More Three-Day Weekends!
Print
Comment
Email
RSS
Twitter
More Three-Day Weekends!
But with a catch—one day is unpaid. It beats layoffs.
By Frank Ahrens
Posted Tuesday, March 24, 2009 - 3:20pm
Would you like 10 more three-day weekends per year?
Would you still take them if the third day was unpaid—and if your alternative was getting laid off?
One of the biggest costs any employer faces is payroll. In the ongoing economic crisis, employers are looking for any way to cut costs, and many are resorting to layoffs. But many others—from RV makers in Oregon to the Gannett newspaper chain to the state government of California—have turned to involuntary furloughs, or unpaid days off, as a way of cutting payroll costs while avoiding painful layoffs. A forced furlough is better than losing a job, but it leaves already-at-risk employees feeling even more powerless, buffeted about by bosses and balance sheets.
Instead, what if employees facing furlough could actually choose their furlough days? Call it the furlough weekend.
Here's how the plan would work:
—It would be open to all public- and private-sector, union and non-union employees in the United States, pending approval from their supervisors.
—Eligible employees would choose either from a menu of furlough options or negotiate the number of furlough days they want for the year against the needs of their employer. Ted the banker wants to take 10 days; his boss decides he can take only six. Or Ted wants only six days, but his boss wants him to take 12. They work it out and schedule the days, allowing the employer to plan ahead for the missed work.
—Employees would receive no pay for their furlough days, but their benefits—health care, retirement, pension contributions, and so on—would continue uninterrupted. Starting and stopping these benefits multiple times would be like trying to do the same to an aircraft carrier.
Man in Hammock.
Comments
Nice in theory
I like the concept, but I'm afraid of the reality.
How many salaried people actually work a 40 hour week now? It's more like 60. So I have to take Friday furloughs. Do I actually get them off or I do end up working anyway? And diluting my effective hourly rate (32/60 vs 40/60) even more?
If I actually get to have the time off - I'm all for the 4 day week at 4 day pay.
Unemployment bummer
Furlough weekends sound good, but there's a fly in the ointment: unemployment.
As a worker at one of the many imperiled institutions of journalism, I'm off on furlough next week. The hourly employees could take the five days all at once or a day at a time; salaried employees have to take a week at once.
We were told that we would qualify for unemployment for a week off but that taking it a day at a time would ruin our chances. I'm no legal expert, so I'm not confident about that claim, but the allure of some supplemental income and a week off sounds better than five Fridays off with no extra cash.
I suppose if one is going to get a second job on the weekends, that probably renders one ineligible for unemployment anyway - and the second job would probably pay more than unemployment. But I'm guessing a lot of people wouldn't look at it that way. Why start doing something else when the government will step in and make the hurt better?
And I'd much rather take an involuntary furlough than lose my job - or see any of my co-workers lose theirs.
Should be a permanent, optional part of the system
I see the above posters' point. However, the 3 day weekend could be the answer to a lot of problems if we offer it to everyone.
In Holland (for example), optional 3 or 4 day weekends are a normal part of the system. It is very common for people to CHOSE to work less than 5 days in order that they may work, yet still spend more time at home. Many mothers and fathers both work 4 day weeks, so they only need pay 1 day of day care (which is very expensive anywhere). Many people just choose this option because they'd prefer a little more free time over an extra bit of pay. Yes of course the 3rd day is unpaid, but that's only fair. And many people CAN afford that, especially families for the day care difference.
It's not for everyone, but in the US it's fairly impossible to work a "career" job unless you devote 5 full days a week, and that's hard for many parents, or people that would like to, say, keep another job while they build-up a new business/study/whatever. Since the 3 day weekend is a common choice in Holland, people have many more life options built into the system. And through that, more jobs are created/preserved.
Some people even have the option of saving up all those Fridays and taking them at once for a nice long vacation. How awesome would that be? Again, it's not for everyone, but I'd sure take it.
Terrible Idea
Way to demoralize and already demoralized workforce. Hey, you people that already feel like your being underpaid (as your earnings have been flat for more than a decade) here's a twenty percent pay cut...and unpaid overtime. But you get an extra day to sit at home and worry about how you're going to pay the bills. Here's a better idea...instead of furloughs, what about getting rid of waste? CEO bonuses? Gone. Morale boosting off-site meetings? Gone. High-Paid Consultants and Contractors? Gone. Unnecessary Perks? Gone.
Furloughs are a non-solution
What if workers who face involuntary furloughs are already expected to work several hours of unpaid overtime each month? Doesn't this worsen an already exploitative situation? Over the long term, workplaces will be less productive, thus less profitable. This is just one step further down the road toward insolvency.