Workweek and weekend

Proposals continue to be put forward to reduce the number of days or hours worked per week, such as the four-day workweek, on the basis of predicted social and economic benefits.

A continuous seven-day cycle that runs throughout history, paying no attention whatsoever to the phases of the moon and having a fixed day of rest, was most likely first practised in Judaism, dated to the 6th century BC at the latest.

It was a market day, during which children were exempted from school[6] and agricultural workers stopped work in the field and came to the city to sell the produce of their labor[7][8] or to practice religious rites.

From 1929 to 1940, the Soviet Union utilized a calendar with five and six-day work weeks, with a rest day assigned to a worker either with a colour or number.

[citation needed] The present-day concept of the relatively longer "week-end" first arose in the industrial north of Britain in the early 19th century[3] and was originally a voluntary arrangement between factory owners and workers allowing Saturday afternoon off starting at 2 pm on the basis that staff would be available for work sober and refreshed on Monday morning.

[12] In 1926, Henry Ford began shutting down his automotive factories for all of Saturday and Sunday, realizing that by giving workers more time off it would encourage more leisure activities such as vacations and shopping.

The rest of the United States slowly followed, but it was not until 1940, when a provision of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act mandating a maximum 40-hour workweek went into effect, that the two-day weekend was adopted nationwide.

Later, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which established a five-day, 40-hour workweek for many workers.

[17] The New Economics Foundation has recommended moving to a 21-hour standard workweek to address problems with unemployment, high carbon emissions, low well-being, entrenched inequalities, overworking, family care, and the general lack of free time.

[16][18][19][20][21][22] The Center for Economic and Policy Research states that reducing the length of the work week would slow climate change and have other environmental benefits.

[24] In the 21st century, those such as Anna Coote, the head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation and British sociologist Peter Fleming, among others, have proposed the introduction of a three-day workweek.

The arguments for its introduction include a better work-life balance, more family time, improved health and well-being, greater sustainability (such as via reduced carbon emissions), increased work productivity, and a reduction of overwork, unemployment and over-consumption.

[46] In South Africa, the working week traditionally was Monday to Friday with a half-day on Saturday and Sunday a public holiday.

[48] As a general rule, Brazil adopts a 44-hour working week, which typically begins on Monday and ends on Friday, with a Saturday–Sunday weekend.

[55] A 44-hour week, usually taken as a half-day on Saturday, had been applied for some industries from 1927 following a ruling by the court in a case brought by the Amalgamated Engineering Union.

Banks trade from Monday to Friday, with some branches opening on Saturdays (and in some cases Sundays) in high demand areas.

[58] Public holidays in China are all set on fixed days of the Gregorian or Chinese calendar, rather than a particular Monday or Friday as is the norm in some other countries.

For example, if the actual holiday falls on a Tuesday, the Monday may be swapped as a holiday, and citizens are required to work on the previous Saturday instead, creating a three-day long weekend (Sunday to Tuesday) but a six-day work week (Monday to Saturday) in the previous week.

A number of provinces and municipalities across China, including Hebei, Jiangxi and Chongqing, have issued new policies, calling on companies to create 2.5-day weekends.

However, some shops, restaurants, cafes, places of entertainment, and factories are open on Saturdays, and a few bus and share taxi lines are active.

In November 2012, the home ministry proposed a two-day holiday per week plan for all government offices except at those providing essential services like electricity, water, and telecommunications.

However, government offices, banks, and many non-service industry establishments maintain a five-day (Monday to Friday) work week.

[citation needed] However, government offices and some private companies have modernised through enacting the American and European standard of working Monday through Friday.

In Ireland, Italy, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the former socialist states of Europe, large shopping centres open on Sunday.

In public institutions, a 30-minute lunch break every day is included as per collective agreements, so that the actual required working time is 34.5 hours.

For office workers, the work day usually begins between 8 and 9 o'clock and ends between 16:00 and 18:00, depending on the contract and lunch time agreements.

[85] Shops are mostly open on weekends, many large retail chains having full working hours even on Saturday and Sunday.

[90] A few shopping malls located in the north of the country and in border towns (e.g. KNAUF,[91] MASSEN[92] and Pall Center Pommerloch[93]) are also allowed to open almost every day of the year.

Each year the government can modify working weeks near public holidays in order to optimize the labor schedule.

[needs copy edit] Traditionally, restaurants were closed on Mondays if they were opened during the weekend, but this has in recent years largely fallen out of practice.