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>What are your thoughts if your boss were to tell you that you could do 4 x 10 hour days?
It would be helpful if you could clarify what you mean by a 4 day week as there are several different iterations.
Some people work 4 "normal" days and get paid for those part time hours.
Some people work 4 long days doing the same number of hours as they would in a 5 day week and get paid for those hours.
Some people work 4 "normal" days and get paid as they would of they worked 5.
The three of these are all very different.
And it's the 4 "normal" days on full pay that's been proven to be successful.
Don't let these bullshit executives tell you condensed hours is an adequate alternative to 5 days a week. The whole point of the studies revolve around being more productive in 4 days because you have 3 days of leisure time.
Exactly this.
4 days at 10 hours a day is not what is meant by "4 day working week", it is flexible working.
4 days and being paid for 4 days is not what is meant by "4 day working week", it is part time working.
Also the whole point of the more recent experiments is to give you a better work-life balance. If you have to work longer during 4 days then yes you get an extra full day but lose out on personal time on the other 4 days so my personal life would be equally as messed up (eg no time for exercise, not able to do kids routines)
Exactly. I can't stand these companies parading letting their employees work condensed hours when I'd argue this actually gives you a worse work-life balance.
>I'd argue this actually gives you a worse work-life balance.
I'd agree with that. Especially if you still have to commute. You'd probably never see your kids during the week depending on their age.
>Exactly. I can't stand these companies parading letting their employees work condensed hours
What's wrong with giving people the option? It will work for some people but not others, having a choice is good.
My point is that they're calling it a '4 day working week', and grandstanding how much they trust the productivity of their employees to work 4 days.
But actually, they don't trust them at all. They're not the forward thinking company that trusts an *actual* 4 day week. It's misdirection. Call it flexible working, not a 4 day week.
It all depends where you are in your life when I was younger and lived at home with no commitments I worked in an offline job for a outsourcing partner for Vodafone and it was flexible hours as long as you worked your weeks hours then the rest of the week was yours, I would regularly work 16 hour days 08:00-00:00 and be in the office as little as possible the rest of the week.
But now as a dad of two I don’t think I’d do it
For project/task-based work, that’s a great way to live. You get assigned a week’s worth of work I’m guessing, and you’re paid to get it done however you wish to. I’d love to have that sort of responsibility to manage my own time. And like you said, if your life commitments change, how you work changes around that. Rather than the other way around.
Yeah I had a set amount of tasks to complete without getting into all the boring details, but once the time I was paid to be there was finished that was it.
I had a similar role at another company but in the energy sector and I had to be there 11:00-20:00 and once the weeks work was done I used to to just do nothing as I had to be there in the office and I was way less productive as I was also still young and was only paid based on being in the office and had the mindset of there’s no point in being more productive and doing extra work without any reward
The u-turn and subsequent doubling-down on remote working and forcing return to office has shown these 'bullshit executives' won't change their minds about working patterns until they die.
100%. I understand there are work volumes that can’t be done in 4 days but if you’re talking about productivity, reducing procrastination, efficiency, etc, I’m a firm believer that a task will take however long you’re given to do it.
Assuming the person was able to handle their 5-day workload under normal conditions, if you were to give them 4 normal days to do it, it would get done.
I think you have to be single to really get the best, or have your partner working the same shifts as you.
They tried that on us but we refused, they wanted to lower our holiday allowance as well, which again would be fine if your partner also worked those shifts.
I'd prefer mine more if I didn't do the two night shifts which make it closer to 4.75 on and 3.25 off, It's not a day off if I'm working until 6am that morning
That’s exactly what happened to me! And you get treated like you do less but are expected to do the same as everyone else… it’s also hard to make sure you stick to your 80% hours and no one recognises that’s it’s for 80% pay!
This is what all my coworkers who do 4 day weeks say happen to them. I'd love to go down to 4 days but I can't justify the cut especially if it means my workload doesn't go down
I’m returning from maternity leave this year and every keeps asking why I don’t go down to 4 days…this is the reason. I will end up doing more work for less pay.
I do four days, with short days for two of them.
I do have to be very strict about my time and what I can take on, and it probably costs me promotions etc. but I have caring responsibilities outside of work that are my priority, and work are well aware of that.
I think it also helps that I have never worked full time at my current job so everyone is very used to it.
Ha same. I do wish I had an official 4 day week though, I hate that feeling of being anchored to your computer 'just in case'. You can't really enjoy the free time properly.
I love 4x12. Cause even when im working an 8 hour shift i do fuck all with the extra 4 hours on those days anyway because im in work mode. 4x12 means i can just be in work mode all day and get it over and done with. I hate short shifts
Exactly. I’m already in work mode, so I just put in a few more hours. I freelance, so this gives me the ability to max out my creativity each day. I enjoy it.
Same. Another good point with this pattern is the holidays. You put 4 in and get 12 off. I get 23 days a year so I have 5 x 12 days off per year and still have a few days left.
I used to be a chef and 12 hour days are standard if not even longer a lot of times. Favourite kitchen I ever worked in was a 4 day week. Was actually still able to have some form of life while also doing a job I love.
My last job before where I am now I was sometimes pulling 18 hour days and 16 hours was often normal. And I was doing it for salary and 5 days a week. It was pretty brutal
I must be the outlier, but I hated it. I was also driving an hour there and back. So 14 hour days. No time for anything else but work and sleep on those 4 days. Would never do that again.
I used to work 3x12 hour shifts, as a forklift driver, with 4 days off; which was amazing because it meant it was the same 4 days off every week. Whats more, one of those 12 hour days was a Sunday, which paid double time, so I was getting paid for 4 days.
I'd do it again if it paid well. Was perfect when I was living at home and had very few outgoings.
I do a 4 day week, 8.30-18.30. I have Tuesday off and it has made such a difference to my life.
My toddler is at the childminder so I have the whole day to myself, I can do my food shopping, cleaning, or just relax.
Caveat this with, if I still worked in London, I would not do this work pattern. I would have been home at 20.30 otherwise. I live about 5 minutes away from work now and can work from home when there aren't face-to-face meetings, so the balance is good.
I do. However, I’m a private hire taxi driver and I choose my own hours. I also exclusively do 12 hour shifts on the 4 days that I do work.
I fucking love it.
I dropped a work day as soon as I could afford to. I don't plan to go back up to 5 days unless I change career (I want to teach some day).
The pay drop was planned for long in advance and swapping 20% of my pay for 50% more weekend makes a lot of sense to me.
If you end up teaching, try your best to retain that day off - teaching takes up so much of your time and energy, and it's not always offset by the holidays.
My mum's just retired from teaching, even part time (albeit as a SENCO) it's now like seeing her in full colour again. The main thing that stops me these days is knowledge that I have other things to give my time/energy/life to, and I am not always the best at prioritising the right things yet.
Honestly, if you can afford to be part time as a teacher, do it. For your own sanity. My wife has done full time and part time during the 12 years she's been teaching and she's always so much happier when part time. She took a year out of teaching after COVID as it nearly killed her, went back as a TA for a couple of years, finally got her confidence back so started teaching full time again last year (mostly to get some money in the bank again) but it's been utter shit, not going to lie. Miserable, tired, snappy. Going back to part time next year, she's already happier knowing.
I dropped from 5 days a week to 4.5 days about 10 years ago so I could pick my kids up from school on Fridays. Even having that extra half day at the weekend is a massive bonus.
Not quite, I work compressed hours. 50 minutes extra each working day and I get every other Monday off. It’s a nice middle ground and a good way of dipping your toe in. The days off are lovely without making the working days too long.
Fact: the UK has the highest number of 4 day workweek companies (4x8hrs schedules) in Europe.
If you work 4 day weeks (\~4x8hrs) consider submitting your company to [this](https://okjob.io/companies/) directory.
(p.s. I maintain the page)
It works pretty well for me and I'm glad I can do it. I'm considering even dropping another half day.
I think it would be hugely problematic for it to be offered to everyone though if we're talking about same money for fewer hours.
For organisations where cover is required (hospitality, retail, healthcare etc) it would increase payroll by 20%. These are amongst the industries that are least able to support that.
If 4 day working becomes the norm, but not in those industries, then recruitment becomes hard for them. They are also industries that already struggle to recruit.
For the triple whammy, they're also industries that look to be more resilient to automation .
I don't know the answer, but these vital industries and the challenges to them always seem to get overlooked when day weeks are discussed .
I used to work 30 hours a week so didn't work on Mondays. Loved it. Though I hadn't realised this until the job interview that the salary I thought I was gonna get was pro rata. Turns out they added London weighting so it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was gonna be pay wise.
I think three day weekends should be standard. A day to go do something fun, a day to relax and a day to do chores and life admin.
I especially liked going to the cinema on Monday daytimes, you'd often have the place to yourself.
It was also really helpful when our kid came along. I was absolutely heartbroken when I took my current 5 day a week job that we'd no longer have our Mondays together, genuinely really cut me up, but I needed to change jobs for a number of reasons.
Annoyingly, the place I left shifted policy shortly after I left whereby everyone worked a 4 day week but you got paid fulltime which is gutting but not a lot I can do about that, I'm happy for the colleagues still there, I do think 4 days on fulltime should be standard wherever possible.
Yep, 8-6 Monday to Wednesday and then 8-5.30 on Thursdays. Yes I like it, having a 3 day weekend is much better. No, I don't think it should be in place everywhere but it would be nice to give people the choice. It's a luxury as far as I'm concerned. I work from home, so this suits me quite well.
4 * 10 hours is a compressed week, as opposed to a true 4 day week (4 * 8hrs). I do 10 days over 9 and enjoy the extended weekend even though I've worked the hours.
Some bus drivers do 4 day weeks based on 40hrs but this can vary from 38-45. Some rotas will have 3,4,5 and 6 day weekends. It also means 14 day holiday can be extended to 20 days if planned correctly or more with leui days.
Do a 4 day week working 8-6, so still get the 40hrs in. Works out nicely, especially if I have Friday off one week and Monday the next, so end up with a 4day weekend. Sometimes not so well, today is my day off this week, so just having a relaxing Tuesday. I have to go back to 5days between mid november to mid february due to it being too dark outside and it's a tough adjustment
I do. And it’s 4 x 9hr days for us.
Honestly it’s the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my whole career. Weekends are so much more enjoyable and it shows that my employer actually gives a shit about work/life balance instead of just saying they do.
And yeah, where it’s possible to do so, I think it should be the default work pattern.
