Is Your Company Ready To Start a 4/10 Work Schedule?

4/10 work schedules are on the rise.

After countries like Iceland and New Zealand, Belgium also gave workers the right to work with a flexible schedule on Feb. 15, 2022. A Four-day workweek has received frequent praise for its benefits, such as three-day weekends, reduced stress, and less burnout.

But is a four-day workweek a good idea for your company?

You need to consider how it will affect your scheduling, communication, and automation before reaching a decision.

Let’s understand what a 4/10 work schedule is, the pros and cons of this alternative schedule, and whether it’s the right move for you.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

What Is a 4/10 Work Schedule? 

A 4/10 work schedule lets workers put in four 10-hour days instead of the traditional five 8-hour days. In both schedules, staff works 40 hours a week, but the compressed workweeks are gaining popularity due to increased productivity and better work-life balance.

Employees get an extra day — usually Monday or Friday — to relax and unwind. But during their workweek, they need to complete the extra-long shifts. It also complicates scheduling meetings, sales pitches, and other services within a shortened period.

HR Brew shares that 87% of the surveyed workers love the idea of having a three-day weekend and are willing to put in the extra hours the rest of the week. 

So you can have a four-day week with full-time (40) hours.

Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand company, adopted a 4/10 work schedule in 2018. During their initial test run, they found employees reported less stress, higher work-life balance, and increased productivity. 

Since then, many companies and countries have embraced the shortened work schedule for full-time employees.

Pros & Cons of 4/10 Work Schedules

While Perpetual Guardian has made the 4/10 work schedule permanent, not all companies in New Zealand are embracing condensed workweeks. Some companies are nervous about changing a staple of the modern workforce, and others have bigger concerns.

A four-day workweek doesn’t fit every position or industry. Some of your workers can benefit from it but not all. This can create tension and lead to communication issues.

Pros of 4/10 Work Schedules

Here are some of the advantages of 4/10 work schedules:

Balanced Workplace

4/10 work schedules are linked to less burnout and improved work-life balance.

Companies have found workers more productive than before. Microsoft Japan reported a 40% increase in productivity due to 4-day workweeks.

Easier Hiring

Offering 4-day workweeks as a perk has made recruiting easier for businesses.

A 2019 Henley Business School report shared that 63% of businesses say a four-day workweek makes it easier to attract talent.

Happier Employees

Workers love the shortened workweek. The same Henley study found that 78% of businesses found their workers happy with a 4-day work week, which could improve their retention rates.

Cons of 4/10 Work Schedules

4-day workweeks come with the following drawbacks:

Time Conflicts

You may experience time conflicts within your organization and when interacting with customers.

With deliverables on a stricter schedule than before, you will find less time to fix mistakes. And customers may find it a bit stressful when they can’t reach staff due to different workweek schedules.

Not-for-Everyone

Not all positions or workers will be able to adapt to this schedule. For example, a parent might find arranging child care around a compressed workweek difficult.

And different simultaneous schedules might lead to:

• Tension between workers
• Difficulty in managing meetings and updates
• Miscommunication

Longer Shifts

A 4/10 work schedule means longer shifts. Workers will be putting in the same number of hours in fewer days.

10-hour days can be a lot for some people, and not everyone may adapt well to this system.

How To Start Implementing a 4/10 Work Schedule

Check if your organization would benefit from a 4/10 work schedule by gauging employees’ interest.

Send out an internal survey. Let the employees know you’re considering changing to a four-day workweek. Ask them questions on how they would feel about the change.

Lead with open-ended questions that allow them to voice their opinions on everything from which day of the week they would like off to how they believe the new schedule could impact their work.

After receiving answers from your staff, you can analyze the results and see what issues your staff is most concerned about.

See what they like or don’t like about switching to a 4/10 work schedule, and listen to their concerns.

Let them ask questions and provide feedback. Any major changes in scheduling employees should be a team effort, not dictated from the top.

How To Improve the Efficiency of 4/10 Weeks

If you decide to switch to a 4/10 work schedule, here are steps you can take to keep the transition as smooth as possible. 

• Set standards for employees to meet — Make sure workers understand how this schedule change will impact communication, deadlines, and expectations.
  
  Some may interpret a four-day workweek to mean all Friday deadlines are due Thursday, while others may wait for Monday. Be clear about scheduling to avoid these types of problems.
• Use scheduling software to keep everyone in sync — You may have trouble scheduling meetings if you end up with both 4/10 employees and 5/8 workers.
  
