Seeking Insights: How Would a 5-Day Workweek Impact Our Company Culture?

Proposal for a 5-Day Workweek

I am working in the HR Department of a company where we have a 6-day workweek culture, and our weekly off day is Sunday. Recently, I have proposed a 5-day workweek culture so that all our employees can have weekends off on Saturdays and Sundays.

Request for Input on Workweek Proposal

My management has requested a detailed report on this proposal, including the advantages and disadvantages of working 5 days a week. I am currently in the process of preparing this report, so I kindly request all of you to share your views and ideas on this matter. If any of you already have a study report or survey related to this topic, please share it with me as it would be helpful.

Thank you.

Regards,
Amit Sharma

Let me know whether yours is a manufacturing company with a continuous process. If so, how can you plan weekly offs on Saturday and Sunday for all employees? Are the employees working in shifts? If so, you have to plan for staggered weekly offs, and they will receive a double weekly off on an alternative basis.

If you switch over to a 5-day week, it will be difficult to revert back to a 6-day week. If you plan for your corporate/admin office, it is okay, but it's better to avoid for the factory area.

Regards,
Kamesh

Advantages of an International Cultural Environment

Firstly, an employee experiences an international cultural environment in the organization and becomes more motivated towards the organization, working more efficiently than ever before. The employee always keeps in mind that there are only 5 working days—hurrah—and works better than ever.

Focusing on Benefits Over Disadvantages

When it comes to disadvantages, I hope there would be fewer disadvantages and more benefits. So go ahead, convince your management, and bring that culture into the organization. Focus more on the benefits and less on the disadvantages.

I really appreciate your efforts in bringing this culture into your organization.

Regards,
Santosh

Please let us know why you want to bring this change across your organization. What motivated you to make this change? We should know your company details, such as the industry you are in, so that we can provide appropriate suggestions.

Firstly, I appreciate your initiative in wanting to take action. Our friends Kamesh, Santhosh, and Kishore have provided essential information about your organization. Could you please share the company's location in relation to the town or village, the number of employees/workers, daily electricity consumption, and fuel consumption for company vehicles on a typical day?

Strategies to Mitigate Loss of Working Hours

What strategies do you have in place to mitigate any loss of working hours, such as adjusting duty hours on the remaining five days? Calculate the daily production and expenditure to analyze and make informed decisions. If public involvement is significant in your company's daily operations, it might be wise to maintain the current schedule. If low output is the issue, consider enforcing punctuality and refining work procedures to enhance productivity.

I hope this clarifies my points.

Best wishes,

R. Mohan

Impact of a 5-Day Workweek on Annual Leave Patterns

If a 5-day workweek is implemented, it may affect the annual PL/EL pattern. Most multinational corporations and software companies follow the 5-day workweek, but I have never heard of manufacturing companies adopting it.

Regards,
Pon

You can also implement a 2 Saturday off & 2 Saturday working culture in a month. This will not have much effect on the working hours of the organization, or it can alternatively increase the daily working hours by half an hour, allowing you to balance the working hours of the organization. We have implemented this work culture, and it has really motivated our employees, leading to a reduction in employee leave. Go for it.

Well said, Mohan, from a resource perspective. Kinjal ji, your idea of having two Saturdays off is also a nice one.

Considerations Before Transitioning to a Five-Day Workweek

And Amit ji, before considering implementing this change and transitioning to a five-day workweek culture, think about the following:

1. Does your organization need uninterrupted service?
2. Will a five-day production or operations schedule affect your organizational needs and production requirements?
3. Generally, a five-day workweek is advisable for non-service organizations rather than manufacturing units.

Consider your organizational needs in terms of resources and production requirements before making a decision. Take a wise decision.

I have been working with Lifestyle Corporate, where they follow the first Saturday working, with the rest off. At the regional level, they have two Saturdays working due to the importance of their presence in operations on certain days.

Regards,
Chirag Suchak

Advantages of a 5-Day Working Week

There are several advantages of a 5-day working week. One can divide them into two types: financial benefits and non-financial benefits.

Financial Benefits

Financial benefits include saving company costs on various expenses. For instance, if the company provides transportation and covers the entire cost, this includes transportation expenses, electricity costs, and the employees' ability to work at their maximum capacity as they arrive in a good mood to work.

Non-Financial Benefits

Non-financial benefits involve employee motivation and the ability for employees to maintain a good work-life balance. This allows them to work with a satisfied mind and focus on their tasks.

Regards,
Abid

Having alternate Saturdays off is a good idea initially. It saves a lot of overhead costs of operations and motivates existing and prospective employees to be associated with such organizations.

Regards,
Nirmal

You need to make a business case on how your initiative would reflect savings in terms of costs to the company without disrupting work. You can suggest an increase in work hours on weekdays to complete 48 hours a week. Look at those areas where you can propose savings such as transportation, food, electricity, and coffee, etc.

I suggest this initiative be limited to only admin.

Best wishes,
Murali

You need to divide the weekly working hours by 5 and then reduce Friday's working hours by 1 1/2 hours so that you can have Saturday and Sunday off, totaling 2 days off.

Current Work Schedule

I am a Senior Manager of HR in my company where we have 3,100 staff members as follows:

1. HO (Head Office): Saturday to Tuesday -- 8:00 am to 5:30 pm with a 1/2 hour break. Wednesday -- 8 am to 4 pm. Thursday and Friday are off days.
2. Branches and sites work for 2 days but need to choose one day excluding Friday to ensure work continuity without impacting operations. All employees are satisfied with this arrangement.

It is a great initiative, please proceed. We have just introduced two Saturdays as holidays in the 6-day workweek. Employees are extremely happy, and productivity has increased while absenteeism has reduced. I don't see any disadvantages in it, in fact.