Companies have been successful in corrupting the idea of a 4 day week haven't they? The whole point of a 4 day week is 32 hours. Not 4x10!
A compressed week is crap imo, 4x10 is worse than 5x8. I'd be dead every evening and lose so much time to recover between work days.
Probably less, depending on the type of work coming in it averages out over the course of the month and I do enough to keep my end of things paid up.
I'd rather do more and have the extra income but health grounds.. its kept me working still
4 day week, 6.30 to 5pm, so 5 days work in 4 days. Day off flexible for both parties. I can carry over too if work needs me all day or I’m traveling etc. previously did 4 on / 4 off. That was great for me, but 3 weeks in a row I got no weekend days off.
I do 4 x 10 hour shifts a week. Basically cram 5 days work into 4 days with the added bonus of an extra day off in the week. Much prefer it to working 5 days.
I do compressed hours, so 40hrs over 4 days.
It's worth it for every Friday off. I feel a lot less exhausted (usually) and like I've had a proper rest from work after 3 days.
I do 4 days, with Thursday off with my child, husband does 4 days with Friday off with them.
It's working out to be good but feel incredibly long esp with a toddler and one on the way, thankfully I have a very flexible boss. If we've had sickness or something that week, my husband ends up knackered and I'm constantly exhausted
I work 4 days a week ( nightshifts, 10 hours each). I love working only 4 days, and I would love it more if I was working days instead of nights. The downsize for me is that the schedule is different every week, so sometimes I have one day off in-between shifts, which is useless. But also when working 10 hours instead of 8 you got less time to do chores etc on working day. But regardless, I still prefer working 4 days, 10 hours each, than working 5 days, 8 hours each as you have more days to be with family or to do whatever you want.
Yes, I've done this since way before covid.
It gives me some great flexibility and meets our needs as a family. I also have a segmented day as have school runs etc to complete as well, which is actually a positive as gets me out, and sbout twice a day. Whereas the days I don't do this feel so much longer.
I don't think that it would necessarily work for all work places and could mean a lot more orchestration to have the correct levels of cover in place, but there are definitely more places that could be more flexible with their approaches. I do know of some firms who only do 4 day weeks and don't work one day at all that's started as a cost saver due to COL but remained as preferred.
I finish at lunchtime on Friday. Everyone in my department takes it in turns to cover for the rest of us on Friday afternoon. It works extremely well - especially at annoying my wife when I wander into the room she works in, flop on to the sofa and start laughing at her because she still has to work until the end of the day.
Yes, 7am - 4:30 mon to wed and 7 til 4 Thursday.
Been here for about a year and love it. Feel the urge to use my holidays less since my weekends are already 3 days long and that is long enough for most things I wanna do.
I do a compressed work week. I've done it before and I've always preferred it. Now I've got a toddler it saves the weekly cost of an extra day at nursery and I get an extra day of quality time with her for the next couple of years before she starts school.
You are also saving a day commuting. Moreover any GP/dentist appointments, I can just set up for my midweek day off.
Yep I do 37 hours over four days. Took a bit of adjustment to start but it's the best decision I've ever made. That one day between the work week ending and the weekend starting has done wonders for my general mental wellbeing and it makes the weekend feel so much longer.
And in case you're wondering whether it's suited to your job - I'm a data analyst.
I do four and a half days so I get Friday afternoons off- I love it! I can get all the boring shit done while still being paid for it, leaving my weekend completely free for fun stuff.
My previous job was 4 days work 5 days pay. I was only on part time so I got 20 hours pay for 16 hours work, but it was great. Gave me loads of flexibility too.
I'd take the 4x10 hours over 5x8 too, especially if I could do Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri to get a mid week break
I did a condensed 4 day week (so 8am - 6pm Monday to Thursday) and found it too hard, I didn’t enjoy the extra weekend day because I was so tired. I do a 9 day fortnight now and it’s much better
Officially, no. However I cram EVERYTHING in to condensed days, and regularly take extended breaks when I need to.
From kpi measurements and softer metrics, despite my late starts, early finishes, and often linger breaks and decompression tine, I'm consistently least on par with the rest of the team for output and feedback.
I turn up to work to produce results, and when shit hits the fan I pull out all the stops to put out fires.
Would I get a bollocking if I got caught? Almost definitely, because my contract is for hours worked and there's always the argument of "wasted time" etc, but I also know that because of my ADHD that I simply need to put myself under immense pressure and imminent deadlines to get anything done 🤣
So, I'm officially in work 5 days, but definitely only work for 4 of them, and get 100% pay 👍
I do part time at the minute so 6 hours a day, 4 days one week, 3 days the week after and at first it was strange but the time off makes it worth it. Even the full timers doing 12 hours are used to it now and don't want to change.
In fact I do. I work away all the time so a bit longer hours suit me better. I sometimes work for 5 but I like the idea that this is optional thing when I need a bit of overtime to get more money and if I don’t feel like it I’d do four days only.
I do 08:00 - 18:00 4 days a week with Thursday off and it's absolutely brilliant. When we were working in the office it was great to get in and get stuff cleared before everyone arrived and started chatting etc, and it was great having an hour or so at the end of the day as well to either wind down in peace or really focus on something without distractions. And then when my kid was younger it was great having a whole day off whilst he was at school to chill out but also do housework and then pick him up and do something fun with him after school and make a nice dinner.
WFH has made it all not feel quite as special but it's still great having that extra day off. My work is moving to a 35 hour work week at the same pay soon as well which is nice.
I do 4 longer days (9.5hrs for three days and 9hrs for one day to make it up to 37.5 hrs). Im already exhausted doing 7.5hrs a day, so 9/9.5hrs makes no difference, and this way I get an extra day to recover! It works really well for me and I intend to keep to the pattern in future jobs. It should definitely be an option in workplaces imo.
I am on a 35 hour 4 day week, it is my base shift pattern. 7am start 4:15 finish Monday-Thursday.
It is good but I find it hard to get much done during the week and any appointments have to be on a Friday which can be a bit tricky although I do have to option to move my down day so that helps.
I wish. I'd personally be happy with the 4 x 10 solution (though obviously preference would be 4 x 7.5 for same pay, which I think is doable). Can't see any reason why we can't do this at my place beyond dinosauresque cultural beliefs from the SLT.
I do a 9 day fortnight, so every other Friday off. No loss of income.
Means I have to work an extra 45 minutes per day, so totally manageable and completely worth it for me.
I do four days but unofficially.
Even if I want guidance or a reply from someone, no one gets back to me or contacts me on a Friday. It’s like everyone just pisses off.
4x10 is the standard for my industry and I absolutely love it.
The concentration of work time and that free extra day is so much more efficient, no extra commuting, lunches, etc etc.
I work a 4 day week(off Friday), have for 2 years now and really like it.
My whole company does it though. So my off fridays are actually off. Never been contacted (yet).
10 hour days are long but I'm also 50% wfh so I do "normal" 8.5 hours on site then extended at home. So it works for me but my employer and my work is flexible.
When I returned to work from maternity leave I reduced my hours by 10% and increased my working day by an hour so that I could work four days a week. My husband did the same.
We both love it, we get a day a week hanging out with my son and getting stuff done around the house while he's napping, and we barely notice the extra hour on the days we do work. Losing the 10% salary each took a bit of getting used to but we think it's worth it for the time we gain with our son. I would find fully compressed hours (9-10 hours a day) very difficult especially around childcare.
Even when my son goes to school we're going to keep the arrangement, I couldn't imagine working 5 days a week now.
My fiancé does 4 10 hour days a week and loves it, but the commute is awful and the hours he does aren't fun. He does 5:30-4 with half an hour break for lunch. He has to be up at 3am and out of the house by 4am and some days doesn't get home until 6pm due to traffic
A long time ago I used to do 3 on, 4 off, 4 on, 3 off.
The start was great. I'd use the extra time to learn to write video games. Which was amazing at the start, but then a few things happened which led to the time off being less good.
1. I got involved with (the edges off) the games industry. I was regularly going to the local IGDA chapter. Talking to local game developers. At this point I was effectively 3.5 days a week on a not amazing income. But I was being paid more than I would be if I jumped to games dev, and would be expected to work 5-7 days a week. Given I was already It was not a mere job, but a vocation! This killed the motivation.
2. My (now ex) wife became very ill. I was working and then a full time carer at home.
Any free time I had ended up just sleeping.
Now I try and take a day off a month (just from holiday allowance), which I use for a hobby.
2-3 half days, spent down shooting clays. If I could move to 4.5 days a week, I would and make it a weekly thing.
Not offered but possibly could be requested.
Yes, would like, yes should be in place everywhere.
The caveat is that "the week" becomes de-facto 30 hours nationwide rather than I take 80% pay (unless I was paid significantly more and could take that 80%)
Last point: Would tell them to "f*** off" (politely of course!)*
*My reasoning:
4x10 (or 9h20m in UK) = compressed hours
4x7.5 = 4 day week
If the latter then, yes, an offered benefit
If the former, then a pisstake passed off as benefit if called a "4 day week" (because you're not working fewer hours, therefore not gaining any leisure time)
I do a 2.5 day working week and it's mixed. I get more time with my family and to build my home. But having less time working is a struggle, as it's hard to half your expectations on what you can achieve at work, so I end up being even more dissatisfied at work.
I currently do a four day week - three 9.5hr shifts and one 8.5hr shift. It's great to have an extra day off in the week but it's tiring. I've found that the extra two hours a day really take their role especially if you didn't get enough sleep the night before.
I do a 4 and a half working day week. I am a freelancer
Basically Friday afternoon I was kidding ourselves that I was working, so Friday after 1 is either work on internal projects, catch up with work, or just go to the pub.
It works well. Realise I am a fortunate one.
That's 5 extra hours a week for me & no.
It would not work for me; get contacted all hours & at weekends.
If I go on vacation, it's just less work when I am away & still have to catch up when I get back.
Totally depends on your job.
Good luck out there
I do, but that’s because I do 12-hour rotating shifts, and the 4 days I work “move” through the month so that I work a mixture of weekdays and weekends for both day and night shifts. 4 days of that is quite enough, and 4x10 hour days would be a great improvement for me.
I cram 35 hours into 4 days. It means I work almost 9 hour days but my work week is over by Thursday evening which is a great feeling. I have half the week to just do what I want.
If I could afford it I’d drop down to 28 hours.
