The six-hour workday: A better alternative?

For decades, employees around the world are used to working eight hours a day, typically from 9am til 5pm. But some organisations have implemented something different – a six-hour workday, slashing the amount of time they expect their employees to be present at work by 25%. Could this be a better alternative?

The history of the 9 to 5

The 9 to 5 working model, which is typically characterised by working eight hours from 9am to 5pm, became mainstream during the 20th century. This shift resulted from labour movements that advocated for shorter working days and the implementation of labour laws.

One of the most notable milestones came in 1914, when the Ford Motor Company reduced shift times from nine hours to eight, and doubled workers’ pay at the same time, dramatically increasing productivity.

Interestingly, the Ford Motor Company also played a significant role in normalising the idea of a ‘weekend’, giving their employees Saturdays and Sundays off. Though the company didn’t invent the weekend as is often claimed, their implementation of it in a booming industry set a precedent that other companies began to follow.

Overwork, overtime

Even though nearly 60% of Brits work between 31 and 45 hours per week, recent research by Reed suggests that 42% of employees work beyond their contracted hours, equating to an extra day’s worth of work every week. Many of those employees (40%) say that their workload exceeds the time they have available to complete it, leaving them feeling overwhelmed.

So, if many of us are overworking and putting in overtime (with or without compensation), how can we fit eight (or more) hours of work into just six? The answer might lie in our biology.

Six or eight-hour days, does it really make much difference?

We’re more than likely all familiar with procrastination – putting something off until the very last minute, or taking a while to get around to concentrating on something with our full attention, but there is real science behind that phenomenon.

Studies show that our brains simply aren’t wired to concentrate on something for long periods of time. In fact, we get, at most, three to four hours of real focus-time out of any eight-hour period.

There is also the phenomenon known as Parkinson’s Law – which suggests that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. This phrase was the opening line to an essay written by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in 1955. Although he was speaking specifically about the bureaucratisation of the British Civil Service at the time, the concept has taken on much more meaning and still rings true today.

Further research shows that people’s productivity level in not linear – meaning we will focus heavily on starting a task initially, say three to four hours (about as much as our brains can manage) before any additional effort beyond this starts to reach a point of diminishing return, meaning the task takes longer, is completed inefficiently, and may be of inferior quality than had we stopped when our energy ran out.

This body of research, then, suggests that a six-hour workday may be preferable in terms of reaching the same – if not greater – level of productivity than we might achieve in a typical eight-hour day.

Improving work-life balance with a six-hour workday

As well as seeing a boost in productivity, a six-hour workday also has the potential to boost other areas of employees’ lives.

Several pilot schemes of a six-hour working day have been trialled – the most notable of which was at a retirement home in Sweden, which ran for two years. The 68 nurses who worked six-hour days took half as much sickness absence than those who worked standard, longer shifts. The nurses also reported being 20% happier, with more energy both at work and in their spare time.

The model was also adopted by a Toyota plant in Sweden as long ago as 2003, which has since reported both a 25% profit gain, and increases in employee health.

The six-hour workday also lines up with the typical school day, allowing for more flexibility for working parents. It also enables people to take on those ‘life admin’ tasks they might ordinarily struggle to fit in around work, and take care of GP and dentist appointments, as well as other healthcare and professional services, which are typically not available in the evenings or weekends.

Tracking employee time to maximise productivity

Whatever working model your organisation operates – be it a six-hour workday or a four-day week – keeping track of employee time is crucial in monitoring their wellbeing, progress and productivity.

Knowing your employees’ hours is an essential tool both from a compliance standpoint (ensuring maximum weekly hours and local labour laws are being adhered to), and in ensuring that overtime is appropriately recorded and compensated.

At edays, our time tracking software enables you to know who is working and when, so HR and people managers can effectively manage resources and gain visibility over the productivity of your teams.