Should All Indian Companies Adopt a 5-Day Workweek for Better Work-Life Balance?

Hi, I want to discuss implementing a 5-day work culture in all companies in India. Since we are a big democratic and youthful nation, we are people with diversified minds and resources. Even though some private companies are implementing the 5-day work culture, many companies still follow the 6-day work culture. This results in boredom and fatigue for employees. We shall exclude essential services fields from this discussion.

Working for 6 days creates a distance between work and life, affecting balance. The 5-day workweek was first introduced in India by Henry Ford. Happy employees equal happy clients.

Advantages of a 5-day workweek

- Better productivity
- Healthier and more active employees
- Improved work-life balance
- Two days off for self-healing and rest
- Lower attrition rates
- Ability to do more than a regular job
- Opportunity to focus on hobbies and talent development
- Complete enjoyment of weekends
- More exploration of nearby places
- Pursuit of studies through correspondence.

Kindly share your views. Thank you.

Challenges of a Five-Day Work Culture

Implementing a five-day work culture may seem beneficial for certain types of work, but it may not be suitable for all workplaces.

1) In a five-day working culture, working hours will increase.
2) Ultimately, employees may suffer from fatigue and an imbalance in life.
3) After two days of rest, the usual Sunday fever/Monday work routine can bring a lot of inward unrest, making it difficult to adjust to the job.
4) When holidays fall on a Friday or Monday, the leave will extend for an additional day, meaning employees work for only four days instead of five.
5) Natural calamities and other disruptions (e.g., strikes) can take away additional days, which are neither predictable nor can be presumed.
6) Essential work may suffer as many employees enjoy two days of holidays; this may lead to biased activities increasing.
7) Bachelor employees may struggle with an undefined way of life.
8) Many people are facing challenges due to the two Saturdays off (2nd and 4th Saturdays as leave for bank employees). Some banks have even started opening on Sundays to assist customers, but this has led to increased complaints and significant cultural changes within the industry. We seem to have lost the human touch of work ethics.
9) Some government servants work on Saturdays without much media attention, as the media tends to focus only on issues like bribery and sensational news.

Apart from these points, if you wish to discuss more about the five-day workweek being enjoyable and the benefit of receiving extra pay for working additional days, such as getting paid for 10 days when actually working 20 days, or receiving 8 days of leave in a four-week schedule, remember that everything has its ups and downs.

I think it's good for employees and employers as well. However, I believe we should make a slight change in the view. In my opinion, we should consider giving half a day for the last working day. It won't affect employees or employers either.

Dear friends,

If the purpose is to achieve work-life balance, the 5-day work concept may not be the only answer. The practice of flexible time, working from home, overlapping shift timings, and leveraging the huge potential of building and engaging a part-time backup workforce for all kinds of jobs should be strengthened and become a way of life.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant

The 5-day workweek culture: Benefits and challenges

A 5-day workweek culture is beneficial for limited establishments only. For shops where daily customer interaction is crucial, employers may not agree to this model as it would require hiring additional personnel. In banks, there is a practice of having the 2nd and 4th Saturdays off, with operating hours extending up to 7:00 pm, allowing customers to conduct their transactions. To implement a 5-day workweek, it might be necessary to extend these hours to 9:00 pm. In industries where continuous processes are involved, employers might need to appoint more staff. Consequently, there are both benefits and drawbacks to a 5-day workweek.

Regards, Vidyadhar Bhat

Thank you to everyone who shared their views and appreciation. I agree that Indians are still suffering from unemployment and other work-related issues. However, my point is about the people who are working for 6 days when they could complete their work in 5 days.

The case for a two-day weekend

As an HR professional, I wanted to point out that providing two days as a week-off will not hamper any work unless it is an emergency or of crucial nature. Additionally, people can visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workweek_and_weekend to find information on working hours and weekends around the world. According to the data on that page, only India has long and extended working hours compared to other countries.

