How Does a 9/80 Work Schedule Work Out?

cellocgw writes "My company is in the process of implementing a version of '9/80,' a work schedule that squeezes 80 hours' labor time into 9 business days and provides every other Friday off. I was wondering how this has been implemented in other companies, and how it's worked out for other Slashdot readers. Is your system flexible? Do you find time to get personal stuff done during the week? Is Friday good for anything other than catching up on lost sleep? And perhaps most important, do your managers respect the off-Fridays, or do they pull people in on a regular basis to handle 'crises?'"

Comments

Re:I worked 9/80 for 4 summers

[DataBroker]

I've worked 9/80's for a couple of years. They're great! It's nice to have a weekday off because you can easily get through a weekend's errands in a day because of the lower crowds, and in my case, no kids to slow me.

As for management respecting the day -- that's like any off-day. You have to enforce it yourself. I've been asked to work on my 9/80 day, and never had a problem agreeing to it. I just swapped it for a different day. Management loved my flexibility (in when I took a day off).

Re:4/10 is easier

[bughunter]

I did both 4/40 and 9/80, and I tell you, the first extra hour isn't that noticeable, but going from 9 to 10 hours a day sucked. It means either you arrive at 6am so that you can leave at 5. If you can't get there until 9am, have fun working till 8pm...

I'm back to working 5/40 now, and do indeed miss the 9/80 schedule. One of the best things was the regular 4-day holiday weekends. The accounting calendar was usually arranged so that Fridays off fell before Monday holidays like Memorial Day, etc.

I'd rather have 4/36

[trolltalk.com]

I'd rather have 4x9hour days, a 10% cut in pay, and 3 days off every week. (Hey, most of the last 10% is taxes anyway, right). If everyone did this, we could avoid tons of layoffs nationwide, lower energy costs (4 days commuting instead of 5), and 3-day weekends every week ...

Re:I'd rather have 4/36

[DudeFromMars]

>>(Hey, most of the last 10% is taxes anyway, right)
Not Right.
The idea that at a certain point, the govt takes most of your earnings in taxes is an urban legend.
For anybody working by the hour, there is no "tipping point" where the govt keeps most of each additional dollar - it is just untrue.

>>If everyone did this (4x9hr days), we could avoid tons of layoffs nationwide.
A company can avoid layoffs by cutting hours and pay.
If everybody at every company had their hours and pay cut, their bills remain the same, so the workers' spendable income after covering expenses is either gone or greatly reduced - You have just created a recession.

Re:I'd rather have 4/36

[Average]

Japan's 'lost decade' (and continuing) also has a lot to do with lack of population growth. Sadly, interest-based capitalism goes hand-in-hand with growth. Japan has gone into negative population growth territory. Much of the west will follow in our lifetimes. From a green or even moderately sane perspective, the cessation of growth and consumption is a blessed and long-hoped-for event. But, economics as we know it stagnates. People get money, but they don't lend it. They don't because lending entails some risk, but, whatever you might invest in is unlikely to grow in a steady or shrinking economy.

Re:I love it.

[JoeLinux]

The only issue that has ever come up is:

1) When a customer comes in, and we have to come in on our day off

and

2) Because of the increased rest on a three-day weekend, people use less vacation time, resulting in the office being virtually deserted in December.

Toilet Paper Survey

[Anonymous Coward]

From a non-scientific poll we conducted as undergraduates, we found some interesting results:

All of the science and engineering students we asked said the next sheet should go over. All of them. (About 14 people.)

The art students' inclination (8 of 12 people) was to put it under, with the other four simply saying "whichever way it ends up - I don't even look."