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It seems like a policy with obvious mental health benefits.
Working fewer hours a week will surely make the nation less stressed and ultimately more productive, you might think.
This is the argument put forward by self-described ‘democratic socialist’ Bernie Sanders, who is gaining support for his bill that would require businesses to offer a four-day workweek.
The legislation, which has been tabled in the US Senate, is said to improve the mental wellbeing of workers across the country.
It will, ‘allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life,’ said Senator Sanders in a recent hearing.
Experts have told DailyMail.com that there are several reasons why a four day working week could spell problems for the nations’ mental health.
However, there are increasing concern among scientists that, contrary to popular thought, this type of ruling may in fact prove detrimental to the mental health of American workers.
‘The truth is that there are problems with this attractive idea that tend to be ignored by the enthusiasts,’ Abigail Marks, a professor at the Newcastle University Business School in the UK, who studies the future of work, wrote on the Conversation.
Speaking to DailyMail.com Marks said that a 32-hour workweek in our current systems ‘wouldn’t work’.
‘People would be more stressed for the hours they are on the clock, and then they’d have to take work home with them to compensate.’
‘I’m hugely supportive of anyone working fewer hours, but I think the reality is going to be very difficult.’
A series of recent studies have suggested that extra stress and burnout could be significant risks of a four day working week.
In 2021, experts from Auckland University in New Zealand studied 45 employees at a medium-size company initiating a four-day work week.
They found that for many of the workers, the 32-hours made for a more stressful work environment.
That’s because for many employees, their workload didn’t decrease, they just had less time to complete it. Leaders at the company observed their employees ‘trying to jam 100 percent into 80 percent’ of time.
Another harm revealed in the study was a reduction in interactions with peers and colleagues – as employees struggled to fit their tasks into fewer days.
Daily interactions can be a key social support for workers. The US Centers for Disease Control link a feeling of social connectiveness in the workplace with better sleep and an increased ability to recover from stress, anxiety and depression.
‘It’s really important for them to have those coffees or watercooler conversations with their colleagues,’ Brendan Burchell, a sociologist at the University of Cambridge told Wired.
Senator Bernie Sanders has tabled a four day working week bill – arguing it will benefit the mental wellbeing of millions of Americans.
In addition, a June 2022 Gallup poll of 12,313 employees found that 34 percent of respondents who worked four-day a week reported frequently feeling burnt out, compared with 29 percent of those who worked five-day a week.
Respondents who worked four-day weeks felt they felt more disengaged with their workplace.
In a recent blog by experts from Maryville University, researchers raised the concern that a shorter working week may mean companies won’t take time to address other problems in the workplace.
‘It may not work for all employees. Instead, research shows that employees want flexibility, rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.’
In a report of a six-month trial of the four-day work week in the UK, an anonymous employee from a craft brewery said this condensed schedule actually helped him.
Burnout is already a problem among American employees, with more than 40 percent saying they are suffering from it, according to a study of 10,000 Us and UK workers.
‘Being busy doesn’t make you stressed, being out of control is what makes you stressed… We want to be more busy, less stressed,’ he said.
However the study only lasted six months, and experts say further research is needed on longer term effects.
Some researchers think that adjusting the length of shifts instead of the days of the week worked would be more effective. Marks is one such proponent.
‘Without reducing the intensity of workloads and tackling overworking more broadly, a mass scale four-day week risks intensifying already intense workloads,’ she told the BBC.
‘A six-hour workday may be more effective than a four-day week among organisations that are able to do so.’