  This is especially true if you have an external third party to work with as well. Use scheduling software to keep everyone on the same page.
• Establish “no meeting” days — Keep one day a week free from meetings. If your 4/10 workers take Friday off, keep that day as a “no meeting” day to avoid staff missing out on important information.
  
  This will also benefit 5/8 employees with fewer distractions due to this Friday schedule. You should extend this policy to third parties and clients as well.
• Use task management software — Task management software helps workers focus on their tasks and ensure they don’t miss deadlines. It also helps team members on different schedules to coordinate on deliverables. You can easily see how your schedule interacts with others and take steps to reduce conflicts.
• Schedule communication in advance — Schedule your calls, emails, and social media posts to avoid missing any communication.
  
  You can use marketing tools that can find email addresses and automatically schedule them based on time or client actions. You can also schedule social media posts in advance with social media management software. Social media  is all about numbers, and your follower count is a big part of your presence on the platform. Therefore, it is recommended to buy Instagram followers to watch your Instagram profile gain more recognition, visibility, and exposure.
• Take advantage of automated customer service — Customer service employees experience some of the highest rates of burnout.
  
  A 2020 Cornell study found that 87% of surveyed call centre workers reported high to very high-stress levels.
  
  A 4/10 work schedule can help improve their well-being by giving workers more time off. Meanwhile, you can try tools like chatbots that answer questions, automate emails, and can even schedule meetings.
• Automate your operations — You can automate many operations now, from data collection and clean up to revenue operations. Automate more of your processes to reduce friction as you shift to a four-day workweek.

Alternative Work Schedules

You may like the idea of increasing flexibility after looking into a 4/10 work schedule. But you still may not find a way to incorporate it into your organization.

You can use scheduling to increase productivity in other ways:

Shift Work Schedules

Shift work schedules could be a great fit if your organization needs to be available for extended hours. You can work in compressed scheduling with shift work, scheduling longer hours on fewer days for employees who want the option.

5/4/9 Work Schedule

A 5/4/9 schedule is a compromise between traditional and compressed work schedules.

A 5/4/9 schedule goes on for two weeks. Employees work nine hours a day for four days in the first week, followed by three days off. Next week, they have four 9-hour days and one 8-hour day.

This schedule offers every other Friday off and gives a bit of extra time without considerably increasing each day’s workload.

You can also schedule teams to alternate weeks, so your office is always staffed.

5/5/4 Work Schedule

A 5/5/4 rotating work schedule is commonly used in emergency services or medical fields that require 24/7 availability.

This schedule uses a 25-day cycle and requires five teams to keep operations running continuously. For example, a team may:

• Work for five consecutive 10-hour first shifts (1-5)
• Have three days off (6-8)
• Work for another five consecutive 10-hour third shifts (9-13)
• Have four days off (14-17)
• Work for another five consecutive 10-hour second shifts (18-22)
• Have three days off (23-25)

After 25 days, the cycle repeats.

Multiple teams work in different shifts and overlap operations to keep the place staffed at all times.

This schedule can keep things running 24/7. But workers might not like it as they would find it difficult to adjust their lives around a constantly changing schedule.

Should You Use a 4/10 Work Schedule?

There is no “one size fits all” solution to scheduling. Some businesses can operate remotely, offering greater flexibility to their workforce, while others need people on site.

You should start by asking your employees for their feedback and gauging their interest. See how many people are interested in changing to a shorter workweek and if it works for your staff.

If people can’t see it working with their current lifestyle, there’s no point trying to force a change.

If there is interest in the 4/10 work schedule, figure out how you would deal with employee issues and scheduling conflicts. Anticipate problems that could happen, and develop strategies to deal with those issues.

This schedule should be beneficial for both employees and your company, so make sure your operations don’t suffer dramatically and that the cost to implement these changes is reasonable.

Changing to a 4/10 work schedule will also affect external organizations you work with, like partners and staffing agencies. Don’t surprise them with a sudden schedule change. Keep them up to date.

Final Thoughts: Should You Consider a 4/10 Work Schedule for Your Company?

As four-day workweeks become more popular throughout the developed world, more companies may consider this scheduling option for their staff.

While a 4/10 work schedule isn’t possible for every organization or position, it does offer many benefits based on preliminary research. Increased productivity and reduced burnout are important factors for both improving your current workforce and attracting future talent.

Communicate with your staff and make scheduling changes they agree with, rather than dictating all changes without considering how it will affect them as individuals.

Besides changing to a four-day workweek, you can also maintain more flexibility on a case-by-case basis with workers. Show your staff that your focus is on developing a productive work environment that provides them with a good work-life balance.