HELP! Client demands change from 4-10s to 5-8s. Employees/supervisors furious!

2880981

On one of our maintenance projects, employees have been allowed to work 4 day work weeks. Coverage on Fridays has not been an issue, as employees are scheduled properly, i.e. some work Mon-Thurs, others work Tues-Fri, etc. The client is now asking that work schedules be changed to 5-8s. Morale has taken a HUGE hit, and supervisors/employees are threatening to quit. Are there articles out there related to this topic? Has anyone experienced this same situation? We need evidence to prove that the current schedule of 4-10s is more effective in maintaining a high level of productivity.

System

The four-day workweek has come up on the Employers Forum before. Click on the Search icon, and you should be able to find something.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com

Rockie

Since coverage for five days does not seem to be an issue, why is the client asking for five 8's? I always take the position, before you give employees something, examine the repercussions of what will happen if you have to take it away. People getting used to work four day work weeks is a fine example of what can happen if you need to change it back to five days.

We have examined going to four day week weeks in our practice and we realize this same thing would happen if our patient population increased to the point that we couldn't see all patients in four days. We would have to change it back. We decided it wouldn't be worth it.