Imagine everyone at your enterprise (whether in private and /or public sector) has an extra day off every week and there's no drop in productivity.

That's the promise of the four-day work week - a growing trend that's catching the attention of employees and employers alike. As the future of work evolves, employees increasingly seek better control over their hours alongside compelling life, congested roads which delay commuting times, and increasing chances of burnouts.  

A thoughtfully researched four-day work week program in Malta, offers organizations a strategic means to enhance performance in this changing landscape. Since a majority of transport in Malta run ICE vehicles; the proliferation of carcinogenic fumes is unavoidable.  Research shows the four-day week model can indeed support productivity, cut costs from reduced absenteeism and turnover, and vastly improve worker morale, focus and loyalty through an improved work-life balance.

However, success depends on taking a customized, evidence-based approach to address the unique dynamics of each state worker and the larger industry demographics. Continuous working remotely can sometimes render work-life balance challenging and increase the risk of burnout but one understands that experimental sectors where a four-day week is introduced, the option of working from home needs to stop (except in special cases).

As organizations seek innovative ways to enhance employee engagement, productivity, and retention in today's competitive talent marketplace, the lure of a shortened work week (for same pay) has gained traction. While the traditional five-day, 40-hour work structure has remained the norm for decades, some employers in Northern Europe have pioneered alternative models with promising results.

Though counterintuitive on the surface, research indicates that for many roles and type of organization, a compressed four-day schedule can lead to performance improvements by boosting morale, reducing stress, and enabling a better work-life balance for employees without impacting pay benefits. The idea of a four-day workweek is nothing new, and it's something some companies in advanced economies have been offering as an option - or even a required schedule - for years.  In most cases, this means that the employee works 10-hour days instead of eight, so the standard 40-hour workweek is completed in just four days. That way, instead of two days off per week, the employee gets three. An alternating four-day workweek is a valuable solution. 

With this plan, the employee works five days one week, and four the next. The day off could be Friday to allow for a three-day weekend every other week, but that is up to the individual employee and employer.

Those additional days off provide the employee with tremendous flexibility, enjoy family time, engage in favourite hobbies, or whatever else they'd like to do with their spare time. Or else, the company has four working days per week rather than five- and each-day workers cram 10 into an 8 hours pattern.

That makes for a 32-hour work week (and a three-day weekend) for the full-time employees at that company. When people talk about the four-day work week, they are typically referring to this schedule. In most cases, companies would remove Friday from the work week. However, a successful implementation depends greatly on particular circumstances within a given industry context.

Due to acute traffic problems in Malta a four-day week permits certain deliveries, refuse collection to be conducted exclusively on a Friday, thus easing congestion for commuters. For example, in New Zealand, Perpetual Guardian conducted the largest four-day week trial in 2018, finding an array of benefits.

Productivity either held steady or improved for most employees. Absenteeism dropped, and staff engagement and work-life balance enhanced significantly (Croucher et al., 2019). On account of the persistent traffic congestion in Malta's narrow roads, one fears an accident to occur daily.  So one way to solve this growing conundrum is to dedicate Friday as the rest day when only essential deliveries can be permitted thus calming a little the long hours wasted in commuting. On an experimental basis, one could start with solving the crowded healthcare sector to experiment with a four-day scheme. Shifts are needed round-the-clock in hospitals, clinics, eldercare facilities and more.  However, with innovative scheduling and an AI monitoring this scheme may shift towards preventative, outpatient and virtual care models.

Quoting a classical example, Cooper University Health Care in New Jersey launched a four-day pilot program in 2019 across select units and roles. Nursing staff on some units adopted 12-hour shifts covering three days per week. Factoring feedback, adjustments were made such as scheduling nurses in the same units on the same days off for better continuity of care and team collaboration (de Marco, 2019). Preliminary outcomes were positive.

Nurses reported much-improved work-life balance and lower stress. Patients also responded well to having more consistent care teams. Health ministries abroad have gradually expanded the four-day option permitting enhanced hospital-wide services. With creative A.I scheduling tailored to clinical care needs, healthcare organizations can deliver on both efficiency and patient satisfaction goals.

In Malta, over 52,000 state employees work an extra hour in the winter months but down tools by 1.00pm for the four summer months.  If you ask any of the state workers whether they prefer working half days in summer, most will answer that this is a unique perk that in their opinion is non-negotiable.  At past budget speeches, the finance minister has steered away from reforming the half-day routine irrespective that as a island commerce accelerates in summer mainly due to increases in tourism, transhipments and other exports.

Quoting Professor Timmy Gambin, he writes in Times of Malta about the challenging conundrum featuring a short working week principally within the education and training faculties. He states that just as in the working world, we would have to cram the current curricula into a four-day week or simply reduce them, or easier still - just reduce the teaching loads and, hence, learning outcomes.

One can envisage an improved educational output if students, lecturers can regenerate on Fridays but provide tuition during long summer months. The post Covid introduction of working from home essentially permits better work-life balance.  In summary, any substantial change in working procedures while benefiting employees may create drawbacks for employers (including the state).

Customers in Malta aren't used to shop a the four-day week. Most people would still expect you to be open for business on Fridays (or Mondays).  If they're unable to reach your retail store or professional clinic, they might seek more online purchases.  With retail organizations, it could be wiser to stagger your service schedule (ie not limited to a four-day week).  A practical suggestion is one half of the work force works on Mondays and the other half on Fridays.

Other variations can be conceived to meet exigencies of both staff and customers. In conclusion, such a progressive reform has to be fully debated with MCESD and worker unions before a viable solution can be reached. Such a reform can form part of the much-hyped roadmap being drafted for the future to 2050.