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Summary: The four-day workweek gives employees more time off without sacrificing productivity—at least in some sectors. This guide breaks down how it works, who it works for, and where it may fall short.
A four-day workweek is a working schedule in which employees are required only four days a week instead of the common five-day week. This type of work schedule has gained popularity in the past few years, especially after the widespread use of flexible and remote work schedules used during the COVID epidemic.
Workers are asked to work four days and then granted three-day weekends with the intention of increasing their happiness and work-life balance. The four-day work concept has been and continues to be tested around the world by companies, educational institutions, and government agencies with potentially promising results.
Different Types of 4 Day Workweeks
| Model | How It Works | Work Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 100-80-100 | You work 80% of the time but get 100% of your pay and still do 100% of the work. | 4 days × ~8 hours = ~32 hours/week |
| 4/10 | You work 4 days a week, but each day is longer to fit in 40 hours. | 4 days × 10 hours = 40 hours/week |
| 9/80 | You work 9 days over 2 weeks instead of 10, getting one Friday off. | 8 days × 9 hours + 1 day × 8 hours = 80 hours over 2 weeks |
| 4 and 1 | You work 4 regular days, then 1 lighter or remote/admin day. | 4 days × 8 hours + 1 day × fewer hours = ~36–40 hours/week |
While the concept of the four-day workweek seems straightforward, there are actually several different ways to interpret this work schedule or to modify it as a compromise. These different variations include:
100-80-100 Model
The four-day week that most people initially conceptualize is the 100-80-100 model. It gets its name from the three numbers involved in the agreement between employers and employees who would use this workweek. j
Employers would still pay employees 100% of their salaries while employees would work 80% (four out of five days) of their previous work schedule while producing 100% of their previous work.
While this model appears to benefit only employees, it can be tested. Employees may be able to work harder and take less downtime so that they can finish all of their tasks within a shorter period and obtain the reward of more personal time on the weekend.
4/10 Model
The 4/10 model takes its name from a different numerical basis. In this model, employees work only four days a week, but they work the same number of hours as they currently do, following an eight-hour/day, five days/week model. Therefore, they’d work four ten-hour days to reach their 40-hour workweek.
This model appears to benefit employers more than employees in that they can lower their expenses by keeping their offices open for fewer days while they still receive the same hours of work from their employees. However, employees can also benefit by gaining more consecutive personal days and saving time and resources by commuting to work fewer times each week.
9/80 Model
A compromise between the four-day and five-day workweeks is to combine them to create an alternating schedule. In the 9/80 model, employees work one regular week, producing 40 hours of work over five days. In the next week, they only work four days but work ten hours per day (following the 4/10 model), also producing 40 hours of work. Therefore, they work nine days but produce 80 hours of work every two weeks.
This model provides employees with only 50% of the personal days provided by the 4/10 model. However, it may be used as a transitional model to help employers slowly and cautiously move toward instituting four-day workweeks.
4 and 1 Model
While not as well-known as the 100-80-100 and 4/10 models, the 4 and 1 model has been trialed by several organizations interested in increasing their workers’ job satisfaction and well-being.
In this model, employees who would have traditionally been required to go into the office five days a week have that requirement reduced to four days. However, they are still required to work remotely on the fifth day. While the hours on their single work-from-home day may be reduced, they still need to work that day, so this is a different conception of the 4-day week that doesn’t give employees more personal days. They may, however, benefit from not having to commute to work every day and from enjoying the relative comfort of working from home.
Advantages of the 4 Day Workweek
The clear advantage that almost any employee would quickly grasp from the four-day workweek concept is receiving an extra day off each week.
This would give the employee more consecutive personal days to relax, spend time with family and friends, and take care of chores and personal tasks. While this increased enjoyment of life is the main goal suggested by most four-day workweek proponents, research from various trials has suggested several concrete advantages for both employers and employees, including:
- Reduced Costs: Employers can lower their costs by closing their offices one more day each week. If they also pay to transport workers to their worksites, they can save costs on transportation as well. Workers who commute on their own can save time and money by traveling to and from work once less per week. Environmental costs can also be reduced as pollution and energy consumption are lowered.
- Less stress and burnout: So many employees feel overworked and risk burnout, so reducing the burden on them can make a significant difference. Even with the 4/10 model, where workers need to work longer days, the benefits of an extra personal day every week can still outweigh the extra burden of working four ten-hour days.
- Increased satisfaction and loyalty: Research shows that most employees who have tried working 4-day weeks prefer them, even if they follow the 4/10 model. This increases their satisfaction with their jobs and their employers. Workers who have gotten used to working four-day weeks will likely be highly disinclined to leave their jobs for employers who will require them to work five days a week.
- Fewer sick days: Research suggests that employees take fewer sick days when they work four days a week. This may result from a few different factors. Workers may be less stressed and therefore have stronger immune systems. They may have more time to recuperate on their personal days and return to work healthy. Sick days attributed to stress and burnout can decrease, and workers with higher job satisfaction may feel less inclined to fake sickness to take days off work.
- Same level of productivity: Trials around the world have shown that workers tend to hold up their end of the bargain and increase their daily productivity in exchange for an extra day off work. In most cases, overall productivity stays the same and can sometimes even rise due to improved worker mental health and morale.
Limitations of the 4-Day Workweek
While there are many good reasons to think that four-day workweeks are a good idea, there are also some serious limitations and risks involved in these models, including:
- White-collar fit: Most trials have focused on instituting four-day workweeks with white-collar workers only. There is a suggestion that blue-collar or manual workers have little downtime and a very limited capacity to increase their productivity. Instituting a 100-80-100 workweek for blue-collar workers may cause productivity to drop dramatically. As well, a 4/10 model could create greater risks as employees working longer hours may make more mistakes and have more accidents.
- Honeymoon period: Most trials of 4-day workweeks have been relatively short-term. Though they may demonstrate positive results, there is a danger that these results may not be so positive over the long term. After a few years of working 4-day weeks, for example, workers may not have anything to compare their productivity levels to. Their productivity may decline as they no longer feel like the 4-day week is a reward but something they’re entitled to.
- Increased stress: Asking workers to work four ten-hour days could have the effect of causing them greater stress than their extra personal day can make up for. Even the pressure to be more productive in the 100-80-100 model can backfire and cause more stress and reduced productivity.
- Availability: Most people expect businesses to be open five days a week, Monday to Friday. With 4-day weeks, some firms would choose to take Mondays off and some Fridays, leading to difficulties connecting with clients and customers. Businesses that need to provide a high level of customer service and interaction may not be an appropriate fit for four-day workweeks.
Four-Day Workweek Jobs
As new technologies enable increased productivity and remote working situations, more employers may shift to four-day workweeks to save costs and help improve the work-life balance of their employees.
Four-day workweeks have several limitations and may not be easily applied to all industries. However, they have the potential to change the standard arrangement between workers and their employers and produce benefits for both parties simultaneously.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the idea behind most four-day workweek models is that employee salaries stay the same. They either work fewer days but the same hours as before, or work more productively to earn extra personal days.
Trials have taken place in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, and the UAE. These include trails within businesses, NGOs, government agencies, and educational institutions.
Andrew (Drew) joined the Remote People team in 2020 and is currently Director, Regulatory Affairs. For the past 13 years, he has been a trusted advisor to C-Suite executives and government ministers on international compliance and regulatory issues. Drew holds a law degree from the University of Otago, a PhD from the University of Sydney, and is an enrolled Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.