What does the 7-day working day propose: total flexibility and the same salary

In the last few months There has been talk ad nauseam of the 4-day workweek. Now, the model of a 7-day workday also appears as an alternative. Peace of mind, which does not propose to work from Monday to Sunday every day.

What is the 7-day working day

In this work experimentation, the context of the 7-day working day also arisesAlthough it may seem like this, it is not just working 7 days a week.

The 7-day work week is one in which the professional can choose which days to work. Including Sundays if it suits your life better this way, but giving up on Mondays for example if you deem it convenient.

This approach is committed to carrying out the 40 hours throughout the days that each employee wants, 3 days, 4, 5 or 6.5 days. For this option to be realistic and to facilitate teamwork, organizations have to set some time frames during which the team members meet telematically or in person.

The rest of the time is flexible and depends entirely on the employee, who is responsible for self-managing their work time.

In activities and sectors that allow it, such as technology, services, etc. This work model is expanded as a third way to reconcile the profession and personal life in a flexible way and particularly as long as there are digital programs for time management and projects provided with performance metrics that will allow the employee to know how they manage their time and have a constant vision of their progress.

Advantages and disadvantages of this proposal

Is it the way to optimize your work time while meeting your professional obligations? In the United Kingdom, several companies are already working with this model and acceptance by employees and managers is the majority. The explanation lies in the benefits that such great flexibility offers for everyone.

Joan Pons, Ceo of Workmeter, a company specialized in the development of software solutions for the measurement of performance and productivity, considers that “the ideal model that will be imposed in the coming years is that of 7 days, because they are increasing rapidly jobs that can be carried out remotely thanks to the help of computer tools. These instruments also improve productivity and employee well-being by optimizing processes and simplifying the management of tasks and people, offering flexible hours as one of its benefits differentials “.

Contrary to the 4-day work week, that of seven keeps the total working hours intact. In this way, the 40 hours per week can be distributed according to personal needs or preferences throughout the week.

The employee’s salary is not reduced as is happening in the four-working-day model, where most of the proposals in the companies that are introducing it advocate a proportional reduction in the salary of those who take advantage of this modality. This reduction causes the rejection of many professionals to the four-day model.

Nor is the company affected economically by this reduction in working hours that, if it wants to develop, it must entrust them to another worker, thus increasing its production costs.

The seven-hour shift does not need funding or financial assistance from official bodies, as will be the case with the four-working-day pilot project, since the same number of working hours is preserved.

By cons, There are doubts as to how much this model can support systems in which disconnection is less and less, and what mechanisms could be configured to avoid it.

The debate on the 4-day shift continues

In the last few months There has been talk ad nauseam of the 4-day workweek. If tested by a few companies, with experiments in Iceland, we now know that in a few months Spain will start a work experiment to test the viability of the four-day, 32-hour workweek.

A test promoted by the Government and that will involve some 160 companies and some 3,000 workers, subsidized with aid to offset possible expenses.

It is a model advocated by some experts for certain types of activities as part of the solution to create more jobs, to improve family reconciliation and as a brake on the growing problem of work stress that harms the health of employees, their performance and the productivity of organizations. But, of course, it also has its buts, as some studies have proven.