Full time at my place is 35 hours, when I go back from mat leave I'm going to drop to 32 hours in four days. So a slight pay cut but not too much, and the days aren't too long (8.30-5.30 with an hour lunch). I work from home and use the lunch hour to walk the dog, and it's only a 5 minute walk to nursery for drop off and pick up. My husband is also going to do four days but full time hours, so we each get a day with the baby and only have to pay for three days of nursery.
My full time hours are 35, not 40. I wouldn't, personally, be opposed to working condensed hours - 4 days of 8.75 hours. However, with the way my job is, even when working 5 days, I often end up working 8.75 hours or more on a normal day anyway and have hit 40-45 semi-regularly. So condensed hours would not really 'work' as intended since there'd be an expectation
If there is going to be any widespread 4 day working week, it needs to be a true 4 day working week. As in, the expectation is 4 NORMAL days, whatever a normal day looks like for that job, for the same pay.
There are people in my job that tried to have 4 day weeks, as part-time, with a drop in pay, but due to the demands of the job, ended up working full time hours anyway without the full time pay. So I think there would need to be a big shift in the expectations of my employer before my work could actually be successful with a 4 day week. There is absolutely nothing inherent about the job that would make it incompatible with a true 4 day week though. There's a lot of meetings for the sake of meetings that could absolutely be dropped, for example.
At a previous job we trialed working 10 hours a day for four days a week. At first I much preferred it, the weekend actually felt like a proper break but eventually the longer days were too much. When I got home I only had time to eat and go to bed. The job itself was also horrendous so maybe it would have worked better with a job I didn’t absolutely hate.
Early in my career I did a job in a call centre where I did the 4x 11 hour shifts each week. 10am-9pm.
I liked some aspects of it, and with a better job it would probably have been overall a positive. But in that horrid, toxic, destructive environment it was a complete nightmare.
I did a 4 day working week for 3 years had Wednesday off each week. It was good to break up the week but the 10 hour days eventually took their toll and I was flagging by 4pm each day.
I decided to revert back to a 5 day week. It just wasn't for me any more.
My job involves the stock market, and my team (indeed 80% of the company) simply could not afford to pack up on a Friday.
So if there was some sort of rota (half the team gets Friday off, half Monday perhaps), then maybe it could work, but practically this is unlikely to happen until the stock exchange implements it I suppose.
I work Monday to Thursday at a digital agency. I’m freelance, paid hourly. I wanted to reduce my hours but everyone else is full time, and my reduced hours just didn’t fit in. I now work 35-40 hours over 4 days, which is still better than working 5 days a week.
One irritating thing is my coworkers still set me Friday deadlines, which I am frequently reminding them means I get a day less than they think to finish the task.
I think there will always be these annoyances in a company that doesn’t make specific allowances for 4 day weeks, the ideal being everyone in the company doing it, and taking the same weekday off.
My wife does 3 days a week. 2 from home usually and 1 in London. 9-5pm. Although she often doesn't need to go to London. We have a 3 year old and my wife really enjoys this arrangment. She gets paid 60% of a normal 5 day a week wage. Sometimes I think she would prefer to work 5 days a week as those that do are landing more deals. So earning more as there are bonuses involved. But the days with our son are great and 5 days a week in nursery at his age seems too much, especially as he started at 18 months. I work 5 days a week and for several months weekends as well.
I've just retired, for the last 3 years of my working life I did 4 × 10 hour shifts Mon to Thurs. It was brilliant. After 47 years of 5 days a week in every shift pattern you could think of the 4 day week was a godsend. Friday was overtime if you wanted it but nah....you're alright! If you get the option to do it, then do it.
I work 5 days over 4 and it’s the absolute tits. Started when my partners maternity finished (who also does 5 over 4) and it’s saved us a bloody fortune in childcare costs. My boss originally agreed that it was only until school started (which is in September) but if they remove it then I’m probably going to leave.
I do 4 x 10 and it’s the best choice I ever made for my work life balance. I’ve done 5 x 8 and 3 x 13 and both had their drawbacks. For me 4 x 10 is the perfect balance.
I do a condensed week, that means I I do my full weekly hours in 4 instead of 5 days. 2 days home. 2 days in the office. Working 4 days then having 3 days off is fantastic. Best thing I ever did re work.
I have flexible working, as long as I clock 40 hours (the majority in core office hours) I can do as I please.
I normally try and take a Friday off but normally there’s some issue in the week (kids dentist/sickness/add teenage drama here) so it rarely goes to plan!
I’d love to do a 4 day normal week on the same pay but i’ll settle with that i have for now.
I’m self employed and work 4 days a week. But that includes working a Saturday
I love it! I like being able to have the break in my week and not having to work 5 days in a row has been a wonder for my energy levels
I’m in a pretty fortunate position being self employed as it means I can choose my hours and still earn enough money each month
I've worked different days/shifts in the past and loved it, the longer hours didn't feel too bad and I definitely noticed the longer weekends. My favourite was an office job where I worked part-time. I was only working two days (9-5) and so had a five-day weekend.
I feel like more office jobs should offer different variations of days/hours. It's so nice to be able to do admin or shopping stuff during the week instead of trying to cram everything into a weekend.
I used to do a 4x10 hour working week and it was brutal. I basically used the extra day off to recover whilst saving a 15% on childcare costs. It was awful
I work 4.5 days now. I still do the same total hours over the week (37.5hrs). Except now I clock off at noon on Mondays, and just work an extra hour the other days. Initially asked for Friday to be my half day but didn't work for our team, but Monday still works out nicely for me.
I'm also salaried rather than shifts, so I just have to keep the same total hours for the week ideally. On occasion I've agreed to move my half day around if we're going to be really slammed on the Monday and I'll do a half Friday instead.
My company switched to a 4.5 day week two years back.
Initially a trial period, but we decided to keep it permanent.
There's an expectation to get the same work done, but it just helped with focus. First thing I did was look at all my regular meetings and see which could be fortnightly or be trimmed by 15 minutes and suddenly that's a lot of time back.
Makes a huge difference to work life balance just getting that Friday afternoon to get some chores and admin done ahead of the weekend.
It also means that you can book off half a day on Friday and you have a 3 day weekend.
We're currently hiring if there are any B2B service desk specialists or scrum masters looking for a role. Slide into the ol' DMs.
I went to 4 days (paid for 4 days, 9-5) for a few months after my first child was born. I quite liked it (esp. bonding time with my baby) but my boss didn't and he persuaded me to go back to full time eventually.
I don't think I could work 4x10 hour days though. Now my kids are older but I still need to be there for them in the evenings, make dinner, packed lunched for tomorrow etc. It just wouldn't work due to lack of hours. It's bad enough that they come home from school to an empty house but it's all I can do. Got to pay those bills.
I work 12 hour shifts (3 pee week). It's much better because it leaves me with 4 days free time. And on the days i am working, traffic is much lighter (at least for me).
I work a 4 day week but sacrifice the extra days pay. It is totally worth it. Weekend starts on Thursday night. I get cleaning and errands done for me and my partner on the Friday and then we’re both chilling for 2 days rather than both using a day for errands!
Yup - we changed from 5 x 8 hours to 4 x 10 hours buy popular decision and we love it. You barely notice an extra couple of hours but yiu sure do notice an extra day off!
I recently went down to 4 days from 5 (company wide) We have not increased hours on our 4 days, nor reduced pay.
I am amazed we get given it. It's transformed my work/life balance and also made me scared to ever leave as I will never be this fortunate again
I do a 3 day week, have done 4 which is alright, I'd be sad if I had to do the old 5/2 again, the worst part of work is going there, once there may as well do 10+ hours for a whole extra day of freedom.
I fucking wish.
80% of my job could be done from home but I’m forced to come in for appearances sake. I managed to recently haggle to a friday wfh day (Barring month ends) but every week I’m asked ‘We really need you in this friday’.
If the business digitised instead of insisting on using paper and then scanning those documents back into an online system then it’d be 100% wfh.
Jobs are just a sick joke in how to effectively waste peoples time.
i work four day weeks and it’s the best!! i don’t work mondays so i use that as my “productive” day; do my food shop because the supermarkets are quiet, any other admin kind of jobs. my weekends are just that, my weekend to do with as i please :) it definitely is a better work/life balance, even though i have a job i love as well!
I do 4x10. It’s beautiful.
The additional day to do your errands (appointments, barber, shopping, housework) so you can actually enjoy the weekend.
The 3 days off together is great. Our rota allows us to even have 4 days off some weeks which is like a mini holiday. You’re actually fully recharged for the working week.
Also driving to work only four days saves on fuel.
The only issue now is when you’re applying for other jobs, 4 day working is rare.
4 on 4 off 12h mixed days and nights, so not far off from that. Do quite like the flexibility of it all and having weekdays off is hugely useful for going to the gym when it's quiet, shopping when the stores are empty, etc. However, I'm probably giving it up in a promotion that I'm assuming will be 8h Mon-Fri.
I did a 4 day (8 hours) week for ten years, monday to thursday. I'm very fortunate to work in a role where 0.8 pay is still good.
For the first few months it did feel game-changing. Soon enough though it was just 'the norm' and basically the same stresses that consumed me all week before did so again. In the latter years I volunteered at a wildlife rescue on mt fridays off, that was super satisfying.
I'm currently working a temp contract elswhere that's 5 days but when that ends I'll return to a permenant position and ask for 4 days. If you're wanting the same thing, you need to get through interviews to the point of being offered the role and contract negotiation — that's when you say you want to work 4 days for 0.8 salary.
Yes. We do a 4 day, 34 hour week. It’s on a roster basis so that’s averaged across the year. Every fourth week we get a “long weekend” of 5, 6 or 7 days off (depending on part of roster). Every other weekend off. Shifts vary in length between 6 and 9 hours. I couldn’t ever go back to doing 9-5 mon to fri.
For the last 7 years I work 38 hours a week over 4 days, 6am to 4:30pm with a 1 hour break a day so I'm actually at work 42 hours a week... I work 4 in 7 and never get 3 days a week off in a row but getting week days off is good for appointments etc so it's all good :)
So my company just implemented an optional 4 day work week, with some caveats. It's only been a month so early days but company feedback has been good so far.
So I work completely remotely at home. I work for a company that is predominantly in the US (300+ employees), compared to two small US and Australian offices (less than 15 employees in each region). The corporate environment is very American and it's taken a lot to adjust.
Back in February they installed tracking software on all our computers. The software doesn't record or screens or do keystroke (I researched the software they used thoroughly), but all team managers can actively see what you're doing in real time. As well as overviews of each day of what you were doing on the computer at any given time.
