A Long Weekend… Every Weekend!

This one is simple. Long weekends. We all love them, right? If you don’t please leave this blog now, you’re weird. For most people though it’s always cause for much excitement and barbecuing. These extra days here and there let us squeeze a little camping trip, a city break, or an extra night in the pub. So, I’m thinking, if long weekends are such a treat, why don’t we have more of them? Or have them all the time? Surely we can afford it, with the UK being one of the richest societies in the world?

Now before considering the merits of every weekend being a long weekend, or having a 4 day working week, let’s see where the current 5 day format comes from. After all, it wasn’t the norm a century ago. Some say (not the Stig) that it was powerful unions in the 1920s that were demanding more bearable conditions for the overworked post-Industrial Revolution factory worker. Another theory states that it was in fact the Great Depression that made employers cut working hours to reduce costs and pay, as opposed to just firing staff. This last bit makes sense on a macroeconomic level too - less hours means more work to go around and be shared between more people, in effect reducing unemployment.

The same logic still applies today so much so that several organisations are trying it out. Earlier this year recession-hit accountancy firm KPMG offered its 11,000 UK employees the option to work 4 days a week to save costs and jobs. The state of Utah meanwhile has proposed a “4/10″ scheme of having 4 working days that are 10 hours long, thus keeping the standard 40 hour week. Crucially, and unlike KPMG, Utah doesn’t plan to cut staff salaries. The benfits it actually sights are reduced office bills and a smaller carbon footprint. Similar schemes are running in Wisconsin, Arizona and Alabama.

Back to the UK . Would a 4/8 scheme with reduced salary work here? The answer is – it depends. If you’ve just bought a house, you’d probably want to work and get the money. If you’ve just had a kid, you may want to spend an extra day with the family. In any case, it would be very nice to choose.

My bet, however, is workers to embrace a 4/10 deal the most. After all, you get both a day off and full pay. On top of this, most people I know stay behind an hour or two in the office anyway so it would only be fair to be formally rewarded.. Now whoever is with me, put the beard on and let’s start a revolution!