Hartford Business Journal

29 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | May 23, 2022 FOCUS Eastford aerospace components manufacturer Whitcraft will soon be experimenting with a four-day workweek for some of its Connecticut employees. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Will CT employers embrace a 4-day workweek amid tight labor market? Jury is still out. By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com W hile hard work and long hours are ingrained in the American psyche as badges of self-importance and success, the pandemic has caused employers to question what constitutes a typical workweek — and whether fewer days or hours worked could not only benefit employees, but also their bottom line. Employers are looking for new ways to attract and retain staff amid a tight labor market that has businesses competing for skilled workers by offering unprecedented perks, from sign-on bonuses to flexible work-from-home options. More recently, there have been discussions about employers experimenting with four-day workweeks, requiring employees to work longer hours over fewer days, or allowing workers to put in less than the typical 40-hour week, without reducing pay or benefits. "You have employers trying to calibrate to adjust to the reality," said attorney Glenn Dowd, a partner in the labor and employment practice at law firm Day Pitney. "A lot of these things are not going to be solved by compensation alone." Dowd has advised businesses on whether implementing a four-day workweek is viable in Connecticut. The simple answer, from a legal perspective, is yes. "There are not a lot of legal impediments to having people work less," Dowd said. Chris DiPentima, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said it's easy to imagine why employees would favor a shorter workweek, even if it meant they had to work longer hours per day in exchange for a three-day weekend. For instance, a longer period of time off could enable families to travel more on weekends. DiPentima said people become more productive when they have a longer break — a perk made even more attractive during warm-weather seasons. "A lot of people are working more than eight hours [a day] anyway, so you get the same amount of productivity and the employee looks forward to a nice three-day break, a nice recharge, and then the employee comes back for four days," DiPentima said. He's the former CEO and president of Pegasus Manufacturing in Middletown, where years ago he implemented a four-day workweek with 10-hour shifts. Other manufacturers have followed suit. Eastford-based Whitcraft, which produces aerospace components for companies such as Pratt & Whitney and General Electric, recently implemented a program at its facility in Utica, New York, where employees alternate between four, 10-hour workdays with three days off, and three, 12-hour workdays with four days off. Employees seem to enjoy having longer weekends and there's no additional cost to the company, said CEO Douglas Folsom. Folsom said he plans to roll out a compressed workweek at Whitcraft's Connecticut facilities next month, starting with a pilot program for second- shift workers. Whitcraft employs about 600 people in the state across three sites in Eastford, South Windsor and Plainville. Folsom said the move gives Whitcraft a competitive edge in the labor market. "What everyone's trying to do is find a way to differentiate themselves," Folsom said. "They're looking for something to offer that's more attractive than the next guy, and that isn't necessarily just money." Dowd said he doesn't have any clients in Connecticut that have implemented a four-day workweek, but that could change. Regardless, Connecticut employers are continuing to offer more flexible schedules by implementing hybrid in- person and work-from-home options. "I think the trend towards flexibility and worker autonomy in terms of scheduling and other issues is not going to change," Dowd said. Nationwide a four-day workweek is still rare in the U.S. In March 2020, during the onset of COVID-19, Gallup polled 10,364 full-time employees, asking them about the number of days they typically work. Only 5% said they worked four days, while 84% said five days. 'Double-edged sword' The benefits of a shorter workweek can extend to employers, too. Studies have shown happier, more well-rested employees tend to perform their work more efficiently. The idea is to reduce hours or the number of days worked, not pay or productivity. But how do you me3asure worker productivity, if not by the number of hours worked? "Productivity is a double-edged sword because obviously you're reducing, to some degree, a very measurable metric of productivity and counting on a much less measurable Evolution of the standard 40-hour workweek • American culture has evolved since the Industrial Revolution, when it was common for employees to work more than 80 hours a week under brutal conditions. • President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869 issued a proclamation to guarantee eight-hour workdays for government employees. • In 1926, Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford popularized the 40-hour workweek for private businesses, touting research that showed working more than 40 hours yielded only a small, short- lived increase in productivity. • Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, which required employers to pay overtime to all employees who worked more than 44 hours a week. Lawmakers amended the act two years later to reduce the workweek to 40 hours. Glenn Dowd Doug Folsom

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