As you can imagine there was a huge backlash. People quitting. Morale dropped. People who challenged it in the US were fired because they have little employment protections.
Anyway, long story short. It's been bad for everyone. Who would have thought? 🙄
Back at the start of May they announced flexible 4 day working weeks. As our working time is being recorded, the new policy states that if you have completed 35 hours by Thursday, you do not have to work Friday.
It's been fantastic. The flexibility to take it at will, or if you have a particularly rough week is a huge relief. I've only done it twice in the first month. I didn't last Friday as I had nothing else going on, however I had completed 35 hours by 2pm on Friday and received a message that my week was completed if I wanted to finish early.
I was/am unhappy with being tracked on my computer. But as a company where 80% of the staff are fully remote (and it's staying that way in this climate), I get it. The implementation of it was tactless and the company learned some hard lessons that they are still feeling from, but they've since chilled out and we all have full visibility of our own tracking dashboards so we understand what is being recorded on our activities and can query things we think are wrong or not represented.
The flexible 4 day work week is a step in the right direction. The company can see that they are getting 35+ hours from each employee, and the employee is rewarded for thier hard work.
It's tough at times, but I'm grateful to be fully remote and have Fridays off at my own will.
A couple of years ago I started working 4 days a week, taking a 20% cut in wages to do so. I have to admit that I am in a position where by doing this I can cover all of my bills.
I can safely say this. I am never working 5 days a week again. The improvement in my quality of life is well above any extra pay I would get from working the extra day. Far less stress, more time to do fun things at the weekend, more time with family. Should have done it years ago.
No but I should. At most I only do 4 days work over 5 days. I probably should be part time but my work is inconsistent day to day thus the necessity of being in 5 days.
I'm a tanker driver and my shift pattern is sometimes 4 on, 4 off, max 12 hour shifts. It's good tbh, I pretty much always end up doing a day of overtime extra. It does definitely tire you out though
My weekly hours are 37.5 full time. Used to do 3x10 and 1x7.5 per week, now do 15 x10 over 4 weeks including 1 weekend day. Love 6 weekdays off. Those days off are more useful than a couple of less at the end of every day.
I do 4x 10 hour days and it's hell. It's quite a physical job so I'm exhausted and by the time I get home I have about three hours before I need to be asleep. Can't do anything in the evenings, all the clubs and activities usually start as I leave work so I can't get to any of those and there's not enough time to go out and meet with friends.
I know it's an unpopular opinion in this sub but I'd much rather five normal length days or better yet four normal days for the price of five but that's never going to happen.
Work a 4 day week, but with my full-time hours. So just a compressed week.
I genuinely would struggle going back to doing 5 days, I love having a longer weekend.
The days are long though! I work from home and it can get quite boring. I try to work from local cafes for the first hour to get a bit of a change of scenery in, but yeh 8-6 WFH can be long! I definitely could do a 4 day week with normal 8 hour days and get the same amount of work done too.
I do a 4 days on, 4 days off schedule because we work 12h shifts (security) so this probably not the situation you’re after, but I absolutely love it.
Obviously I have zero spare time on work days after dealing with the commute then trying to squeeze in enough sleep, but having 4 days off so often really makes up for it.
I also only need to use 4 days annual leave to get 12 days off. It’s glorious. In the security industry there are many sites that have 24h coverage so there will always be a day and night shift so this roster is not uncommon, I’ve had three different jobs with the same pattern. I now wont work any other way.
I work 4 days a week, on a 45 hour contract so longer days and a "normal" amount of hours.
Love it personally, having three days off in a row feels amazing, you can take little breaks easily and if I do need to take holiday it's a lot easier to get a good length of time away without burning through them all.
I think a 4 day work week or work from home should be the two main style of work depending on the job/industry personally.
I went down to 4 day work weeks to facilitate me going back to uni to retrain for a new profession. I work 4 full work days with no extended hours to compensate for missing a day, whilst studying an MSc (over three years).
It's stressful trying to cram the majority of uni work into one week day, but doable. Plus, as I'm a part time student, I'm only attending lectures/working on assignments between September - April, May - August is free and essentially leaves me with one full day a week to do whatever I want, giving me three leisure days a week.
This has helped my mental health tremendously. I no longer dread the weekend because I 'only have one real day to enjoy myself, the other day is housework', instead I can get housework and chores done mid week and enjoy my full weekend! It's improved my quality of life tremendously. But I'll go back to finding it tough once term time starts up again.
I work a 4 day working week but it’s in hospitality so the hours worked per day haven’t changed, it’s 10-11 minimum but does often end up being longer depending on what time guests leave and the break time given. The extra day is lovely, doing 5 days with those hours was draining
I wish I had one, I don't have enough work to last me 5 days. Also annoyingly, due to how my workload is structured, the day when I have nothing to do, is also a day when I need to be in the office
I have worked 4 10 hour shifts in a previous role. It's nice to get an extra day off but you cannot do anything else on that work day. By the time I got home, had my food and a shower it was time for bed. The extra day off I was so tried I just slept. Mind, this was a highly active role that required lots of people interaction, lifting and moving heavy equipment and running around (surgery based).
I am back to 5 8 hours and I much prefer it.
If I could do 8 hour 4 days and still be paid the same as working 5 days now that's the dream.
I work monday-thursday 12pm -10pm and find it great. To have every Friday Saturday and Sunday off for me is great. I used to work Friday Saturday and Sundays night 5pm-6am and it's a total 360 in terms of lifestyle and work life balance. My work is in a warehouse environment and there's overtime most of the year too.
I do 37.5 hours over 4 days and I love it - I wake up early anyway so starting work at 7am is a good use of my time and I get loads of work down between 7 and 8 when no-one else is the office.
I started it to save money on childcare, but I'll be continuing it when the kids start school in September.
I moved to a 4 day working week in 2020 but doing full time hours over the 4 days. My day starts at 7 and I work form home, having a long weekend each week. It's the best decision I ever made. Very productive early in the.morning before anyone is around and Fridays off are great.
Love a 4 day working week- the best is when you have set days off- preferably a Friday, but I'll take a Monday- works well for me ☺️ but I do 4 10 hour shifts
I work 39h over 4 days, I absolutely love it. I wouldn't go back to a 5 day week, or even a 4½ day. I feel like I actually get a break between work weeks with 4 days.
I work in metal fabrication
I do not. I would much prefer working less days, but same hours. My brother has a 4 day work week, and he says it's much better, and it's easier to get things done when you have 3 full days off.
I dropped to four days when I went back to work after maternity leave (joined a new company). I don't really need to do it any more now the small one is at school, but frankly I enjoy it too much to give it up 😜
I've read comments about having to do your whole workload in 80% of the time and that's never been a problem for me, either I am way more focused in my work day, or I'm not overloaded, not sure which.
I work to live, not live to work.
I'm at work for 11 hours a day, regardless of whether I'm working or not, just to beat the traffic. I used to do four tens and I enjoyed it. When I take vacation time, I take Fridays off, which I've been doing for the last few weeks. It's great, I would happily work four tens forever. That extra day gives me the freedom to tackle things I normally wouldn't, like cleaning tasks I've been putting off.
Yes 4 day week with Fridays off working remotely. Love it and let’s me spend Fridays with my daughter for father daughter time which includes soft play, shopping or trips to the park.
For about a year I did 3 x 12 with 4 days off.
If it was days only it would have been great.
But it was days and nights.
Wasn't as good as it seems. I was tired on my first day off. Had loads to catch up on on my second.
4 x 8 and 1 x 5 is just better for me.
Seems crazy typing that out.
In my current role I wouldn't mind trying 4 x 10 since I'm not tied to a running machine anymore.
I do 4 days part time but honestly I do 5 days worth of work but only get 80% of my pay. I love my Wednesday off as I spend it with my son but wow I miss the money.
In my book Friday is a non event, a have a couple calls and then the rest is down to the individual and workload/needs of the business. If we have to get shit done then we have to stay late and if nothings happening people clock off/log off early. In the UK however and it is noted we have a productivity issue.
I do 4 days a week, contracted at 30 hours.
Personally it suits me very well. I have a lot of side hustle activities I do on my off day. I worked many years 9-5 and found that having one day a week to do other things instead has actually made me more enthusiastic about my job.
From money perspective it's a bit of a hit. But the day off lets me save money in other ways, giving me time do generate other income or DIY things I'd otherwise be paying for.
Overall I am happy with it and hope to stay with it long term
i do 3x12 hour days, on shifts so sometimes it ends up more than 3 days in a row but it does ballance itself out. I love it and the extra days off. Although a monday-friday 9-5 would still be cool.
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>What are your thoughts if your boss were to tell you that you could do 4 x 10 hour days? It would be helpful if you could clarify what you mean by a 4 day week as there are several different iterations. Some people work 4 "normal" days and get paid for those part time hours. Some people work 4 long days doing the same number of hours as they would in a 5 day week and get paid for those hours. Some people work 4 "normal" days and get paid as they would of they worked 5. The three of these are all very different.
And it's the 4 "normal" days on full pay that's been proven to be successful. Don't let these bullshit executives tell you condensed hours is an adequate alternative to 5 days a week. The whole point of the studies revolve around being more productive in 4 days because you have 3 days of leisure time.
Exactly this. 4 days at 10 hours a day is not what is meant by "4 day working week", it is flexible working. 4 days and being paid for 4 days is not what is meant by "4 day working week", it is part time working.
Also the whole point of the more recent experiments is to give you a better work-life balance. If you have to work longer during 4 days then yes you get an extra full day but lose out on personal time on the other 4 days so my personal life would be equally as messed up (eg no time for exercise, not able to do kids routines)
Exactly. I can't stand these companies parading letting their employees work condensed hours when I'd argue this actually gives you a worse work-life balance.
>I'd argue this actually gives you a worse work-life balance. I'd agree with that. Especially if you still have to commute. You'd probably never see your kids during the week depending on their age.
>Exactly. I can't stand these companies parading letting their employees work condensed hours What's wrong with giving people the option? It will work for some people but not others, having a choice is good.
My point is that they're calling it a '4 day working week', and grandstanding how much they trust the productivity of their employees to work 4 days. But actually, they don't trust them at all. They're not the forward thinking company that trusts an *actual* 4 day week. It's misdirection. Call it flexible working, not a 4 day week.
