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Welcome to HR 101. Class is now in session. Today’s discussion will be all about the history of the five-day workweek. Where did it come from, and will it ever go away?
The history. The US has a unique approach to work. US workers work longer hours than those in any other industrialized nation, according to the International Labor Organization.
Working seven days a week was the norm until the early 19th century, when some employers began offering their employees Sunday off to attend church, according to National Geographic.
But it wasn’t until 1922, when industrialist Henry Ford began experimenting with a 40-hour workweek, that employees got their first taste of the weekend as we know it today. (Ford also cut his employees wages, since they weren’t working as many hours, according to National Geographic, but that’s a story for another time.)
The move was met with criticism, with the New York Herald commenting at the time: “The Ford plan is joyous news to all who like to think of bringing work down to the irreducible minimum.” But Ford’s plan worked. Productivity at his factories didn’t decline, and by the next decade, the five-day workweek was a standard business practice.
Fast-forward. In March 2023, Democratic Congressman Mark Takano of California reintroduced a bill that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act, cutting the standard workweek from five to four days, without lowering pay.
“Workers across the nation are collectively reimagining their relationship to labor—and our laws need to follow suit,” Takano said, according to WPTV. “We have before us the opportunity to make common sense changes to work standards passed down from a different era.”
Four-day workweek pilot programs have been conducted in countries including the UK, where 61 companies partnered with nonprofit 4 Day Week Global on a six-month trial. The results were promising: 39% of the 3,000 participating employees said they were less stressed thanks to the shorter workweek, 62% said their work-life balance had improved, and 55% said their ability to work grew. And 56 (92%) of the companies made the switch permanent.
Will the four-day workweek ever become the new norm in the US? Takano said it is possible.
“History shows that the bold change we are seeking is attainable,” he tweeted. “Only a century ago, it wasn’t uncommon for workers to work six days a week. Rapid innovations in technology and increases in worker productivity means it’s time to take the next step and embrace a 32-hour workweek.”