Half of 8 days a week

Penfield (NY) Town Supervisor Tony LaFountain is under close supervision himself these days. "I've had a couple of my counterparts, some of the other supervisors say, we're keeping an eye on you," LaFountain said. He has been testing his plan to cut the work week down to 4 10 hour days instead of 5 8 hour days on about a third of Penfield’s 117 employees since June. The experiment has been going so well the town plans to extend the schedule through the winter to get a better idea of its effectiveness.

All sorts of businesses from government office, to college administration services, to auto manufacturing plants have been trying and reaping the rewards of a 4 day work week for several years now. They see that morale and productivity are up while sick days used and electric costs are down. Offices are open later Monday thru Thursday so more people with a 9 to 5 job are able to access the easier.

On the downside, it does lead to longer days and in labor intensive careers that can be strenuous on workers. Also it can be difficult to find childcare to fit the new scheduling. Critics argue that the savings on energy and commuting are minimal at best and they question the quality of the productivity produced.

An alternative suggested in response to the 4 day work week is to focus on results instead of face time. The quality at completion of the task assigned should outweigh the time spent finishing it. Cali Ressler, co-author of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It says "We need to throw out old programs like the four-day work week and institute a results-only environment." She believes location and duration are secondary to the final outcome and theorizes that lag and fill time would be eliminated if employees could leave when the job is done.

While some agree with her the overwhelming response to the 4 day work week is strongly in its favor. Employees who are on the 4 day clock enjoy the longer weekends. They boast an increase in the quality of time spent with family and express excitement over the environmental benefits, no matter how big or small. In the end companies can benefit by giving workers options.

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By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer, business owner, and work-from-home mom.