Do you approve of the 4 day work week?

[Still-alive]

A bill has just been introduced to reduce our work week from 40 hours to 32 hours. There would also be no loss in pay either according to the bill.

do you like the idea of only having to work just 4 days a week? More quality time to spend with your families and you come to work feeling more refreshed?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bernie-sanders-pushes-bill-establish-four-day-workweek-rcna143354

I approve of this

I don’t approve of this

It depends

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

I have some big concerns about it.

At least in my field as a CG engineer, each one of us tends to be near-irreplaceable. For example, we have one guy on our team who has 2 PhDs in physics and one in CompSci on Fluid Dynamics and has devoted his entire life to studying how to simulate fluids accurately and efficiently. That's all he does; he's an extreme specialist. He's one of a kind in this way and if he left our team, it'd be a massive setback for our product and customers as there are very few people in the world who even understands what he does let alone understands all the code he wrote.

So when we have irreplaceable VIP workers like this, we often need them around even more than 5 days/week, not less. Take James Cameron as another example. He's a workaholic film director who works around the clock 7 days/week. If we reduced him to 4 days/week, who's going to do the work he normally does when he's not around? What film has ever benefitted from having 2 film directors? Chances are that the production is going to skyrocket in cost only to yield an inferior product.

I could see how, in some cases, worker productivity could rise by reducing them to 80% of their working hours, especially if they spend those 4 days more refreshed, focused, and working harder as a result. Yet it's often not even about such an isolated concept of productivity. Teams tend to be interdependent on each other so to have a worker missing for a day can negatively impact the entire team. It's often more important at least in our case that the team member is always available throughout the week to optimize the team's productivity than to optimize the individual's productivity to the maximum.

If it's a very trivial job that anyone can do with very replaceable workers, then this might be more beneficial to the company, as we can just replace one worker with another any time if the other is absent. Yet for a company like mine, it would be a massive setback that would likely result in far more management and collaboration problems and massive delays in shipping.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, I support Senator Sanders on 32 hours work week, also he should have been given a chance to be US President, I believe he would have done a better job.

[SweetDripp]

It sounds great until you think about it. Even a cursory analysis tells you that employers would be paying the same amount for 20% lower productivity. Who pays for that…the consumer, of course. So I don’t think it’s hard to see that this plan would almost immediately inject a 20% increase in the cost of goods. If we all could work fewer hours and have the same purchasing power we have now, that would be great, but that’s not how economics works. Additionally, we already have a skilled worker shortage in this country. If you cut the hours of the workers you have, that adds an additional 20% workload that isn’t getting done because the skilled people aren’t there to hire. This whole idea is a grasp for votes from people who’s depth of thought is VERY shallow.

[supercutebutt]

Sure, sounds good. What's the point in having all this technology if it doesn't make life easier? Nobody has intelligent opinions anymore. They just react in anger out of reflex. We should just tell the blowards we are working 40 hours and secretly take Fridays off. They won't know. They will be too busy stroking themselves to pictures of the Rape Pumpkin.

[llorando]

Yes, I agree with a 4 hour work week provided the work day is an hour longer to help offset people not working as many hours, and as a little compromise for people who are against it. In the future, the extra hour can be eliminated once everyonbe is use to the 4 day work week.

[WindAtMyBack]

It's a crazy idea that will be devastating. But it's Bernie Sanders so what do you expect. He's one of the stupidest politicians out there. There are a few dumber than him, but not many.

What does he even expect it to do? He can claim the work week is 32 hours all he wants, but people won't work 32 hours. It will mainly affect government workers and only a portion of them. So who is going to pay for the increased cost of government? Tax payers of course.

And what does the same pay mean? How the hell is he going to pull that off? It's not going to happen. The government doesn't legislate how much people get paid. Again, that will mainly affect government workers, and not al of them.

The increased overtime pay will be one more reason for companies to outsource overseas. It WILL happen.

And what about all the small businesses that just plain can't afford a large increase in labor costs? They simply go out of business and all the employees get laid off.

But really, most people will work the same hours they did before. This doesn't affect exempt employees for one thing. But even non-exempt employees will keep working the same hours as before.

[Static_In_The_Attic]

As for me I’m all for a four day work week just as long as you get 40 hours & nothing less. I’ll work four ten hour days & have three off, sign me up tomorrow.

If you go from 40 hours to 32 hours you still get paid by the hour & although your hourly rate wouldn’t change your paycheck will & you will be short 8 hours.

I love contracts & my contract states if I work over eight hours the second I go over eight hours I automatically get time & half for anything over. So if I work ten hour days that is two hours at time & half & I guarantee I will be working on the fifth day as well.

