![]() ![]() Working just a bit more, an average of 41 to 50 hours per week, over many years appeared to substantially increase the long-term risk of disease. Women working more than 60 hours per week, equivalent to 12 hours per day, were more than three times as likely to eventually suffer heart disease, cancer, arthritis or diabetes, and more than twice as likely to have chronic lung disease or asthma, as women working a conventional 40-hour workweek. We found that the dangers were quite substantial, especially for women. Xiaoxi Yao, a colleague of mine who is now at the Mayo Clinic, and I recently performed another study using 32 years of work-hour information to analyze the relationship between long working hours over many years and the risk of being diagnosed with a chronic disease later in life. ![]() As the hours worked in those schedules increase, the risks grow accordingly. Working more than 60 hours in a week is related to an additional injury risk of 23 percent. The risk is 61 percent higher for people in “overtime” shifts. I performed a study showing that the risk of suffering an industrial accident is raised by 37 percent for employees working more than 12 hours in a day. The danger is in disregarding the health effects that can occur as a result of fatigue and stress that accumulate over a longer-than-normal working day. But the implications of these schedules are different. The math is simple: working five eight-hour shifts is equivalent to working four 10-hour shifts. Despite wishes to the contrary, there are still only 24 hours in a day. The primary problem with the idea is that whatever work needs to be done, needs to get done in the same amount of total time. Despite the widespread enthusiasm for a four-day week, I am not convinced that kind of schedule is beneficial for employees or for businesses. Long hours can lead to stress, injury and illness. A 1998 study found that compressed schedules were related to high levels of job satisfaction and employees’ satisfaction with their work schedules supervisors also reported they were pleased with the four-day workweek schedules. ![]() Other research has also supported the development and adoption of compressed work schedules. In 2011, however, Utah reversed course, saying that savings never materialized. The state’s goal was to curb energy costs, improve air quality, ensure that needed services would still be available (for instance, garbage collection) and help to recruit and retain state employees. The researchers found that about four-fifths of the employees reported a positive experience working that type of schedule.īased on these positive results, Utah’s governor enacted a mandatory four-day workweek for all state employees. For example, in 2008, researchers from Brigham Young University conducted a series of surveys among employees and community members to assess their perspectives about a four-day workweek. Labor experts have been studying and advocating these approaches since the 1970s. The idea of a four-day workweek is not new. Most of the studies I have performed suggest that the dangers are most pronounced when people regularly work more than 12 hours per day or 60 hours per week. All the studies point to the potential dangers that can occur as the result of the additional risks created when work demands exceed a particular threshold. I have been studying the health effects of long working hours for nearly 30 years. This is an issue in which I have considerable experience. That’s the case, however, for only 5 percent of large companies. Statistics from the Society for Human Resource Management indicate that 31 percent of employees were in a compressed workweek schedule as of 2015. Many of the pilot programs have shown promising results. Amazon announced in 2016 that it was experimenting with an even shorter workweek of 30 hours for select employees, who would earn 75 percent of their full-time salary, should they choose to opt in. Additional cost savings can be obtained from reducing total weekly commuting time.Ī variety of business have tested the four-day concept, including Amazon, Google, Deloitte and a host of smaller firms. Proponents of such “compressed” work schedules − those in which employees work longer hours for fewer days of the week – point to gains in productivity that result from decreased overhead costs, such as not having to keep the lights on when nobody is working. Some authorities say that a four-day work schedule facilitates the ability to provide child care and assistance for the elderly. Spurred on by visions of spending more time at the beach, many people are now encouraging businesses to adopt this kind of work plan. Supposedly, a four-day work schedule allows workers extra time to pursue leisure activities and family togetherness. Many employers and employees love the thought of a four-day workweek. ![]()
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