By Graham Ledger | MIAMI, Fla.
A Miami-based office has introduced a four-day workweek after employees spent much of the past year asking for fewer meetings and more time to finish their work.
The proposal was well received when managers outlined a Monday-through-Thursday schedule, promising longer stretches of uninterrupted work and fewer calendar invitations.
Staff members were told the change would reduce administrative overhead without affecting pay. Several began adjusting childcare arrangements and making plans for three-day weekends.
The first questions arose when the revised calendar arrived. While regular project work had been moved to Monday through Thursday, Friday still contained a mandatory weekly check-in.
Management explained that the check-in was necessary to measure whether the shorter week was improving productivity. The meeting was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and expected to last an hour.
By the following afternoon, employees had received invitations to a planning session, a progress review and a follow-up meeting to discuss the results of the progress review. All three were set for Friday.
A supervisor said the additional sessions would not count as a fifth workday because employees would not be expected to complete their usual assignments during them.
The distinction did little to reassure staff, particularly after human resources circulated a reminder that attendance was required and that cameras should remain on.
The company now describes Friday as a dedicated collaboration day, separate from the four-day workweek, during which employees are free to discuss how much time the new schedule has saved them.
Management is considering a three-day workweek next quarter, pending the successful completion of a two-day meeting to determine which five days everyone will need to attend.
Photo: Vbccevents / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Photo source and license.
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Graham Ledger covers business & labor for The Tea Bag Times. Meet our newsroom.