[JesseP1nk]

That is scary how stupid people are. Anyone really think that is a good idea? How does that effect an economy. Factories can't product enough products since there are shorter work days, which causes deficit. When there is deficit what happens to the prices? - They go up. If you dont wanna work, then dont.

[Still-alive]

you hire more workers to fill in those shifts. no work is done and workers are happy, and happier worker = more productive workers...

so - not so stupid...

[JesseP1nk]

It is expensive to hire more workers. Before you laugh and say "Yeah, lets stick it to them" Many of thoses businesses might go bankrupt and unemployment will rise. Because they need more workers, who do less and as boss you need to pay them for full time.

[IslaTheWitch]

in Germany, work week is 40 hrs. You can choose 4 x 10hrs or 5 x 8hrs... no one sane would pay you a full salary for working 32 hrs/week...

[Still-alive]

why is that so insane?

[IslaTheWitch]

currently your salary is paid for roughly 168 hrs/month x 12 = 2016 hrs (roughly)

then... if you remove one day every week it gives 136 hrs monthly and 1632 hrs yearly.

so the difference is almost 400 hrs and you believe someone will pay for those 400 hrs you DON'T work? Why should they? Their business is not charity.

32hrs work week means lower salaries

[Still-alive]

Well i don't know exactly how it would work in Germany but we would simply hire more workers to fill in those missing hours. so the hours aren't lost or those workers aren't gonna get paid for not working, they will simply be picked up by other workers. And we also have time and a half for anyone working over the threshold (40 or 32 hours).

[IslaTheWitch]

and you will be paid less because you don't work those 400 hours

[Still-alive]

Well Sanders hasn't exactly addressed how it would work (or maybe h has but i haven't watched the hearing fully) but he says this change would come at no reduced pay for the workers.

[IslaTheWitch]

no, you still will have paid the same for an hour... just you will work less hours, so less pay

[Wiredone]

I work for myself in the service industry so it wouldn't work for me. If I don't work, I don't get paid.

[Still-alive]

Would you support it for everyone else this would apply to?

[Wiredone]

If they were for it, sure I would

[Simslover92]

I definitely approve of the 4 day work week. It would take away a lot of stress to people. Hell if we could work 3 days a week and do 10 hours instead with no loss of pay, I would opt for that.

[jamesgoldman]

Nope, I do 7 days and take off one day a year (technically it's 2 halves but back to back)

[Still-alive]

Ok thats great that you can do that but not everyone can.

[jamesgoldman]

These days people wonder why they can't afford to live and yet do less work than any generation before and take more time off add to that the lack of real money in people's setups and the debt obligations they chose to take on

It's utterly hilarious to witness
50 hours should be the minimum like if you do that and are still broke then you clearly spend too much

[Still-alive]

So thats it huh? You just attribute lazyness to why most people want this? (About 81% of Americans want this: www.upi.com/.../)

Do you not have a family? Do you not have a life outside of your work? If not then you need to realize most people do have those things and its not radical to expect our workplaces to offer a good work home balance. We here currently have a 40 hour work week and its still isn’t enough and yet you wanna raise it to 50 ‘minimum?’

Just amazing….

[jamesgoldman]

Do you not have a family? Do you not have a life outside of your work? If not then you need to realize most people do have those things and its not radical to expect our workplaces to offer a good work home balance. We here currently have a 40 hour work week and its still isn’t enough and yet you wanna raise it to 50 ‘minimum?’

Most Americans are liberal and want everything handed to them on a silver platter
I have family I live with, everyone I know has been via business, most people are weak, the Chinese know as much soon the USA will be the USCCP then you'll be on 100 hour weeks

A good home life balance you work less than 25% of the time and want to drop that to 20%, I recall a book the 4 hour workweek what in the liberal horsehit is that ultra laziness

[sean1234]

How does the store make money when it's closed? How do they pay an employee with money they don't have? Perhaps like a restraint setting. Your til is a chunk of the pay, give or take.

[sean1234]

Restaurant *

[sean1234]

Your tip* is a chunk of the pay

[Redstang88]

How’s that work for people paid hourly?
I used to do 4x10s, no idea why it isn’t more common

[Sargentcaptain]

Discussing economy with a socialist is like discussing ethics with Jeffrey Dahmer.

[Likes2drive]

It’s great in theory but not realistic because where is the money coming from to cover the extra day off?

[OtterMan68]

If it's voluntarily agreed upon between employer and employee.

[Pink2000]

Absolutely. Who wouldn’t?

[Still-alive]

a few people apparently lol. but they are very few. over 80% of americans want this so

[Pink2000]

That’s crazy. We would all benefit from it.

[desidoll]

Yes, been dreaming of this to happen lol

[WhitneySnow]

Sounds great!