4 Day Week

What's the words? Those who ignore the past are destined to repeat it?

gilly you posted
“It should also be born in mind that robots cannot program themselves and neither can they design and build themselves without human interaction. We should respect that advanced technology can often change things for the better of mankind” [sic]

The late Stephen Hawking believed that AI poses a threat to our very existence. He told the BBC that ‘the development of full AI could spell the end of the human race’. His reason being that such AI could indeed, eventually, be capable of designing, building and programming themselves.

At the risk of being shot down....... A bit of a hypocrite SH then wasn't he OldMeg ? Lucky for him it was around or he wouldn't have been able to communicate anything to us at all.

With all due respect to a brilliant mind, I think he was getting rather carried away with himself.

So shall we all go back to doing everything by hand? Including all the dangerous/life risking stuff?

Pogs and gillybob What I meant was that I agree that technology can improve things for mankind.

And that we should be looking at ways that it can benefit all of us, the unions are wondering how they can make sure that their members benefit, that is their, the unions, job.

By the way, I'm not in a union or work for a large company, I'm self employed, so have no vested interest here.

The people who come up with these ideas have obviously never run a small business. It could be disastrous for a lot of them on top of what they also have to put up with and have had forced on them.

They are not concerned with small businesses gerry

Absolutely right, Anniebach. people won't appreciate them until they're all gone.

Of course they haven't gerry86 and you can bet your last £1 that this won't effect them in the slightest.

My daughter does this too. It works well.

Can I ask what field of work is your daughter in Skynnylynny ?

As a slow let in to my retirement, I've just dropped a day and now work a four day week (Monday is my day off) and a colleague on our team has been doing this for 6 months - her day off is Wednesday (she retires next month) . This has worked out well for us as we have others in on the other days. It depends on the work and how big the business is

The four day week I think mean working the same umber of hours but over four days therefore making it a longer day. Many hospital staff already do this and find it really tiring and hate it. How about the extra childcare involved how will parents manage, I think it should be left to the individual to decide with their employer.

Both my daughter and my daughter-in-law work a four day week, with pay pro rata. Both find it suits them well as it gives them a day to keep their lives running smoothly, with weekends free for the family, unemcumbered by shopping or chores.

Would someone explain how builders can continue putting a roof on a barn in the winter months ? Hammer in one hand torch in the other ?

A 4 day week is only suited to some job roles.

Employees doing a 4 day week doesn't mean that a business can only open for 4 days a week! Supermarket employees don't each work the 7 days that the business is open. What it means in reality, surely, is that a greater number of staff would need to be employed, each working 'part time'. That is how our business works, although employing a greater number of part time workers does bring its own issues.
Pressure to increase the minimum wage even more than currently legislated for, will finish a number of small businesses though.

A 4 day week is only suited to some job roles

This

In ignoring the difficulties of small businesses, I wonder if anyone ever wonders where big businesses are meant to come from. Do they spring fully-formed from the head of a tycoon, like Athena from the head of Zeus? Do they appear out of the ocean, standing on a shell, long hair held modestly over their pubes and clutching their boobs, like Aphrodite?

No, they begin as a small business paying attention to their clients and employing a few people. After a while, if they survive, they grow into a medium-sized business, with many customers and a larger workforce, and eventually, with the benefits of bulk buying, squeezing down rates to their suppliers, and competing tightly on price and delivery (plus a great deal of luck and some preferential treatment by the powers that be as "a key industry") they become the leaders and/or monopolisers in their field.

These big employers can weather almost anything, smaller enterprises can't. If/when they go under, they won't go on to grow into big ones.

"Small businesses accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses at the start of 2017 and 99.9% were small or medium-sized (SMEs).
Total employment in SMEs was 16.1 million; 60% of all private sector employment in the UK. "

I should have given a reference for my quote. It came from www.fsb.org.uk/media-centre/small-business-statistics

There is nothing wrong in working a 4 day week!

There is nothing wrong in an agreement between an employer and employee coming to this arrangement if the business is adaptable enough to be able to deal with it. I suspect however the employer will expect the employee to work the same contracted hours of the 5 day week or accept a pro rata pay structure. Naturally if a 4 day week was contracted initially that would not apply as there is no loss to the employee or employee.

That is not the TUC proposal though as I understand it. The problem is if a business has to pay the same wage for a 4 day week for staff on a 5 day week contract but the employees hours and pay remain the same the employer has to find an immediate 20% increase in staff wages alongside a 20% decrease in production time.

It could cause businesses to close or move away from the UK unless it is a Global decision but if done unilaterally it could well see employees having 5 days a week off work, permanently.

My daughter does what is called a 7 day fortnight. She gets every other Friday off and this was agreed with her company.
She quite looks forward to her day off, books hairdressers meets up with friends etc, and gets to have a chill out day.

Sheilasue

The point is if your daughter suddenly said to her employer I want to work a 6 day fortnight not 7 but I expect to receive the exact same pay , oh and I am not making up the hours I want those kept the exact same too what do you think would happen

Would her employer say OK . What if her employer suddenly found that the other employees decided that's a good idea I want to reduce my hours too but I won't accept a reduction in pay either? Would her employer say Oh go on then.

I’ve just negotiated a 4 day week. 2 days at home and Wednesday off but I can still do 37 hours as I start at 8am. S

I reduced my working week to 4 days. And took a pay cut. Then I reduced it to 3 days. And took another pay cut. How could any employer possibly afford to pay employees the same salary for less hours? Fair enough if the agreed contractual hours are condensed into fewer days, but otherwise it would bring employers to bankruptcy.