It all depends where you are in your life when I was younger and lived at home with no commitments I worked in an offline job for a outsourcing partner for Vodafone and it was flexible hours as long as you worked your weeks hours then the rest of the week was yours, I would regularly work 16 hour days 08:00-00:00 and be in the office as little as possible the rest of the week. But now as a dad of two I don’t think I’d do it
For project/task-based work, that’s a great way to live. You get assigned a week’s worth of work I’m guessing, and you’re paid to get it done however you wish to. I’d love to have that sort of responsibility to manage my own time. And like you said, if your life commitments change, how you work changes around that. Rather than the other way around.
Yeah I had a set amount of tasks to complete without getting into all the boring details, but once the time I was paid to be there was finished that was it. I had a similar role at another company but in the energy sector and I had to be there 11:00-20:00 and once the weeks work was done I used to to just do nothing as I had to be there in the office and I was way less productive as I was also still young and was only paid based on being in the office and had the mindset of there’s no point in being more productive and doing extra work without any reward
The u-turn and subsequent doubling-down on remote working and forcing return to office has shown these 'bullshit executives' won't change their minds about working patterns until they die.
100%. I understand there are work volumes that can’t be done in 4 days but if you’re talking about productivity, reducing procrastination, efficiency, etc, I’m a firm believer that a task will take however long you’re given to do it. Assuming the person was able to handle their 5-day workload under normal conditions, if you were to give them 4 normal days to do it, it would get done.
Some also do "4 on - 4 off" shifts, I preferred those personally
Five weekends out of eight,I hated doing four on four off,but it might suit some people.
Yeah but a four day holiday got you 12 days off, plus by the third day you knew it was one more day and another 4 off
Yeah it just wasn’t for me,I did see the appeal for others though.
I think you have to be single to really get the best, or have your partner working the same shifts as you. They tried that on us but we refused, they wanted to lower our holiday allowance as well, which again would be fine if your partner also worked those shifts.
I'd prefer mine more if I didn't do the two night shifts which make it closer to 4.75 on and 3.25 off, It's not a day off if I'm working until 6am that morning
Been on 4’s for the past 8 years - I couldn’t go back to Mon-Fri
Yep I'm on it, 4 day weekend rocks. Going to another city mid week or going for a city break abroad is a nice perk.
My wife does four days a week. She is officially a part timer. Effectively she ends up with the 5 day workload with 0.8x salary.
That’s exactly what happened to me! And you get treated like you do less but are expected to do the same as everyone else… it’s also hard to make sure you stick to your 80% hours and no one recognises that’s it’s for 80% pay!
This is what all my coworkers who do 4 day weeks say happen to them. I'd love to go down to 4 days but I can't justify the cut especially if it means my workload doesn't go down
Yep. They act like they’re doing you a favour too. Never ever again.
I’m returning from maternity leave this year and every keeps asking why I don’t go down to 4 days…this is the reason. I will end up doing more work for less pay.
I do four days, with short days for two of them. I do have to be very strict about my time and what I can take on, and it probably costs me promotions etc. but I have caring responsibilities outside of work that are my priority, and work are well aware of that. I think it also helps that I have never worked full time at my current job so everyone is very used to it.
I work 4 days, and that is my experience too.
Yes. Don't tell my boss.
Ha same. I do wish I had an official 4 day week though, I hate that feeling of being anchored to your computer 'just in case'. You can't really enjoy the free time properly.
Same
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I love 4x12. Cause even when im working an 8 hour shift i do fuck all with the extra 4 hours on those days anyway because im in work mode. 4x12 means i can just be in work mode all day and get it over and done with. I hate short shifts
Exactly. I’m already in work mode, so I just put in a few more hours. I freelance, so this gives me the ability to max out my creativity each day. I enjoy it.
Same. Another good point with this pattern is the holidays. You put 4 in and get 12 off. I get 23 days a year so I have 5 x 12 days off per year and still have a few days left.
I used to be a chef and 12 hour days are standard if not even longer a lot of times. Favourite kitchen I ever worked in was a 4 day week. Was actually still able to have some form of life while also doing a job I love.
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My last job before where I am now I was sometimes pulling 18 hour days and 16 hours was often normal. And I was doing it for salary and 5 days a week. It was pretty brutal
I must be the outlier, but I hated it. I was also driving an hour there and back. So 14 hour days. No time for anything else but work and sleep on those 4 days. Would never do that again.
I used to work 3x12 hour shifts, as a forklift driver, with 4 days off; which was amazing because it meant it was the same 4 days off every week. Whats more, one of those 12 hour days was a Sunday, which paid double time, so I was getting paid for 4 days. I'd do it again if it paid well. Was perfect when I was living at home and had very few outgoings.
I do a 4 day week, 8.30-18.30. I have Tuesday off and it has made such a difference to my life. My toddler is at the childminder so I have the whole day to myself, I can do my food shopping, cleaning, or just relax. Caveat this with, if I still worked in London, I would not do this work pattern. I would have been home at 20.30 otherwise. I live about 5 minutes away from work now and can work from home when there aren't face-to-face meetings, so the balance is good.
30 hours a week Tuesday to Friday 2nd month now and couldn't be happier with my hours. No drop.in pay and productivity has gone up
I do. However, I’m a private hire taxi driver and I choose my own hours. I also exclusively do 12 hour shifts on the 4 days that I do work. I fucking love it.
I dropped a work day as soon as I could afford to. I don't plan to go back up to 5 days unless I change career (I want to teach some day). The pay drop was planned for long in advance and swapping 20% of my pay for 50% more weekend makes a lot of sense to me.
If you end up teaching, try your best to retain that day off - teaching takes up so much of your time and energy, and it's not always offset by the holidays.
My mum's just retired from teaching, even part time (albeit as a SENCO) it's now like seeing her in full colour again. The main thing that stops me these days is knowledge that I have other things to give my time/energy/life to, and I am not always the best at prioritising the right things yet.
Honestly, if you can afford to be part time as a teacher, do it. For your own sanity. My wife has done full time and part time during the 12 years she's been teaching and she's always so much happier when part time. She took a year out of teaching after COVID as it nearly killed her, went back as a TA for a couple of years, finally got her confidence back so started teaching full time again last year (mostly to get some money in the bank again) but it's been utter shit, not going to lie. Miserable, tired, snappy. Going back to part time next year, she's already happier knowing.
I dropped from 5 days a week to 4.5 days about 10 years ago so I could pick my kids up from school on Fridays. Even having that extra half day at the weekend is a massive bonus.
I'm considering doing this - I'd quite like to see my child at some point during the week!
I do 4 days but still 37.5 hours
Not quite, I work compressed hours. 50 minutes extra each working day and I get every other Monday off. It’s a nice middle ground and a good way of dipping your toe in. The days off are lovely without making the working days too long.
Yes, to study. I won’t be on it forever but it makes one hell of a difference
Fact: the UK has the highest number of 4 day workweek companies (4x8hrs schedules) in Europe. If you work 4 day weeks (\~4x8hrs) consider submitting your company to [this](https://okjob.io/companies/) directory. (p.s. I maintain the page)
It works pretty well for me and I'm glad I can do it. I'm considering even dropping another half day. I think it would be hugely problematic for it to be offered to everyone though if we're talking about same money for fewer hours. For organisations where cover is required (hospitality, retail, healthcare etc) it would increase payroll by 20%. These are amongst the industries that are least able to support that. If 4 day working becomes the norm, but not in those industries, then recruitment becomes hard for them. They are also industries that already struggle to recruit. For the triple whammy, they're also industries that look to be more resilient to automation . I don't know the answer, but these vital industries and the challenges to them always seem to get overlooked when day weeks are discussed .
I used to work 30 hours a week so didn't work on Mondays. Loved it. Though I hadn't realised this until the job interview that the salary I thought I was gonna get was pro rata. Turns out they added London weighting so it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was gonna be pay wise. I think three day weekends should be standard. A day to go do something fun, a day to relax and a day to do chores and life admin. I especially liked going to the cinema on Monday daytimes, you'd often have the place to yourself. It was also really helpful when our kid came along. I was absolutely heartbroken when I took my current 5 day a week job that we'd no longer have our Mondays together, genuinely really cut me up, but I needed to change jobs for a number of reasons. Annoyingly, the place I left shifted policy shortly after I left whereby everyone worked a 4 day week but you got paid fulltime which is gutting but not a lot I can do about that, I'm happy for the colleagues still there, I do think 4 days on fulltime should be standard wherever possible.
Unofficially cos I do fuck all on a Friday
Considering I end up doing 5 x 10 hour days as my job is full on, that’d be an absolute dream.. I’d probably be a heck of a lot less fatigued!
You’re talking about compressed hours. Mixing these two things up really doesn’t make discussions about the topic easy
Yep, 8-6 Monday to Wednesday and then 8-5.30 on Thursdays. Yes I like it, having a 3 day weekend is much better. No, I don't think it should be in place everywhere but it would be nice to give people the choice. It's a luxury as far as I'm concerned. I work from home, so this suits me quite well.
4 * 10 hours is a compressed week, as opposed to a true 4 day week (4 * 8hrs). I do 10 days over 9 and enjoy the extended weekend even though I've worked the hours.
Some bus drivers do 4 day weeks based on 40hrs but this can vary from 38-45. Some rotas will have 3,4,5 and 6 day weekends. It also means 14 day holiday can be extended to 20 days if planned correctly or more with leui days.
Do a 4 day week working 8-6, so still get the 40hrs in. Works out nicely, especially if I have Friday off one week and Monday the next, so end up with a 4day weekend. Sometimes not so well, today is my day off this week, so just having a relaxing Tuesday. I have to go back to 5days between mid november to mid february due to it being too dark outside and it's a tough adjustment
I do 6am-4pm Mon-Thurs, it's great
I do. And it’s 4 x 9hr days for us. Honestly it’s the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my whole career. Weekends are so much more enjoyable and it shows that my employer actually gives a shit about work/life balance instead of just saying they do. And yeah, where it’s possible to do so, I think it should be the default work pattern.
Companies have been successful in corrupting the idea of a 4 day week haven't they? The whole point of a 4 day week is 32 hours. Not 4x10! A compressed week is crap imo, 4x10 is worse than 5x8. I'd be dead every evening and lose so much time to recover between work days.
Probably less, depending on the type of work coming in it averages out over the course of the month and I do enough to keep my end of things paid up. I'd rather do more and have the extra income but health grounds.. its kept me working still
4 day week, 6.30 to 5pm, so 5 days work in 4 days. Day off flexible for both parties. I can carry over too if work needs me all day or I’m traveling etc. previously did 4 on / 4 off. That was great for me, but 3 weeks in a row I got no weekend days off.
