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Although I'm in Australia, I work for a UK-based edtech company (Wonde) that operates a four-day workweek -- having joined just over three months ago. I know th

Although I'm in Australia, I work for a UK-based edtech company (Wonde) that operates a four-day workweek -- having joined just over three months ago. I know that I can only contribute anecdata, but from my perspective I've not seen any reduction in output. Indeed, I've seen fewer meetings, and meetings defaulting to thirty minutes, rather than sixty. I've also seen more async communication -- not once have I received the dreaded lonely "Hello" in Slack. It's of course not all sunshine and lollipops. People aren't always available, so you have to work around or wait. On a personal level, I find I approach each day with more energy and enthusiasm, and I love that I get to spend more time with my family and can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school. There seems to be a direct correlation between my improved personal life and an improved professional life.

88 4y ago
> People aren't always available, so you have to work around or wait. I would have thought if everyone moved to four-day workweeks, they would all take the same day off, essentially extending the weekend.
- barryvan 4y ago
  Not where I am! Rather, it's a negotiation with your manager to see what works best. That way, we can ensure we have coverage across the week. We're all "on" for Mondays and Tuesdays, and then people take Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday off according to preference and suitability. Yes, more people take Friday than Thursday, but quite a lot of people enjoy the zen-like lack of distraction when they work Fridays. Or so I've been told!
  - lostlogin 4y ago
    The pro tip is to work Monday, and thereby catch nearly all the stat days. Some enlightened countries pro-rata stat days, but New Zealand doesn’t.
    - pm215 4y ago
      The employer can fix up the imbalance -- if there are N bank holidays in the year, give all 80% part time workers 0.8N extra days of holiday allowance above their usual amount (etc), and mandate that they cover the bank holidays with days from their allowance if they would normally work them. (My UK employer does this.)
      - cbzoiav 4y ago
        Or just don't have them off by default and add the days to all employees allowance, but always allow people to book them off if they want. That way if you have a family and are all off you can spend it together, but if you have nothing to do can use it when it better suits you.
        lostlogin 4y ago
        It’s time and a half and a day in lieu for working a stat where I am. If you work it much outside 8.30-5 penal rates rise, but that part is employer specific rather than legislated.
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    - 2143 4y ago
      > stat day If you don't know what a "stat day" is (I didn't), it apparently stands for "statutory holidays" which is like public holidays. During my brief time in the US, I observed that over there the public holidays tend to be something like "nth Friday/Monday of so-and-so month"; that way you get a long weekend. This is how it's done in some other countries as well. Unfortunately not in my country (where I'm lucky to have both Saturdays and Sundays off! (I should probably move...) ); if a public holiday falls on a Wednesday, you get the Wednesday off. But on the bright side, there's plenty of holidays here.
- lostlogin 4y ago
  It mentions a fish and chip shop and an education facility. I’d guess that the bulk of fish and chips are sold outside 9-5 Monday to Friday, and that there would be rioting in the streets if school days were reduced 20%.
  - dkdbejwi383 4y ago
