The Four-Day Workweek: What Employers Should Consider Before Making the Shift

Beyond the Headlines

The four-day workweek has generated significant media attention, with pilot programs in the UK, Iceland, and parts of the US reporting improved employee satisfaction and maintained or increased productivity. But the headlines rarely capture the full picture. For employers considering this model, a clear-eyed assessment of both opportunities and challenges is essential.

Two Different Models

There are two fundamentally different four-day workweek models, and the distinction matters:

Compressed workweek (4x10). Employees work four ten-hour days instead of five eight-hour days. Total hours remain 40 per week. This model is well-established in manufacturing, healthcare, and public safety. It does not change labor costs or output expectations.

Reduced hours (4x8 or 4x32). Employees work four eight-hour days for the same pay they previously received for five. This is the model that has attracted the most attention and the most debate. It represents a genuine reduction in work hours with no reduction in compensation.

The compliance, cost, and operational implications differ significantly between these models.

Legal Considerations

Overtime. Under the FLSA, overtime is calculated based on hours worked over 40 in a workweek. A compressed 4x10 schedule does not trigger overtime at the federal level. However, some states, notably California, require daily overtime for hours worked over eight in a day. Employers in these states must account for daily overtime when implementing compressed schedules.

Exempt employees. Salaried exempt employees can generally be scheduled for any number of hours without overtime implications. However, reducing the workweek to 32 hours raises questions about the salary basis test, since the minimum salary threshold assumes a full-time commitment.

Benefits eligibility. Review whether your health insurance, retirement plan, and other benefits define eligibility based on hours worked per week. A reduction to 32 hours could affect eligibility under some plan documents.

Operational Considerations

Coverage. Can your business operate effectively with employees off one day each week? This is straightforward for some roles and extremely difficult for others. Customer-facing, safety-critical, and production-dependent roles may require staggered schedules or additional staffing to maintain five-day coverage.

Meeting and collaboration time. Reducing the workweek compresses the time available for meetings, collaboration, and administrative tasks. Organizations that succeed with a four-day week typically eliminate low-value meetings, streamline communication, and protect focused work time.

Client expectations. If your clients expect five-day availability, you need a strategy for maintaining service levels. Staggered days off, cross-training, and clear communication with clients are common approaches.

Workload. Reducing hours only works if the workload can actually be completed in less time. If employees end up working evenings or weekends to keep up, you have not created a four-day week; you have created a five-day week with worse boundaries. Honestly assess whether productivity gains from reduced meetings and increased focus can offset the lost hours.

What the Pilots Show

Pilot programs have generally shown positive results for employee satisfaction, recruitment, and retention. Burnout and absenteeism metrics tend to improve. Productivity results are more nuanced: most pilots report maintained productivity, but these are often conducted in knowledge-work environments with self-selecting participants and significant organizational commitment. Results may differ in other contexts.

Implementation Steps

1. Start with a pilot. Do not convert the entire organization at once. Select a department or team, set clear metrics, and run a defined trial period of at least three to six months.

2. Define success metrics. Before the pilot begins, establish how you will measure success: productivity output, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, absenteeism, quality, and financial impact.

3. Set clear expectations. Communicate that the pilot is an experiment, not a permanent change. Define the schedule, coverage expectations, and any rules about the off day.

4. Evaluate honestly. After the pilot, review the data without confirmation bias. If it worked, expand thoughtfully. If it did not, understand why and either adjust or revert without stigma.

The four-day workweek is not a universal solution. It may work exceptionally well for some organizations and poorly for others. The responsible approach is to investigate it with the same rigor you would apply to any significant operational change.