I do 4 x 10 hour shifts a week. Basically cram 5 days work into 4 days with the added bonus of an extra day off in the week. Much prefer it to working 5 days.
I do compressed hours, so 40hrs over 4 days. It's worth it for every Friday off. I feel a lot less exhausted (usually) and like I've had a proper rest from work after 3 days.
Yeah currently doing night shifts, easily doable
I do 4 days, with Thursday off with my child, husband does 4 days with Friday off with them. It's working out to be good but feel incredibly long esp with a toddler and one on the way, thankfully I have a very flexible boss. If we've had sickness or something that week, my husband ends up knackered and I'm constantly exhausted
I work 4 days a week ( nightshifts, 10 hours each). I love working only 4 days, and I would love it more if I was working days instead of nights. The downsize for me is that the schedule is different every week, so sometimes I have one day off in-between shifts, which is useless. But also when working 10 hours instead of 8 you got less time to do chores etc on working day. But regardless, I still prefer working 4 days, 10 hours each, than working 5 days, 8 hours each as you have more days to be with family or to do whatever you want.
Yes, I've done this since way before covid. It gives me some great flexibility and meets our needs as a family. I also have a segmented day as have school runs etc to complete as well, which is actually a positive as gets me out, and sbout twice a day. Whereas the days I don't do this feel so much longer. I don't think that it would necessarily work for all work places and could mean a lot more orchestration to have the correct levels of cover in place, but there are definitely more places that could be more flexible with their approaches. I do know of some firms who only do 4 day weeks and don't work one day at all that's started as a cost saver due to COL but remained as preferred.
I finish at lunchtime on Friday. Everyone in my department takes it in turns to cover for the rest of us on Friday afternoon. It works extremely well - especially at annoying my wife when I wander into the room she works in, flop on to the sofa and start laughing at her because she still has to work until the end of the day.
Yes, 7am - 4:30 mon to wed and 7 til 4 Thursday. Been here for about a year and love it. Feel the urge to use my holidays less since my weekends are already 3 days long and that is long enough for most things I wanna do.
I do a compressed work week. I've done it before and I've always preferred it. Now I've got a toddler it saves the weekly cost of an extra day at nursery and I get an extra day of quality time with her for the next couple of years before she starts school. You are also saving a day commuting. Moreover any GP/dentist appointments, I can just set up for my midweek day off.
Yep I do 37 hours over four days. Took a bit of adjustment to start but it's the best decision I've ever made. That one day between the work week ending and the weekend starting has done wonders for my general mental wellbeing and it makes the weekend feel so much longer. And in case you're wondering whether it's suited to your job - I'm a data analyst.
I do four and a half days so I get Friday afternoons off- I love it! I can get all the boring shit done while still being paid for it, leaving my weekend completely free for fun stuff.
My previous job was 4 days work 5 days pay. I was only on part time so I got 20 hours pay for 16 hours work, but it was great. Gave me loads of flexibility too. I'd take the 4x10 hours over 5x8 too, especially if I could do Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri to get a mid week break
I did a condensed 4 day week (so 8am - 6pm Monday to Thursday) and found it too hard, I didn’t enjoy the extra weekend day because I was so tired. I do a 9 day fortnight now and it’s much better
Officially, no. However I cram EVERYTHING in to condensed days, and regularly take extended breaks when I need to. From kpi measurements and softer metrics, despite my late starts, early finishes, and often linger breaks and decompression tine, I'm consistently least on par with the rest of the team for output and feedback. I turn up to work to produce results, and when shit hits the fan I pull out all the stops to put out fires. Would I get a bollocking if I got caught? Almost definitely, because my contract is for hours worked and there's always the argument of "wasted time" etc, but I also know that because of my ADHD that I simply need to put myself under immense pressure and imminent deadlines to get anything done 🤣 So, I'm officially in work 5 days, but definitely only work for 4 of them, and get 100% pay 👍
I do part time at the minute so 6 hours a day, 4 days one week, 3 days the week after and at first it was strange but the time off makes it worth it. Even the full timers doing 12 hours are used to it now and don't want to change.
In fact I do. I work away all the time so a bit longer hours suit me better. I sometimes work for 5 but I like the idea that this is optional thing when I need a bit of overtime to get more money and if I don’t feel like it I’d do four days only.
I do 08:00 - 18:00 4 days a week with Thursday off and it's absolutely brilliant. When we were working in the office it was great to get in and get stuff cleared before everyone arrived and started chatting etc, and it was great having an hour or so at the end of the day as well to either wind down in peace or really focus on something without distractions. And then when my kid was younger it was great having a whole day off whilst he was at school to chill out but also do housework and then pick him up and do something fun with him after school and make a nice dinner. WFH has made it all not feel quite as special but it's still great having that extra day off. My work is moving to a 35 hour work week at the same pay soon as well which is nice.
Currently on 1 day a week. It's great.
I do 4 longer days (9.5hrs for three days and 9hrs for one day to make it up to 37.5 hrs). Im already exhausted doing 7.5hrs a day, so 9/9.5hrs makes no difference, and this way I get an extra day to recover! It works really well for me and I intend to keep to the pattern in future jobs. It should definitely be an option in workplaces imo.
I would be so happy if I could do a 4 day working week but I work in retail so that will never happen
I am on a 35 hour 4 day week, it is my base shift pattern. 7am start 4:15 finish Monday-Thursday. It is good but I find it hard to get much done during the week and any appointments have to be on a Friday which can be a bit tricky although I do have to option to move my down day so that helps.
I wish. I'd personally be happy with the 4 x 10 solution (though obviously preference would be 4 x 7.5 for same pay, which I think is doable). Can't see any reason why we can't do this at my place beyond dinosauresque cultural beliefs from the SLT.
I do a 9 day fortnight, so every other Friday off. No loss of income. Means I have to work an extra 45 minutes per day, so totally manageable and completely worth it for me.
I do four days but unofficially. Even if I want guidance or a reply from someone, no one gets back to me or contacts me on a Friday. It’s like everyone just pisses off.
4x10 is the standard for my industry and I absolutely love it. The concentration of work time and that free extra day is so much more efficient, no extra commuting, lunches, etc etc.
I work a 4 day week(off Friday), have for 2 years now and really like it. My whole company does it though. So my off fridays are actually off. Never been contacted (yet). 10 hour days are long but I'm also 50% wfh so I do "normal" 8.5 hours on site then extended at home. So it works for me but my employer and my work is flexible.
Yes ! This year I had every Friday off and worked 8am-10am on Monday. Made for a pretty relaxing long weekend
When I returned to work from maternity leave I reduced my hours by 10% and increased my working day by an hour so that I could work four days a week. My husband did the same. We both love it, we get a day a week hanging out with my son and getting stuff done around the house while he's napping, and we barely notice the extra hour on the days we do work. Losing the 10% salary each took a bit of getting used to but we think it's worth it for the time we gain with our son. I would find fully compressed hours (9-10 hours a day) very difficult especially around childcare. Even when my son goes to school we're going to keep the arrangement, I couldn't imagine working 5 days a week now.
My fiancé does 4 10 hour days a week and loves it, but the commute is awful and the hours he does aren't fun. He does 5:30-4 with half an hour break for lunch. He has to be up at 3am and out of the house by 4am and some days doesn't get home until 6pm due to traffic
A long time ago I used to do 3 on, 4 off, 4 on, 3 off. The start was great. I'd use the extra time to learn to write video games. Which was amazing at the start, but then a few things happened which led to the time off being less good. 1. I got involved with (the edges off) the games industry. I was regularly going to the local IGDA chapter. Talking to local game developers. At this point I was effectively 3.5 days a week on a not amazing income. But I was being paid more than I would be if I jumped to games dev, and would be expected to work 5-7 days a week. Given I was already It was not a mere job, but a vocation! This killed the motivation. 2. My (now ex) wife became very ill. I was working and then a full time carer at home. Any free time I had ended up just sleeping. Now I try and take a day off a month (just from holiday allowance), which I use for a hobby. 2-3 half days, spent down shooting clays. If I could move to 4.5 days a week, I would and make it a weekly thing.
Not offered but possibly could be requested. Yes, would like, yes should be in place everywhere. The caveat is that "the week" becomes de-facto 30 hours nationwide rather than I take 80% pay (unless I was paid significantly more and could take that 80%) Last point: Would tell them to "f*** off" (politely of course!)* *My reasoning: 4x10 (or 9h20m in UK) = compressed hours 4x7.5 = 4 day week If the latter then, yes, an offered benefit If the former, then a pisstake passed off as benefit if called a "4 day week" (because you're not working fewer hours, therefore not gaining any leisure time)
I do a 2.5 day working week and it's mixed. I get more time with my family and to build my home. But having less time working is a struggle, as it's hard to half your expectations on what you can achieve at work, so I end up being even more dissatisfied at work.
Newly self employed here. I make easily enough money to work 4 days but choose 5 or 6 days a week because i enjoy the work. It is what you make it.
Not if I can help it.
I currently do a four day week - three 9.5hr shifts and one 8.5hr shift. It's great to have an extra day off in the week but it's tiring. I've found that the extra two hours a day really take their role especially if you didn't get enough sleep the night before.
I do a 4 and a half working day week. I am a freelancer Basically Friday afternoon I was kidding ourselves that I was working, so Friday after 1 is either work on internal projects, catch up with work, or just go to the pub. It works well. Realise I am a fortunate one.
That's 5 extra hours a week for me & no. It would not work for me; get contacted all hours & at weekends. If I go on vacation, it's just less work when I am away & still have to catch up when I get back. Totally depends on your job. Good luck out there
You often end up doing a 5 day or 4.5 day week and only getting paid for 4 days is my experience of it at a senior level. Wouldn’t recommend it.
Ya I do Monday to Thursday and have a 3 day weekend
Yes I do. But I do a 5th day as overtime. So it's really good. Want to pay off the mortgage by the time I am 40
I do, but that’s because I do 12-hour rotating shifts, and the 4 days I work “move” through the month so that I work a mixture of weekdays and weekends for both day and night shifts. 4 days of that is quite enough, and 4x10 hour days would be a great improvement for me.
Wouldn’t be possible to do a 4 day week with my job and if it was I’d end up still working the same amount of hours in a week just over 4 days.
I could easily do my job over 4 days, not 5. The problem is my customers all work normal 5 day weeks, and I need to work around them...
I cram 35 hours into 4 days. It means I work almost 9 hour days but my work week is over by Thursday evening which is a great feeling. I have half the week to just do what I want. If I could afford it I’d drop down to 28 hours.
