Dear Citizen for Health,
As the Consumer Voice of the Natural Health Community we are committed to preserving and expanding your health freedoms and ensuring that you have access to the resources you need to make informed decisions about maintaining your health and wellness.
It is from that perspective that we bring to your attention this article: The Case for a Four-Day Work Week, by respected technology entrepreneur, Jay Love, based on his personal experience with his company. Hardly a new idea, the “work four 10-hour days with Friday off” model has been implemented in a variety of workplace environments with overwhelmingly positive results.
Workplace stress and dissatisfaction drops while productivity soars; employees have the opportunity each week to deal with domestic responsibilities that couldn’t be addressed during a non-business day; one day less to commute means money and energy saved; and people have three days to spend in the company of family, making it easier to schedule meaningful activities as a group.
Naturally, all these benefits contribute to a happier, more balanced lifestyle and greater overall health.
We at CFH put on our thinking caps and Senior Policy Advisor James Gormley took the idea one step further: “But getting home after dinner and as the children are being put to bed on four days does not compensate for one free day…It should be a 32-hour work-week…It’s all about being rested, having time for family, feeling appreciated, and achieving better work-life balance. A four-day 9-5 (or 10-6) schedule with Friday off would revolutionize the American workplace.”
Indeed it would! That’s why we created a petition to both Congressional Committees on Health Labor and Pensions suggesting a feasibility study by the U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO). We’re urging that the GAO, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Labor, work to ascertain the benefits to American workers that would result from officially creating an alternative definition of the U.S. work week based on four days and 32 hours – 8 hours a day with time for lunch – in addition to the current 40-hour, five-day definition.
If you agree with the available data and believe that everyone would benefit from more time with family, more time to tackle personal responsibilities, and more time to rest and rejuvenate for the week ahead, sign our petition now!
Sincerely,
Frank Herd, Program Coordinator, CFH
happy workers are productive workers.
when is all of this crap going to stop?
OSHA has some other links on their site. You should also check your state OSHA page. Many of these sites have spfeicic material.