WASHINGTON: Converting a five-day work week into a four-day work would result in higher job satisfaction and lower levels of work-family conflict, thus leading to higher productivity, suggests a new study.

The four-day week comes in two flavours. One option is to switch from five 8-hour days to four 10-hour days, meaning overall hours and salaries stay the same.

In August 2008, the state of Utah moved all of its employees, apart from the emergency services, to working 4/10, as it has become known. The hope was that by shutting down buildings for an extra day each week, energy bills would be slashed by up to a fifth.

Researchers Rex Facer and Lori Wadsworth of BYUs Romney Institute of Public Management analysed the potential benefits of Utah government’s four-day work week transition and found that the employees were satisfied with their jobs, and enhanced productivity.

They found that even though four-day work week employees work the same number of hours per week as their traditional work-week counterparts, they reported being more satisfied with their jobs, compensation, and benefits, and were less likely to look for employment elsewhere in the next year.

With the four-day work schedule, employees were less Read more…

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