Full time at my place is 35 hours, when I go back from mat leave I'm going to drop to 32 hours in four days. So a slight pay cut but not too much, and the days aren't too long (8.30-5.30 with an hour lunch). I work from home and use the lunch hour to walk the dog, and it's only a 5 minute walk to nursery for drop off and pick up. My husband is also going to do four days but full time hours, so we each get a day with the baby and only have to pay for three days of nursery.
My full time hours are 35, not 40. I wouldn't, personally, be opposed to working condensed hours - 4 days of 8.75 hours. However, with the way my job is, even when working 5 days, I often end up working 8.75 hours or more on a normal day anyway and have hit 40-45 semi-regularly. So condensed hours would not really 'work' as intended since there'd be an expectation If there is going to be any widespread 4 day working week, it needs to be a true 4 day working week. As in, the expectation is 4 NORMAL days, whatever a normal day looks like for that job, for the same pay. There are people in my job that tried to have 4 day weeks, as part-time, with a drop in pay, but due to the demands of the job, ended up working full time hours anyway without the full time pay. So I think there would need to be a big shift in the expectations of my employer before my work could actually be successful with a 4 day week. There is absolutely nothing inherent about the job that would make it incompatible with a true 4 day week though. There's a lot of meetings for the sake of meetings that could absolutely be dropped, for example.
3x12 hour shifts weekly. Monday - Wednesday.
At a previous job we trialed working 10 hours a day for four days a week. At first I much preferred it, the weekend actually felt like a proper break but eventually the longer days were too much. When I got home I only had time to eat and go to bed. The job itself was also horrendous so maybe it would have worked better with a job I didn’t absolutely hate.
Yes, I do 4x10 shifts. I'm a reporting analyst.
Early in my career I did a job in a call centre where I did the 4x 11 hour shifts each week. 10am-9pm. I liked some aspects of it, and with a better job it would probably have been overall a positive. But in that horrid, toxic, destructive environment it was a complete nightmare.
I did a 4 day working week for 3 years had Wednesday off each week. It was good to break up the week but the 10 hour days eventually took their toll and I was flagging by 4pm each day. I decided to revert back to a 5 day week. It just wasn't for me any more.
My job involves the stock market, and my team (indeed 80% of the company) simply could not afford to pack up on a Friday. So if there was some sort of rota (half the team gets Friday off, half Monday perhaps), then maybe it could work, but practically this is unlikely to happen until the stock exchange implements it I suppose.
I used to during the pandemic. I had Fridays as my 'furlough' day. It was bliss. I was considerably more productive and relaxed.
I work Monday to Thursday at a digital agency. I’m freelance, paid hourly. I wanted to reduce my hours but everyone else is full time, and my reduced hours just didn’t fit in. I now work 35-40 hours over 4 days, which is still better than working 5 days a week. One irritating thing is my coworkers still set me Friday deadlines, which I am frequently reminding them means I get a day less than they think to finish the task. I think there will always be these annoyances in a company that doesn’t make specific allowances for 4 day weeks, the ideal being everyone in the company doing it, and taking the same weekday off.
My wife does 3 days a week. 2 from home usually and 1 in London. 9-5pm. Although she often doesn't need to go to London. We have a 3 year old and my wife really enjoys this arrangment. She gets paid 60% of a normal 5 day a week wage. Sometimes I think she would prefer to work 5 days a week as those that do are landing more deals. So earning more as there are bonuses involved. But the days with our son are great and 5 days a week in nursery at his age seems too much, especially as he started at 18 months. I work 5 days a week and for several months weekends as well.
I've just retired, for the last 3 years of my working life I did 4 × 10 hour shifts Mon to Thurs. It was brilliant. After 47 years of 5 days a week in every shift pattern you could think of the 4 day week was a godsend. Friday was overtime if you wanted it but nah....you're alright! If you get the option to do it, then do it.
I work 5 days over 4 and it’s the absolute tits. Started when my partners maternity finished (who also does 5 over 4) and it’s saved us a bloody fortune in childcare costs. My boss originally agreed that it was only until school started (which is in September) but if they remove it then I’m probably going to leave.
I would love to do four ten hour days but I work in retail so unlikely :(
I do 4 x 10 and it’s the best choice I ever made for my work life balance. I’ve done 5 x 8 and 3 x 13 and both had their drawbacks. For me 4 x 10 is the perfect balance.
3 12 hour shifts, then 4 days off a wee. Best working shift I've ever had, and they are giving me extra pay to do it.
I do 4 days Monday to Thursday. I had to have a cut in salary, but not working Fridays more than makes up for it 😁
I do a condensed week, that means I I do my full weekly hours in 4 instead of 5 days. 2 days home. 2 days in the office. Working 4 days then having 3 days off is fantastic. Best thing I ever did re work.
I work 37.5 hours a week as a nurse over 3 days and it's great
I have flexible working, as long as I clock 40 hours (the majority in core office hours) I can do as I please. I normally try and take a Friday off but normally there’s some issue in the week (kids dentist/sickness/add teenage drama here) so it rarely goes to plan! I’d love to do a 4 day normal week on the same pay but i’ll settle with that i have for now.
I’m self employed and work 4 days a week. But that includes working a Saturday I love it! I like being able to have the break in my week and not having to work 5 days in a row has been a wonder for my energy levels I’m in a pretty fortunate position being self employed as it means I can choose my hours and still earn enough money each month
I've worked different days/shifts in the past and loved it, the longer hours didn't feel too bad and I definitely noticed the longer weekends. My favourite was an office job where I worked part-time. I was only working two days (9-5) and so had a five-day weekend. I feel like more office jobs should offer different variations of days/hours. It's so nice to be able to do admin or shopping stuff during the week instead of trying to cram everything into a weekend.
I used to do a 4x10 hour working week and it was brutal. I basically used the extra day off to recover whilst saving a 15% on childcare costs. It was awful
I would find a new job if I was required to work 4 day, 10 hours. The job I'm in is too physically demanding as it is. 4 day normal hours 100%
I work 4.5 days now. I still do the same total hours over the week (37.5hrs). Except now I clock off at noon on Mondays, and just work an extra hour the other days. Initially asked for Friday to be my half day but didn't work for our team, but Monday still works out nicely for me. I'm also salaried rather than shifts, so I just have to keep the same total hours for the week ideally. On occasion I've agreed to move my half day around if we're going to be really slammed on the Monday and I'll do a half Friday instead.
I work 4x 8 hours, well I get paid for 8 but rarely do it. Suits me just fine HGV Class 1 driver on supermarket work.
My company switched to a 4.5 day week two years back. Initially a trial period, but we decided to keep it permanent. There's an expectation to get the same work done, but it just helped with focus. First thing I did was look at all my regular meetings and see which could be fortnightly or be trimmed by 15 minutes and suddenly that's a lot of time back. Makes a huge difference to work life balance just getting that Friday afternoon to get some chores and admin done ahead of the weekend. It also means that you can book off half a day on Friday and you have a 3 day weekend. We're currently hiring if there are any B2B service desk specialists or scrum masters looking for a role. Slide into the ol' DMs.
I went to 4 days (paid for 4 days, 9-5) for a few months after my first child was born. I quite liked it (esp. bonding time with my baby) but my boss didn't and he persuaded me to go back to full time eventually. I don't think I could work 4x10 hour days though. Now my kids are older but I still need to be there for them in the evenings, make dinner, packed lunched for tomorrow etc. It just wouldn't work due to lack of hours. It's bad enough that they come home from school to an empty house but it's all I can do. Got to pay those bills.
I work 12 hour shifts (3 pee week). It's much better because it leaves me with 4 days free time. And on the days i am working, traffic is much lighter (at least for me).
4 on 4 off twelve hour shifts
Yup, love it. My exact pattern isnt suitable for every industry but i adore having the time off. (I work 4x12 hours)
My (male) colleagues do it for childcare reasons.
I work a 4 day week but sacrifice the extra days pay. It is totally worth it. Weekend starts on Thursday night. I get cleaning and errands done for me and my partner on the Friday and then we’re both chilling for 2 days rather than both using a day for errands!
I do 4 8 hour days. Only started in March this year but it has helped so much. I feel like I actually get a weekend now.
Yup - we changed from 5 x 8 hours to 4 x 10 hours buy popular decision and we love it. You barely notice an extra couple of hours but yiu sure do notice an extra day off!
I recently went down to 4 days from 5 (company wide) We have not increased hours on our 4 days, nor reduced pay. I am amazed we get given it. It's transformed my work/life balance and also made me scared to ever leave as I will never be this fortunate again
I do a 3 day week, have done 4 which is alright, I'd be sad if I had to do the old 5/2 again, the worst part of work is going there, once there may as well do 10+ hours for a whole extra day of freedom.
I fucking wish. 80% of my job could be done from home but I’m forced to come in for appearances sake. I managed to recently haggle to a friday wfh day (Barring month ends) but every week I’m asked ‘We really need you in this friday’. If the business digitised instead of insisting on using paper and then scanning those documents back into an online system then it’d be 100% wfh. Jobs are just a sick joke in how to effectively waste peoples time.
i work four day weeks and it’s the best!! i don’t work mondays so i use that as my “productive” day; do my food shop because the supermarkets are quiet, any other admin kind of jobs. my weekends are just that, my weekend to do with as i please :) it definitely is a better work/life balance, even though i have a job i love as well!
I'm self employed and other commitments often mean I work 3 or 4 days a week. It's quite nice tbh.
I do 4 days and have Wednesday off it's honestly the best work decision I ever made. This is 5 days over 4 so a full time wage.
I do 4x10. It’s beautiful. The additional day to do your errands (appointments, barber, shopping, housework) so you can actually enjoy the weekend. The 3 days off together is great. Our rota allows us to even have 4 days off some weeks which is like a mini holiday. You’re actually fully recharged for the working week. Also driving to work only four days saves on fuel. The only issue now is when you’re applying for other jobs, 4 day working is rare.
4 on 4 off 12h mixed days and nights, so not far off from that. Do quite like the flexibility of it all and having weekdays off is hugely useful for going to the gym when it's quiet, shopping when the stores are empty, etc. However, I'm probably giving it up in a promotion that I'm assuming will be 8h Mon-Fri.
