Is a four-day week for India’s greater good?
Most of UK adopted a four-day work week in 2022. Microsoft's trial in Japan saw productivity increase by 40%. In India, implementing it may violate labour codes
When the UK conducted the world’s largest trial for a four-day work week between June and December last year, it found that most participating companies decided not to revert to the regular five-day standard.
Sweden and Iceland have conducted similar trials. Spain is currently offering to subsidise the wages of companies that take part in its upcoming experiment. France famously introduced the 35-hour week in 2000, to reduce record high rates of unemployment and to right the country’s work-life balance.
The idea has been floating around for a while. In 2019, Microsoft tested a four-day work week, with no loss in pay, in Japan. Productivity went up almost 40%.
So, why isn’t it the norm yet? And what about India?
The good
The study in the UK, and similar initiatives in the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia and Belgium, have proven that the idea works. For employees, the longer weekend is more than a day off. It’s a chance to unwind properly, without the pressure of a quick reset, it’s better for mental health, allows more leeway to enjoy time with oneself, family or a new hobby. Workers sleep better and have less stress. So, it’s a win for companies too. And employers suffer no setbacks giving workers an additional weekly off, either in rotation or en masse. It’s a prized enough perk that employees in the UK trial said that “no amount of money” would convince them to go back to working five days a week.
Susan Matthew, HR director of LinkedIn India, says their research on Indian workforce shows that the idea is gaining ground. “By focusing on essential tasks during the first four days of the week, and reserving Fridays for self-care and quality time with loved ones, professionals are finding new levels of fulfillment and success,” she says. “This approach reflects a growing demand for a more sustainable work culture that promotes happiness, health, and more work-life satisfaction among employees.”
The bad
How the four working days are utilised is central to how well a shorter workweek does. When targets and projects are squeezed into fewer days, pressure is higher, making those workdays typically longer. Plus, if a company is the only one in its field implementing a four-day work week, while competitors clock in five or six days, it amounts to lost business, lost profit. No firm wants that.
So, not everyone’s on board. In March, South Korea planned to raise the maximum working time to 69 hours a week, because companies complained that the current 52 weren’t enough to meet deadlines. Young workers responded with mass protests, forcing the government, thankfully, to reconsider.
The ugly
Indians, particularly, tend to work longer than others. In a 2016 ManpowerGroup survey of 19,000 millennials, conducted in 25 countries, Indians came out on top, clocking 52 hours a week. A 2017 LinkedIn report also found that it is common for Indians to work beyond scheduled hours, on off days and when they’re home, putting in the extra effort to stay ahead of colleagues. Managers stay late, so their teams do too
Implementing a four-day workweek nationally is also likely to violate India’s labour codes that came into effect from July 2022. The average workday is anything from eight to 10 hours, not exceeding 48 hours a week. That means, to have a four-day work week, a person would have to work 12 hours a day.
“The code only specifies the maximum number of hours employees can work, not the minimum,” points out Urvi Mohan, a labour lawyer practising in New Delhi. “It was framed to regulate the sector and provide benefits to employees, not employers. So companies won’t be able to strongarm workers into putting in 12 hours a day, four days a week simply to justify a longer weekend. That doesn’t offer much work-life balance for most of the week.”
For factory workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, a four-day work week isn’t likely to materialise. In February 2023, the Karnataka legislature allowed industries to extend working hours for labour to 12 hours a day, while keeping the maximum weekly work hours at 48. In Karnataka and Tamil Nadu daily work hours are now up from eight to 12 for four days a week. UP and MP are eyeing similar changes, including 12-hour shifts and night shifts for women.
The UK experiment, then, remains a dream.
