Businesses consider 3-day weekends after pilot program shows positive results

MANHATTAN - Would you be willing to spend longer days at work in exchange for fewer days on the clock and longer weekends? 

The results of a recent pilot program in the UK indicate that quite a few workers might be happy to accept such an arrangement.

More than 60 UK-based companies participated in a pilot project in the second half of 2022 that made the 3-day weekends most of us get occasionally for holidays like Labor Day and Memorial Day the new normal.

Feedback from the program led all but 5 companies to continue the pilot and 18 plan to make the move permanent.

New Yorkers FOX 5 NY spoke to said the idea certainly sounds promising.

"When have like 4-day weekends or 3-day weekends it’s just like so much more time to catch up on things and to rest," said Naomi, a student.

Rachel Denearest Gold, a partner at Abrams Fensterman Law Firm, with a background in labor law also sees the pilot as a good thing.

"From a cost savings perspective from a budget perspective, it’s smart. Also, if you’re overlapping 8-hour tour 10 or 12-hour tour, you have fewer gaps," said Gold.

Students who spoke with FOX 5 NY say they hope more industries will consider offering their employees the same deal.