Establish a four day work week at your company to reduce worker burn-out.
Claire is an organizer and designer based in Chicago. In the past year and a half she's worked on a mayoral, congressional and presidential race where she helped unionize a top-tier presidential campaign. She believes collective action leads to more informed citizens and a healthier society.
40-hour work weeks were set as a national standard in the last century. While rates of productivity have increased with advances in technology, the hours we’re expected to work have stayed the same. As employees of [Company] we acknowledge that our mental, physical and emotional health is not compatible with 8-hour work days in front of the computer. In response, we propose a phased-in 4-day workweek that will address the challenges of our work day and allow us to be more balanced and productive employees.
Reducing work weeks are conducive to work. In fact they may be even better for it. In a large-scale study conducted in Iceland, productivity increased or stayed the same during a shorter work week across multiple industries. We believe that changing hours will allow us to not only be more successful at work but help us manage our lives outside of work too. Studies and pilots from other companies show this can work and that the benefits are mutual for workers and companies alike. It’s time we explore this seriously, take worker burn out into consideration and implement a 4 day work week.