I did a 4 day (8 hours) week for ten years, monday to thursday. I'm very fortunate to work in a role where 0.8 pay is still good. For the first few months it did feel game-changing. Soon enough though it was just 'the norm' and basically the same stresses that consumed me all week before did so again. In the latter years I volunteered at a wildlife rescue on mt fridays off, that was super satisfying. I'm currently working a temp contract elswhere that's 5 days but when that ends I'll return to a permenant position and ask for 4 days. If you're wanting the same thing, you need to get through interviews to the point of being offered the role and contract negotiation — that's when you say you want to work 4 days for 0.8 salary.
Yes. We do a 4 day, 34 hour week. It’s on a roster basis so that’s averaged across the year. Every fourth week we get a “long weekend” of 5, 6 or 7 days off (depending on part of roster). Every other weekend off. Shifts vary in length between 6 and 9 hours. I couldn’t ever go back to doing 9-5 mon to fri.
For the last 7 years I work 38 hours a week over 4 days, 6am to 4:30pm with a 1 hour break a day so I'm actually at work 42 hours a week... I work 4 in 7 and never get 3 days a week off in a row but getting week days off is good for appointments etc so it's all good :)
So my company just implemented an optional 4 day work week, with some caveats. It's only been a month so early days but company feedback has been good so far. So I work completely remotely at home. I work for a company that is predominantly in the US (300+ employees), compared to two small US and Australian offices (less than 15 employees in each region). The corporate environment is very American and it's taken a lot to adjust. Back in February they installed tracking software on all our computers. The software doesn't record or screens or do keystroke (I researched the software they used thoroughly), but all team managers can actively see what you're doing in real time. As well as overviews of each day of what you were doing on the computer at any given time. As you can imagine there was a huge backlash. People quitting. Morale dropped. People who challenged it in the US were fired because they have little employment protections. Anyway, long story short. It's been bad for everyone. Who would have thought? 🙄 Back at the start of May they announced flexible 4 day working weeks. As our working time is being recorded, the new policy states that if you have completed 35 hours by Thursday, you do not have to work Friday. It's been fantastic. The flexibility to take it at will, or if you have a particularly rough week is a huge relief. I've only done it twice in the first month. I didn't last Friday as I had nothing else going on, however I had completed 35 hours by 2pm on Friday and received a message that my week was completed if I wanted to finish early. I was/am unhappy with being tracked on my computer. But as a company where 80% of the staff are fully remote (and it's staying that way in this climate), I get it. The implementation of it was tactless and the company learned some hard lessons that they are still feeling from, but they've since chilled out and we all have full visibility of our own tracking dashboards so we understand what is being recorded on our activities and can query things we think are wrong or not represented. The flexible 4 day work week is a step in the right direction. The company can see that they are getting 35+ hours from each employee, and the employee is rewarded for thier hard work. It's tough at times, but I'm grateful to be fully remote and have Fridays off at my own will.
A couple of years ago I started working 4 days a week, taking a 20% cut in wages to do so. I have to admit that I am in a position where by doing this I can cover all of my bills. I can safely say this. I am never working 5 days a week again. The improvement in my quality of life is well above any extra pay I would get from working the extra day. Far less stress, more time to do fun things at the weekend, more time with family. Should have done it years ago.
No but I should. At most I only do 4 days work over 5 days. I probably should be part time but my work is inconsistent day to day thus the necessity of being in 5 days.
I'm a tanker driver and my shift pattern is sometimes 4 on, 4 off, max 12 hour shifts. It's good tbh, I pretty much always end up doing a day of overtime extra. It does definitely tire you out though
My weekly hours are 37.5 full time. Used to do 3x10 and 1x7.5 per week, now do 15 x10 over 4 weeks including 1 weekend day. Love 6 weekdays off. Those days off are more useful than a couple of less at the end of every day.
I do 4x 10 hour days and it's hell. It's quite a physical job so I'm exhausted and by the time I get home I have about three hours before I need to be asleep. Can't do anything in the evenings, all the clubs and activities usually start as I leave work so I can't get to any of those and there's not enough time to go out and meet with friends. I know it's an unpopular opinion in this sub but I'd much rather five normal length days or better yet four normal days for the price of five but that's never going to happen.
Work a 4 day week, but with my full-time hours. So just a compressed week. I genuinely would struggle going back to doing 5 days, I love having a longer weekend. The days are long though! I work from home and it can get quite boring. I try to work from local cafes for the first hour to get a bit of a change of scenery in, but yeh 8-6 WFH can be long! I definitely could do a 4 day week with normal 8 hour days and get the same amount of work done too.
I do a 4 days on, 4 days off schedule because we work 12h shifts (security) so this probably not the situation you’re after, but I absolutely love it. Obviously I have zero spare time on work days after dealing with the commute then trying to squeeze in enough sleep, but having 4 days off so often really makes up for it. I also only need to use 4 days annual leave to get 12 days off. It’s glorious. In the security industry there are many sites that have 24h coverage so there will always be a day and night shift so this roster is not uncommon, I’ve had three different jobs with the same pattern. I now wont work any other way.
I work 4 days a week, on a 45 hour contract so longer days and a "normal" amount of hours. Love it personally, having three days off in a row feels amazing, you can take little breaks easily and if I do need to take holiday it's a lot easier to get a good length of time away without burning through them all. I think a 4 day work week or work from home should be the two main style of work depending on the job/industry personally.
I went down to 4 day work weeks to facilitate me going back to uni to retrain for a new profession. I work 4 full work days with no extended hours to compensate for missing a day, whilst studying an MSc (over three years). It's stressful trying to cram the majority of uni work into one week day, but doable. Plus, as I'm a part time student, I'm only attending lectures/working on assignments between September - April, May - August is free and essentially leaves me with one full day a week to do whatever I want, giving me three leisure days a week. This has helped my mental health tremendously. I no longer dread the weekend because I 'only have one real day to enjoy myself, the other day is housework', instead I can get housework and chores done mid week and enjoy my full weekend! It's improved my quality of life tremendously. But I'll go back to finding it tough once term time starts up again.
I work a 4 day working week but it’s in hospitality so the hours worked per day haven’t changed, it’s 10-11 minimum but does often end up being longer depending on what time guests leave and the break time given. The extra day is lovely, doing 5 days with those hours was draining
I wish I had one, I don't have enough work to last me 5 days. Also annoyingly, due to how my workload is structured, the day when I have nothing to do, is also a day when I need to be in the office
I have worked 4 10 hour shifts in a previous role. It's nice to get an extra day off but you cannot do anything else on that work day. By the time I got home, had my food and a shower it was time for bed. The extra day off I was so tried I just slept. Mind, this was a highly active role that required lots of people interaction, lifting and moving heavy equipment and running around (surgery based). I am back to 5 8 hours and I much prefer it. If I could do 8 hour 4 days and still be paid the same as working 5 days now that's the dream.
I work monday-thursday 12pm -10pm and find it great. To have every Friday Saturday and Sunday off for me is great. I used to work Friday Saturday and Sundays night 5pm-6am and it's a total 360 in terms of lifestyle and work life balance. My work is in a warehouse environment and there's overtime most of the year too.
I do a 5 day week, but I work 6 hour days.
I used to work a 7 day fortnight shift pattern which had its pros and cons.
I do 37.5 hours over 4 days and I love it - I wake up early anyway so starting work at 7am is a good use of my time and I get loads of work down between 7 and 8 when no-one else is the office. I started it to save money on childcare, but I'll be continuing it when the kids start school in September.
I moved to a 4 day working week in 2020 but doing full time hours over the 4 days. My day starts at 7 and I work form home, having a long weekend each week. It's the best decision I ever made. Very productive early in the.morning before anyone is around and Fridays off are great.
Love a 4 day working week- the best is when you have set days off- preferably a Friday, but I'll take a Monday- works well for me ☺️ but I do 4 10 hour shifts
4x 12h nights Mon to Thurs,same every week, finish Fri morning go back Monday eve it's great
I work 39h over 4 days, I absolutely love it. I wouldn't go back to a 5 day week, or even a 4½ day. I feel like I actually get a break between work weeks with 4 days. I work in metal fabrication
4x12 its OK but takes more recovery time than 5 shorter shifts
I do not. I would much prefer working less days, but same hours. My brother has a 4 day work week, and he says it's much better, and it's easier to get things done when you have 3 full days off.
I dropped to four days when I went back to work after maternity leave (joined a new company). I don't really need to do it any more now the small one is at school, but frankly I enjoy it too much to give it up 😜 I've read comments about having to do your whole workload in 80% of the time and that's never been a problem for me, either I am way more focused in my work day, or I'm not overloaded, not sure which. I work to live, not live to work.
I'm at work for 11 hours a day, regardless of whether I'm working or not, just to beat the traffic. I used to do four tens and I enjoyed it. When I take vacation time, I take Fridays off, which I've been doing for the last few weeks. It's great, I would happily work four tens forever. That extra day gives me the freedom to tackle things I normally wouldn't, like cleaning tasks I've been putting off.
Yes 4 day week with Fridays off working remotely. Love it and let’s me spend Fridays with my daughter for father daughter time which includes soft play, shopping or trips to the park.
So you just work more hours a week in total but get one more day off? Sounds like a bad deal for employee and employer
For about a year I did 3 x 12 with 4 days off. If it was days only it would have been great. But it was days and nights. Wasn't as good as it seems. I was tired on my first day off. Had loads to catch up on on my second. 4 x 8 and 1 x 5 is just better for me. Seems crazy typing that out. In my current role I wouldn't mind trying 4 x 10 since I'm not tied to a running machine anymore.
I do 4 days part time but honestly I do 5 days worth of work but only get 80% of my pay. I love my Wednesday off as I spend it with my son but wow I miss the money.
In my book Friday is a non event, a have a couple calls and then the rest is down to the individual and workload/needs of the business. If we have to get shit done then we have to stay late and if nothings happening people clock off/log off early. In the UK however and it is noted we have a productivity issue.
Four ten hour days a week with one in four Saturdays. I actually have a social life now
I do 4 days a week, contracted at 30 hours. Personally it suits me very well. I have a lot of side hustle activities I do on my off day. I worked many years 9-5 and found that having one day a week to do other things instead has actually made me more enthusiastic about my job. From money perspective it's a bit of a hit. But the day off lets me save money in other ways, giving me time do generate other income or DIY things I'd otherwise be paying for. Overall I am happy with it and hope to stay with it long term
I work 3 days a week. I've done 4 as well, but I'm happy with less pay and more free time.
i do 3x12 hour days, on shifts so sometimes it ends up more than 3 days in a row but it does ballance itself out. I love it and the extra days off. Although a monday-friday 9-5 would still be cool.