Let’s Have a Five Day Week – Where Possible

Yesterday, the SCMP reported that some business leaders supported a five-day working week. I support this idea as long as it is a voluntary practice. That is, I think businesses should be encouraged to adopt a five-day working week where possible, without legislation to force those businesses to do so.

If it is practical for a business to bring in a five-day working week, I think they should work towards doing that. In some cases it might not be possible. For example, what would be the impact on a small trading company of a five-day week? Would they lose valuable orders because they did not spend time on Saturday getting the details of a shipment ready on time? How about banks and shops that want to open seven days a week? This is something that companies and five-day week advocates need to think about.

However, if a company, can arrange its affairs so that its staff don’t have to work on Saturday, or can just work alternative Saturdays, then Hong Kong Capitalist says: "Go ahead, make their Saturday."