Regards,
Shaji

You have to increase the daily working hours so that you can compensate for the 6-day workweek. Alternatively, you can make the last Saturday of the month a working day.

In fact, a five-day working culture is good for both employees and employers.

Advantages:

• Power consumption on air conditioners, computers, lighting, and fans is saved.
• Employers do not need to pay wages for casual laborers for the extra weekly holiday.
• Savings can be made on expenditures towards refreshments and lunch.

Disadvantages:

• Important work may get delayed by two holidays, having to wait until Monday.
• Employees can be asked to work based on need and, in case of urgency, on Saturdays. They can also be allowed to take a compensatory day off on any subsequent day of the week.

Cost-Benefit Analysis for a 5-Day Workweek

Please do the cost-benefit analysis before proceeding. Don't think solely from the employees' perspective; let's also consider the employer's point of view. There should be a mixed opinion on this to move forward.

It's very beneficial for employees; it may reduce absences as well as provide them with a long weekend that they can utilize for personal tasks or outings.

For the employer, consider the impact on production/output on Saturdays; how it will affect the overall production. If there is reduced production, would the company save money by implementing this change?

If both parties stand to benefit, it could be a good idea and likely to be approved by management.

If not every Saturday, what about planning for the second Saturday or alternate Saturdays? In this case as well, a cost-benefit analysis is necessary.

Changing from a 6-day to a 5-day working pattern has become common nowadays. How are we managing 48 hours in 5 days? Are you proposing 9 hours per day or 8 hours per day? If so, with 3 hours per week, how does the company manage? Whether productivity is affected by this or not needs to be checked. Even if agreeing to forgo 3 hours per week, swapping back to 6 days in the future will be difficult, which you have to judge.

After the recession in 2008, all manufacturing companies offered employees holidays on Saturdays to reduce overhead costs and welfare costs. Keep in mind that absenteeism during Fridays and Mondays will be higher than the current condition if a 5-day workweek is followed. In my opinion, if the distance from an employee's house to the working location is more than 40-50 km or the duration of the journey is more than 45 minutes, then a 5-day workweek will be the most suitable option from both the employee and employer perspectives.

Having an additional one hour of work due to the 9-hour working pattern will definitely help if you adjust your working start and end timings to suit less traffic conditions.

Hope you consider the above to decide.

Best regards,

RAGHU

Appreciate your efforts in proposing a 5-day workweek. Even in manufacturing industries, a 5-day workweek can be implemented. For example, administrative staff and design teams can work more hours across 5 days. There are numerous advantages to this approach, such as saving resources like power, water, and transportation.

In addition to all the above, I want to emphasize the following facts:

1. Is there any overtime consumption among workers?
2. Calculate the OMS and find out if there is any chance of improvement with this proposal.
3. Any new positive change for the workers acts as a catalyst for a few days, but after some time, it becomes usual, and workers accommodate that change as their right. Its reversal will not be easy.
4. Usually, the remuneration and responsibility are job-based for officers and management staff, and time-based for workers everywhere. Therefore, this will be disrupted.

Adapting to international or corporate standards is beneficial for a five-day workweek. However, before full implementation, it is essential to identify and assess whether having Saturdays off would not impede the organization's business growth. Additionally, comparing the cost savings between working and non-working days, such as holidays, is crucial. If all conclusions are positive, having Saturdays off should not pose any issues.

It would be advisable to consider the opinions of Kinjal, Kmitabh, and Monali as well. This could provide valuable insights and lead to a better decision.

Regards,
Vikas Ranjan

Is there any policy or proposal document for the 5-working-day model? Please share it at sfahadali@gmail.com.

Pros of a 5-Day Workweek

As per my view, the pros for a 5-day week are:
- Low power consumption
- Reduced travel costs for the company, if provided
- Alignment with MNC culture
- Employees gain better opportunities to work in MNCs in the future
- Stress relief
- Improved health for employees
- Employees can enjoy time with family and weekends off
- The company can attract better clients like MNCs
- Employees can work more hours
- Increased productivity and reduced absenteeism

Cons of a 5-Day Workweek

The cons of a 5-day week are:
- Salary payout issues on weekends
- Work delays if not completed by the weekend
- Employees may feel pressured
- Employee health may remain unchanged
- Changes in gratuity calculations
- Increase in employee per day salary considering working days
- Escalations may occur in emergencies on weekends
- Employees or HR may need to work on weekends and catch up with work on laptops if necessary.

Before proposing the transition to a 5-day workweek from the current 7-day schedule, it is essential to assess the feasibility of this change. Factors such as workstation availability, the time required to convert raw materials into finished goods, the duration of all manufacturing activities, and the overall production volume in five days by employees currently working seven days need thorough examination. A cost-benefit analysis should be conducted to determine the financial implications of the proposed shift.

Considerations for Just-in-Time Manufacturing Systems

If your manufacturing facility operates under a Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing system to meet customer demand, it is crucial to consider how customer needs will be addressed on Saturdays and Sundays. Strategies for accommodating customer requirements during weekends must be developed to ensure seamless operations and customer satisfaction.

For further insights and discussions on this topic, you can refer to previous conversations on this site: https://www.citehr.com/376238-disadv...-week-pg3.html

Advantages:

1) Employees feel motivated knowing they will be working only for 5 days.

2) It might also impact the attrition rate positively, as employees may not leave the organization for trivial reasons.

3) Employees get time to spend with their families, which will positively affect the company's productivity.

Disadvantages:

1) When employees switch to another job, they may always look for a 5-day work week, which might lead them to miss out on good opportunities.

There are no other disadvantages I can figure out.