We want to implement a 4/10 work week.  There is about 10% of our workforce who will remain on the standard 8/5 work week.  We have come up with some questions that hopefully can get answered in this forum:

1.  How are holidays handled?  For instance, July 4th is an 8 hour holiday so does the employee work two extra hours to make up that time?

2.  If the holiday falls on their day off, do they work 8 hours less during the week and put in 4/8's?

3.  Our PTO and Vacation time is accrued per pay period and is used in 4 hours increments.  Should we adjust that down to 2 hours?

Thanks for your input. 

 

Some options/things to consider:

Make any holiday week a "normal week".  Everyone works 8 hour days and are off for the holiday.  This is easiest. The person still gets a  3 or 4 day week AND gets to work shorter hours for the week.  Use the schedule to make sure all 10 hours are covered each day if that is what clients/customers expect.

Adding an extra two hours makeup time, makes for very very long days. 10 hour days are already long enough. I wouldn't want to add on to that. I doubt you would get much productivity out of it.

I would definitely adjust your increment to 2 hours if you want to be able to hit their PTO bank for a 10 hour block.

No matter what, if you have an exempt employee who runs out of PTO and works 4 10 hour days and takes one off due to the office being closed for a holiday, you still have to pay the full paycheck (unless FMLA or first/last week exceptions apply) because it won't fall under taking a full day off for personal reasons.

 

We are also considering moving to a flexible work schedule and providing a 4/10 option.  Has anyone had any experience setting up a 4/10 and then changing to move back into a regular 5 day?

One major reason the Utah employees was provided this change was in response to the current energy cost increases and the economic environment. but if the environment changes and an employer would like to return to the regular schedule, are there any major problems?

I would imagine we could change our policy and set it for a specific period of time, Utah is doing it for a year,  and then either decide to continue or not.  Any other experiences? 

I don't have experience moving from a 4 day work week to a 5 day work week, but from what I have read in the papers, people either love it or hate right from the bat.  I think waiting a whole year to test out whether you like it or not is a bit excessive.  I say, give it 4-6 months, and re-evalute.  Take a survey of the employees AND customers and see what happens. If gas prices go down or other circumstances tip the balance back towards a 5 day week,, then you make the change. That is the whole point of at-will employment.  (disclaimer: work with the employees rather than against them for best results)

We have decided to go ahead with a 4/10 work week.  I am writing a Compressed Work Week policy in which it states we are trying it for three months and we have the option to switch to the standard 5/8 week.  Also, the department managers will will coordinate work buddies (teams) to ensure coverage.

Our Executives are still opposed to offering this schedule to management.  Does anyone know of companies who utilize this schedule and whether management is included?  

 

 

I work for a manufacturing company and we have two departments that work 4/10's.  When it comes to holidays, the departments that work 5/8's are paid 8 hrs for holiday pay and the departments that work 4/10's are paid 10 hrs.  If a holiday falls on the day that the 4/10's are scheduled off, they get paid 40 hrs of regular pay (provided that they worked their schedule) and 10 hours of holiday pay.  As far as management is concerned, they are M-F.

We are currently working on a proposal in my organization but Management will not be included.  They will be required to stay on a 5 day 8-hour work week.

We are considering the same option because of rising fuel costs.  My concern will be for those working parents who have child care issues and cannot stay past a certain time.  How do you handle this so that all employees are able to access the 4-day workweek?  Do you allow flexibility in their work schedules, by perhaps coming in earlier to leave earlier?  Would it make sense to have some employees on the 4-day schedule and some on the 5-day for coverage purposes? 

 Audrey from Maine

We have a 4/10 work schedule at the facility in which I am now employed.  We observed the 4th of July holiday by having Friday and Thursday off, (Friday is our normal day off, so we were able to observe the holiday on Thursday.)  As our company policy only allows 8 hours of time for holidays, we had to work the two extra hours in addition to our regular 10 hour days in order to have our time card for the week equal 40 hours.

  

 

Thanks everyone for your input.  It was a big help in sorting out vacation, PTO,  and holidays.

Our employees will be given a choice of either a 4/10 workweek or the standard 5/8.  The department managers need to work out the schedules to ensure service does not drop to our internal and external customers.

We will also have the option of working one day from home to those who do not work a 4/10 workweek.  This will be determined by department and position. 

If a holiday falls on the scheduled day off, hourly employees can either work an additional 2 hours in the same week or get paid for 38 hours.  Exempt employees need to make up the time during the two week pay period.

If the holiday falls on the work day, the department manager will determine which day the employee will work. 

Vacation and PTO will go from 4 hour to 5 hour increments.

Department managers cannot work the 4/10 schedule or work from home.

Our employees are really excited about the 4/10 work week.  Some employees with children in day care cannot work the 4/10's and with others it will work.  It'll be up to the individual to decide what they want to do.