3 day weekend - to think this what is needed to have a decent quality of life?

[Whatifthegrassisblue]

Where does the time go? AIBU to think there is not enough time? By the time you catch up on chores, spend time with family, catch up with friends and try and have some time as a family as well ....it just doesn't happen. I was thinking about it ...1 day for chores and "life admin", leaves the other 52 days to split between time as a family, your extended family and friends. Let alone just wanting to have a day and chill and do nothing, or go on a holiday. I feel I am doing life wrong 😕 Does anyone else feel this way or AIBU?

Exactly the argument that people can be as productive over 4 days as they are over 5 falls flat on its face when it comes to any sort of practical role.
Chef 👨‍🍳 sorting Fridays food on a Thursday doesn't really work, might be a tad cold.

It probably also means a lot of expensive people waste time in offices.
Top Boss Man "Em you all think you can do your jobs in 4 days - maybe I have 20% too many staff 😉" P60 is in the post!

@GlitterSquid
I am the person who only works Monday to Wed, it reflects in my paycheck though. I am in civil service for last 25 years, and although it doesn't pay as much as private sector great opportunities for family life etc.

@coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 06/03/2023 11:16

And that who cares if we see a drop in productivity if people have better lives?

Well, I suspect a lot of people would care when that drop in productivity started to impact their daily lives.''

The reality is that the UK has really low productivity compared to other major economies.

So what we are doing is now in term of work practices and management is not working.

Yes. Quite a few of the things people are talking about as consequences of an official or more prevalent 4 day week are happening now anyway.

My husband and I both work 4 days a week and it is great. I would highly recommend it. It gives us time to have hobbies and do more exercise as well. It means that the work we do during the 4 day period is higher quality.

Having a cleaner and hybrid working and transformed my life, I can get life admin done in the week as I have no commute for 3-4 days and by midday on Saturday the whole house is tidy and clean. So the rest of the weekend is for us.

This thread prompted me to do some reading. It turns out that in the 1880s a 6 day week with 10 hour days was normal. This has gradually drifted down ever since. So I agree, I think it'll happen anyway.

It wouldn't be a good idea at all and would just lead to more people having to have second jobs in order to make ends meet.

The four-day week is on full pay, so that doesn’t change.

Maybe not, but I still don't think a four day week across every single industry is the answer.

That doesn't mean it won't work for some roles (mainly office-based work) but as always, those in minimum wage roles like hospitality, factory work and retail will be the ones who don't see much (if any) benefit.

I do school bus so am home mid morning. Hated full T office just no downtime for appointments or for anything really. But I accept some roles are not flexible.

But hospitality especially has many people who do shifts/ rosters already? Same with factory and retail. In fact these are more flexible as they're lower skilled and multiple people can do the same job, unlike most office workers

That only works for people in salaried positions (with some slack in their day)

Who's paying the extra day for the thousands of people who are hourly paid?

Yes - but it's cheaper to have one full-time member of staff than two part-time members of staff covering the same shifts.

So yes, retail and hospitality already work on rosters, but those rosters are based on full-time workers doing a five day week. If, hypothetically, the law changed to give everyone a three-day weekend with no reduction in pay, they'd be paying a full-time wage to someone only working part-time hours - plus they'd need to find someone else to work the other three days (instead of two at the moment), meaning they're paying out at least one extra day per week in wages for each full-time member of staff on their means.

All that would mean is either prices increasing (again) to cover the costs - or, more realistically, those industries would have to make people redundant (and open fewer days) or close altogether.

I don't know where you're getting your information from. I used to work in retail and most of our workers were part time, we only had three full time staff. Your logic seems totally flawed re price increases and redundancies etc

Very interesting!