    > there would be rioting in the streets if school days were reduced 20% Why not move schools to a four-day week, too? If it works for adults at work, I'm sure children would see similar benefits. We already know that typical school hours deprive children of much needed rest.
    - sbuk 4y ago
      I absolutely hate it when parents respond to questions like this, but… Do you have kids? I love mine completely and unconditionally, but a day off being an employee and a parent (well half the day at least) sounds like bliss!
      - stuaxo 4y ago
        It's also just easier to do some of the boring chores work without kids in the house.
    - lbriner 4y ago
      Because unless the kids were all off on the same day each week, which wouldn't work for their parents who have to fit in with their employers needs, then everyone would need even more babsitting cover than they already do. If the kids were not all off on the same day, then teachers would struggle to get consistent teaching because 20% of the pupils would always be missing from a lesson.
    - dagw 4y ago
      Why not move schools to a four-day week, too? Because the unspoken advantage of a four-day week is you get an entire day to yourself without your kids.
    - 4y ago
- helsinkiandrew 4y ago
  If you work on the factory floor and produce all your widgets in 4 days instead of 5 then it doesn't matter what day you take off - it probably makes sense for everyone to take off the same day. If you're talking to customers 5 (or 7) days a week (restaurants, sales, helplines, healthcare), then the company needs to provide continuous cover.
logifail 4y ago
> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school (Genuine question) but why wouldn't someone be able to have lunch with their OH while working a traditional 5-day week? Surely a lunch break is something everyone is entitled to even when they're working that day?
- kqr 4y ago
  With children, one or both parents often have to sacrifice their lunch breaks to get 40 hours of work in while still dropping off/picking up children at school, activities, etc.
- barryvan 4y ago
  Oh, absolutely! I have all the regular breaks etc. When I said "go out to lunch" I meant it more in the sense of "go out for a _loooong_ lunch involving a few courses and a bottle or two of wine". ;)
- helsinkiandrew 4y ago
  If you home and workplace or your partners workplace is even a short distance apart the travel time can make it impractical
- dagw 4y ago
  Not the OP, but I suspect it's more a question of time. My my wife and I work on opposite ends of town, so if we where to both hop on a bus, meet in the middle, enjoy a nice and leisurely lunch at a nice restaurant (as opposed to just grabbing some fast food) and then hop on a bus back to our respective offices, we're probably looking at at least 2 hours door to door. Hell, even if I'm just going for lunch by myself there are lots of restaurants I cannot really go to, simply because it takes too long to get there, eat, and get back. Basically, while I always have time to eat lunch, but very rarely have time to enjoy lunch.
  - logifail 4y ago
    > it's more a question of time So, given we're talking about employers offering flexibility, how about allowing people to take a longer lunch break so they can go for lunch with their OH, but either start their day earlier or stay at work later?
p2hari 4y ago
> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school But slowly this also applies to schools. The teachers would want 4 day workweek. and then the kids would also love to have 4 days instead of 5 days. This would start happening across. The restaurants, grocery shops everywhere and people who come on off days need to be compensated accordingly and then the various other fall outs. :)
randomuser26491 4y ago
> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school Rather highlights that restaurants won't get by on a four day week.
- corobo 4y ago
  Pick a different 4 days like they do for weekends.

