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How To Get Started With A 9/80 Work Schedule

Many people are aware of the typical 8-hour-per-day five days a week, 40-hour workweek. Did you know that there are other alternatives to the standard work schedule? The most talked about is the 9/80 schedule. But is it the right choice for your company as well as your employees?

In this article in this article, the management and scheduling experts from Sling will provide you with all the information that you should know about make a decision for yourself. We’ll also explain how you can implement this unique work schedule into your business.

What is a 9/80 Work Schedule?

A nine-hour work week comprises eight 9-hour days, an eight-hour workday, and one off day spread over two weeks.

A 9/80 work plan has employees working 80 hours in the course of nine consecutive days (hence the title: nine days and 80 hours) instead of the standard 10 days (assuming the five-day work week). This allows employers to offer their employees a whole day off every week.

If you follow a standard 9/80 schedule, employees have four 9-hour days (36 hours) and then an eight-hour workday. To pay the bills for payroll, you assign the first portion of an eight-hour working day to the beginning week, and the second half of the workday to the next week.

When all is said and done, it is 40 hours of work from Monday to Friday in one week and another 40 hours from Monday to Thursday in during the week following (all with no overtime). Then, you can allow employees to take the second Friday off entirely without having to cut off work hours.

What are the benefits of A 9/80 Work Time Schedule?

At first you might think that the 9/80 schedule is only beneficial to your employees. But look more deeply and you’ll discover that the 9/80 schedule can also benefit your company. Here’s how.

1.) Work/Life Balance

The company will give employees two extra days of vacation each month. This will allow them to make appointments or conduct personal business or go on a trip with friends or family. It could also result in fewer sick days, fewer no-calls/no-shows and less time-off requests for your company.

2.) Less interruptions

Employees will be able to take more time to deal with personal obligations, and they won’t be interrupted in their work to finish their tasks. This is better for their involvement to improve the overall productivity of your company.

3) Less Commuting

The two extra days of vacation every month means that your employees won’t need to stand in line and they won’t need to fuel up and won’t need to accumulate miles on their vehicles.

4) Improved Task Completion

The extra hour of working every day means your employees stand a better likelihood of finishing their tasks the day that they begin their work.

Five) Better Rest

The additional two days of rest each month allows the employees additional time to rest from their busy schedules. They’ll feel fresh and ready for work on the following Monday.

6) More Productivity

When you integrate a 9-80 schedule it provides your employees with more control over their schedules. In turn, your employees are more motivated due to the additional day off at the conclusion of the two week.

The increase in energy will result in greater productivity throughout the 9 days that the team is working. This productivity isn’t only dependent on the job at hand.

The overall productivity increases with the implementation of this kind flexibility in your schedule. The 9/80 schedule is also able to reduce stress over the long term, so that employees use shorter vacations or sick days to recuperate.

7) A Higher Incentive Rate for Prospective Employees

Finding new employees is challenging in today’s hectic work environment. New employees often seek the highest quality of possible fringe benefits prior to committing to your company. A work schedule that is 9/80 makes your business more appealing to prospective employees.

If you provide this kind of schedule on the first day of employment, new employees are able to achieve a balance between work and life which is more customized to their particular situation immediately. They won’t be required to commit to months, weeks or even years to have more control over their timetable.

This is a enticing incentive that could significantly improve your efforts to recruit.

8.) More Flexibility

One of the main worries managers face when they consider the possibility of a 9/90 schedule is coverage for shifts. They are worried that they will not be able to arrange enough members of the team to complete all the important tasks during the additional day off.

The schedule 9/80 actually makes it simpler than you believe.

If you’re not able to close your office at the end of each week, you could divide your staff and give half of them Friday off and the remaining half of them the Monday off. Everyone is given a 3-day weekend and the office continues to be open from Monday to Friday.

These are only a few of the many advantages you’ll experience after adopting an 8/80 working schedule. There are likely to be other advantages as you’re on this schedule.

It’s a good idea, but is it too promising to be real? Let’s examine the alternative side of the 9/80-work-schedule coin.

What are the challenges of A 9/80 Work Hour Schedule?

The challenges associated with working a 9/80 schedule typically are related to employee morale and time tracking. Here are some of the most frequent issues.

1) Longer Workday

In the 9-hour workdays employees might feel as if they’re only able to get home, have dinner and go to go to bed. It can be a drag on the morale of employees after a few days.

2.) Modifying the Regular Day Off

Sometimes, employees want to shift their normal day off in order to accommodate their schedules. This could make time tracking a lot more challenging.

3.) Early Arrival or Departure

Allowing your employees to adjust their time of arrival and departure could result in more than 40 hours of work during the first week and fewer than 40 hours of work the following week, leading to overtime and other issues.

4.) Problems With Focus

If your team members prefer a calm workplace the 9/80 timetable can cause issues. The constant fluctuation of activity could distract employees and cause them to lose interest and motivation.

This can also impact negatively on telecommuters and freelancers who are working while the other employees are not.

5.) Staffing Gaps

For smaller businesses with less employees this schedule may be not the best option. Alternative schedules , such as the 9/80, could mean that there aren’t enough staff members to cover all shifts to ensure that your business will remain open on the extra days off every month.

Even if you are able to stagger your schedule to ensure that certain employees get Friday off, and others get days off Mondays, it may not have enough workers to run your business effectively.

6) Inactive Customers And Businesses

In certain situations your customers or other businesses might not be in operation during the extended hours of work associated with the 9/80 timeframe.

This could result in a drop in productivity or even the loss of revenue if you’re unable to ensure that your employees are focused in one way or the other during the time in the time that other companies are closed and your customers are in other locations.

7) Sick Leave

You might need to change how you handle sick days if it incorporates the 9/80 schedule into your work routine. In this kind of work plan, a day from work because of illness will be nine hours rather than the standard eight hours.

9 hours and 8 don’t split equally into the same amount (unless you’re looking to offer parts of a working day or extend your sick leave up to 72 hours) So you’ll be required to do a change to your schedule to make your change work.

8.) Problems with Overtime

There are also problems in the case of overtime. If members of your team don’t follow the set time schedule (e.g. for instance, they may take an extra hour off on a Tuesday in order to finish the project) You could end up paying higher overtime fees than you expected.

It shouldn’t pose an issue if it occurs every other month for a couple of employees. If it occurs often, and for more than a few team members, the added cost will start taking a bite out of your profits.

Do not let these issues deter you from adopting an 8/80 working schedule. Just make sure you reinforce the team’s cohesion and cooperation during the work week and follow the guidelines of the schedule to ensure that you do not run into problems with tracking and calculation.

How To Begin A 9/80 Work Scheduling

The best method to begin implementing the 9/80 schedule is to first review your business, corporate, and functional level plans to determine if this is the most effective solution.

The next step is to develop a test schedule to determine if it is compatible your work routine.

In the end, it’s best to talk about the changes with your employees to ensure that they don’t get caught off guard when they begin working for nine hours instead of eight.