time in an industry that opens/operates 7 days a week this would not work very well. This is because the doors don't close, meaning the employer would have to hire more people which they probably can't afford to do. Likewise, with these industries you can't normally start earlier or work longer as they normally have set hours for a reason.

Thus, even though in some industries it may work to have a 4 day work week, it is not practical for most industries. It also doesn't benefit many employees in the industries that can do a 4 day work week. This is because most employees are always chasing their tails to keep up with the demand to get their work done and would still be working overtime regardless of the number of work days. As mentioned earlier, employees would have to hire more people to stop this issue, but with the AI and outsourcing market, skilled employees in Australia are rare to find and most employers do not want to hire someone else, can’t afford to and or can't find someone with the required experience to fill the role to pick up the slack and work the other days.

Additionally, if we look at doctors, for example. Yes, they could do a 4 day work week easily. Starting earlier or working later and then having three days off. However, it is impractical as there is not enough doctors in Australia to have a four day work week. Thus, increasing the argument that Australia needs more skilled workers before all industries can even think about going to a 4 day work week. Like, if doctors did a 4 day work week for example, that would mean people who need to see a doctor wouldn’t be able to on the days they need to as there wouldn’t be enough doctors for the days they are not working even though they are working the same hours in 4 days. Thus, even though they’d see the same number of patients in 4 days as they would in 5 days, convenience would be reduced. We wouldn’t be able to ring up and get an urgent appointment on a particular day because the doctor is off, we’d have to wait until they return which could be life threatening.

Beyond the employee shortage argument comes the body strain argument. This argument stems from even though you get an extra day off to relax, you are either sitting in an office chair for an extra two hours per day or doing physically demanding work for an extra two hours without rest causing more body strain. This can have greater long term impacts as you are supposed to rest your eyes, muscles and body regularly. For example, you are not supposed to stare at a computer screen for long periods or sit, lift heavy objects or stand on your feet etc without regular breaks. We all know that when work gets busy, these breaks often do not happen. So, increasing the hours per day increases continuous strain on the body. As a result, working longer hours each day reduces recovery time during those four working days. This translates to more strain on the body compared to spreading the same workload over five days.
For example, if you are an office worker, you would be sitting and looking at a screen for an additional two hours per day, which places more strain on your eyes, neck, and posture. This strain can be greater than if the same hours were spread over five days. This is because you are taking fewer breaks across the week. In other words, your eyes and body are resting less frequently in a 4 day week compared to a traditional 5 day structure, even though the total weekly hours remain the same.
So, whilst a 4 day work week sounds exciting at first, the reality of it is that it doesn't work for every industry, every person, people with families or young kids and it doesn’t fix a growing employee problem. People will just get burnt out earlier in the week, will still be working overtime to catch up, still be chasing their tail and have longer periods of body strain. Thus, until employers in the industries where a 4 day work week could be implemented are willing to hire more employees or there are an increase of skilled workers to hire to prevent burnout, a 4 day work week will never really be beneficial for anyone. That also said, the body strain argument is never really fixable and is just a trade-off that you have to weigh up. Is it better to spread the body strain over 5 days or have strain for longer in 4 days with an extra day to recover?

That said above, a four day work week only works for certain industries. If you are an office worker for example where the office can be closed on an extra day of the week, it would fit perfectly as clients would just get used to this being the new normal. However, for industries like self employed, retail, hospitality, labourer's or anyone who works full time in an industry that opens/operates 7 days a week this would not work very well. This is because the doors don't close, meaning the employer would have to hire more people which they probably can't afford to do. Likewise, these industries you can't normally start earlier or work longer as these industries normally have set hours for a reason.

Thus, in some industries it may work to have a 4 day work week, it is not practical for most industries, doesn't benefit many employees in the industries that can do a 4 day work week. This is because most employees are always chasing their tails to keep up with the demand to get their work done and would still be working overtime regardless of the number of work days. As mentioned earlier, employees would have to hire more people to stop this issue, but with the AI and outsourcing market, skilled employees in Australia are rare to find and most employers do not want to hire someone else and or can't find someone with the required experience to fill the role to pick up the slack and work the other days.

So whilst a 4 day work week sounds exciting at first, the reality of it is that it doesn't fix a growing problem nor does it work for every industry. People will just get burnt out earlier in the week, will still be working overtime to catch up and still be chasing their tail. So until employers, for the industries a 4 day work week would work for, are willing to hire more employees to stop employee burn out a 4 day work week will never benefit anyone.

Hayley32245091

I think a 4 day work week would be wonderful. It would hopefully reduce burnout in higher impact and fast paced professions

trisha26

I believe this will succeed only if the wages are increased to meet inflation. Also it sounds good too if everyone is on board with this. If someone is not reliable then it won’t work.

Tinacalc

It sounds great to me but will it work for families if hours are increased on the other 4 days to cover the day off.

trisha26

I believe this will succeed only if the wages are increased to meet inflation. Also it sounds good too if everyone is on board with this. If someone is not reliable then it won’t work.

l0lapx

With respect sounds wonderful, like all the other do good idea, and today we have children who don't have a family home, who don't know if they are male or female, Our legal system cannot define a man or woman, people who know get sued, abused ostracized. And 4 days a week today ,,, but will be no days a week, for our grand children, so UBI will be what they get if they survive...... Not enough are listening to the head honchos who talk on alternative not MSM.....

skagaray

If the same productivity could be achieved, then yes. It would reduce commuting time, leave more time for family and community activities. But beware of losing productivity. We have a problem with that already.

abarnes

Four day week, three day week, it really doesn't matter; what matters is productivity.
If I can still make 100 widgets in four days when it used to take me five days, I'm golden. But, if can only make 80 in those four days (for the same income) and my company needs to engage additional people to make the other 20, then I'm effectively 'sending them to the wall.'

If productivity drops, the model fails.
If productivity holds, the model is legitimate. It's that simple.

Bigbear

I've done and still do the 4 day week, for me it works well due to my type of work.
Otherwise I think that most businesses need to be available at least 5 days per week.
I suppose you can split your work force to have people covering Monday to Thursday, then the others who do Tuesday to Friday and may not be that hard to implement really although I suppose it may not work in all industries or where staff members are limited but it can work if executed properly.

Radda

Yes yes yes please. This is a great measure for work life balance. We need more quality time at home with our loved ones, not work coleagues. The 5th day in the week will be great for logistics part of your life - running errands, appointments, solving any banking issues, leaving the weekend just for fun, great time to recharge your batteries for the week ahead. Bring it on, baby!

AdelaideM

I absolutely think a four day work week is the way forward. It would allow one day for jobs, one day for rest and one day for socialisation. Realistically, most people can get their work done in 4 days, but need more breaks during the day due to general exhaustion. Extra rest would mean people would be more productive at work while also being able to rest properly, which is a win-win!

Sus1

I absolutely think a four day work week is the way forward. It would allow one day for jobs, one day for rest and one day for socialisation. Realistically, most people can get their work done in 4...

I wonder how more breaks during the day would work in more regulated workplaces with award wages?

isaacsmum

YES! Due to family commitments I was working 4 days a week and it did not affect my productivity compared with my colleagues. I essentially gave up a days wage per week to achieve the work/life balance I needed. I now work for an organisation that recognises this as an option and enable compressed work weeks. Having this option has empowered working parents and those transitioning to retirement as some examples. As long as organisations build teams with slack and contingencies, paying more attention to workload management a 4-day work week could really work for most industries. It takes planning, creativity, and most importantly trust in your workers. Piloting this would show organisations ways forward and refinements they can make to enable their workforce with this work/life choice.