88 4y ago

> People aren't always available, so you have to work around or wait. I would have thought if everyone moved to four-day workweeks, they would all take the same day off, essentially extending the weekend.

barryvan 4y ago
Not where I am! Rather, it's a negotiation with your manager to see what works best. That way, we can ensure we have coverage across the week. We're all "on" for Mondays and Tuesdays, and then people take Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday off according to preference and suitability. Yes, more people take Friday than Thursday, but quite a lot of people enjoy the zen-like lack of distraction when they work Fridays. Or so I've been told!
- lostlogin 4y ago
  The pro tip is to work Monday, and thereby catch nearly all the stat days. Some enlightened countries pro-rata stat days, but New Zealand doesn’t.
  - pm215 4y ago
    The employer can fix up the imbalance -- if there are N bank holidays in the year, give all 80% part time workers 0.8N extra days of holiday allowance above their usual amount (etc), and mandate that they cover the bank holidays with days from their allowance if they would normally work them. (My UK employer does this.)
    - cbzoiav 4y ago
      Or just don't have them off by default and add the days to all employees allowance, but always allow people to book them off if they want. That way if you have a family and are all off you can spend it together, but if you have nothing to do can use it when it better suits you.
      - lostlogin 4y ago
        It’s time and a half and a day in lieu for working a stat where I am. If you work it much outside 8.30-5 penal rates rise, but that part is employer specific rather than legislated.
  - deleted 4y ago
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  - deleted 4y ago
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  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - 2143 4y ago
    > stat day If you don't know what a "stat day" is (I didn't), it apparently stands for "statutory holidays" which is like public holidays. During my brief time in the US, I observed that over there the public holidays tend to be something like "nth Friday/Monday of so-and-so month"; that way you get a long weekend. This is how it's done in some other countries as well. Unfortunately not in my country (where I'm lucky to have both Saturdays and Sundays off! (I should probably move...) ); if a public holiday falls on a Wednesday, you get the Wednesday off. But on the bright side, there's plenty of holidays here.
lostlogin 4y ago
It mentions a fish and chip shop and an education facility. I’d guess that the bulk of fish and chips are sold outside 9-5 Monday to Friday, and that there would be rioting in the streets if school days were reduced 20%.
- dkdbejwi383 4y ago
  > there would be rioting in the streets if school days were reduced 20% Why not move schools to a four-day week, too? If it works for adults at work, I'm sure children would see similar benefits. We already know that typical school hours deprive children of much needed rest.
  - sbuk 4y ago
    I absolutely hate it when parents respond to questions like this, but… Do you have kids? I love mine completely and unconditionally, but a day off being an employee and a parent (well half the day at least) sounds like bliss!
    - stuaxo 4y ago
      It's also just easier to do some of the boring chores work without kids in the house.
  - lbriner 4y ago
    Because unless the kids were all off on the same day each week, which wouldn't work for their parents who have to fit in with their employers needs, then everyone would need even more babsitting cover than they already do. If the kids were not all off on the same day, then teachers would struggle to get consistent teaching because 20% of the pupils would always be missing from a lesson.
  - dagw 4y ago
    Why not move schools to a four-day week, too? Because the unspoken advantage of a four-day week is you get an entire day to yourself without your kids.
  - 4y ago
helsinkiandrew 4y ago
If you work on the factory floor and produce all your widgets in 4 days instead of 5 then it doesn't matter what day you take off - it probably makes sense for everyone to take off the same day. If you're talking to customers 5 (or 7) days a week (restaurants, sales, helplines, healthcare), then the company needs to provide continuous cover.

logifail 4y ago

> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school (Genuine question) but why wouldn't someone be able to have lunch with their OH while working a traditional 5-day week? Surely a lunch break is something everyone is entitled to even when they're working that day?

kqr 4y ago
With children, one or both parents often have to sacrifice their lunch breaks to get 40 hours of work in while still dropping off/picking up children at school, activities, etc.
barryvan 4y ago
Oh, absolutely! I have all the regular breaks etc. When I said "go out to lunch" I meant it more in the sense of "go out for a _loooong_ lunch involving a few courses and a bottle or two of wine". ;)
helsinkiandrew 4y ago
If you home and workplace or your partners workplace is even a short distance apart the travel time can make it impractical
dagw 4y ago
Not the OP, but I suspect it's more a question of time. My my wife and I work on opposite ends of town, so if we where to both hop on a bus, meet in the middle, enjoy a nice and leisurely lunch at a nice restaurant (as opposed to just grabbing some fast food) and then hop on a bus back to our respective offices, we're probably looking at at least 2 hours door to door. Hell, even if I'm just going for lunch by myself there are lots of restaurants I cannot really go to, simply because it takes too long to get there, eat, and get back. Basically, while I always have time to eat lunch, but very rarely have time to enjoy lunch.
- logifail 4y ago
  > it's more a question of time So, given we're talking about employers offering flexibility, how about allowing people to take a longer lunch break so they can go for lunch with their OH, but either start their day earlier or stay at work later?

p2hari 4y ago

> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school But slowly this also applies to schools. The teachers would want 4 day workweek. and then the kids would also love to have 4 days instead of 5 days. This would start happening across. The restaurants, grocery shops everywhere and people who come on off days need to be compensated accordingly and then the various other fall outs. :)

randomuser26491 4y ago

> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school Rather highlights that restaurants won't get by on a four day week.

corobo 4y ago
Pick a different 4 days like they do for weekends.