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US county considers four-day workweek


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I love it!! Had written on this topic about a month or so ago, and my hope that this trend would catch on across the US (see http://current.com/items/88990263_calling_al_gore_4_day.... Fairfax County has the distinction of being a "green county" so this is not surprising:

"Board of Supervisors member Gerald W. Hyland (D-Mount Vernon) yesterday proposed studying whether Fairfax should follow the lead of Utah and some other governments in adopting a workweek of four 10-hour days instead of the traditional slate of five eight-hour days.

Fairfax could save energy costs by powering down computers and heating and cooling systems one additional day a week, Hyland said. Employees could save fuel costs by commuting four days instead of five. And the county could reduce its contribution to global warming by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, he added."

Credits: Photograph by Tom Saunders, VDOT
spunkycarol

19 responses // US county considers four-day workweek

  • The whole wide world needs to adopt the 4 day work week, i've always loved jobs that give you the chance to work 4 10's
    rabidlemur
  • Good idea. Another good idea would be living no more than a 15 minute drive from your job.
    wind0wseat
  • How about 35 hours a week - like France!? (for now)
    KaT_Trina
  • love it, just love it. I wish this wouldn't be just a distant dream for idealists.
    hestheone
  • in san antonio the chamber of commerce and people like the mayor are agreeing to make the work week 4 days long...but an agreement still hasent been made
    Crenshaw_Brothers
  • I hope this doesn't trickle down to public education. As short as my attention span was in elementary school, I couldn't have imagined spending one more hour there.
    bishopobispo
  • that's interesting the french tried this and they became largely uncompetitive in the European market and the global market and you think its a great idea. wtf. and by the way they changed it already.
    symn8
  • America's #1 cause of death is stress, better than 90% of the time that stress is related to work.

    I am all in favor of giving everyone a mental health day.
    kcfoxie
  • Hopefully this will catch on in more and more communities.
    osiris326
  • I'm totally down with this idea.
    JohnnyT426
  • The French didn't become "uncompetitive" because they worked a single solitary hour less per day.

    We need look no further than America (whose employees work longer than anyone) to see that just sitting at out desks longer does translate into "competitiveness."

    If an American worker volunteered to work an extra hour M-F (making it 45hrs a week) would that really make the CHEAP labor in Mexico less attractive?

    "You're going to work an extra 5 hrs a week! Well, then let's forget relocating to China an exploiting their child labor at 35 cents an hour! That extra hour per day is going to make us super competitive now!"

    Of course not.

    The French economy didn't slow down because their employees left at 4pm instead of 5pm. There were a lot of other factors involved -- much like OUR economy isn't slowing down because of "too few hours worked."

    The American economy isn't doing "super awsome!" even though our employees are working 40 and 50 hrs a week (large amounts of that time being totally unpaid for thanks to Wal-mart forcing employees to be "team players" and work off the clock).

    There isn't a direct connection between hours worked and actual productivity. In fact, productivity isn't really the problem. We're the most productive workers inthe world. The problem is that it's just a whole helluva lot cheaper to live in Mexico which means we can pay them a whole helluva lot less -- and working an extra hour isn't going to change that equation.

    BUT! Aside from that grime manufacturing reality that doesn't mean a shorter work week wouldn't give us significant advantages.

    A shorter work week would actually BOOST our economy.

    Think about it -- if you had an extra hour per day, what would you do?

    Answer: A majority would go out and do something that would require spending money. Either buying a cup of coffee, getting a book at barnes & Noble, taking their kid to the zoo and buying him/her a stuffed animal, etc.

    How much money are we spending just sitting at our cubicals? Zero.

    Creating more time off is the first step to stimulating the economy.
    crob80227
  • Sao Palo Brazil has had a four day week for any particular car commuter for uyears. If you want to get to work on the fifth day people use mass transit, work from home or car pool. It works well there.

    Going to a four day week for automobiles immediately reduced rush-hour congestion by 20%, improves traffic flow thus reducing wasted gas standing in traffic.

    America could, it if really wanted to save gas, embark on a mandatory car pool program for all large cities. Think of how much gas would be saved; lowering demand and thus lowring prices. This is a win-win-win idea that will never fly in this country until we are completely broke as a nation and forced to walk to work.

    The trouble with Americans is that they are selfish and not very smart. Since we have no real sense of national pride, except when it comes to beating up on small defenseless countries, very few are willing to take individual action towards preserving the whole.
    geneonlbk
  • You guys can take a day off. I'm trying to get rich!
    Neghie
  • This sounds like a great idea.

    A ten hour work day is daunting, but the benefits definitely outweigh the costs.
    Saladin
  • This is a great idea, granted you are working 10 hrs. a day but it is a long weekend every week. I feel this will destress the country as a whole. Look at europe with thier month long vacations, i just wish that could be me
    ScissorHappy1982
  • They should pay us for 40 but let us go an hour early. The exact same amount of work would get done whether we stay on hour later or not.

    Heck, if they said we could get paid for 40hrs but only had to work 30hrs a week so long as productivity stayed the same -- you'd see in-office productivity shoot through the roof! There would be no idle chit-chat, no long coffee room breaks -- people would be busting the work out knowing that they'd actually get something valuable in return (time!).

    How many of us couldn't really get all their work done in 30hrs instead of 40?

    Imagine being able to have 2 extra hours more per day! You could come in at 10am or leave at 3pm.
    crob80227
  • I would work an extra two hour a day for a three day weekend in a heartbeat!
    ivxx
  • The healthcare system effectively utilizes this schedule, as it fits both employees and employers alike. As an operating room RN, I enjoy my 3-day work-week; Yes, 12-hour shifts ARE a grind, but 4 days off are glorious! It makes sense where the schedule is applicable, thanks for sharing.
    ephor09
  • As much as I like the 4 day work week, I work in the hospital. Sick people don't have 4 day sick week. Plus I need the money.
    MrBigShot21

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