Implementing a flexible workweek

While both underdeveloped and well-developed countries face similar challenges, implementing a two-day week-off, which might not necessarily fall on Saturdays and Sundays, could be beneficial. This can be done using a "swap method."

For example, as per our labor laws, the standard working hours are 48 per week with 8 hours per day, including a 1-hour break. Therefore, working 10 hours per day for 5 days, including the 1-hour break, could help in completing the work in 5 days.

Implementing such changes may not solve all work-related and labor problems in India, but it could certainly be a positive step without causing any detrimental effects to our country. It is crucial to remember that work stress is a slow poison.

EACH FOR ALL & ALL FOR EACH.

Thank you.

Challenges in Implementing a 5-Day Work Week

Implementing a 5-day work week is not a bad idea, but you have to take into account the industry in which it has to be done. The retail industry will never be able to implement the same, nor will the manufacturing industry be able to do so. This is because the retail industry has to sell every day, and the manufacturing industry's machines take a longer time to charge up and reach full working capacity.

If you are referring to the travel industry, again, it is not possible as it is a service industry. Therefore, when we talk about implementing it nationwide, that's an impossibility. Additionally, in a city like Mumbai or Bangalore, consider the mental state of a person traveling after working for 10 hours a day. Will they survive the commute, which is already a challenge?

Having 2 days off from work is not the only solution; other factors should also support this change, which unfortunately is unlikely to happen. Many casual workers will lose wages as they are paid daily and work 7 days a week so they can enjoy a 2-month vacation when they return to their hometown.

I am not suggesting that we should not move towards this change, but should we proceed without considering the industry demands, especially in our role as HR professionals?

Regards,

I agree that casual workers are affected by this move. In general, managements of manufacturing setups do not tend to give two days off.

Venkata Vamsi Krishna

Working five days a week may not be a good proposal for the manufacturing industry because the industry needs to utilize its workforce and machinery to the best possible extent in order to achieve returns on investment. From a productivity standpoint, it may not be the right time to introduce a five-day workweek nationwide at this juncture.

Only a few industries can take advantage of this opportunity, as others would need to operate on Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate employees on leave (particularly in the service industry).

The Impracticality of a Universal 5-Day Workweek

In my view, a rigid application of a 5-day workweek across all sectors, such as manufacturing, service, BPO, hospitality, etc., would not only be impractical but also unacceptable. It should be left to the discretion of individual companies where it is feasible. There are several issues from all stakeholders, including employers, employees, unions, and the government, related to productivity, service efficiency, wages, and work-life balance, which may conflict with each other.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant

It is a good idea, but it will pose a slight problem for manufacturing units to provide this facility for all levels.

I've seen many people involved in this discussion stating that it is not practical to have a 5-day work culture in a manufacturing industry. WHY NOT??? I've seen a statement regarding the ROI for the machinery in a manufacturing industry. So, is it that manufacturing companies in Europe & US will have a slower rate of ROI than in India?? Come on.. It's just strange.

I am working in a Swiss company. Both our Swiss HQ & Indian plant use the same machines. They operate for 5 days a week & we in India operate for 6 days a week. So it's obvious that this is not linked with Return of Investment or any other reason. It's just our mindset, that companies in India should work 6 days a week. Nothing else.

I have seen many manufacturing companies in India itself working for 5 days a week, providing their employees a good refreshing weekend. I strongly feel that a 5-day work culture will definitely rejuvenate the employees in the manufacturing industry. They will feel fresh when coming to work on Monday.

I had seen someone saying that with a 5-day work culture, bachelor employees may suffer from an undefined way of life. Just want to make a point that, with just 1 day off, a bachelor employee will finish off his off day with his weekend household activities like cleaning, washing, etc. Where is the time for him/her to rest & release the fatigue of the past week's hectic 6 days of work?

I am writing because I have been through all these phases & I am from the manufacturing industry. I have worked with companies operating for 5 days a week & as well as 6 days a week. I could really feel the difference between both.