Peter and Barbara,
See my article on "Rewarding years of service with more free time" at
http://www.globalideasbank.org/wbi/WBI-43.HTML
It was judged one of the "world's best ideas for 1998" by the Institute for
Social Invention.
I've also got a debate with Jock Finlayson of the B.C. Business Council on
"What If . . . there was a four day week" in a magazine called Next City.
The magazine has a web page but the last time I checked, the debate feature
hadn't been posted to the site yet.
http://www.nextcity.com/contents/index.html
I can send you a copy of my side of the debate now that the magazine's out,
for Jock's you'd have to look at the site:
Labor costs would decrease. Stanford Business School Professor Jeffrey
Pfeffer recently noted in the Harvard Business Review that most managers
don't know the difference between labor rates, which only concerns
inputs, and labor costs, which consider inputs as a ratio of outputs.
Because of fixed, per-employee costs -- such as fringe benefits and
payroll taxes -- a shorter work week does indeed raise labor rates, a
fact corporate bean counters use to explain why employers "can't afford"
the change. But a four-day work week would actually lower labor costs --
due to higher productivity and new employees commanding fewer
seniority-related benefits.
The number of disability claims would decrease. Recently, the American
Management Association and the CIGNA Corporation studied the effects of
downsizing on long-term disability claims. Firms who had laid off
workers experienced more claims from the employees who remained. Stress
from long work hours and job insecurity topped the list of factors
leading to disability. The lesson is clear: shorter hours = less stress
= fewer disability claims.
Employers and employees would benefit from on-the-job training.
Employers spend billions of dollars annually on training courses,
neglecting more effective on-the-job training because they can't spare
experienced employees from tight production schedules. A lean work force
doesn't have enough slack to replenish itself.
Businesses would create yang (or positive) Kaizen. Shortening the work
week is not simply a question of juggling the number of workers and the
hours per worker; it could create opportunities for improving the
production process. A four-day work week will provide an antidote to the
Japanese practice of Kaizen, which sought continuous improvement mainly
by subtracting from the workforce. That negative, yin, Kaizen has run
its course.
And let's not forget the side effects. A four-day work week would create
thousands of new jobs and more time for family and community.
----------------------
>Colleagues:
>
>I offered to post the following to FUTUREWORK and the reporter said sure.
>In addition to the story inquiry which follows, she also requested:
>"[FUTUREWORK] might be helpful as a source to gauge general interest in the
>4-day week, if it's been talked about before....Anyone who has opinions on
>the subject is welcome to write to tell me about their reasons and how
>previous discussions have gone."
>
>2. FOUR-DAY WORK WEEK - CHICAGO TRIBUNE (IL). Barbara Brotman is
>working on a story about the possibility of a four-day work week. Will
>this ever become the standard? She would like to hear from a labor
>historian who can discuss the possibilities and implications of this,
>as well as when the five-day work week became the standard, what was
>done before the five day week, etc. What would the impact on the
>economy be? Employment rates? Etc. Needs leads by January 25. Email:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] [T::1/20:3592]
>
>=============================================================================
>
>Peter Seidman, Dissemination Program Director
>National Center for Research in Vocational Education
>University of California at Berkeley
>2030 Addison St., Suite 500
>Berkeley, CA 94720-1674
>
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>800.762-4093
>fax: 510.642.2124
>http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/
>
> Traveler, there is no path,
> Paths are made by walking.
>
> Antonio Machado
>=============================================================================
r
>
>
>
>
Tom Walker
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
