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Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

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Re: Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

#201

Post by 5350-uiop-1130 »

deathanatos wrote: post #103

> For those who say it would lead to a decrease in productivity. Well that is only relative to the 5 day week. I mean, yeah? That's not a logical argument against it; compared to a 5 day week, a naïve view of it is that that's a 20% productivity loss¹. > It is not some law ingrained in the universe. It's not … but I'd also like the work, as I need to make ends meet. What I would prefer is raise … which is why I'm not…

i think it's a matter of perspective, this is why i said its relative.

80% of 5 days sure. but if we had 3 days weekend, then in 20 years or 30 years, 4 days would be considered 100% of your productivity.

in the same way people thought you cannot do your job remotely, but we saw how easy it was actually, despite the issues some extroverts and managers have with it.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

#203

Post by 5350-uiop-1130 »

overlordalex wrote: post #13

To maybe throw the question back - what have you done to make 3 day weekends a reality? The way the post is worded right now seems to be phrased in a way that 3-day weekends are blindingly obvious, but if you look at the history of labour rights I dont see why anyone expects it to just happen without a massive amount of organising

i think if i tried anything i would just be left to fall on my sword alone.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

#205

Post by piva00 »

thunky wrote: post #196
grog454 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, but not every job is like this. A lot of my communication is done asynchronously already. I'm paid 95% for productivity and 5% for availability.

Say you're hyper productive and can accomplish your job in only one hour per week, do you think you should still be entitled to your full salary?

Am I giving a multiple of my salary returned as value to my employer in that case? If so then yes, the employer is exploiting my work (knowledge, skills, productivity, etc.) and earning a good profit on it, I should be entitled to keep my share of this agreement, no matter how many hours I worked, I've produced the expected value out of those hours.

Employers pay for productivity and the value generated by employees, not hours in a seat.

That mindset is exactly the mindset of an oppressed labour force, as workers we aren't being paid so employers can get their share of hours of my life, we are being paid to generate value, it shouldn't really matter if that value is created in 1h or 40h per week, for the employer the result is the same.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

#206

Post by piva00 »

spoils19 wrote: post #186
irrational wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the USA doesn’t have universal healthcare so that it can be used to blackmail employees?

Healthcare is a benefit and the lack of universal healthcare has resulted in a competitive market where customers are free to choose the level of care for their need and budget. Universal healthcare is the worst of all worlds, comparatively.

How are customers having a heart attack free to choose the level of care for their need and budget? Or poor cancer patients? Yes, Medicare might help but that brings up another layer of bureaucracy and constraints to be managed by the patient.

A society is much better when it's healthy, leaving health to be taken care by the law of the jungle isn't really building a healthy society.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

#208

Post by thunky »

piva00 wrote: post #205
thunky wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say you're hyper productive and can accomplish your job in only one hour per week, do you think you should still be entitled to your full salary?

Am I giving a multiple of my salary returned as value to my employer in that case? If so then yes, the employer is exploiting my work (knowledge, skills, productivity, etc.) and earning a good profit on it, I should be entitled to keep my share of this agreement, no matter how many hours I worked, I've produced the expected value out of those hours. Employers pay for productivity and the value generated by employees,…

While I agree with you in principle that a 40h week is arbitrary and ridiculous...

> Employers pay for productivity and the value generated by employees, not hours in a seat.

I'm not sure many employers see it that way. If they do, that's great. But I would guess that most think they should be getting 40 hrs worth of "work" out of their employees.

What I imagine happens too frequently is that the employee hides the fact that they're actually working < 40 hrs a week, so the relationship with their employer is dishonest. That's why products like "mouse jigglers" exist, so employees can fool their employer.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

#209

Post by thunky »

grog454 wrote: post #197
thunky wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say you're hyper productive and can accomplish your job in only one hour per week, do you think you should still be entitled to your full salary?

Yes. That's how it's worked for the ~7 years I worked for myself. I'm currently working a full time remote job in addition to managing my own company, and there it's more like 75/25 productivity/availability. Unless I'm on call, then its flipped. If I was working retail, I suppose it'd be more like 5/95 productivity/availability.

That's great. I commented elsehwere that I think it's all good as long as the arrangement between the employer and employee is honest.

Is your full time remote employer aware that you're not really "full time"?

Re: Ask HN: Why don't we have 3 day weekends yet?

#210

Post by freedom2099 »

BerislavLopac wrote: post #92

It's very simple: if you can do five days' worth of work in only four days, you can do even more if you maintain the same level of productivity over five days. A more interesting approach would be to combine the following: * Unlimited holidays (offered by more and more companies) * No difference within week and weekend days - you choose your free days whenever you want * Fully remote, async work

Unlimited holidays is a scam!
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