Changing Trends in Working Hours for a Manufacturing Business

Have you known a business type that can let you work for only four weeks a day? Yes, it is possible. Manufacturing businesses are the ones typically applying this scheme. If you want this kind of schedule you may find advantage in going for a four-day workweek in all part of a manufacturing operation.

This four-day workweek scheme was first adopted by small manufacturing firm in the late 1960’s. Since then all kinds of organizations have gone this route; retail trade, hospitals, banks, trucking firms, wholesalers, and variety of service firms like the business trend now which is the digital printing businesses that are mostly building manufacturing plant especially those companies that ventured into exporting printed materials such as print postcards, business cards and catalogs. But small manufacturing conce
s still seem to be at the forefront of this movement.

If you were able to adopt the four-day workweek, you’d want to study the requirements of your business for labor and production very carefully before you introduce the new schedule. Some companies place the total work force on four days, including men and women employees. Others exclude employees who must serve customers, such as clerks and salespersons. Each firm must plan the move to the four-day work week on the basis of its special needs.

You’d also want to adjust wage rates so neither your firm nor your employees experience inequities. Some firm reduce the standard forty hours to thirty five, thirty seven or some similar figure. Hourly rates are reduced a bit to minimize the effect of higher overtime rates. In this way, the worker’s take home pay is the same as it was before the change.

Surprisingly, companies that have adopted the four-day workweek have experienced few disadvantages. It takes a while for people to adjust to the new schedule, and customers must be educated to the new business hours. But once running smoothly on the four-day schedule, very few problems seem to arise.

The advantages that have come with a four-day work week schedule are primarily person-related. Most people like to have a three-day weekend. The plant on the short work week can often attract a superior workforce of qualified personnel for this reason. Managers find the long weekend a positive figure in that it allows them sufficient time to regenerate their energy for the next week. And you as the owner of the business, may find the quiet time for the long weekend permits extremely beneficial in doing your planning for the future of your business.